The Story of CPNS Swallowing a "Bitter Pill" at the End of the Stage, Seven Months Without Income

The appointment of prospective state civil servants, both civil servants and government employees with work agreements in 2025 was postponed from the initial plan. This decision also made a number of prospective state servants disappointed, even feeling oppressed because they had lost their previous livelihoods.

After hearing that the appointment of civil servant candidates or CPNS had been postponed, N (34), a resident of Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, was immediately filled with anxiety. This single parent lost his income because he had already resigned from his previous job.

"In my old workplace, I was always asked when I was resigning. It was nothing, they needed to find a replacement for me. As soon as I heard information from the BKD (Regional Personnel Agency) that April would be TMT (Starting Date), I decided to resign as of March 1," said N when contacted from Jakarta, Sunday (3/9/2025).

The mother of three had hoped to be able to work as soon as possible because she had to support her children alone. Not only daily needs, she also had to think about the school fees of her three children.

"My husband passed away five years ago. I fought to take the CPNS test at this maximum age and am very happy because this is for the future of my children," she said.

But what a shame, N had to swallow a bitter pill because the CPNS appointment was postponed to October 2025. In fact, initially the CPNS was scheduled to be appointed on February 22 to March 23, 2025.

The postponement of this schedule is said to be the result of an agreement in a working meeting and hearing of Commission II of the DPR with the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (Menpan and RB) Rini Widyantini and the Head of the State Civil Service Agency (BKN) Zudan Arif Fakrulloh at the Nusantara Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (5/3/2025).

Just imagine, what will I feed my children for the next seven months? While in June the school year starts

Prospective government employees with work agreements (PPPK) as part of CASN also suffered a similar fate. In the same meeting, the appointment of PPPK which was supposed to be carried out in June 2025 was postponed to March 2026.

"Just imagine, for the next seven months, what will I feed my children? While in June alone, my first child will start school, my second child will enter elementary school, and my youngest will enter pre-school," she said.

The postponement of the CPNS appointment did threaten N with losing income for seven months. N could have asked for help from his extended family in Lampung for daily living expenses. However, he did not want to ask for help because he did not want to burden his extended family for months.

"My family would definitely help, but I don't want to burden them. They also have their own lives. Honestly, I still can't think of where to look, and can only fight for justice with other CPNS," he said.

N hopes the central government will reconsider the decision to postpone the appointment of CPNS. It would be better if the appointment was accelerated, because many other CPNS also suffer the same fate. "Not just one or two people, but thousands of people feel disadvantaged and wronged," he said.

In addition to N, one of the CPNS from the central agency also felt the same anxiety. In fact, he admitted that he would lose income of up to tens of millions because he had resigned from his previous job when he was declared to have passed as a CPNS.

"I am a father with one child and one wife. If I start working this October, my potential loss could be more than IDR 50 million. This decision (postponement) is truly cruel because it indirectly cuts off the livelihood of a family," said the 33-year-old man.

This man is also furious with the government for being inconsistent in carrying out the registration process. In the schedule stated in the letter from the State Civil Service Agency Number 5419/B-KS.04.01/SD/K/2024, the proposed determination of the CPNS NIP was carried out on February 22 to March 23, 2025.

"If an agency that should be a role model is unable to meet the timeline with the excuse that it was just made up close to the deadline, then the discussion about employee welfare becomes far from reality," he said.

The government argued that this delay was made for the sake of simultaneity in the acceptance of ASN. This was also discussed in a working meeting with Commission II of the DPR.

In fact, Menpan and RB Rini Widyanti stated that the simultaneous appointment will be carried out on October 1, 2025 because this process takes time. "It must be done carefully and cautiously," she said (Kompas, 9/3/2025).

Public unrest

The government's decision inevitably makes the public restless. Moreover, there are around 1.2 million CASN who are still unable to get clarity regarding their appointment. Based on data from the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform, these CASN consist of 248,970 CPNS and 1,017,111 PPPK candidates.

With so many applicants and people affected by the delay, the internet is in turmoil. For example, public unrest is also reflected in tweets on social media X (formerly Twitter).

Discussion regarding the postponement of CPNS with the hashtag #TOLAKKEBIJAKANTMTSERENTAK has become one of the trends. As of Sunday (9/3/2025) at 20.00 WIB, there were at least 4,136 posts discussing the hashtag.

The Kemenpan RB Instagram account also did not escape the target. The ministry revealed information regarding the simultaneous appointment plan, Friday (7/3/2025). This upload was liked by more than 25,000 accounts and commented on by 13,000 accounts.

Although more liked, various questions and complaints are present in the comments column. Most accounts feel wronged because they have already hoped to be lifted according to the previously determined schedule.

Ketty (30), one of the CPNS at the central agency also felt the anxiety even though she had not quit her previous job. However, on the other hand, she also felt that the government had decisions and considerations in dealing with this problem.

"This delay makes me sad. I also went through difficult stages from administration to filing that had to be in accordance with the schedule. Fortunately, the current place still allows me to continue working," said Ketty.

G, a man who passed the CPNS in one of the West Java Provincial agencies is also restless even though he has not resigned from his old job. He said that becoming a civil servant is one of his life goals in order to improve the welfare of his family.

"As a head of a family with a wife and a child, I hope we can live better if accepted as ASN. However, that hope seems to have to be postponed because of this condition," said G.

The anxiety of these prospective ASN will continue to exist if there is no way out from the policy makers. In fact, at least hundreds of thousands of people feel oppressed because they have not been appointed as civil servants.