PM Najib Recognises Civil Servants' Important Role In Developing The Country - Azih
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 29 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's statement announcing that the government will not scale down the size of the civil service is seen as a guarantee for the public servants' future.
Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) president Datuk Azih Muda said the good news demonstrated the deep sensitivity of the country's number one leader towards the roles and responsibilities of civil servants as the policy implementer and to deliver government services to the people.
"He (Najib) also said not only the size of civil servants will not be reduced, he also gives assurance that the existing contract workers will continue. This is a significant news for civil servants," he said when contacted today.
Career in the public sector should be seen as a national service in helping the country to continue to achieve its vision of becoming one of the top 20 countries in the world by 2050, he said.
The prime minister in his meeting with civil servants of the federal and the state governments in Kota Bharu yesterday also described the civil service as a government fortress and backbone.
Azih said this appreciation and recognition of the public sector would motivate the civil servants to continue to give their best in their work, as they were often reproached and viewed negatively by some quarters.
Currently there were 1.62 million civil servants in the country, and nearly 55,000 of them were contract workers, while about 35,000 to 39,000 people were expected to reach compulsory retirement age each year, he said.
He also added that the opposition's claim that the size of civil servants was too big was not based on reality as the number included those in security forces (military and police), education and health services with the total number of civilians in these three categories alone reaching almost 1.1 million people.
-- BERNAMA
