Secretary to the Government of India
Union Secretary
Keṃdrīya Saciva | |
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Emblem of India | |
| |
Government of India | |
Member of | Committee of Secretaries on Administration |
Reports to | |
Seat | Secretariat Building, Raisina Hill, New Delhi |
Appointer | Appointments Committee of the Cabinet |
Term length |
No term length is imposed, except for Home Secretary and Defence Secretary.[1][2][3] (Term can be extended). |
Formation | 1947 |
Succession | 11th (on the Indian order of precedence.) |
Salary | ₹225,000 (US$3,100) monthly[4][5] |
Website | Official Website |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of India |
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Legislatures: ——————— Urban bodies: |
Secretary to the Government of India (IAST: Bhārata Sarakāra Ke Saciva), often abbreviated as secretary, GoI, or, simply as secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India.[6] The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with Union Council of Ministers.[7]
The position holder is generally a career civil servant, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service,[4][8][9][10][11][12] and a government official of high seniority. The post of the secretary, however, is an ex-cadre post, hence, anyone can occupy it, but the office-bearers generally are either from All India Services (deputation; on tenure, after empanelment) or Central Civil Services (Group A; on empanelment). All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet of India.
In the functioning of Government of India,[13][14][15] a secretary is the administrative head of a ministry/department,[16][17] and is equivalent to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff/commanders and officers in the rank of full general and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces,[18] in Indian Armed Forces and are listed as such on the order of precedence, ranking 23rd.[19][20][21][22]
History
In mid-1930's, the Central Secretariat contained only 29 secretaries,[23] who were all members of the Imperial Civil Service. The salary for a member of this rank and post was fixed at Rs. 48,000 per annum in the 1930s.[23] As per Warrant or Precedence of 1905,[24] secretaries to the Government of India was listed together with joint secretaries to the Government of India and were ranked above the rank of chief secretaries of provincial governments.[24]
N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar had once suggested "A secretary should not be immersed in files and burdened with routine. It is essential that he should have time to grasp the overall picture, size up the problems facing the government in the field allotted to his charge, and think and plan ahead. All these are his proper functions and must be efficiently performed. Failure to make adequate provision in this respect cannot be compensated by a mere increase in the establishment under his control."[25]
The Administrative Reforms Commission visualized the role of secretary, primarily as one of "coordinator, policy guide, reviewer, and evaluator."[25]
Powers, responsibilities and postings
Secretary to the Government of India is the administrative head of the ministry or department, and is the principal adviser to the Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the ministry/department.[17]
The role of a secretary is as follows:
- To act as the administrative head of the ministry or department. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.[16]
- To act as the chief adviser to the minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.[16]
- To represent the ministry/department before the public accounts committee of the parliament.[16]
The prime minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of secretary level.[26] Secretaries report to their ministerial/departmental cabinet minister and to the prime minister.
Position
In the Union government, secretaries head departments and ministries in the Union Government and hold positions such as Finance Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, emissaries in the foreign missions/embassies (ambassadors/high commissioners),[27] members of the Railway Board, members of the Telecom Commission.
According to Seventh Central Pay Commission of India, seventy-three out of ninety-one secretaries to the Government of India are from the Indian Administrative Service.[4]
Emolument, accommodation and perquisites
All secretaries to the Government of India are eligible for a diplomatic passport. Secretaries are allotted either type-VII or type-VIII bungalows in areas like New Moti Bagh and Lutyens across Delhi by the Ministry of Urban Development (Directorate of Estates).[28][29][30][31]
The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent[18] to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff/commanders and officers in the rank of full general and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces.[18]
Base salary as per the 7th Pay Commission (Per month) | Pay matrix level | Sources |
---|---|---|
₹225,000 (US$3,100) | Pay Level 17 | [4][5] |
List of current secretaries to the Government of India
Out of the secretaries to the Government of India, most are IAS officers, twelve are either from scientific or from legal background, five are IFS officers, two are IPS officers and one officer belongs to the IPoS while two secretary-level positions are vacant.
