Dechen Dolkar 

The National Assembly rejected the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) report on the MaX system, with only 18 out of 46 members voting in favour.

The motion remains open for follow-up in the next session, as outlined in Section 103 of the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure.

During the previous session of the National Assembly, the Good Governance Committee had recommended the Prime Minister to review the MaX system in the civil service and eliminate the bell curve or forced ranking methodology used for evaluating the performance of civil servants.

Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay presented the action-taken report on the resolutions of the first session regarding the review of the RCSC’s MaX system yesterday in Parliament.

Lyonchhen said that the RCSC is currently engaging with senior management to refine the Performance Management System (PMS).

However, he said that as an independent constitutional body, RCSC has its own mandate and authority. “Neither the government nor the National Assembly has the authority to review or eliminate the MaX system or its performance moderation (bell-curve) methodology, as it falls within the core mandate of the RCSC.”

Lyonchhen acknowledged that while the National Assembly’s resolutions are important, they are only advisory. The RCSC operates within a legal framework that empowers it to make decisions regarding performance evaluations.

Currently, there are 30,128 civil servants in the country, resulting in a civil servant-to-population ratio of 1:26.

The Prime Minister reported that 4.7 percent of civil servants left the service in the most recent year, an improvement over the higher attrition rates of previous years—8.62 percent in 2022 and 16.33 percent in 2023.

In the most recent performance evaluation, 525 civil servants were categorised under Performance Management Evaluation (PME), which includes issues such as poor time management, underperformance, and inadequate teamwork.

Lyonchhen said that the RCSC identified several reasons for placing individuals under the PME category, including poor time management and punctuality, delays in service delivery, underperformance and complacency, weak strategic thinking, poor teamwork and collaboration, inadequate task completion and behavioural issues.

“These PME candidates were mostly rated as ‘good’ before the moderation process was applied,” Lyonchhen said.

Lyonchhen added that while younger civil servants tend to be more adaptable to change, senior employees often resist it. “Despite criticism of the bell-curve system, it helps address inflated performance ratings and ensures fair differentiation among employees.”

The chairperson of the Good Governance Committee, Lhakpa Tshering Tamang, clarified that the motion did not seek to remove the MaX system entirely but only the forced ranking aspect, which has caused dissatisfaction among civil servants.

Some members of the National Assembly questioned the accountability of the RCSC, noting that as a constitutional body, it should be answerable to the executive and the Prime Minister.

Lyonchhen said that the MaX system, fully implemented only three years ago, has features that could benefit the civil service if further refined.

The RCSC also outlined plans to support PME candidates through coaching, mentoring, and targeted training programs as part of its PME management strategy.