PRIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday awarded certificates of appreciation to the 10 best performing federal ministries.
Addressing the ceremony held in Islamabad, the Premier said that no system in the world can succeed without having a reward and punishment mechanism.
Critics and political opponents are raising questions about the criteria applied for selection of best performers quoting failures and achievements of different ministries and divisions during the last over three years.
No individual or ministry anywhere in the world can claim perfection and it is understood that the performance is judged on a comparative basis.
The top ten ministries might not have performed miraculously but those who came out with better policies and ideas to meet challenges in their realms surely need to be appreciated.
From the very beginning, the Prime Minister has been sensitive to what his ministers and their departments are doing to resolve problems of the people and based on his personal information and monitoring of their performance, he changed portfolios frequently to get better results.
He also came up with the idea of two-year performance agreements with the ministries, which envisage clear targets for them to achieve based on electoral commitments of the PTI.
Forty-one ministries had proposed 1,100 projects for two years and half of them were to be implemented till June 2022 and the remaining half by June 2023.
It was, therefore, natural to assess actual progress and reward those who showed tangible results in implementation of these goals and agenda on which hinges the electoral success of the ruling party.
The distribution of merit certificates would surely help promote healthy competition among ministries to achieve distinction by ensuring delivery in relevant areas.
Though delivery of key ministries is not enviable, the process of monitoring their performance against clear targets is a good precedent and the practice should be expanded to include projects and programmes that could bring about a real change in the life of the people.
