All of 163,007 civil servants who have not made payments and are inconsistent in making repayments to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) are required to settle their loans through salary deduction, said Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal.

For a start, he said, 480 PSD staff including 136 professional and management employees would have their salary deducted for PTPTN repayment from September.

The commencement date of PTPTN repayment through payroll deduction for other ministries and agencies would be discussed in a meeting with secretary-generals and state secretaries on Friday (July 10), he said.

"This Friday too I will submit a list of civil servants who have taken PTPTN loans for the meeting to take action in ensuring these people make the repayment through salary deduction," he told reporters after a PTPTN briefing with PSD officials here on Monday.

He said the monthly salary deduction would be determined according to individual's affordability.

Mohamad Zabidi said civil servants who took PTPTN loans would be enlisted in the Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) to ensure they would not escape from making repayment.

"As public servants, we should demonstrate a responsible attitude and maintain integrity in settling loan (PTPTN) instead of running away from it," he said.

Last month, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said, 163,007 civil servants who had never made any payment and inconsistent in their payments to PPTPTN would be receiving a letter advising them on salary cuts.

Ali said, according to the breakdown, civil servants of various grades (except Jusa C Grade, Grade 54 and Grade 28) who had never made payment amounted to 32,803 people while those who made occasional payments was 130,204.

Mohamad Zabidi said JPA was willing to play the role of facilitator between borrowers and PTPTN.

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He said the meeting with JPA staff and briefing on PTPTN served as a platform of interaction among JPA officials and PTPTN staff on the best approach to loan repayment plan according to the individual's budget.

Meanwhile, PTPTN's marketing and strategic communications chief officer Mastura Mohd Khalid said there were two million borrowers nationwide of which 280,000 were civil servants.

She said whether they were in the public or private sector they should take proactive steps to contact PTPTN on settling the loan.

"Should they have any problems, they can come to meet, discuss and negotiate with us so that their account is in good order," she said.