DEVELOPING countries’ bureaucracy serves as an engine of socio-economic growth and development. It seems there is a growing inability in Pakistan to evaluate the performance of civil servants objectively.

The performance evaluation system is obsolete and does not have a performance management system. It only has one performance evaluation report (PER) which was previously termed as the annual confidential report (ACR). The ACR/PER does not generally guarantee a reward-generating system that facilitates rewarding an outstanding performance and penalising mediocre ones.

By introducing a reward generating mechanism, the performance of employees will automatically be elevated. In addition, organisations must delegate powers to regions, circles and divisions in letter and spirit and implement a decentralised working culture instead of controlling the entire administrative system.

This country needs a system where civil servants’ performance is accurately measured, evaluated and subsequently rewarded (or punished). Only then can some of the issues regarding good governance be successfully addressed.

Engr Naveed Ahmed Unar
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2020