The Indian Express reported on February 9 that the Cabinet Secretariat has begun using performance scorecards for Union secretaries. This marks a major change in the evaluation process for senior civil servants at the Centre. The scorecard covers a dozen parameters and relies on quantifiable indicators such as file disposal rates, reduction of pendency, expenditure control, and output delivery. Negative marks penalise lapses, while the cabinet secretary keeps a small discretionary part while awarding marks.

What is striking is not what these scorecards measure, but what they omit. At present, about 100 secretaries serve in the Government of India, with some 80 from the IAS. Those from non-IAS backgrounds — the Indian Foreign Service, other central services, engineers, scientists, economists — are, like IAS secretaries, involved in policy formulation and offering strategic guidance to ministers. No less important is a secretary’s ability to anticipate consequences by ensuring proposals are administratively workable, fiscally sustainable, and politically viable. None of the parameters seem to........

© Indian Express