Govt to introduce reform package for improving governance: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Finance, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday said the Government was keen on improving public service delivery and the time had come to introduce a reform package that enhances confidence of the citizens and improves governance. He said a more aggressive approach towards oversight of monitoring service delivery performance was required which was based on the existing voluntary system of performance definition and measurement. The Finance Minister was chairing a meeting on improving Government's performance through undertaking systemic reforms agenda. It was acknowledged in the meeting that there is a need to embed a governmentwide performance management system that focuses on improving service delivery capacity in the line Ministries. While the building blocks of such a system have already been provided through `Medium-Term Budgetary Framework' initiative, which has been implemented since its Cabinet approval in 2009, it was recognized that the next steps are critical for demonstrating performance of the Government in shape of results. A detailed presentation was given by Mr. John Gray, who leads a team of implementation consultants that advise the Finance Division through the support of the European Union.

Mr.Gray highlighted key weaknesses in the existing system, and suggested `Results Based Management' reform proposal that will improve Government's performance. In order to implement such a system, it would require changes in government's financial management system and public administration. The Finance Minister emphasised that improving results will require systemic change involving different stakeholders within the government. This will require changes in our planning, budgeting, and monitoring systems. The foundation of the proposed system is improved planning and definition of service delivery results that can then be monitored on a periodic basis. `Results Based Management' is an international good practice, but will require contextualisation to suit the institutional setup in the Federal Government. The meeting decided that `Results Based Management' would become a fundamental reform programme, which the Federal Governmentwill pursue in order to ensure value for money, and effective delivery of public services. The Finance Minister desired that a pilot model of few Ministries be initiated to test the working of the system before its full-scale implementation. As a next step, a roadmap will be developed that outlines key steps and a presentation will be made to the Prime Minister.