Tighter scrutiny for better work

All the ministries and divisions of the government will have to sign annual performance agreements (APAs) with their subordinate departments and organisations by October 15 to ensure better public service and more accountability, said cabinet division sources. 

Once the agreements are signed, all work targets laid out on paper would come under scrutiny and would be rated at the year-end through systematic performance indicators.

The move comes in line with the government's recent emphasis on promoting performance-based work culture and improved governance. 

Earlier on Sunday, secretaries of all the 48 ministries and divisions signed APAs with the Cabinet Division for the 2015-2016 fiscal at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and presented Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with copies of their respective agreements.

It was the second instance of APA-signing after the Government Performance Management System (GPMS) was introduced in the second half of the last financial year (2014-15).

Sources at the Cabinet Division told The Daily Star that this year the government is taking the GPMS down to the levels of all the subordinate departments and institutions under different ministries and divisions.

Cabinet Division Secretary (Coordination and Reform) Md Nazrul Islam told The Daily Star yesterday that there will be a grace period up to October 29 for those who will fail to sign the agreements by the stipulated time for genuine reasons.

He said all the agreements would be made available on the official websites so that the public can have access to all the information.

He explained that on top of being pledge-bound to ensure better governance and people's right to information, the ministries, divisions and the departments under them have to make public each of their 'Citizens and Client Charter' (CCC) and dispose of at least 50 percent of audit objections within a year.

There are performance ratings for all tasks and commitments signed under the APAs, he said, adding that an individual ministry's performance would be as good as the collective ratings of all the departments under it.  

Responding to the APA move, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman told The Daily Star yesterday that "this is very positive, something unprecedented in Bangladesh."

"We all must welcome the move. If APAs can be implemented on a reward and punishment basis, it will definitely yield good results in quality enhancement of governance," he said.

He suggested that in addition to the government's own assessment of APA implementation, an independent assessment done by a third party can be considered too. He also underscored that the assessment results be disclosed to the public.

Talking over the phone, Matia Chowdhury, a senior member of the Sheikh Hasina-led cabinet, said, "APA is an improved version of the existing ADP (annual development programme) review. We're engaging with the prime minister through these contracts, which will infuse new enthusiasm in achieving further excellence in delivering public services."

Asked about the ratings achieved by ministries and divisions during the first cycle of APAs (2014-15), Matia said that it was a good beginning.

The PMO has started the process by signing APAs for 2015-16 with six of its subordinate departments while women and children affairs ministry became the first among all the ministries by striking APAs with all of its subordinate departments on Monday.

The APAs seek to address three basic questions: What are the main strategic objectives of a ministry/division in a particular year? What activities they propose to achieve these objectives? And how would someone know about the progresses in implementing the activities at the end of the year?

Md Nazrul Islam said there are performance indicators and scientific appraisal systems in place through which it can be measured how each of the ministries and divisions and their subordinate public offices is faring.

Elaborating on performance ratings, he cited the APAs between the Cabinet Division and the Road Transport and Highways Division, and said, "For instance, there are certain points for road building, repair and maintenance. If the authorities concerned deliver the job as per the agreements, they will get full points but if the success rate is not up to the mark, they will get poor points."

He said similar types of performance-based work culture can be found in Kenya and also in some of our neighbouring countries including India and Bhutan.

Sources at the women and children affairs ministry told The Daily Star that as State Minister Meher Afroze Chumki will be away from home on a foreign tour for quite some time, she has already struck APAs with the departments under her ministry on last Monday.

In the APA, the department of women affairs has set targets for providing life skills and food and monetary aids to over a million women in 2015-16;  for employing 6,500 women and training 40,000 adolescents; and for helping 100 women entrepreneurs.

Bangladesh Shishu Academy has aimed to bring out 55 new books for children in the current fiscal year while Jatiya Mahila Sangstha has pledged to provide vocational training to nearly 28,000 women and give loans to 1,350 women in 2015-16.    

In November last year, the government arranged a special workshop for all the stakeholders on introduction of APA. Projapoti Trivedi, the first Indian Secretary of Performance Management at the Cabinet Secretariat in India, attended the workshop that the Cabinet Division organised in association with the World Bank.

For APA implementation, there is a Cabinet Secretary-led national committee. To facilitate striking these performance agreements, there is a technical committee headed by the Cabinet Division Secretary (Coordination and Reform).

For coordinating APA implementations among the ministries and divisions, there are several Focal Point Officials at the Cabinet Division, each dedicated to attend the needs of four to five ministries or divisions.