CPM to go in for self-appraisal

With the objective of ensuring a higher level of commitment and responsibility and an assessment of the performance of party members....

With the objective of ensuring a higher level of commitment and responsibility and an assessment of the performance of party members,the CPM is all set to put in place a self appraisal procedure for the party. The concept,a first for the CPM,was introduced on the first day of the politburo meet that began in Kolkata on Wednesday with General Secretary Prakash Karat elaborating on the need for and the methodology of the procedure.

Senior party comrades and party insiders said that it was being packaged as a move to guarantee more democracy for party cadres and leaders and also for ensuring better performance in a party structure that was largely Stalinist in nature.

The Politburo members were the first to appraise their performance with the morning session of the Politburo being dedicated to the concept. Politburo members including general secretary Prakash Karat,Kerala CM V S Achuthanandan,West Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattcharjee and member Sitaram Yechury appraised the members of the jobs they had performed. The partys Job Distribution seemed to be synonymous with Key Result Area, a term most corporate houses are familiar with. The job distribution had been done as per the All-India party Congress held in Coimbatore in 2008.

It was indicated that about 900,000 party members would also undergo this process and will have to appraise their performance by March this year.

The Politburo will prepare a note on the deliberations which will be placed before the Central Committee meeting. The Central Committee will then prepare a document and circulate it among the state committees. Politburo member Nirupam Sen said,Performance assessment is a continuous process in our party. We have started this from the top; will be taken up across the country. Since we are in power in Bengal and Kerala,we should pay special attention to these states, Sen said.