PM Office Makes Digital Evidence Mandatory for Ministry Performance Reports

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided to introduce a more stringent digital check-and-balance mechanism to monitor the performance of federal ministries, requiring them to submit complete, verifiable records of their work since February 2024.

Under the new approach, ministries will not be able to rely solely on performance claims. Every reported achievement will have to be supported by documented and verifiable evidence, with incomplete reports or claims without supporting proof subject to rejection.

The move is aimed at strengthening accountability, improving governance and creating an evidence-based system for evaluating the performance of federal ministries.

Ministries asked to submit complete digital performance records

According to the directives, all federal ministries have been asked to provide a comprehensive digital record of their performance from February 2024 to date.

The records will cover key areas including governance, public service delivery, reforms, development initiatives and progress against assigned targets.

The PM Office will use the information to assess whether ministries have delivered on their stated objectives and whether reported achievements can be independently supported through relevant documentation.

The emphasis on digital records is expected to make it easier for the government to track progress, compare targets with actual results and identify areas requiring corrective action.

Evidence required for every performance claim

A key feature of the new mechanism is the requirement for ministries to provide evidence alongside their performance claims.

Rather than accepting general statements about completed initiatives or improvements, ministries will have to submit supporting documentation that demonstrates what was achieved.

This could make government performance reporting more measurable and reduce reliance on broad or unsupported claims.

The PM Office has made it clear that incomplete reports and claims without evidence will not be accepted.

Development projects and spending to come under scrutiny

The digital monitoring framework will also cover development projects, their progress, expenditure and outcomes.

Ministries have been directed to provide details of projects that remain incomplete, including the reasons for delays and the obstacles affecting implementation.

The PM Office will examine whether allocated development funds have been used effectively and whether projects have delivered the intended results.

This will provide a broader picture of government performance by linking financial expenditure with actual project outcomes rather than assessing spending in isolation.

Pakistan’s Planning Ministry already uses digital, evidence-based monitoring mechanisms for development projects, including digital data collection, centralized systems, dashboards and performance tracking across the project lifecycle.

Governance and public services to be assessed under one framework

The new mechanism will bring several dimensions of ministry performance into a common evaluation framework.

These include governance, public service delivery, institutional reforms, development projects and progress toward assigned targets.

Such a framework could allow the government to identify ministries that are meeting their targets, areas where implementation is falling behind and projects requiring additional intervention.

It could also provide senior government officials with a consolidated view of ministry performance instead of relying on separate reports and fragmented information.

Digital governance gaining momentum

The move comes as the federal government continues to expand the use of digital systems across government operations.

In August 2024, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed federal offices to move toward paperless working through e-office, describing digitization as important for transparency and improved governance.

In February 2025, the Prime Minister also directed that e-office implementation across federal ministries and departments be completed, with the government reporting high levels of adoption across federal divisions at the time.

More recently, the Prime Minister launched an AI-based Prime Minister Office System in July 2026. The system is designed to digitally record, communicate, monitor and track directives issued by the Prime Minister, further expanding the use of technology in government decision-making and oversight.

The latest performance-monitoring initiative therefore represents another step toward shifting government oversight from traditional reporting toward digitally tracked and evidence-based performance management.

What the new system could mean for ministries

For federal ministries, the new mechanism is likely to increase the importance of maintaining accurate digital records and documentation of their activities.

Ministries will need to demonstrate not only what initiatives they have announced but also what has actually been completed, how resources were used and whether the intended outcomes were achieved.

The approach could also help identify recurring implementation problems by requiring ministries to document delays, bottlenecks and reasons behind incomplete projects.

For citizens, a stronger evidence-based monitoring system could potentially improve transparency around government projects and public spending if performance information is eventually made more accessible.

The broader objective is to establish a performance evaluation system in which government achievements are measured through verifiable results rather than claims alone.

With federal ministries now expected to provide detailed digital records and supporting evidence, accountability for government performance is set to become more structured and data-driven.