Camelia Pasandaran, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Ulma Haryanto – Starting on Sept. 1, the government will impose strict controls on the hiring of civil servants, Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for Vice President Boediono, said on Wednesday.

Three ministers signed a joint decree on Wednesday at the vice president's office on the hiring of civil servants, Yopie said. They were Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, Administrative Reform Minister E.E. Mangindaan and Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo.

"The vice president has underlined the importance of creating an efficient bureaucracy that is the right size," Yopie said.

Under the new policy – which will be in effect until Dec. 31, 2012 – central and regional government will be given until December to come up with strategic plans for their bureaucracies for the next five years. Administrations failing to do so risk not receiving any money for any new hires next year.

"Our target is to fix the existing bureaucracy and turn it into a world-class bureaucracy that is the right size, both in numbers and in terms of capability," Yopie said. "With tighter recruitment oversight, we hope selection will be improved and better candidates will be hired."

Ramli Naibaho, deputy head of human resources at the State Administrative Reform Ministry, said the central government had put the number of civil servants it needed at 187,000. Regional governments, meanwhile, have proposed a number around 600,000 civil servants combined at their level.

Agus, the finance minister, recently said that Indonesia had at least 4.7 million civil servants, who were placing an unnecessary burden on the central and local budgets.

"Future recruitment will be adjusted according to need and financial possibilities," Ramli said. "But the focus is more on financial control because the dominant issue is the high number of civil servants."

Yopie said the restrictions would not apply to university students who had received a government scholarship that required them to work for the donor institution after graduation. Medical personnel, teachers and other service-related professions would also not be affected.

The spokesman added that temporary employees who had worked for the government since at least 2005 would still be hired as civil servants.

Ganjar Pranowo, deputy chairman of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, said the related ministries would be summoned to explain the details of the agreement. "We are still confused about the plan," Ganjar said. "Has it considered the impact on public services? The government must explain this."

Siti Zuhro, a public policy analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the new policy was a temporary solution at best. The government, she said, should come up with a plan to discuss both hiring and structural changes to the bureaucracy.

But Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, head of the National Bureaucracy Reform Team, welcomed the decree, saying it would increase efficiency. "Every institution will have to look at its structure and determine which departments can make do with fewer people, and which should have more," he told the Jakarta Globe.