Consultants galore in Government, Rural Development ministry hired 325 consultants
The Union Government has been extremely reluctant to disclose details of consultants and advisers hired by the ministries and departments. Even in Parliament, the Ministry of Personnel under the Prime Minister, had said in the past that “such details are not available in centralized form”.
However, the Ministry of Rural Development came out with details saying as many as 284 consultants were hired with different divisions of the Department of Rural Development and 41 consultants by the Department of Land Resources (DoLR) as on December 5, 2024.
The Rural Development Ministry said that an expenditure of Rs. 47.76 crore annually is incurred on the hiring of consultants. The performance of the consultants is assessed by the respective Departments in the Ministry periodically-monthly/annually or at the time of renewal of the contract depending on the requirements. The tenure of the consultants is continued if their performance is satisfactory.
However, information collated from other sources revealed that as many as 1,499 external consultants were on the rolls of 44 departments and ministries until December 2023. This does not include 1,037 Young Professionals, 539 independent consultants, 354 domain experts, 1,481 retired government officers, and 20,376 other low-paid staff hired on contract by 76 departments employed either directly or through outsourcing agencies. No complete information is available on these advisers and consultants.
