Key ministries fail to meet targets.

ISLAMABAD -- Key ministries of the government - planning, establishment, finance, cabinet and law - have not been able to deliver on their agendas as they continue to struggle with support ministries and divisions, according to a report on the pilot projects covering economic ministries as well.

According to the report, different ministries and divisions that cover core functions of the government for service delivery, revenue generation and policy formulation are struggling with support ministries and divisions. This has posed a challenge to the ministries and departments, which also involve the Prime Minister's Office, in resolving the issues being faced by support ministries and divisions.

The cabinet had approved a system for performance management of the federal government in September 2019. Its aim was to help the government move from process-driven orientation to clear focus on delivery.

Performance agreement was a critical part of the system as the prime minister and ministers agreed to set delivery targets for a financial year with specific targets for each quarter.

However, before enforcing the performance agreement on the entire federal government, a pilot exercise with 11 ministries was undertaken to help refine the approach.

Pilot model

The objective of the pilot phase was to learn and improve the model as it was designed for Q3 and Q4 of fiscal year 2019-20. It included preparing and approving agreements, and conducting one quarterly review. A peer review committee was constituted to oversee target preparations with the ministries.

Quarterly review process

A committee was constituted comprising secretaries from key cross-cutting ministries including finance, planning, cabinet and establishment, and was chaired...