The government recently announced and presented best performance awards for 10 ministries and divisions. The exercise, unprecedented in Pakistan, has caused quite a stir. The News on Sunday (TNS) spoke to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Establishment Mohammad Shehzad Arbab, who planned and executed the performance review initiative. Arbab claims that the performance agreements designed by his division have helped evolve an efficient performance gauging system. Excerpts:

The News on Sunday (TNS): Please describe the evaluation system, and the procedure by which ministries and divisions have been ranked?

Mohammad Shehzad Arbab (MSA): We came up with this idea about two and a half years ago. The process started in September 2019. A pilot phase was done in 2020 when performance of 11 ministries was reviewed over six months. Following this pilot phase, the matter was taken to the federal cabinet, and Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed to roll out the system to include all ministries. We reached an agreement with all ministries to review their performance for the fiscal year 2020-21. Then we formally launched it.

There is a small dedicated team from the private sector that follows up the procedure and templates given to the ministries. There is a peer review committee headed by the Planning and Development Commission deputy chairman and comprising senior officials from the Establishment, Planning, Finance, and Cabinet Divisions. The committee reviews the progress of the ministries against their self-established plans and targets, and tries to rationalise and give feedback after every quarter. There is a portal developed for the purpose. Every minister uploads his performance details there. Everything is transparent and is available on the portal. The procedure has helped the government review the ministries’ potential and challenges in a systematic way. The recent certification was based on a rehearsal of two years performance review against the targets set by the ministries themselves.

TNS: It appears to be a challenging job. How do you differentiate between quantitative and qualitative performance?

MSA: Yes. Reviewing the performance of 41 ministries periodically and compiling a detailed report is a huge amount of work. Initially, we used only quantitative methods and an internal ranking was done. (It was not made public.) Later, we made it qualitative and added bonuses for motivation. We realised that the quantitative method is not justified because of the difference in the nature of work, mandate and size of ministries. Some ministries are very small and some are huge. We realised that smaller ministries, with less burden, can easily rise to the top, which would not be fair. So we added the qualitative aspects. While gauging performance, we now look at quality of the initiative, efforts required to complete the tasks and dependency resolution, among other factors.

TNS: How do you see the criticism the review has drawn, including from some cabinet members?

MSA: We don’t worry about criticism. Also, remember, the certification is based on only the first six months’ review of two fiscal years (current and the next). An internal review was done earlier. The top ministry in the current ranking was among the top five in the earlier review as well. This review was done against indicators and targets set by ministries for six months. It will be unfair to judge the performance of a ministry for two years based on this. 23 out of 41 ministries have achieved more than 80 percent of their targets.

This is not a political move. It is purely administrative action. It’s a policy meant to improve and review the performance of the government. The PTI government is not of a traditional kind. It has introduced transparency mechanisms despite the political challenges. This is Naya Pakistan where you judge your cabinet’s performance. This is an excellent effort. The impact from the efficiency point of view and the response of the ministries has been enormous. It seems that they are finally facing pressure to deliver.

We set 1,090 targets for the ministries for two years. Out of those we expect 426 to be achieved by the end of this fiscal year. The system is also in place in countries like Bangladesh. When we started the exercise, in the first year, the average project completion was 49 percent. It went up to 62 percent in the first quarter of this fiscal year. Hopefully, in next six months, it will reach nearly 95 percent. This is not political stuff. It is an attempt to improve the system. It is about ministries, not ministers. The certificate is awarded to a ministry. The bonus is paid to civil servants, not politicians. The crux of the matter is that the government has to perform.

TNS: Do you intend to introduce a mechanism to review the performance of ministries using public feedback?

MSA: We are trying to make it public-/ consumer-oriented. For example, we suggested that the Interior Ministry judge the performance of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) based on public perception. The ministry conducted the exercise through its own staff, which we dismissed. We then asked that it be done by a third party. Such third-party evaluations will help us review the performance of ministries and departments dealing with the public. We are also focusing on third-party validation of targets set by the ministries and the filing of performance templates. This is a kind of audit. It has started in the ministries of health, petroleum and power. We also hope to introduce impact assessment based on people’s opinions/ feedback. We are planning comprehensive reviews to improve the process.

TNS: What challenges have you identified during the exercise?

MSA: An important factor we identified is the inter-dependency of ministries whether through pending work, paperwork or approvals. Dependence on other ministries is a major reason for pendency. In the first two quarters of 2021-22, there were 1,711 inter-dependencies; this is a big sticking point. We tried and more than 1,200 of those were resolved. We are in the process of suggesting a mechanism to address this aspect. Our quarterly review is a lengthy procedure. It takes days. In the future, the PM wants to enforce a strict quality criterion. He also wants to be informed about the extent to which ministries follow national interest, and what people gain from these ministries.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillani@gmail.com. He tweets at @waqargillani