Performance Charting Body Misses Own Deadline
The effort of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to shake up ministries by handing out performance-based report cards is itself under-performing.
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PM Manmohan Singh has failed to hand out report cards to ministries.
A high-powered committee on government performance, guided by the Cabinet Secretariat, was supposed to meet last month (June 21) to assess the functioning of at least 62 federal ministries and departments. But it failed to stick to its deadline.
Prajapati Trivedi, secretary of the performance management division under the Cabinet Secretariat cited “official issues” as the reason for the delay.
“The meeting could not be held since we were busy with the appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary,” Mr. Trivedi told India Real Time Tuesday.
“God willing, if all goes well, the meeting will take place at the end of this week and the result will be declared next month,” he said.
Under the system of performance appraisal, all government ministries are required to prepare a framework document that summarizes their main objective and corresponding action during the year. This will be reviewed on the basis of parameters and indicators approved by the Cabinet Secretariat. Ratings will range from excellent to poor.
The system of performance appraisal is intended to enhance efficiency in the functioning of various government departments and bureaucracy. But so far, there seems little prospect that the performance initiative will, well, perform.
“It is unclear how the evaluation function will pan out,” said Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst in New Delhi. “The performance management division of the Cabinet Secretariat could well be a spur and discipline ministries but it is a slow effort.”
India desperately needs more responsive and outcome-bound governance. So we might fairly say that it is time for the government to meet its own deadlines in trying to improve its performance. No more excuses, please. Please share your views in the Comments section.
Via: India Real Time
