PM to chair committee meeting on civil servants’ service, retirement scheme

KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his commitment to examining civil servants’ service and retirement scheme. 

Addressing enforcement agencies in Putrajaya today, Anwar said that he will be chairing a committee formed to look into the salary schemes of civil servants. 

“I admit that the salary and allowance rates for our civil forces are still considered low. 

“In the past 10 years, a committee has yet to be established to analyse the retirement scheme for civil servants,” he said when delivering his mandate. 

“In about a week, I will chair the committee’s first meeting to look into the entirety of the service and retirement scheme for civil servants.

“Depending on our financial standing, we will see how we can increase (financial allocations) to civil servants so that they receive reasonable and fair funding,” he added. 

He noted that while an immediately drastic increase in salary and allowance payments might not be financially possible for the government as it tackles debts left by previous administrations, the committee will study the possibility of increasing in stages its welfare towards civil servants.

The prime minister also said that the committee will include Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali, Public Services Department director-general Datuk Zulkapli Mohamed, and several other relevant ministries. 

Besides announcing that RM100 million will be distributed this year among all enforcement agencies to aid in their workflow and operations, Anwar also proposed providing incentives to government agencies that manage to go above and beyond their revenue targets. 

The incentives, he said, could come in the form of necessary items that could help the agencies carry out their tasks easier, such as equipment or facilities. 

Yesterday, it was reported that the cabinet had decided to pay retired civil servants the original pension amount, following the Federal Court’s decision last month to reject amendments made in 2013 to the pensions law. 

Anwar had said in a statement that the government would continue to study a review of salaries for the civil service and for retired public officers, with the adjustment of pensions to be done according to the Pensions Adjustment Act 1980. 

In February, Anwar had urged civil servants to be patient as the government finds ways to address the country’s financial issues. 

This came after the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services called for a review of civil servants’ salaries. – The Vibes, July 13, 2023