The Hindu Business Line : Bar on Govt officials accepting short-term job from intl agencies

CLOSE on the heels of barring the Plan panel from engaging foreign consultants, senior government officials above the level of the joint secretary to the Government, of all services, either working at the Centre or with the State Government, are being barred from taking short-term consultancy assignments with the international agencies, other than interacting with the latter in their official capacity.

In a fresh clarification to the extant consolidated instructions on foreign assignments of Indian experts issued on July 21, the Department of Personnel & Training said that if an officer has been dealing with an international agency in his official capacity at any time during the previous five years, he may not accept a short-term or long term contract or assignment from such an agency.

If an agency offering the consultancy is not one with which the officer has been directly dealing in his official capacity at any time during the previous five years, the officer may be allowed to accept long-term consultancy assignments with such an agency after examination by the competent authority.

Where the official had dealings with the international agency during the last five years, it is clarified that the restriction should apply to both short-term and long-term consultancies/assignments and in other cases the restrictions should apply only to short-term assignments.