PESHAWAR, Nov 16: The NWFP government has put in place a new mechanism to evaluate the performance of its administrative departments, obliging them to come up with their annual business plans at the beginning of each year, it is learnt.

A circular to this effect has been issued by the NWFP Chief Secretary, Sahibzada Riaz Noor, to all the administrative heads of the departments, asking them to furnish their respective business plans for the year 2009 by end of this month, an official told Dawn.

The new system of performance evaluation, first of its kind in Pakistan, has been introduced on a trial basis to conduct appraisal of the Frontier government’s departments and agencies, most of which are flooded with redundant staffers with no clear vision and direction of working.

Every department would be given targets and objectives at the commencement of the year and then their performance would be reviewed once in every two months towards the set targets, explained the official.

Since the initiative has been taken on an experimental basis for the first time, the official informed that the departments have been given the liberty to determine criteria and targets by themselves in the first go that would create a sense of ownership.

The departments have been advised to immediately develop their annual business plans, containing objectives and achievable for the next calendar year. Once the departments furnish their plans, then a benchmark of indicators and measurements would be developed in consultation with them, the official maintained.

The business plans, explained the official, can be based on the rules of business that lays down functions of all the departments, but at the same time it should include the policy goals and agreed main outputs of each department.

The departments have also been directed to incorporate policy goals and objectives of the political governments’ in their annual business plan.

Official further informed the departments have been asked to begin the process with a process of consultation between secretaries and their senior staff members that can also be reviewed by a committee consisting planning and development, finance, establishment and law departments, as the regulatory departments.

The secretaries committee, headed by the chief secretary, would bi-monthly apprise the progress on these business plans and assignments given to and expected from departments.

The regulatory departments (planning and development, finance, establishment and law) will act as the referees for performance evaluation with regard to financial management, revenue generation, development initiatives and progress, service and legal matters, explained the official.

Final review of the performance of each department will be undertaken in a meeting to be chaired by the chief minister in cabinet, the official said, adding “This process of assessment would promote informed discussions among senior managers and assist them to address any particular issue.”