KUALA LUMPUR: The government is focused on overhauling the image of civil servants and the landscape public sector organisations operate in.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who announced this in the Dewan Rakyat today said the reforms were to ensure the government's delivery system was more "people-centric" to better manage affairs while reducing bureaucracy.

He said among improvements undertaken were immediate distribution of various assistance including cash aids, grants, soft loans and others by reducing bureaucracy.

"We saw how cash aid for the year end floods (Bantuan Wang Ihsan) was distributed within the fastest period in history." 

Ismail Sabri said the government provided three methods of distribution to flood victims, through cash handouts at designated centres, house to house delivery of the aid and online payments.

He said this in response to a question from Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Ismail Sabri said these steps by the government were driven by an efficient public service as well as a dynamic and facilitative structural organisation.

"I ensure that public (sector) organisations will be more efficient and effective by among others having the appropriate size, structure and functions with no duplication of functions.

"We will detail and review existing functions to ensure they are always relevant and meet current and future demands. Functions which are no longer relevant need to be frozen and reviewed to enable us to perform updated duties more effectively, "he said.

He said the public service delivery system should also be driven by new initiatives through approaches such as the adoption of five values based on rapid (delivery), world-class knowledge, inspiration, flexibility and technology-oriented functions and services.

He said in driving Malaysia's digital economy, the government would always ensure the public service delivery system supported Malaysia's transformation into a regional digital economy leader to nurture and build a more progressive society.

"We need to provide a strong, holistic and future proof service platform. The government understands that delivery through digital technology is critical in reducing bureaucracy, especially involving counter services.

"For that purpose, through the Malaysian Digital Economy Blueprint initiative or MyDigital, we have targeted 80 percent of government services on an 'End to End' (E2E) basis by 2025.

"This will drive the transformation of the public sector into a digital government by leveraging technology, data and digital intelligence, enhancing the digital skill set of civil servants and improving the quality of online services. This will also improve the country's position in the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking," he said.

Ismail Sabri said, the government is also continuously improving its delivery system through feedback from the private sector, non -governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and even Members of Parliament, and is committed to making improvements to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the system improves.

"We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement in government service delivery. We are always open to suggestions for improvement, constructive and professional criticism as per the Government's commitment in the Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability," he said.

In a reply to Tajudin's additional question on the work from home system for civil servants, Ismail Sabri said, currently, only 20 per cent of civil servants work from home, while the rest are in the office where productivity is seen to be better.