In the last five years, the MDA Government in the state has engaged 161 consultants and the total expenditure incurred on the consultants was Rs 244.36 crore.
Justifying this, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, said, the appointment of consultants is mandated for the implementation of the various externally aided projects (EAPs) and activities of the different ministries in the state.
“The different ministries from the Government of India like for PMGSY, Smart City Project, and other department works that are there have mandated that consultants have to be appointed. It is not an option, it is compulsory. Even for the externally aided projects that are going on, it is mandated that there should be a consultant for different activities that are to be conducted in different departments, ministries,” he said.
He informed that the government is spending Rs 250 crore on consultants for five years which means Rs 50 crore per year.
“Rs 250 crore may sound big but then if you divide the years, months and number of projects going on it is roughly Rs 20 lakh per month is being spent by each of these departments on each project,” Sangma said.
The chief minister informed that consultants are being engaged for over Rs 16,000 crores of projects as mandated by the ministries and EAPs. Of these, Rs 12,000 crore plus are EAPs, Rs 1,000 crore are smart town projects, Rs 3,000 crore for PMGSY etc.
“It is very reasonable in terms of expenditure that is done,” he said.
Moreover, Sangma said the expenditure is coming from the EAPs and not from the government’s revenue. “It is part of the project and so also for the smart town projects and so also for the PMGSY.
But the good part is that in most cases we don’t touch the 5% provision (to be utilized from the total cost of the projects as in the case of EAPs) that is kept. It is much below that. So it is done in a very efficient manner,” he stated.