No. 21/2/2020/CS-I (Coord)
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances \& Pensions
Department of Personnel \& Training
(CS-I Division)
$2^{\text {nd }}$ Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan
Khan Market, New Delhi-3
Dated the $21^{\text {st }}$ December, 2020

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Notice inviting applications from retired government officers for engagement as consultants in the Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment, on contract basis- reg.

The undersigned is directed to circulate the Office Memorandum No. A-12034/1/2020-Estt-II dated $8^{\text {th }}$ December, 2020 (along with enclosures) received from Ministry of Ministry of Social Justice \& Empowerment, who proposes to engage retired officers.
2. In case of any further clarification, applicants are requested to contact the concerned Ministries / Departments.

Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

To

All Ministries / Departments (through DOPT’s website)# Government of India
Ministry of Social Justice \& Empowerment
Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-01
Dated: $\quad 8$ th December, 2020

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject: Notice inviting applications from retd government officers for engagement as consultants in the Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment, on contract basis-reg.

The undersigned is directed to inform that Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (D/o SJ\&E) has issued an Advertisement dated the $8^{\text {th }}$ December, 2020 (copy enclosed) for inviting applications from suitable eligible retired government officers for engagement as Consultants on contract basis. The last date prescribed for receipt of applications in D/o SJ\&E is $\mathbf{3 1}^{\text {st }}$ December, 2020. A copy of Advertisement is also readily available on the website of D/o SJ\&E (www.socialjustice.nic.in)
2. It is requested that the above Advertisement of D/o SJ\&E may please be got uploaded on the website of DoPT for giving wide publicity amongst suitable eligible candidates.

Signature valid
Digitally signed ASOKAN
P.K.

Date: 2020.12.14.14:18:15

Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Encl: as above.
The Director (CS-I),
CS Division,
Department of Personal \& Training,
Lok Nayak Bhawan, Khan Market,
New Delhi.# Government of India
Ministry of Social Justice \& Empowerment
Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment

Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-01
Dated: the 8th December, 2020
Subject: Notice inviting applications from retired govt officers for engagement as consultants in the Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment, on contract basis.

Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment invites applications for engagement of Consultants from retired officers from Central Government Ministries/Departments/CPSUs, for engagement as Consultants on contract basis.
2. The eligibility criteria/experience and terms and conditions of the engagement are as under:
i. Consultant-Finance (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government/CPSUs in the level of Section Officer/Under Secretary or equivalent. Should be capable of examining Annual accounts, financial statements, Board draft resolutions, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) guidelines and implementation of India Accounting standard prescribed by Ministry of Company Affairs etc. The consultant must be well versed in commercial accounts and in broad understanding of DPE \& Ministry of Company Affair’s orders/guidelines etc. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
ii. Consultant-Establishment (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government in the level of Section Officer/Assistant Section Officer or equivalent and having experience in handling Establishment matters and Secretariat procedures. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
iii. Consultant- Cash Section (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government in the level of Section Office/Assistant Section Officer or equivalent and having experience in handling various tasks in Cash Section which includes preparation of salary bills, income tax calculation, bills and vouchers, PFMS etc. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
iv. Consultant- Coordination (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government in the level of Section Officer or equivalent and having experience in handling coordination work in the Ministry/Department. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
v. Consultant-Policy/Scheme (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government in the level of Section Officer or equivalent. Should have experience in handling work relating to Policy matters/schemes/drafting SFC/EFC/Cabinet Note etc. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
vi. Consultant-Legal ( 02 posts): Retired officers of Central Government in the level of Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary or equivalent with Degree of LLB and havingexperience in handling legal matters/court cases related to Supreme Court/High Court/ CAT etc. Should have working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
vii. Consultant- PCR Desk (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government/CPSUs in the level of Under Secretary/Section Officer or equivalent. Should be capable to deal with Amendments in the Acts, Private Member Bill, Resolutions, Parliament Questions/Assurances, Special Mentions, RTI, matters related to offences of untouchability \& atrocities, Public Grievances and preparing \& laying of Annual Reports in Parliament, etc. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
viii. Consultant-Statistics Division (1 post): Retired officers of Central Government/CPSUs in the level of Section Officer/Assistant Section Officer or equivalent. Should be capable to deal with evaluation of Social Audit Scheme, Statistics related matter, Outcome framework, Gender Budgeting, preparation of Annual Report, Tender, Parliament Questions, Public Grievances, VIP References and RTI, etc. Should have competency in drafting of noting and communications and working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc.
3. The tenure of contract shall be initially for one year which is extendable on the basis of requirement of the office and performance of the candidate. The Contract can be terminated at any time at the discretion of the Department, if the performance of the person so engaged is not found satisfactory.
4. The Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment reserves the right to accept or reject the applications without assigning any reasons.
5. Cut-off Age: The age of the applicant shall not exceed 63 years as on last date of receipt of application.
6. Monthly remuneration: The monthly remuneration and the terms and conditions of Consultants shall be regulated by Guidelines and Procedure for engagement of Consultants in Department of Social Justice \& Empowerment (attached).
7. Interested persons may apply in the enclosed proforma and may forward the signed scanned copy of the application along with enclosures via mail at amit.jha85@nic.in on or before the closing date.
8. The last date for receipt of applications is 31.12 .2020 .

