THE Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services Malaysia (Cuepacs) today slammed remarks that civil servants should not receive the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) 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 bottom 40 and middle 40 groups, regardless of whether the recipient is a public servant or working in the private sector.

“Not all civil servants receive the aid. If the household income is higher than the stipulated amount, 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 today.

He was commenting on a statement made by a financial consultant on a Sinar Live programme yesterday, that civil servants should not receive the aid as they were not affected by or had their salary deducted during the movement-control order and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Adnan said it was unfair to say civil servants were not eligible to receive BPN only because they had been receiving their salary as usual during the pandemic.

“I wish to state that not all spouses of civil servants are working in the government sector. Some of them are full-time housewives, are self-employed – such as hawkers and private sector workers 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 need to service their loans as usual, even though some of their spouses have lost their jobs, 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 the decision made by the government is fair and has considered all people affected by Covid-19,” he said. – Bernama, October 31, 2020.