Para 9.10 — CONSULT_MANUAL

9.10 Hiring Consultants for Digital India Projects 1. Overview: The Digital India initiative, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), seeks to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The hiring of consultants is pivotal for implementing large-scale egovernance and technology projects that support this vision. National e-Governance Division (NeGD) an autonomous business division within Digital India Corporation, has established a robust framework for hiring consultants through empanelment of qualified consulting organizations. More details are available in NeGD’s notification79.

Manual for Procurement of Consultancy Services, Second Edition, 2025 2. Empanelment and Scope of Services NeGD has empanelled consulting organizations through a competitive Request for Empanelment (RFE) process. This empanelment is valid for three years, extendable by two years. The empanelment framework simplifies the hiring process, ensuring quick access to skilled professionals while maintaining cost and quality control. This ensures the availability of specialized skills, adherence to national standards, and alignment with the program's vision of fostering a digitally empowered society. Government entities are encouraged to utilize this framework to achieve seamless execution of their digital transformation projects. By leveraging following three pre-defined categories and standardized rates, government organizations can efficiently implement diverse Digital India initiatives, ranging from large-scale IT system rollouts to innovative technology adoption.:

a) Project/Program Management and Advisory Services (Category A) i) Developing project proposals, roadmaps, and templates. ii) Managing e-governance projects, including agile methodologies, bid processes, and change management. iii) Conducting audits (security, performance, and quality) and risk assessments. b) Digital Ecosystem and Architecture Development (Category B) i) Designing digital ecosystem blueprints in line with national standards. ii) Preparing implementation plans, including business requirements, data governance strategies, and technology modernization approaches. iii) Supporting the adoption of scalable and agile solutions. c) Technology Management and Emerging Technologies (Category C) i) Advising on emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, IoT, and quantum computing. ii) Ensuring technology compliance and managing cybersecurity and GIS solutions.

4. Hiring Process: The hiring of consultants involves the following steps: a) Request for Proposals or Concept Notes: Ministries, departments, and other government organizations leveraging NeGD's empanelment notify empanelled agencies about specific assignments. Agencies submit technical proposals or concept notes, which are evaluated on merit. b) Selection and Deployment: Selected agencies deploy consultants with expertise relevant to the project. Consultants are required to provide their own equipment and work collaboratively with government teams at designated project sites. c) Terms of Engagement: Empanelled consultants operate on a time-limited project basis without implying employment obligations by NeGD. Sub-contracting of services is prohibited. d) Compliance and Terms: i) Intellectual Property Rights: All intellectual property generated during the project belongs to NeGD or the client organization. ii) Performance Standards: Consultants must adhere to timelines and quality benchmarks specified in the work order. iii) Penalties and Termination: Delays or non-performance can result in penalties up to 10% of the project value or termination of the engagement.

Chapter 9: Special Types of Engagements iv) Confidentiality: Consultants must maintain confidentiality of all project-related data.

a) Contract Administration: i) Issuing the notice to proceed; ii) Meetings and Reviews iii) Amendments/ variations to the contract; iv) Obligations Control: Monitoring that key experts and contracted resources are actually employed. v) Safeguards for handing over Procuring Entity materials/ equipment to contractors; vi) Resolving problems faced by consultants; vii) Dispute resolution and arbitration; viii) Breach of contract, remedies, and termination of services prior to the end of the contract; ix) Contract closure upon completion; b) Scope Control and Quality Assurance: i) Deciding on possible modifications to scope of work and issuing contract variations; ii) Monitor that all deliverables are delivered as per contract - reports including draft final report and the final report. iii) Quality assurance: Review quality of outcomes at inception phase, mid-term, and final phase. c) Time Control: Monitoring progress and delays in timelines/ milestones of assignment; d) Cost Control: i) Billing, payment and monitoring the expenditure vis-à-vis progress; ii) Release of final payment and guarantees (if any) and closing the contract; e) Post contract evaluation.

Chapter 10: Monitoring Consultancy Services Contract 10.1 Contract Management 10.1.1 The Purpose of Contract Management 1. The purpose of contract management is to ensure that the contract delivers the desired outcomes as per the terms and conditions of the contract. It also ensures that the payments made to the contractor match the performance. Implementation of the contract should be strictly monitored, and notices issued promptly whenever a breach of provisions occurs. Monitoring should ensure that contractor adhere to contract terms, performance expectations are achieved (such as timelines, quality of outcomes, discharge of Consultant’s contracted obligations, and so on) and any problems are identified and resolved in a timely manner. Without a sound monitoring process, there can be no assurance that “we get what we pay and contract for and pay for only for what we get.” Normally, the following issues are handled in management of Services Contracts:

10.1.2 Contract Monitoring Committee – (CMC) 1. Rule 205 of GFR 2017 enjoins that the Ministry or Department be involved throughout the conduct of the contract and continuously monitor the performance of the contractor. The Procuring Entity shall constitute a CMC comprising at least three members at the appropriate level, including the user's representative, after the selection procedure is over for monitoring the progress of the contract. If considered appropriate, the Procuring Entity may select all or any of the members of CEC as members of CMC. The Procuring Entity may also include individual experts from the government/ private sector/ educational/ research institute or individual consultant in the CMC. The cost of such members, if any, shall be borne by the Procuring Entity. The CMC shall be responsible for monitoring the progress of the assignment, to oversee that the assignment is carried out as per the contract, to assess the quality of the deliverables, to accept/ reject any part of assignment, to levy appropriate liquidated damages or penalty if the assignment is not carried out as per the contract and if the quality of services is found inferior and for any such deficiency related to the completion of the assignment.

2. Due to lack of physically/ tangibly measurable outcomes in Services contracts, intense and continuous monitoring of the Contract by the Procuring Entity is essential for the success of the assignment. Suitable provision for this should be made in the contracts which should also take care of the need to terminate/ penalize the consultant or to suspend payments till satisfactory progress has not been achieved. The Procuring Entity shall form a Contract Monitoring Committee (CMC) to monitor the Contract. The Procuring Entity should also designate a counterpart Project Manager with adequate technical qualification, managerial experience, and power and authority as the nodal person to interact with the consultant’s team. A system of reporting may be developed so that a statement covering all ongoing Consultancy contracts may be submitted within the Department in detail, so as to enable Management by Exception based on various Risk and Mitigation strategies pointed out at relevant process milestones in this manual. (Rule 195 of GFR 2017).

2. For the assignments which are overly complex and/ or are of highly technical nature, the Procuring Entity may decide to appoint another qualified consultant to assist the CMC in carrying out its functions.