The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) will hold a meeting with the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) before Jan 18, to explain the maximum salary deduction for civil servants when repaying their study loans.

PTPTN chairperson Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said the action against 3,193 civil servants was due to their failure to repay loans amounting to RM28.84 million.

"We have sent warning notices to the civil servants, but they still failed to give any commitment to repay their debts," he told a press conference after attending the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) Outstanding Student Awards at Dataran Lenggong in Lenggong yesterday.

Shamsul Anuar noted that there were civil servants with net salaries of between RM3,000 and RM5,000 per month who still refused to repay their PTPTN loans.

On Tuesday, Cuepacs had stressed that it might withdraw the authorisation for PTPTN to make salary cuts for civil servants, if the agency continued to implement maximum cuts.

Shamsul Anuar, who is also the Lenggong MP, said since the salary deduction was implemented in October, PTPTN loan repayments had rose from 7.5 to 17.2 percent.

A total of 277,606 civil servants have taken PTPTN loans, he added.

- Bernama