PTI govt to sign performance contract with 11 ministries

ISLAMABAD: The PTI-led government is all set to revive an old plan for signing performance contract with 11 ministries in a bid to improve governance structure and service delivery, a minister said on Wednesday.

The idea of signing performance contract was floated by the last PML-N led regime but they could not implement it under their five-year rule. Now, the PTI government has been making plans to implement this idea with the hope that it would help improve governance and upscale the performance of civil servants.

Despite making tall claims, the PTI regime has been unable to implement civil service reforms, as a summary tabled by a committee led by Dr Ishrat Hussain proved to be a bone of contention on security of tenure for civil servants. A ministerial committee was also formed, but nothing substantial came out of it.

Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform and Statistics Division Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said the government was devising a strategy to foster innovations and reforms in public sector entities to make them more efficient and productive.

He further said that major focus has been given to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 12th five year plan to achieve all the targets. The federal minister said this while talking to UNDP Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne, who called on him in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Appreciating the support of UNDP for governance reforms and attainment of SDGs, the minister said that improving governance indicators and service delivery were among the main agenda of the present government.

The purpose behind these reforms was to bring in e-governance, and to enhance capacity of ministries on technical issues and existing human resources to improve the performance and output of government institutions, the minister added.

Bakhtyar highlighted that initially 11 ministries were identified, which would be offered to sign performance contracts for enhancement of output and service delivery. The minister also appreciated UNDP support for capacity building and providing technical expertise in various sectors as well as for URAAN project to improve governance.

Talking about SDGs, the minister said the government’s socio-economic agenda was aligned with the SDGs, and that efforts were underway to frame a comprehensive strategy to achieve all the targets. He apprised that he would go to New York in July this year to present Pakistan’s first report on Voluntary National Review (VNR) of SDGs. However, sources said the Planning Commission proposed signing of performance contract of 11 selected ministries under the civil service reforms.

During the PML-N’s tenure, a summary was forwarded to the former premier and proposed allocation of Rs1 billion at initial stage with selection of three ministries for granting awards and incentives to its employees, but it had never seen approval and implementation.