The Voluntary Redundancy Plan which was supposed to take place next year for more than two thousand civil servants has been put on hold.
Public Service Commission (PSC) Chairman Josefa Serulagilagi confirmed that government has advised the PSC to hold off on the plan since there are no funds to carry out the exercise.
Meanwhile, Serulagilagi said an ideal number for the number of civil servants would be 21,000 compared to the current number of 42,000 people on the government pay roll.
This is after it was revealed by Permanent Secretary Finance John Prasad that the number of the civil service is around 36,000 with over 42,000 people on the government pay roll.
Serulagilagi said that prior to the 1987 coup, the number of civil servants was just below 20,000.
He added their aim right now is to get the commission to function more systematically and effectively through reforms.
