Report cards to monitor performance in Didi’s class

It is a 'Maa Mati Manush' government with corporate accountability that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is aiming for. For a start, the chief minister is introducing monthly report cards and fortnightly reviews of her ministers in an endeavour to usher in a result-oriented culture in the cabinet.

“The entire approach is to deliver and deliver fast. Our leader has directed us to complete our jobs within a given time frame,” said Partha Chatterjee, state industry and commerce minister, who headed the human resource function of Andrew Yule and Company before joining politics.

“The chief minister is fashioning the work culture after her own model. She is herself putting in more than 10 hours in the office everyday. We too have to submit reports, details of our work every month, apart from reviews in every cabinet meeting,” said Sukumar Hansda, Paschimanchal Unnayan Mantri.

Hansda has been shuttling between West Midnapore and Kolkata over the past few days.

The report card would contain details of initiatives undertaken by the minister and their progress. The ministers have already been told to start projects with a strict time frame.

The assessment report will also record details of visits made by the minister concerned in different areas and the fallout of such visits. Some members of Mamata’s cabinet have started visiting different projects and locations from May 20, the very day on which they took oath.

The report card and the assessment report are a part of the initiative that also has provisions for maintaining attendance records and log book for visits of individual ministers.

The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) would keep a tab on when ministers are coming to office, and when they are leaving. Mamata Banerjee has asked ministers to reach office by 9.30 am. The CMO would also prepare the report card for each minister. The chief minister would personally go through each report card, assessing their work.

The report card will contain details of initiatives undertaken by the minister and its progress. The ministers have already been told to start projects with a strict time frame.

The assessment report will also register details of visits made by the minister concerned and the fall out of the visits. Already like Mamata Banerjee, all other ministers are making frequent visits. For instance the state jail minister Shankar Chakraborty was seen making a visit to Alipore central jail around midnight the day he took office.

The minister’s ability to implement directions from the CMO and to carry on his or her own initiatives will also be reflected in the assessment reports. Even in cabinet meetings, the work of each minister will be reviewed, though not in details. The ministers have even been asked to set the agenda for meetings a week earlier and notify the CMO.

The minister’s ability to implement directions from the CMO, and to carry on his or her own programmes would be recorded in the assessment reports. The work of each minister will be reviewed even in cabinet meetings. The ministers have been asked to set the agenda for meetings a week in advance and notify the CMO.

The initiatives come against the backdrop of Mamata Banerjee’s sustained campaign over the past few years that declining work culture in the Left regime started at the very top – the cabinet.

Corporate accountability – Maa mati Manush style

*Monthly report cards of ministers.

*Reviews of work in cabinet meetings.

*Tab on ministers’ attendance.

*Record of visits made by each minister.

*Daily update to CMO regarding major issues like Singur, Rajarhat