Lucrative consultancies

It is one of the least well-kept secrets of the murky world of ‘development’, namely that ‘consultancies’ are money-spinners for those who are able to get aboard the bandwagon.

The reforms of the Federally Administered Tribal areas (Fata) is a happy hunting ground for consultants with some very rich pickings to be had. For all the bleating about ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ there is little of either attached to some very opaque appointments. Retired bureaucrats hoover up these sinecures with the happy collusion of donor agencies and private consultancy companies that keep a herd of consultants on the books, all for hire.

The Fata reforms are of hideous complexity. The Fata secretariat has recently hired a retired bureaucrat as a ‘reforms adviser’ at the rate of Rs500,000 a month. The post was never advertised and will be financed via donor funding. Procurement rules were relaxed to facilitate the hiring and it appears that the man who got the job did not qualify for it. The terms of reference (ToRs) are nebulous in the extreme, speaking of ‘providing impetus to the reform process’ and to help ‘mainstream’ tribal areas paving the way for future reforms ‘in due course’. Decoded this amounts to a licence to print money for the lucky retiree who can string out this foggy development-ese for months, perhaps years.

There are a number of key words in the development game, with ‘stakeholders’ being foremost. These ‘stakeholders’ must be consulted and examined at length and a consultant, preferably several, are housed in a 5-star hotel where holders bearing their stakes turn up for a chat about their future on a daily basis. The codification of ‘Rijwaj’ (customary laws) in Fata is also highly profitable and Rs4.8 million has been paid to a consultant whose final report was said to be ‘of no use’. A further three consultants have now been hired to codify Rijwan in the seven agencies. There is no denying that this work has to be done, but does it have to be done in a way as to be perceived as little more than a gravy train for superannuated bureaucrats? We await developments, though with little hope.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.