Signature valid
Digitally signed
P.K.

Date: 2020.12.07 10:00:01 151
Under Secretary to the Govt. of India

Encl: Prescribed pro-forma for application/ Guidelines.

To,

1. All Ministries/Departments.
2. NIC, D/o SJE with request to publish above advertisement in the website.
3. E-Office Notice Board, D/o SJE# BIO-DATA

A. Post Applied For:

B. Personal Information:

1. Details of previous employment/ experience (in Chronological order)

C. Certified that the information furnished above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. I understand that in case any of the information furnished above is found to be false, at any stage before or after appointment, my appointment will be liable to be cancelled and suitable legal action can be taken against me.

Signature
Enclosures:
Date:# Government of India

Department of Social Justice & Empowerment

Subject:- Guidelines and Procedure for engagement of Consultants in the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment

The scheme of engagement of Consultants in the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment for technical and secretarial work shall henceforth be regulated as per the following guidelines:

1. PURPOSE –

1.1 The purpose of these guidelines is to define the broad policies and procedures for selection, contracting and monitoring of consultants financed from the resources of Department of SJ&I.

1.2 For the purpose these Guidelines, the term Consultant(s) includes retired officers staff from the Government, PSUs and also experts from the Non-Governmental Organization, Universities and Research Organizations having considerable experience and expertise in the field of the following target groups of the Ministry:

• Scheduled Castes
• Other Backward Classes
• Senior Citizens
• Victims of Substance Abuse
• Transgender
• Beggars
• Any other activity assigned to the Dept.

The experience and expertise should be related with formulation and implementation of policies, plans, Acts, regulations etc. It also includes implementation and monitoring of the schemes/programmes of the Department.

1.3 The specific purpose, rules and procedure will be followed for employing consultants depending on circumstances of the particular case. However, following main consideration would guide the need and selection process:-

(a) the absence of required expertise in house, or

(b) the need for economy and efficiency, or(c) the need to have highly qualified experts for providing the specific services.

1.4 The consultant would be appointed to undertake mainly following work:

(i) TECHNICAL WORK:

a) The work would include Research, Evaluation, Planning, Legal & Court Cases, Skill Development, and Monitoring of the schemes of the Department in the field of target groups of the Department.

b) The specific job related with Scheduled Castes & OBCs, Scheduled Castes Component Plan, Protection of Scheduled Castes, Sr. Citizen, and programmes for victims of drug abuse persons, transgenders, beggars which need analytical and problem solving skills may also be assigned to the Consultant.

(ii) SECRETARIAT WORK

a) The work would include Secretarial work related with implementation of the schemes of the Department, preparation of SFC/EFC Memos, drafting Cabinet Notes, Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, Results Frame Work Document, notes on various schemes of Department etc.

b) The Consultant would be providing senior level secretarial services, office support in order to ensure very high level of efficiency and effectiveness of office administration.

1. RULE POSITION FOR APPOINTMENT OF CONSULTANTS

The Guidelines for engagement of Consultant in the Department of SJ&E will be as laid down in the General Financial Rules (Rule 163 to 177), Manual of Policies and Procedure of Employment of Consultants issued by Ministry of Finance and relevant instructions of DOPI and Ministry of Finance, issued from time to time.

