Secretaries told to upskill in-house staff instead of hiring consultants

Secretaries informed to upskill in-house staff instead of hiring consultants Underlining continuous capacity building and upskilling of human resources in administration, he noted this is "necessary to meet the future demand and objectives of Viksit Bharat".

Key points

• Last July, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani informed the Lok Sabha that his ministry alone had hired 362 consultants so far.
• 4 min read New Delhi Aug 23, 2026 04: 49 AM IST.
• This is learnt to have been conveyed to Secretaries after their session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 22.
• M/s IPE Global in consortium with Horwath HTL France and Crowe Horwath HTL Consultants Pvt.
• These consultants are hired through institutions, autonomous bodies, public sector enterprises, etc., he remarked.

According to Somanathan additionally, initial discussions among stakeholder ministries/ departments before a Cabinet proposal is finalised should be encouraged to avoid delays at afterwards stages and for seamless implementation. (File photo).

For context, the administration has asked Central Secretaries to train their officers in "specialised skills", including "preparing, tendering documents, drafting of legislation and managing dispute mechanisms", instead of hiring consultants from private firms, The Indian Express has learnt.

This is learnt to have been conveyed to Secretaries after their session with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 22. A week after the session, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan additionally sent out a missive to Secretaries, listing "action points" from their interaction with Modi. Among the points on which the Secretaries have been asked to initiate action, Somanathan has listed skilling of in-house officers instead of hiring consultants. 'Pause and revisit': Cabinet Secretary's note to bureaucrats on conducting meetings.

In practice, the emphasis on training officers instead of roping in private consulting firms is significant as a number of administration departments hire consultants or outsource work to various firms including McKinsey, Ernst & Young, PwC and Deloitte.

"The consultants also provide support for facilitating smooth day-to-day coordination of the ministry with the States/UTs, enabling the officers to focus on core policy issues and ensure the meeting of milestones within the set deadline, " he remarked in a written reply. Who needs meetings? Except managers, of course.

"As on 25.07.2025, a total of 325 consultants were hired with different divisions of the DoRD (Department of Rural Development) and 37 consultants were hired by the DoLR (Department of Land Resources). These consultants are hired through institutions, autonomous bodies, public sector enterprises, etc., " he remarked.

Earlier, Minister of State of Planning Rao Inderjit Singh informed the Lok Sabha in July 2017 that the NITI Aayog had engaged Ernst & Young to promote public private partnerships in infrastructure in the States.

Detailing such engagement, he remarked in a written reply on July 26, 2017: "So as to transform health and education in three States each under Development Backing Services for States (DSSS), consortium of McKinsey & Firm and IPE Global; and Boston Consultant Group & Piramal Foundation Education Limited have been engaged respectively. M/s IPE Global in consortium with Horwath HTL France and Crowe Horwath HTL Consultants Pvt. Ltd has been engaged as consultant for preparation of Concept Development Intends and Detailed Master Aims for Holistic Development of Package-I Islands (Ross, Smith, Avis & Long islands in A&N) and Package-III Islands (Minicoy, Bangaram, Thinnakara, Cheriyam & Suheli islands in Lakshadweep)."

Similarly, in April 2018, then Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, C R Chaudhary, informed the Lok Sabha that his ministry had engaged PwC for the buffer stock management of pulses.

For now, secretaries told to upskill in-house staff instead of hiring consultants remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.