A quota of 5,000 new employees has been allocated to government bodies in Vientiane and the provinces for 2017 in response to the country’s development needs.
Under a recently unveiled Prime Ministerial Decision, the largest number of new civil servants has been granted to the Ministry of Education and Sports (1,900 officials), many of whom will take up posts as teachers in rural areas.
The second largest number of new officials (550) will go to the Ministry of Health as the government wants to increase the quota for health officials working in district hospitals and dispensaries.
This is followed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (175), the National Assembly (150 ), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (140), and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (120). The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment have each been allocated 100 new employees. The Lao Red Cross was given the lowest number with just five new officials.
The main provinces were granted a sizeable number of new state employees, with Savannakhet province gaining 70 new officials, Luang Prabang 50, and Champassak 50.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Khammoune Viphongxay told Vientiane Times on Tuesday that the allocation of new government employees was based on four factors.
These included the need for new officials by various government bodies, vacant positions, and the financial capacity of the government to pay the salaries of new recruits.
The government also allocated a large number of state employees to newly established organisations.
We have assigned more officials to the National Assembly since we established the Provincial councils because more people were needed to serve in these assemblies, Mr. Khammoune said.
Altogether, various departments asked the government to approve about 20,000 new officials for their work but the government could only allocate 5,000 officials due to its limited financial capacity.
Minister to the Prime Minister’s Office and Government Spokesman, Prof. Dr Chaleun Yiapaoher, told the media during the government’s monthly meeting in August that the new quota was also decided based on the number of officials who had recently retired or died.
He said about 3,000 officials retire and die every year and these would be replaced under the new quota.
Since 2014, the government has allocated only 5,000 new officials due to budget constraints and the fact that Laos currently has more officials than other countries in the region.
In fiscal year 2012-13, the government approved an intake of 12,550 new officials, which was 2,7 90 less than in 2011-12.
Currently, over 150,000 civil servants work for ministries, government agencies and local authorities Laos, accounting for more than 2 percent of the country’s total population.
Source: Vientiane Times
