In order to assess the performance of its officers, the Mayawati government has introduced a new system based on the assessment of actual work done by the various departments. Every month, each Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) will fill up an 86-page pro forma which will form the basis of the exercise.

First, the District Magistrates (DMs) will conduct a review with the SDMs and district-level officers of all departments. Next, the Divisional Commissioners will review the reports from the DMs under them and send their own reports to the state headquarters. The state-level review will be done in the presence of principal secretaries and secretaries by the Cabinet Secretary and the Chief Secretary and a report sent to the CM.

The reviews, it is believed, will help in identifying areas where improvement is required. The government has made it clear that adverse entries would be made in the service book of officers who fail to make amends within two months. The system has been introduced this month.

An official said the new system is an attempt to improve delivery in priority areas of the government, which had emerged as problematic in the reviews conducted by the Chief Minister after the BSP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha elections last May. “She asked us to make changes in the original format and it took more than a week to finalise it the way she wanted it,” he said.

The format will be used to collect feedback on work done by 21 departments, with Dr Ambedkar Gram Sabha Vikas — a separate department Mayawati created in 1995—on top.

The pro forma seeks even minute information, like the number of teachers found absent in schools, the number of land pattas allotted to the SC/STs, scholarships given to students, contracts awarded to SCs/STs, and availability of medicines in government hospitals. “This is going to be cumbersome. The format shows the government’s failure to prioritise its tasks,” said a DM.