Government to Downsize Bureaucracy Staffers

NINA SUSILO

Deputy President Ma'ruf Amin accompanied by Minister for Administrative Reform RB Azwar Anas gave a statement to journalists after chairing a meeting of the National Bureaucratic Reform Steering Committee (KPRBN) at the Vice Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (12/1/2023).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government plans to reduce structural officials and administrative staff to simplify bureaucracy. Apart from switching them to functional posts, the government will also optimize digitalization in the hope that the need for administrative staff will decrease by around 30 percent in five years.

Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas said that the government was perfecting the regulations regarding performance appraisal to simplify the bureaucracy. "The regulations have been finalized, just awaiting the enactment," Azwar Anas said after attending a meeting of the National Bureaucratic Reform Steering Committee (KPRBN) led by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin in Jakarta on Thursday (12/1/2023).

With state civil apparatus (ASN) now reaching 1.1 million people, bureaucracy simplification is considered important. One of the simplification policies to be implemented is to transfer structural officials and administrative staff to functional employment.

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Another policy is to accelerate digitalization in public services so that the expected reduction of 30 percent in the amount of administrative staff can be reached within five years.

Azwar Anas ensured that administrative staff reduction policy would be carried out without government imposing obligatory early retirement. He said the government would instead provide education and training to improve the capacity and skills for those affected by the policy to become qualified functional employees.

“In the future, [government] bureaucracy will be no longer seen as unemployment absorbing institution. When it comes to bureaucracy, [it is about] working smart, serving well [so that] investment will grow," he said.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Illustration of a civil servant

Selective

Taking into account the implications on the extended work services of the ASN, the government will be selective in transferring echelon I officials to functional staff given the retirement age for echelon I officials is 60 years compared to functional staff’s 65 years.

"That’s what President [Joko “Jokowi” Widodo] paid attention to the other day. These [functional] positions must be seen highly selectively because some specific positions are required, but many may unnecessarily be proposed," said Azwar Anas.

Gitadi Tegas Supramudyo, a lecturer in public policy at Surabaya, East Java-based Airlangga University, warned against downsizing the bureaucracy only to do away with certain structural positions with their allowances later adjusted to their functional positions. "That should not be the purpose of [a transfer to] functional position," he said.

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He blamed the protracted problem of bureaucracy on the absence of clear and measurable parameters in many functional positions, which resulted in the bureaucracy-simplification policy being limited only to changing the name of the institution. The merging of many functions that previously existed in several institutions or agencies, he said, could deceptively considered as a parameter of success.

Instead, he said, the government should immediately set performance-based parameters, including transparency in the selection, placement and performance of state employees. "Everything must match the needs of certain functional positions in an institution," he said.

During the KPRBN meeting, the vice president encouraged all regencies and municipalities to immediately establish digitized public service desks (MPP) to improve government services to the community.

This article was translated by Musthofid.