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

The government has instructed Central Secretaries to enhance the skills of their in-house staff rather than outsourcing tasks to consultants from private firms, according to The Indian Express. This directive came after a meeting between the Secretaries and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 22. Subsequently, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan shared a list of "action points" derived from the meeting, emphasizing the training of in-house officers in specialized skills such as preparing and tendering documents, drafting legislation, and managing dispute mechanisms.

Somanathan wrote that this approach is necessary to meet future demands and objectives of Viksit Bharat, highlighting that initial stakeholder discussions before finalizing Cabinet proposals could prevent delays in implementation. The government's shift towards training staff internally is notable as numerous departments previously relied on consultants, including McKinsey, Ernst & Young, PwC, and Deloitte.

For instance, the Ministry of Rural Development had hired 362 consultants by July 2025, while the Department of Land Resources had engaged 37 consultants, according to Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani.