Performance management in government of India: Evolution and shifting trends towards data and emerging technologies

Performance Matters. Government establishments are no exception. The Indian Government system has had its own tryst with the evolutionary journey of Performance Management Systems and its marked shift towards data and digital orientation, especially towards Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning (AI/ML) methodologies in recent times. The current paper focuses on this evolutionary journey of Performance Management in India and studies three key developments in the 21st Century to capture the emerging trends in the Government sector. In the first decade of the 21st century, the Results Framework Document (RFD) was introduced as a structured Performance Management System in the Government of India to invoke objective assessment of the business of government departments through measurable relevant success indicators springing quantitative output data. The second decade saw the introduction of the Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF) vide Ministry of Finance and Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, which marked shifting priorities from measuring achievements vis-à-vis physical/financial perspective to measuring both outputs and outcomes vis-à-vis financial outlays. The third decade, marked by emerging technologies including AI/ML in the global ecosystem, witnessed the introduction of the Data Governance Quality Index (DGQI), with a focus on data and technology to measure the performance of ministries/departments for eventual data-driven decision making. The findings are primarily based on an in-depth study of secondary data. A comparative analysis of the three performance management instruments was also made to understand the incremental shifting patterns of Performance Management towards data and digital orientation over time.