Devendra Fadnavis brings corporate playbook to Governance
Devendra Fadnavis
brings corporate playbook to Governance
Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis is initiating sweeping reforms by tasking divisional commissioners with unprecedented studies. These reforms include implementing corporate-style KPIs for government employees, streamlining policy creation, and optimizing resource allocation. The initiative aims to enhance accountability, efficiency, and ease of living for citizens by leveraging technology and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles.
Maha CM Devendra Fadnavis has done a
‘grand vizier’ in Maharashtra and tasked divisional commissioners (DCs) to study reforms the kind no state has seen.
These include putting in Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measuring the performance from the collector to the tehsildar a la corporate style, to asking collectors to identify best practices and frame policies, to finding out excess employees in certain departments and weeding out unnecessary regulations.
The government issued a Government Resolution on Wednesday for six DCs in the state to create study groups to work on the tasks given to them within the deadline of June 30.
These measures came following a two-day brain-storming session of DCs and collectors in Pune on April 4-5, addressed by Fadnavis.This has enthused IAS officers, especially junior bureaucrats, who see this as a way to find
out-of-the-box solutions to vexed problems.
For instance, the Amravati DC has been tasked to create a job chart and set KPIs from the DC to tehsildar level. These include parameters on how they were able to deliver on state and central government schemes and on the state’s flagship schemes. There would be KPIs for other departments and employees too.
As per an IAS officer the move to put KPIs for government employees was necessary to make employees accountable. “While corporate employees have KPIs and appraisals, nothing much happens to government officials even if they don’t work or simply drag their foot on delivering services to people. This way, there would be accountability.”
Under the present system, the policies are prepared by ministers and the collectors implement them. For the first time, those who are actually on the ground are being asked to implement policies and prepare standard operating procedures (SOPs). This is a huge deal.”
The Pune DC has been given the responsibility to study measures to ensure ‘ease of living’ for people while interacting with the government. The government is keen to ensure that citizens who submit documents like Aadhaar would not need to submit the same documents for availing a different document as the documents submitted the first time would be digitally stored. There are plans for a central processing centre to remove red tape and corruption for issuance of documents like birth certificate and caste verification.
“Now, if you apply for a birth or death certificate you have to deal with local officials. What is being thought now is that the documents would be uploaded at the local level and from there it would be sent to a central processing centre which would be the one issuing documents. This system would be faceless with less scope for corruption and faster implementation.
The Nashik DC has been asked to head a study group to identify excess staff in departments. This move is not to remove excess employees but to place them in departments where they are needed.
Top Maharashtra government officials said the measures bear the stamp of Fadnavis and Shrikar Pardeshi, the CM’s secretary. “The study groups and the brief given to them are radical. Deadlines have been given, which is good. However, we need to see how many of these ideas get translated into policy and gets implemented,” an IAS officer said.
News Edit KV Raman
