PUTRAJAYA will shut down a controversial propaganda unit used by the previous Barisan Nasional government next month, putting 800 contract workers out of their jobs, said its director, Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz.

The Special Affairs Department (Jasa) will be dissolved on October 15. About 800 contract workers will be retrenched while 300 civil servants transferred back to the Public Service Department (PSD) and eventually redeployed.