Govt tightens consultants' hiring process

Central screening panel set up; new rules to affect hiring of consultants from World Bank, IMF & ADB

In a major overhaul of its recruitment process, the government has introduced a centralised system for appointing consultants in all ministries, and in the NITI Aayog.

It has also capped the tenure of such consultants at one year, which can be extended to a maximum of three. The government has also subjected the tenure of all existing consultants to a review by the new screening committee, to be headed by the Cabinet secretary.

In a simultaneous move, all consultants whose tenure was up to the end of December 2015 have been terminated. Earlier, central ministries could hire consultants at their level and the recruitment did not require any vetting by a centralised appointment body.

The screening panel - comprising the Cabinet secretary, secretary of the department of economic affairs and the secretary of the department concerned - would vet the appointment of all future consultants from bilateral partners and multilateral agencies. In fact, appointment of existing consultants would also have to be placed before the screening panel, sources said.

The decision would affect hiring of consultants from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to the new rules, consultants cannot be hired for policy formulation. A consultant's role would be confined to presentation and analysis of possible options with the help of supporting data. The minister of the nodal ministry would have to approve any new appointment before it was placed before the committee.

The terms of reference and procedure of appointment of consultants have to be transparent and robust without any ambiguity.

In case foreign consultants are appointed, necessary security clearance from the home ministry must also be acquired now. Consultancy, fee, salary and allowances of consultants need to be told upfront when the proposal is being placed before the screening committee. Any increase in pay would have to be approved by the panel.

However, consultants need to report to the ministry and not the screening panel.

Consultants can be appointed for one year only and the committee will have to clear any extension. The maximum tenure of a consultant cannot exceed three years for a particular assignment. Only after a cooling period of one year can a consultant join any other ministry or department.

These consultants have been prohibited from sharing data with bilateral, multilateral agencies or any person or institution outside the government without the permission of the secretary of the ministry or the department concerned. Similar approval will be necessary for publishing any article based on the data, inputs received during the consultancy.