FPJ Analysis: Maharashtra Govt Adopts Corporate Style

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has sought to bring the corporate approach to governance and accountability in the state administration. A Government Resolution (GR) issued this week legitimises this and, if pursued well, can make the administration more focused on tasks and far more accountable to people than it is now. Importantly, the move addresses a gripe commonly heard against the government—that its employees do not have to face annual appraisals of the kind that private sector or corporate workers do, especially in terms of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and that their performance, or the lack of it, holds little consequence for their careers.

Terms like KPIs, which are quantifiable ways to measure performance on specific parameters, or Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), which are a goal-setting and leadership tool, are used across the corporate sector for keeping its employees on the path of productivity and success. It has long been the demand from the corporate sector that the government adopt similar benchmarks to evaluate its employees, especially at the highest echelons, and help increase accountability. Fadnavis’ move to embrace the corporate style of measuring governance came after a brainstorming session earlier this month with district collectors and others.

In this system, district collectors are tasked with putting down KPIs for themselves and the entire governance hierarchy, down the line right up to the tehsildars, to identify best practices and frame policies to make governance accessible and meaningful, and to find out employees more than the strength needed as well as to eliminate rules and regulations that are no longer needed for governance. For example, the KPIs will include how and how much the district collectors have been able to deliver on central and state government schemes and a study of the best practices of programme delivery around the country and outside India too.

These are still baby steps in streamlining governance and making it accountable to people at the level they interact with the most. It will be a long while before these steps translate into better governance and accountability, but at least the first step has been taken. The key aspect lies not in merely pencilling in the KPIs and OKRs but in turning the intent into action that is meaningful and impactful for the larger public good. The challenge, always, lies in the space between intent and action. The Maharashtra government’s move deserves a cheer, but it is not yet time for three cheers.

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