A committee of secretaries chaired by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar approved the scheme last fortnight and has asked the Department of Expenditure to work out guidelines for its implementation.
To avail of the incentive scheme, government departments will have to get a performance rating of 70 per cent or more on the results framework document (RFD) — a performance evaluation mechanism implemented by 62 ministries and departments since last year — besides installing biometric access control in its offices.
The scheme will not put additional burden on the exchequer the incentives will be paid out of cost savings made by the department in that fiscal. The scheme will allow for up to 15% of the money saved to be distributed.
Secretary and joint secretary level officers will get cash incentives based on the department’s performance; junior employees will be paid on the basis of individual performance.
Employees will be able to avail the first cash incentives only for 2012-13, given that the performance evaluation system has been in place since last year.
The initial work on the incentive scheme was done by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), though the government did go through an extensive process of consulting stakeholders at all levels….