Although it has been at the top for two consecutive years, this year the power department has overtaken ICT to occupy the top position. In the last financial year (2022-23), the ICT Division has become the 15th among all ministries and departments in implementing the Annual Performance Agreement (APA). Information and Communication Technology Division got 97.51 marks. The number obtained by the Ministry of Science and Technology is in the next position scoring 97.43. And among the 52 ministries and departments, the posts and telecommunications divisions has got 94.89 marks at the 34th position.
On Sunday (October 29), the Cabinet Division released the ‘Ministry and Divisional APA Results for FY 2022-23’.
According to the results, the Power Department of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources became the first among 52 ministries and departments to implement APA by getting 99.96 out of 100. Planning department is at the bottom of the list with 88.06 marks.
The Ministry of Public Administration, which was at the top of APA implementation in the last financial year, is now at the second position. Ministry of Liberation War Affairs was at the bottom of the list in last financial year (number 76.32). Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has come to the 47th position (number 91.72).
It may be noted that, APAMS stands for the Annual Performance Agreement Management System. APA formulation, monitoring and evaluation is done through a software called APAMS.
An APA or Annual Performance Agreement is a commitment to what ministries and departments will do in the coming year. The Annual Performance Agreement is signed by the Cabinet Secretary as the Prime Minister’s representative and the Senior Secretaries and Secretaries as the Minister-in-Charge of the concerned Ministry. Ministries and departments carry out APAs with the offices/organizations under them.
This agreement is evaluated at the end of the year. According to the agreement, the National Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary gives numbers to the ministries and departments considering the implementation situation. Best 10 Ministries and Departments in implementation of APA are awarded.
Government introduced Annual Performance Contract under Performance Management System to increase transparency and accountability in government activities and bring dynamism. In this agreement, the strategic objectives of the concerned ministries/departments (70 marks), reform plan (10 marks), e-governance action plan (10 marks), GRS action plan (4 marks), citizen charter action plan (3 marks), right to information action plan (3 marks) has index. In this index, Information and Communication Technology Department was the best in implementing APA in the financial year 2019-20. After that, the ICT Division has been ranked at the top in the implementation of APA among 51 ministries and departments by getting 98.66 marks in the fiscal year 2020-21.