KSN: DEEP System To Be Expanded To Heads Of Services And Departments From Next Year

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The use of the Demerit Performance Evaluation (DEEP) system will be expanded to all heads of services and departments in every agency starting next year to ensure better governance and overall performance improvement at every level of the civil service.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said DEEP, which began its implementation earlier this year to evaluate the performance of chief secretaries in each ministry, has shown a significant improvement in performance and the implementation of service initiatives.

"The initial impact of this assessment shows significant improvement in the performance and implementation of service initiatives, particularly in four key areas: more realistic Financial Management; reduced issues in Project Management through close monitoring; strengthened Accountability and Integrity; and Leadership and Personality that demonstrates a better balance between efficiency and acceptance by ministry staff.

"All these prove that the new and unique approach through DEEP has successfully supported public service reform efforts," he said at the Symposium on the One-Year Strategic Assessment of the Public Service Reform Agenda (ARPA) 2025 held here today.

He said DEEP is not to punish, but rather aimed at improving the services to the public.

“And we're not just doing DEEP based on demerits; we have remerits. If you do something wrong, you have to be punished, and points will be deducted from 100. But if you do something good and receive praise from the international level, the community and the people, we will add points.

“We see improvement based on DEEP's assessment for the second quarter of this year. The results of what we've done are already showing many projects being implemented well and many cases being resolved quickly," he said.

Regarding the ARPA launched on Sept 10 last year, Shamsul Azri said the impact on the civil service and the country is very exciting and has yielded very significant results.

He said the country's competitiveness soared to 23rd place in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2025, up 11 places from 34th last year, and is the only country with a double-digit jump in the ranking.

“More impressively, the sub-indicator of government efficiency also jumped eight places (from 33rd position in 2024 to 25th in 2025).

"This achievement is not a coincidence. This is the result of reforms that are beginning to show their effects. It is certainly also supported by the commitment of everyone to realise ARPA as the master framework for building a high-performing civil service by 2030," he said.

To strengthen the implementation of the ARPA initiative, Shamsul Azri said the ARPA Monitoring Squad or Flying Squad will be established to conduct on-site monitoring to assess service quality, the level of regulatory compliance, and gather information on government initiatives.

He also said that the implementation of the ARPA Monitoring Squad will be jointly led by the Public Service Department (JPA), Performance Acceleration and Coordination Unit (PACU), Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and the MADANI Monitoring Unit.

Shamsul Azri also urged Chief Reform Officers (CRO) to expedite the implementation and execution of initiatives that have been finalised under the ARPA framework.

"The role of this CRO is important to ensure that brilliant ideas do not remain at the planning stage, but are translated into concrete actions and results for the benefit of the people," he added.

-- BERNAMA