ATHENS – After resisting plans to be evaluated on their performance, Greek civil servants will get bonuses if they are more productive, the sector notorious for inefficiency.

Instead of being held to account if they don’t perform, they will be rewarded if they do, Interior Minister Makis Voridis told Open TV, adding the New Democracy government will “instill a culture of meritocracy in public administration.”

Ministry sources who weren’t named said a bonus will be given to workers for better performance without saying how that would be measured if they aren’t being evaluated for what they do.

The aim was also said to be to try to attract more people to work in public offices where until more digitization had been brought it was not uncommon to see stacks of papers piled on floors and notoriously slow service with no way to improve it.

Voridis said the government also wants to reduce corruption in a system which has seen some workers ask for bribes to do their jobs and facilitate paperwork, especially for needed licenses that businesses need.