Ministry | Designation | Name of secretary | Background | Batch |
---|---|---|---|---|
President’s Secretariat | Secretary to the President | Sanjay Kothari | IAS officer | 1978 (Retired) |
Vice President’s Secretariat | Secretary to the Vice President | I.V. Subba Rao | 1979 (Retired) | |
Prime Minister’s Office | Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister | Nripendra Misra | 1967 (Retired) | |
Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister | Dr. Pramod Kumar Misra | 1972 (Retired) | ||
Secretary to the Prime Minister | Bhaskar Khulbe | 1983 | ||
Cabinet Secretariat | Cabinet Secretary[lower-alpha 1] | Pradeep Kumar Sinha | 1977 | |
Secretary (Coordination) | Dr. Inderjit Singh | 1985 | ||
Secretary (R) | A.K. Dhasmana | IPS officer | 1981 | |
Secretary (Security) | S. K. Sinha | 1983 | ||
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare | Secretary (Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare) | Shobhana K. Pattanayak | IAS officer | 1982 |
Secretary (Agricultural Research and Education) | Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra | Scientist | — | |
Secretary (Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries) | Tarun Shridhar | IAS officer | 1984 | |
Atomic Energy | Secretary (Atomic Energy) and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission | Dr. Sekhar Basu | Scientist | — |
AYUSH | Secretary (AYUSH) | Rajesh Kotecha | ||
Chemicals and Fertilizers | Secretary (Chemicals and Petrochemicals) | P. Raghavendra Rao | IAS officer | 1985 |
Secretary (Fertilizers) | Bharati S. Sihag | 1983 | ||
Secretary (Pharmaceuticals) | Jai Priye Prakash | 1982 | ||
Civil Aviation | Secretary (Civil Aviation) | R.N. Choubey | 1981 | |
Coal | Secretary (Coal) | Dr. Inder Jit Singh | 1985 | |
Commerce and Industry | Secretary (Commerce) | Anup Wadhawan | 1985 | |
Secretary (Industrial Policy and Promotion) | Ramesh Abhishek | 1982 | ||
Communications | Secretary (Posts) | Anant Narayan Nanda | IPoS officer | 1982 |
Secretary to (Telecommunications) and Chairman of Telecom Commission | Aruna Sundararajan | IAS officer | 1982 | |
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Secretary (Consumer Affairs) | Avinash K. Srivastava | 1982 | |
Secretary (Food and Public Distribution) | Ravi Kant | 1984 | ||
Corporate Affairs | Secretary (Corporate Affairs) | Injeti Srinivas | 1983 | |
Culture | Secretary (Culture) | Arun Goel | 1985 | |
Defence | Defence Secretary | Sanjay Mitra | 1982 | |
Secretary (Defence Production) | Dr. Ajay Kumar | 1985 | ||
Secretary (Defence Research and Development) and Chairman of DRDO | Dr. G. Sateesh Reddy | Scientist | — | |
Secretary (Defence Finance) | S. K. Kohli | IDAS officer | 1981 | |
Secretary (Ex-Servicemen Welfare) | Sanjeevanee Kutty | IAS officer | 1983 | |
Development of North Eastern Region | Secretary (Development of North Eastern Region) | Navin Verma | 1982 | |
Drinking Water and Sanitation | Secretary (Drinking Water and Sanitation) | Parameswaran Iyer | 1981 (Voluntarily Retired) | |
Earth Sciences | Secretary (Earth Sciences) | Dr. M. Nair Rajeevan | Scientist | — |
Electronics and Information Technology | Secretary (Electronics and Information Technology) | Ajay P. Sawhney | IAS officer | 1984 |
Environment, Forest and Climate Change | Secretary (Environment, Forest and Climate Change) | C. K. Mishra | 1982 | |
External Affairs | Foreign Secretary | Vijay Keshav Gokhale | IFS officer | 1981 |
Secretary (East) | Preeti Saran | 1982 | ||
Secretary (Economic Relations) | T. S. Tirumurti | 1985 | ||
Secretary (West) | Ruchi Ghanashyam | 1982 | ||
Secretary (Overseas Indian Affairs and Consul, Passport and Visa) | Dnyaneshwar M. Mulay | 1982 | ||
Finance | Finance Secretary and Secretary to D/o Revenue | Dr. Hasmukh Adhia | IAS officer | 1980 |
Secretary to D/o Investment and Public Asset Management | Atanu Chakraborty | 1985 | ||
Secretary to D/o Economic Affairs | Subhash Chandra Garg | 1983 | ||
Secretary to D/o Expenditure | Ajay Narayan Jha | 1981 | ||
Secretary to D/o Financial Services | Rajiv Kumar | 1984 | ||
Food Processing Industries | Secretary (Food Processing Industries) | Jagdish Prasad Meena | 1983 | |
Health and Family Welfare | Secretary to D/o Health and Family Welfare | Preeti Sudan | 1983 | |
Secretary to D/o Health Research | Dr. Soumya Swaminathan | Scientist | — | |
