Opinion A report card for civil servants is a good idea
The “administrative scorecards” sent by the Cabinet Secretariat to secretaries in the central government must be viewed through the broader prism of making the civil services more efficient, accountable and responsive
Administrative scorecards can easily become just another task to tick off, rather than being seen as an impetus for improved efficiency. Since Independence, India has faced a challenge with respect to the bureaucracy. The civil services, designed for the needs of an extractive and imperious colonial power, needed to be transformed to a “steel frame” that serves the needs of a young democracy. Civil service reforms began with the Constitution, continued with the first Administrative Reforms Commission (1966), focused on reforming training and promotions with the second ARC (2009) and the Right to Information Act. The “administrative scorecards” sent by the Cabinet Secretariat to secretaries in the central government must be viewed through this prism of making the civil services more efficient and responsive. As this newspaper reported, the scorecards assess officers and their departments out of 100, with a special emphasis on “file disposal”, “Output/Activities” and “expenditure on schemes/ capital expenditure”.
Over the last decade, the Centre has also made several attempts to bring the bureaucracy up to speed through digitisation, Mission Karmayogi , lateral entry and PRAGATI, to fast-track infrastructure projects. Some of these schemes have drawn criticism on two broad parameters. First, they were too dependent on the executive’s political will. Second, they left in place far too much subjectivity. The “report card”is a step towards addressing both.
Bureaucracies are notoriously impervious to change. Part of the reason for this is the ability of “governmentality” to rationalise and absorb within its framework the very measures that are meant to change it. Administrative scorecards can easily become just another task to tick off, rather than being seen as an impetus for improved efficiency. The other danger with assessments is that they become more important than what they are meant to assess, as when a test score matters more than learning. However, if these pitfalls are kept in mind and avoided, the administrative scorecard has the potential to move the bureaucracy forward in ways that are measurable — and much-needed.
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