PUTRAJAYA: The number of civil servants as of March this year stands at a whopping 1.71 million, said Chief Secretray to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Bakar.
For the core service sectors, he said, the armed forces comprised 152,957 personnel; police had 128,536; civil servants of various schemes (665,068); education (523,226) and health (240,745).
"As civil servants, we must constantly improve our quality of work and services rendered to the people as what the prime minister has hoped for, urging us to execute our duties in a trustworthy manner and with integrity," he said at a get-together with the prime minister and government officers.
On improvements being made in the civil service, Ismail said one of the changes was the implementation of the Myportfolio system which was created to improve the civil service and it had reached 94.1 per cent usage.
He said the Myportfolio system acted as a guideline for civil servants in executing their duties and improve the work procedure manual as well as table filing system.
"Other improvements under the new government include implementing flexible working hours and effective performance management system known as Myperformance."
The key upgrades being made in the civil sector, he said, were rationalisation process to optimise human resources; redeployment of staff to prevent overlapping of tasks and functions as well as alternative delivery system.
"Efforts to optimise human resources requires technology and prudent measures to fill up positions in accordance to demand," Ismail added.
The government's seriousness to combat abuse of power, he said, was clear with the setup of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), the empowerment of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the strengthening of the Parliamentary Institution's authority.