Robert Go, Jakarta – Indonesia's top bureaucrat has launched a stinging attack on the very team under his leadership. He says most of the country's four million civil servants are unproductive and unprofessional.

In Minister of State Apparatus Feisal Tamin's estimation, only 45 per cent of Indonesian bureaucrats know what they are doing and do their jobs properly. The rest, he said, are "under-educated, unmotivated, unsupervised and rarely held accountable".

This majority group, the minister warned yesterday, would have to improve or risk falling victim to reform measures he put in place last year.

The minister told The Straits Times in a telephone interview: "I am fed up by how poorly most government workers understand their roles within the bureaucracy. My focus as minister remains to change the way Indonesian civil servants view themselves and therefore perform their tasks." Mr Feisal's success or failure will have a tremendous impact on how Indonesia governs its population of 215 million people.

The minister – famous for making surprise visits to government offices to catch napping or neglectful bureaucrats – has identified serious problems: Some civil servants make a habit of not showing up at the office.

Attendance during the first few days following sanctioned holiday periods are often as low as 30 to 40 per cent because many officials take extended vacations. Even when they do show up, many bureaucrats take long lunches and waste time socialising with colleagues or even watching television.

As many as 75 per cent of civil servants are educated only to high-school level or less. This last factor is the one that bothers Mr Feisal most.

"That is ridiculous. The low education level is evidence that our bureaucracy is truly broke," he said. "In the past, our hiring practices were wrong. This we have to fix very quickly."

Experts say that during the Suharto era, many government jobs were up for auction and qualifications mattered less than a candidate's ability to pay bribes. Nepotism was also rampant and only those with the right connections would get stabs at the choice jobs within government ministries.

The minister is using some big sticks to wreak change – surprise inspections, stricter evaluation procedures, mandatory attendance and the sacking of under-achievers.

At the same time, Mr Feisal is dangling carrots. He fast-tracked more than 60 people for promotion last year after he identified them as being dedicated workers.

There is also a new programme aimed at helping bureaucrats to continue their education and training – and more controls are being put in place to ensure only good candidates are singled out for such initiatives.

"We expect the percentage of competent workers to rise to about 60 per cent by the end of this year, and to continue to rise in the future," Mr Feisal said.

Analysts suggest the minister faces an uphill battle.