Naidu mulls over CMM for govt

HYDERABAD: If all goes well India will not only have the highest number of CMM level 5 companies in the world, but will also be a pioneer in implementing the Capability Maturity Model in day to day operations of the government.

Driving this thought is the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradhesh, Chandrababu Naidu. The ball was set rolling by the QAI, executive Director, Navyug Mohnot, when he said, "If the Andhra Pradesh Government is ready, we are willing to conceptualize a CMM model for the state government."

Mohnot and Captain CK Veeresh, joint director for IT and Communication department of AP, later revealed that Naidu had taken the suggestion seriously and delegated an official to hold more talks to understand the feasibility of the proposal. A meeting between the AP’s CM and QAI’s ED was supposed to have been held the next day, if sources are to be believed.

If AP pulls it off, it will rival the government of Singapore, which is working towards achieving the Six Sigma. QAI is helping 18 departments of the government in achieving the coveted quality capability.

"We bring in a lot of experience of inducing quality processes in government. The Singapore experience can be emulated in Andhra Pradhesh because it is one of the leaders in introducing e-governance initiatives. By coming together we can create a G-CMM model of governance for the whole country," said Mohnot.

One of the major challenges and possibly the only one that Mohnot sees in putting the model in place is time. "We need a sponsor from the government side. Not for finance but in terms of taking interest in conceptualizing the whole project and putting it in place. Time plays a major role and we are quite skeptical in investing our time if it is not taken seriously," stated Mohnot.

"We will just help the government conceptualize it. Later the state government can appoint third parties to implement it," added, Mohnot.

Whether it is possible to implement a CMM in government processes is yet to be seen. But, the enthusiasm shown by the Andhra Pradesh Government in at least giving it a try is commendable.