Evaluation of UPA govt performance begins today
59 Central departments will be examined in the first phase
Almost six months into his second term at the helm of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set in motion a process to evaluate the performance of various wings of the Union Government.
Singh approved the preparation of results framework documents (RFDs) for all departments as part of the comprehensive performance monitoring and evaluation system (PMES).
Sources said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had selected 59 departments for evaluation in the first phase. The departments have been divided into six clusters. The performance management division of the Cabinet Secretariat will hold a series of six workshops—one for each cluster of departments—from the first to the third week of November in order to prepare and deliberate on RFDs.
Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar will inaugurate the first workshop on Tuesday.
Official sources said the first workshop would evaluate the performance of various departments under the ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The second and third workshops will focus on departments under the Ministries of Human Resource Development and Health. The fourth one will be on resource management covering the ministries of Power, Petroleum and Energy. The fifth and sixth workshops will focus on trade, industries, services, infrastructure and social sector.
“The results framework documents are going to be the annual performance management tools, and they will set out the objectives of various departments and chalk out the measures they will take to achieve the objectives,” said a highly-placed official.
Sources said the PMES would also develop a system for monitoring the progress of each department through success indicators.
“This path-breaking move will set the tone for substantially improving the functioning of government departments,” said the official.
The ministries will submit their reports to the cabinet secretary by the end of November, and a mid-term review will be undertaken by them. The cabinet secretary will later constitute task forces comprising experts to review the performance of the ministries.
The PMES will subsequently be extended to cover all departments of the Centre.
Nearly 250 senior government officials will take part in the workshops, sources said.
