Maharashtra chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis has taken a bold move. As per reports, he has instructed his ministers to present their department’s achievements through a powerpoint presentation scheduled on September 24 at the State Sahyadri Guest House. Every ministry will be given a slot of 15 minutes to sum up their achievements. Every minister will have to choose five important decisions taken by their departments and turn them into a powerpoint presentation.
According to a source speaking on the condition of anonymity said, “These five important decisions and its long-term impact have to be described properly in the presentation. The decisions should be people oriented and its impact on the common man should be well-illustrated. The presentation should be supplemented with proper facts and figures. The CM will chair the performance meeting himself. If found failing, the minister will receive an earful on the spot.” It has also been learnt that the chief secretary, principal secretary and the additional chief secretary will also be present during the presentations and give their inputs as well.
Moreover, as per sources the chief minister’s publicity experts will also be present at the meeting. They would be studying the presentations and picking up mega ideas for generating a narrative in the favour of the present government. Therefore, chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis has taken ministers’ accountability to a new level by instructing them to give a proper report card of their tenure.
However, this is not for the first time that chief minister Fadnavis has carried out such an exercise in accordance with the principles of accountability and answerability. Last year, the Maharashtra government had carried out appraisal of civic chiefs in the state on the basis of cities’ cleanliness. The Key Results Area (KRA) parameters had been fixed for the appraisal of all municipal commissioners. Promotions and increments were given based on KRAs and they had been set based on completion of projects and meeting other targets. In fact, this was followed for three successive years by the Maharashtra government. The idea behind this appraisal was to ensure systematic waste disposal and treatment mechanism in all the cities within ten state aligned with the appraisal.
With this, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has set a wonderful precedent. This could very well be one of its kind exercise where the ministers have to speak about their achievements and important decisions taken by them. This is going to help the government in carrying out a major administrative reform as it can easily classify ministers between competent and incompetent ones. While the competent ministers could be retained, the government has the option of weeding out the incompetent ministers thereby ensuring better governance. Fadnavis has made it amply clear that there is no place for lethargy or incompetence under his leadership. This will also become a precedent and model for other states where similar exercises and appraisals can be carried out for ensuring that only competent ministers remain in charge of affairs.
From a strategic point also, this seems like a wonderful move. It is clear that it will help him in gauging the public mood and also understanding the important and significant decisions taken by his ministers. It will also help him in carrying out a major media blitz whenever the Lok Sabha or the assembly elections are around the corner. This is bound to go down as a historic political and administrative reform in India’s independent history.