Mantralaya 'consultancy' loot to be curbed: Maha Minister

Mumbai, Oct 1 (IANS) Maharashtra Information Technology Minister Ashish Shelar on Wednesday directed the department officials to amend the Government Resolution (GR) to ensure that all information regarding consultants appointed in Mantralaya must be mandatorily submitted to the IT Department. This will put a stop to the loot carried out under the guise of consultancy services.

“Although consultants in various government departments at Mantralaya are empanelled through the IT Department, MahaIT receives no subsequent information about their appointments or payments. As a result, there is no clarity on which agency or individual is appointed or the honorarium or remuneration they are paid, or other details,” he said at the meeting to review IT Department policies, programmes, government decisions and measures to further strengthen the department.

Minister Shelar said that among the key issues highlighted in Wednesday’s meeting was the extensive use of consultants across various state departments, ministries and government offices.

As per the 2018 Government Resolution, which was later revised in 2023, consultants were to be appointed based on departmental requirements, projects and programs.

“However, it has now come to light that under the name of consultancy, 6 empanelled agencies have deployed 246 individuals across different departments of the state government. Their remuneration and salaries are being paid by the respective departments, in other words, by the state government itself. The IT Department only empanels the consultants but has no supervisory control. In some cases, a single private individual working as a consultant in multiple departments is earning four to five times higher remuneration under the title of ‘supervisor’. This is nothing short of a massive loss to the state exchequer, an unjust burden and blatant loot,” he remarked.

He said that to address this, the IT Department has decided to create a dedicated centralised portal for all consultancy services.

“All departments will now be required to furnish complete details of the consultants engaged, including individual profiles working in their offices. Based on this system, a new GR will be issued. If any consultant fails to deliver or if a department withholds information, strict measures will be taken. The GR will be issued, in consultation with the Chief Minister, outlining corrective measures if consultants do not perform adequately or if departments fail to submit complete information. This decisive step will ensure accountability and prevent misuse of public funds,” said Minister Shelar.

Speaking about the Golden Data Maha-Samanvay project, Minister Shelar said, “We have collected around 15 crore data records, of which nearly 5-6 crore have been verified. Work on 144 attributes has been completed. I have issued instructions to complete certain steps before the system goes live or alongside obtaining its UID certification.”

He directed that once the MahaIT generates citizen data, a Citizen Awareness System should be developed through the Maha-Samanvay portal to notify citizens as needed. To prevent risks from invalid or other changes on the portal, a robust firewall/safety wall must be built into the Golden Data project.

The system must undergo advanced load testing to handle heavy citizen traffic, while simultaneously preventing delays or disruptions.

He further asked the department that the portal must be integrated with DG Yatra for proper configuration, connectivity and linkage.

An AI-powered search engine should be built into the Maha-Samanvay portal to enable data analysis by departmental authorities for advanced analysis and to derive actionable insights.

While speaking about the WhatsApp citizen service initiative, Minister Shelar said that serving citizens is the government's foremost duty, adding that, as per the directives of the Chief Minister, citizen services, provided as a right, will now also be accessible via WhatsApp under the agreement with Meta.

“The first 100 services are being provided through the appointed vendor. However, it must be reassessed whether the vendor’s system can handle over 1,000 sessions or hits per second. As per the CM’s directives, the goal is to provide 1,000 services via WhatsApp. After the initial 100, the remaining services should be managed by a new vendor through an updated RFP. The new vendor must be capable of delivering services swiftly and efficiently so that citizens can access them on WhatsApp with minimum delay,” he said.

--IANS

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