Punjab Government Efficiency Improvement Programme

Building on reforms introduced under the first phase of the Punjab Resource Management Programme, the Punjab Government Efficiency Programme (PGEIP) supports the government in realising the long-term goals of improving service delivery and strengthening management of resources to create fiscal space for investment in public service.

Crown Agents is actively participating in the implementation of two key components of PGEIP:

• Public Financial Management Reform : Establishing a fully functional and self-sustained public financial management system in seven departments of Government of Punjab (Health; Irrigation and Power; Excise and Taxation; Higher Education; Livestock and Dairy; Public Health Engineering; and Communications and Works) by switching over from the existing incremental budget system to a strategically oriented medium term budgetary framework (MTBF) with integral linkages with the medium-term development framework (MTDF).
• Civil Service Reform: Developing two model departments in the Punjab government, namely the Excise and Taxation Department and Livestock and Dairy Department. In addition to introducing financial management reforms pertaining to developing MTBF, work in these two departments includes implementing comprehensive and in-depth civil service reforms to create model departments and pave the way for broader civil service reforms. The reforms comprise (a) rationalising departmental functions; (b) improving human resource management systems; (c) streamlining and re-engineering business processes; and (d) building staff capacity.

We are working in partnership with the Programme Management Unit of PRMP to manage this extensive programme, which commenced in September 2010 and will run for 21 months. Specifically, we are providing public financial management experts and sectoral specialists to :

• Work alongside officers in the selected departments to provide direct support to MTBF preparation
• Deliver training and workshops on MTBF preparation
• Design budget execution monitoring systems
• Assess the feasibility of different IT solution to support budget preparation

For the two departments selected to be developed as model departments, our experts will:

• Develop and support the implementation of a change management strategy and communications plan
• Undertake functional, staffing, structure and strategy reviews
• Re-engineer business processes and identify IT solutions
• Review HRM policies, procedures and practices with a view to recommending improvements and supporting their implementation
• Introduce concepts associated with performance management, based on their departmental objectives and targets.