Annual intake of 25,000 civil servants remains, says Ali Hamsa

The annual intake of 25,000 civil servants to replace those who retire will be continued, says Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa. He said it was in line with government policy to maintain the 1.61 million civil servants to meet the needs of the 30 million Malaysians. "Every year 25,000 civil servants retire and they need to be replaced with the same number through new recruitment," he commented on the circular the Treasury issued yesterday. The circular mentioned among other things the freeze on recruitment, tightening payment of overtime and cutting entertainment allowances of ministers and deputy ministers by 10% starting this month. Ali said the only new intake which was not justified was when there was a need to set up a new agency.   "We can set up but it becomes the responsibility of the PSD (Public Service Department) and the ministries to find staff by appointing them by redeployment from existing staff whether from the ministry or other ministries. Regarding the 10% entertainment allowance cut, Ali said the matter was agreed in the last Cabinet meeting, and it was only for members of the administration, not the public service. – Bernama, March 9, 2016.]]>