Prime Minister Modi Is Irreversibly Transforming India’s Bureaucracy Through His 360 Degree Review

Bureaucracy, a critical pillar of governance that successive Indian governments left untouched, is being reformed and transformed irreversibly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pranab Dhal Samanta of the Economic Times has reported.

The government, according to the newspaper report, has introduced a 360-degree review system to select, promote and admonish bureaucrats, rendering the annual confidential reports of the performance of bureaucrats obsolete. The new system has changed the rules of bureaucratic play, unsettling basic assumptions that lobbying the minister concerned or senior bureaucrats for a job will yield results.

The 360-degree review system involves holistic evaluation of talent, skills, social and personal parameters of a bureaucrat, instead of simply evaluating his performance based on his work experience and track record.

Under this system, the government has decided to consider all eligible officers, regardless of their average performance, for this assessment. The result of the 360-degree process cannot be overridden by the minister's recommendation and integrity of bureaucrats will also be assessed by way of reputation, not just by a Central Vigilance Commission clearance, the report states.

The process of evaluation used under the 360-degree process, conducted by three retired secretary-level officials, is an officially guarded secret. The identities of these officials, appointed for a two-year term, are classified. The report says that these officials are possibly not aware of the job they are assessing bureaucrats for.

The final report prepared by these officials is placed before a panel headed by the Cabinet secretary in case of secretary-level appointments and the establishment officer in case of joint secretary-level appointments. Who these officials talk to and how to find relevant information about bureaucrats is still unknown.