New Delhi (06.11.2024): Engaging experts and consultants on contract basis with a department or a ministry will no longer be as easy as earlier. If sources are to be believed, the Central Government has asked departments and ministries to be cautious while ascertaining credentials of any such prospective persons before engaging him/her as an expert/consultant. 

Reportedly, agencies have cautioned about possibilities of leakage of critically important information, deliberation and policies by couple of consultants. For example, recently a consultant was reported to have seen spending long hours with the diplomat in the premises of foreign mission and working on official project in the presence of a top diplomat. 

Now any hiring by the department or ministry would require to share credentials of the consultant with the Ministry of Home Affairs beforehand. In addition, a ‘non-disclosure agreement’ will also have to be signed which was probably not a clause earlier. Further, two-year ‘cooling off’ would be mandatory for those who previously worked in a foreign mission. The consultants are also required to be briefed over the set of dos and don’ts from security point of view.