In brief the engagement of Consultants as laid down in the General Financial Rules, 2005 is that –

• The Ministry may hire external professional, consultancy firms or Consultants for a specific job which is well defined in terms of content and time frame.
• Guidelines for Engagement of consultant may be resorted to in situation: require high quality services for which the concerned Ministries do not have requisite expertise.
• The Ministry should prepare in simple and concise language the requirements, objectives and the scope of the assignment.- The eligibility and pre-qualification criteria to be met by the Consultants should be clearly identified.
• The estimated reasonable expenditure for the hiring the consultants should be worked out.
• GFR also defines the procedure where the estimated cost of the work or service is up to Rupees Twenty Five lakhs, a list may be prepared of potential Consultants on the basis of formal or informal enquiries from other Department.
• Where the estimated cost of work is above Rupees Twenty Five lakhs, an enquiry for seeking “Expression of Interest” from Consultants should be published in at least one national daily and the Department’s website.
• Consultants shall normally not to be appointed as heads of Divisions.
• Retired Government officials with relevant experience would also be eligible for selection as Consultants.

3. PERIOD OF ENGAGEMENT

3.1

The initial engagement for a person as Consultant would be for a period of 6 (six) months or for the period of consultancy as already defined in the terms of Reference (ToR) (Annexure-I). Thereafter, the engagement would be reviewed and it would not exceed one year at a time. The review of contract of the consultant(s) will be done on year to year basis.

3.2

The initial term of appointment if any, shall be decided on case to case basis depending upon the specific job in the timeframe for completion, as provided in GFR ruled 163.

3.3

The appointment of Consultants would be on full-time basis and they would not be permitted to take up any other assignment during the period of Consultancy with the Department of SJ&E.

3.4

The appointment of Consultants is of a temporary (non-official) nature against the specific jobs. The appointment can be cancelled at any time by the Department without assigning any reasons.

4. QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE OF CONSULTANTS

The Consultants shall be appointed for undertaking Technical and Secretarial work. The qualification and experience required would be as follows:

A. TECHNICAL WORK

This would consist of Officers from Central and State Governments, and PSU’s Research Organizations having considerable experience of functioning ofCentral Government Ministries: Departments. The eligible applicant for the post of consultant should have the following qualifications and experience:

(i) Masters Degree in relevant subject like Economics, Statistics, Anthropology, and Sociology.

(ii) Experience in the field related with target groups of the Ministry.

(iii) Persons with research experience, published papers and post qualification experience in the relevant field would be preferred.

Following four Grades of officer will be appointed for Technical Work:

a) Grade I: Persons with five years of experience on the post of Senior Investigator in the Government/Research Organisation.

b) Grade II: Persons with five years of experience on the post of Research Officer/Assistant Director in the Government/Research Organisation.

c) Grade III: Persons with three years of experience on the post of Senior Research Officer/Deputy Director in the Government/Research Organisation or worked in Class I post of the Government of India for ten years with experience in the field of the target groups of the Ministry of SJ&E.

d) Grade IV: Persons with three years of experience on the post of Joint Director, Director or worked in Class I post of the Government of India or other Public Sector Undertakings for minimum of fifteen years with experience in the field of the target groups of the Ministry of SJ&E.

B. SECRETARIAL WORK

This would consist of Officers from of Central and State Governments, and PSUs having considerable experience of functioning of Central Government Ministries / Departments. The consultant should have excellent communication and interpersonal skills with a strong flair for in depth handling work relating to Internal Finance as well.

Following four Grade of officer will be appointed on Secretarial Posts:a) Grade I: Persons with five years of experience on the post of Assistant in the Government or PSUs.

b) Grade II: Persons with three years of experience on the post of Section Officer in the Government or PSUs.

c) Grade III: Persons with three years of experience on the post of Under Secretary in the Government or PSUs.

d) Grade IV: Persons with three years of experience on the post of Deputy Secretary/Director or PSUs.

1. AGE-LIMIT Normally, the maximum age limit for all categories of Consultants will be 65 years. However, engagement beyond 65 years and up to 70 years could be with the approval of Secretary keeping in view his good health appropriate for the work and level of expertise.

2. PROCEDURE: Following procedure is to be followed for selecting candidate for engagement as Consultant(s):

   For selection of consultants, a Committee of three Joint Secretaries may be constituted for the purpose and the appointment should be done on their recommendation and with the approval of Secretary (SJ&F).

