Saturday, May 7 2005 20:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Virtually giving a wake-up call to bureaucracy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (May 7, 2005) approved a new appraisal system for fixing accountability, increasing efficiency and giving due recognition to IAS officers who work hard and deliver.

Replacing the existing assessment system based on Annual Confidential Report (ACR), Singh gave the green signal to a new mechanism called 'Performance Appraisal Report' (PAR) which would be a tool for career planning and training, and not just a statement of a senior's opinion of a junior, PM's Media Advisor Sanjaya Baru said.

Apart from PAR, a new system of peer review of senior officers by an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) has got the PM's nod. It would ascertain the reputation of a civil servant by seeking inputs peers, juniors and clients on a confidential basis.

The reputation of an officer in terms of integrity, competence, attitudes and personal qualities would be assessed once every five years by the EPG.

"The new instruments are being introduced to increase accountability, encourage officers to be more pro-active and enhance efficiency," Baru said.

Replying to a question as to why the change was being brought about, he said, "The ACR system was a subjective instrument of opinion of a senior. There was a feeling that it does not take an objective assessment. PAR is a much more modern system of appraisal".

The PAR would evaluate the performance of an officer against 15 to 20 indicators like work output, personal attributes, functional competency and so on, Baru said.

Almost on the lines of a report card, the appraisal would be on 1-10 scale, with the overall grade being the median of the set of scores arrived at for each indicator, with some indicator being regarded as mandatory ones.

The decision comes amidst reports that the Prime Minister has been dissatisfied with the dedication and pace at which some of the top bureaucrats in key sectors have been functioning, disregarding the urgency for taking quick decisions and prompt follow-up action.

At the beginning of each year, the appraisee and the reporting officer would have to prepare an annual work plan setting forth the key tasks to be accomplished in order of priority, Baru said.