Kuala Lumpur: The Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services Malaysia (Cuepacs) has slammed a certain party who claimed that civil servants should not receive the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) aid as they were not affected by Covid-19.
Its president Adnan Mat said it was unfair to make such a statement as BPN was given to households in the B40 and M40 groups, regardless of whether the recipient is a public servant or working in the private sector.
“Not all civil servants receive BPN. If the household income is more than what is stipulated, they are not eligible even though they are public servants. The same goes for the private sector; if their income is higher, they are also not eligible to receive BPN,” he said in a statement here.
He was commenting on a statement made by a financial consultant on a Sinar Live programme yesterday that civil servants should not receive BPN as they were not affected by or had their salary deducted during the Movement Control Order and Covid-19 pandemic period.
Adnan said it was unfair to say that civil servants were not eligible to receive BPN only because they had been receiving their salary as usual amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It should be reminded that not all spouses of civil servants are working in the government sector. Some of them are full-time housewives, self-employed such as small hawkers and working in the private sector whose income might be affected as well,” said Adnan.
He added that civil servants who have housing loans with the Public Sector Home Financing Board (LPPSA) need to pay their loans as usual even though some of their spouses have lost their jobs, were unable to do business or had their salary cut.
“Therefore, it was unfair to jump to conclusion just by looking at a narrow context. Cuepacs believes that the decision made by the government is fair and has considered all people affected by Covid-19,” he said.
