Govt likely to boost performance monitoring system: Ind-Ra

Says the PMES mechanism is an intervention which will improve public governance

The central government is expected to strengthen functioning of the Performance Monitoring and Evaluation System (PMES) as the group's overall objectives are in sync with 'minimum government and maximum governance' focus, says a report.

In its report on PMES, India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has said that such a mechanism "is an intervention which will improve public governance and deliver better public goods/ services in India".

Coming under the Performance Management Division (PMD) of the Cabinet Secretariat, PMES aims to assess performance of a particular ministry or department for each financial year based on the targets fixed at the start of the fiscal.

Ind-Ra said it expects the new government to not only continue with the existing PMES but also to improve and strengthen it.

The expectation is based on the premise that the overall objectives of the PMES are in sync with the new government's focus on 'minimum government and maximum governance' and also in line with international best practices.

At present, PMES covers 80 departments and ministries of the union government as well as about 800 responsibility centres (attached offices/subordinate offices/autonomous organisations), the report said.

According to the report, public governance was one of the key issues around which the recently concluded Parliamentary election was fought.

"... Cross-country empirical research suggests that quality of governance has a strong correlation with economic growth and also the overall well-being of the people," it added.

Ind-Ra has said that government should extensively publicise PMES.

To usher in more transparency in governance, the latest performance evaluation reports along with the RFD (Result Framework Document) should be uploaded on the PMD website, the report said.

In January 2009, PMD was set up by the then government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to monitor performance of the various ministries and departments.