pic by TMR FILE

PUTRAJAYA has terminated the service of 2,263 civil servants between Jan 1, 2018 and June 1, 2019, as it attempts to trim the bloated civil service and improve the country’s finances.

Public sector salaries account for nearly 30% of Malaysia’s RM297 national budget in 2020 with an allocation of RM82.6 billion — an increase of 3.3% from the amount spent in 2018, higher than the RM82 billion allocated for 2019.

In a recent written reply in Parliament, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law) Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said the government has axed four officers on an exit policy due to poor performance, 879 officers for misconduct and 1,384 officers whose contracts were not renewed.

“In total, 2,263 officers have been terminated over the period due to misconduct, end of their contacts and also the dissolution of several agencies. There was no need to extend the contract of some officers whose nature of work was political after the general elections,” Mohamed Hanipa said.

He was responding to Dr Azman Ismail (Pakatan Harapan-Kuala Kedah) who inquired on the number of civil servants who have been dismissed from service since May 2018 and the reasons for their dismissal.

It was reported that federal expenditure on salaries alone more than tripled from RM22 billion to RM74 billion between 2003 and 2016. Similarly, spending on public service pension had also increased from RM5.9 billion to RM19 billion over the same period.

The government’s plan to downsize the civil service is said to include the removal of overlapping functions between government departments and agencies, rationalising existing positions, optimising human resources, outsourcing and privatisation.