Mahayuti Government’s 100-Day Performance Audit Reveals Poor Performance in Eight Key Departments
The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has conducted a performance assessment of all 48 departments, highlighting poor performance in at least eight key areas. This first-of-its-kind exercise, ordered by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, was carried out by the Quality Control of India.
Three of the eight departments that performed poorly include General Administration, Urban Development, and Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, which are held by Fadnavis, Deputy CM Ek Nath Shinde, and Ajit Pawar, respectively.
The performance outcome of each department was measured through the targets assigned to them. While the General Administration department only met 24% of its targets, the Urban Development and Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs departments met 34% and 33% of their targets, respectively.
Government sources said the CM will hold follow-up meetings with departments that have performed poorly. Of the 48 departments, 12 have secured a perfect 100% target on the performance index. These top-performing departments include Water Resources, Home, Rural Development, Animal Husbandry, Ports, Higher and Technical Education, Labour, Textiles, Cultural Affairs, Mining, Dairy Development, and the Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Eighteen departments have been rated above 80%. These are Energy, Industry, Revenue, Transport, School education, Food and Drugs Administration, Aviation, Skill development, Woman and Child Development, Agriculture, Fisheries, Urban Development (2), Medical Education, Information and Technology, Cooperation, Excise, and Public Health.
Ten departments whose scores stand between 60% and 80% include Marathi Bhasha, Public Works, Supply and Sanitation, Tourism, Housing, Social Justice, Water and Soil Conservation, Sports and Youth Welfare, Tribal Welfare, and Environment.
The low-performing eight departments also include Information and Communication (55%), Forest (44%), OBC welfare (44%), Marketing (43%), and Divyang Kalyan (36%).
The overall score of all 48 departments averaged 78%.
Shortly after taking charge as the BJP-led Mahayuti government’s CM on December 5, Fadnavis announced “transparent and accountable administration” with a focus on “development.” Fadnavis had set an ambitious target for each department, giving them 100 days of programmes for completion. The objective behind this exercise was to make the administrative machinery more active and “citizen-centric.”
On May 1, Fadnavis took to X to disclose the department-wise performance statistics. State BJP president and Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the “initiative is a bold step to bring greater accountability in the administration.” He said, “The purpose is not to pick faults with any department but to review the progress. And where there are hurdles, it helps to identify them and address them effectively.”
A Shiv Sena minister said that “the departments performing above 60% should be termed as good.” He said, “In the departments where performance falls below 60%, we have to clinically analyse as to why it failed. It is amusing to see that three departments held by Fadnavis, Shinde, and Pawar have scored below 60%. Now, all these three leaders are efficient. This needs to be reviewed.”
State Congress president Harshvardhan Sapkal questioned the performance audit of the departments. He said, “These numbers do not reflect the true picture. While the concept is good, the index raises doubts. If 12 departments have got a 100%, and 18 achieved above 80%, why does it not show on the ground?” He said, “The citizen-centric administration Fadnavis talks of remains a distant dream. This can be ascertained from the long queue outside Mantralaya, with individuals from distant villages coming with complaints.”
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Reference : https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/devendra-fadnavis-government-100-day-report-card-9981437/