3. ENTITLEMENTS OF ALL FOUR CATEGORIES OF CONSULTANTS

a) FFE AND LOCAL CONVEYANCE: The maximum amount of monthly consolidated fee and Local Conveyance payable to different categories of Consultants shall be as under

**Grade of officer for Technical Posts and Secretarial Posts ****:

• (a) Gr. I: Rs. 27,000/-
• (b) Gr. II: Rs. 35,000/-
• (c) Gr. III: Rs. 42,000/-
• (d) Gr. IV: Rs. 48,000/-

  The total monthly consolidated fee and the Pension drawn by the consultant shall not be more than the Last Pay Drawn by him calculated at the current rates of Dearness Allowance.(b) DRAWAL OF PENSION

A retired Government official appointed as Consultant in any of the three categories shall continue to draw pension and the dearness relief on pension during the period of his engagement as consultant. His/her engagement as Consultant shall not be considered as a case of re-employment.

(c) ALLOWANCES:

The Consultants shall not be entitled to any allowance/benefits such as Dearness Allowance, Transport Facility, Residential Accommodation, Personal Staff, CGHS, and Medical Reimbursement etc. However, Conveyance allowance shall be paid at the following rates per:

(d) WORKING FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED

No facility for using internet/telephone at residence to consultants will be provided by the Ministry.

(e) LEAVE

Consultants shall be eligible for 8 days’ leave in a calendar year on pro-rata basis. Therefore, a Consultant shall not draw any remuneration in case of his/her absence beyond 8 days in a Year (calculated on a pro-rata basis). Also un-availed leave in a calendar year cannot be carried forward to next calendar year. The Ministry would be free to terminate the services in case of absence of a Consultant by more than 15 days beyond the entitled leave in a calendar year.

(f) TA/DA

No TA/DA shall be admissible for joining the assignment or on its completion. Foreign travel of Consultants permitted only, in exceptional cases. However, Consultants shall be allowed TA/DA for their travel inside the country in connection with the official work after approval of competent authority. Retired Government servant, appointed as consultant, would be entitled as per his/her last entitlement drawn at the time of retirement.8. WORKING HOURS

Consultants may follow the normal working hours as prescribed (i.e. from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM). However, as per the exigency one has to sit late to complete the time bound work.

1. ENGAGEMENT OF EXISTING CONSULTANTS WORKING IN THE DEPARTMENT

The existing consultants in Department will continue as per their existing entitlements/remuneration till they complete their sanctioned tenures. Such consultants, who are already engaged in the Department, after completion of their tenure, will be suitably adjusted in the new grades as per the guidelines, on request of the consultant. The Plan Division will prepare a list of such consultants and after adjustment of existing consultants, the concerned Bureau Heads would be informed for further necessary action. In those cases where consultants are working but no agreement has been signed, between the consultant and Ministry, these guidelines will apply from the actual date of the engagement of the consultant in the Ministry.

1. TAX DEDUCTION AT SOURCE:

The Income Tax or any other tax liable to be deducted, as per the prevailing rules will be deducted at source before effecting the payment, for which the Department will issue TDS Certificates. Service Tax, as applicable shall be payable extra, at the prevalent rates.

1. REVIEW OF GUIDELINES

These Guidelines may be reviewed as and when required to revise monthly consolidated fee and Local Conveyance payable to different categories of Consultants.

1. RIGHTS OF THE DEPARTMENT:

The Department has the right to cancel advertisement, and not to proceed in the matter for engagement of consultant, at any stage accept or reject any or all applications, without giving any explanation, whatsoever.# 13. TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT

The Department may terminate a contract to which these Terms apply if:

• The Consultant is unable to address the assigned works.
• Quality of the assigned works is not to the satisfaction of the Department.
• The Consultant fails in timely achievement of the milestones as finally decided by the Department.
• The Consultant is found lacking in honesty and integrity.

The Department reserves the right to terminate the contract, by giving fifteen days’ notice to the Consultant. Termination shall be effected by written notice served on the Consultant and shall take effect in 15 days of delivery of such notice. The termination will be without prejudice to either party’s rights accrued before termination.

14. RELAXATION

In exceptional cases of highly specialized requirements, Secretary (SJ&E) may relax any or all the conditioned enumerated above. The higher amount of monthly consolidated fee and Local Conveyance payable to different categories of Consultants can also be sanctioned with the approval of Secretary (SJ&E) in consultation with IFD.