PSD Yet To Receive Recommendation On Compulsory Psychiatric Test

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 29 (Bernama) -- The Public Service Department (PSD) has yet to receive the Human Resource Ministry's recommendation to make it mandatory for all government and private sector employees to undergo periodic psychiatric tests.
PSD Director-General, Datuk Seri Ismail Adam said that presently, heads of department could instruct their staff to go for such tests if they suspected subordinates to be involved in drugs.
"The mechanism is there and has been enforced but what was recommended by the deputy minister, we have not received," he told reporters at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here Thursday.
Ismail was commenting on a call by Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar for all public and private sector employees to undergo psychiatric tests at least once a year beginning next year.
Abdul Rahman had said that all government employees would also have to go for blood and urine tests to identify those with HIV/Aids and drug users.
Ismail said that before implementing the recommendation, the government had to look at various matters including the cost involved, methodology and its reasonableness.

"We have about one million public employees in various sectors like defence, police, education, health and so on. Anything that involves the managing of conduct of civil servants should have a proper method of implementation.
"It needs to be discussed," he said.
Earlier, Ismail presented accreditation certificates to 368 PSD officers from 12 ministries and four departments who underwent training to be counsellors.