If we private citizens want short and long term disability insurance we have to pay for it and it is expensive. I recommend everyone having both because what will you do in his situation if disabled.
That said, these public servants usually are underpaid so adding in disability insurance would be reasonable. That, and I agree most government pensions are too generous.
I am sick of hearing about “underpaid” public servants. It may have been true once upon a time, but the fact is that most government jobs pay substantially more than their private counterparts. The ridiculously lavish benefits packages were supposed to make up for this differential, but the spending has gone beyond reason.
Police, teachers, firefighters and the general civil servant are all in the same league: there are some really great people who do exceptional jobs, but far too many are just professional grifters. Those of us under fifty who believed that we woudl have SS are all facing the same fate. Under 40, fuggetaboudit...