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises | Secretary to D/o Heavy Industry | Asha Ram Sihag | IAS officer | 1983 |
Secretary to D/o Public Enterprise | Seema Bahuguna | 1983 | ||
Home Affairs | Home Secretary | Rajiv Gauba | 1982 | |
Secretary (Official Language) | Sailesh | 1985 | ||
Secretary of Inter State Council Secretariat | Ruolkhumlien Buhril | 1984 | ||
Secretary (Border Management) | — | |||
Housing and Urban Affairs | Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) | Durga Shanker Mishra | IAS officer | 1984 |
Human Resource Development | Secretary (Higher Education) | R Subrahmanyam | 1985 | |
Secretary (School Education and Literacy) | Rina Ray | 1984 | ||
Information and Broadcasting | Secretary (Information and Broadcasting) | Amit Khare | 1985 | |
Labour and Employment | Secretary (Labour and Employment) | Heeralal Samariya | 1985 | |
Law and Justice | Secretary (Justice) | Alok Shrivastava | 1984 | |
Secretary (Legal Affairs) | Suresh Chandra | ILS officer | — | |
Secretary (Legislative) | G. Narayana Raju | |||
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises | Secretary (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) | Arun K. Panda | IAS officer | 1984 |
Mines | Secretary (Mines) | Anil Gopishankar Mukim | 1985 | |
Minority Affairs | Secretary (Minority Affairs) | Ameising Luikham | 1981 | |
New and Renewable Energy | Secretary (New and Renewable Energy) | Anand Kumar | 1984 | |
Panchayati Raj | Secretary (Panchayati Raj) | Amarjeet Sinha | 1983 | |
Parliamentary Affairs | Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) | Surendra Nath Tripathi | 1985 | |
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | Secretary (Personnel and Training) | C. Chandramouli | 1984 | |
Secretary (Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) | K.V. Eapen | 1984 | ||
Secretary (Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare) | 1984 | |||
Petroleum and Natural Gas | Secretary (Petroleum and Natural Gas) | Kapil Dev Tripathi | 1980 | |
Power | Secretary (Power) | Ajay K. Bhalla | 1984 | |
Road Transport and Highways | Secretary (Road Transport and Highways) | Yudhvir Singh Malik | 1983 | |
Rural Development | Secretary (Land Resources) | Anant Kumar Singh | 1984 | |
Secretary (Rural Development) | Amarjeet Sinha | 1983 | ||
Science and Technology | Secretary (Biotechnology) | Dr. Renu Swarup | Scientist | — |
Secretary (Science and Technology) | Dr. Ashutosh Sharma | |||
Secretary (Scientific and Industrial Research) | Dr. Girish Sahni | |||
Shipping | Secretary (Shipping) | Gopal Krishna | IAS officer | 1983 |
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship | Secretary (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) | K.P. Krishnan | ||
Social Justice and Empowerment | Secretary (Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities) | Shakuntala Gamlin | 1984 | |
Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) | Nilam Sawhney | |||
Space | Secretary (Space) and Chairman of ISRO | Dr. K. Sivan | Scientist | — |
Statistics and Programme Implementation | Secretary (Statistics and Programme Implementation) | K. V. Eapen | IAS officer | 1984 |
Steel | Secretary (Steel) | Raghvendra Singh | 1982 | |
Textiles | Secretary (Textiles) | Anant K. Singh | 1983 | |
Tourism | Secretary (Tourism) | Rashmi Verma | 1982 | |
Tribal Affairs | Secretary (Tribal Affairs) | Deepak Khandekar | 1985 | |
Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation | Secretary (Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation) | Upendra P. Singh | ||
Women and Child Development | Secretary (Women and Child Development) | Rakesh Srivastava | 1981 | |
Youth Affairs and Sports | Secretary (Sports) | Rahul Bhatnagar | 1983 | |
Secretary (Youth Affairs) | Amarendra Kumar Dubey | 1982 | ||
Notes | ||||
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Additionally, the Chairman of Railway Board is ex-officio Principal Secretary to the Government of India,[33][34] while the members of the Railway Board are ex-officio secretaries to the Government of India.[33][34] In addition, the members of Telecom Commission are ex-officio secretaries to the Government of India.[35]
Total | No. |
---|---|
Ministries | 57 |
Departments | 92 |
Reforms and challenges
Media articles and others have argued in favour of lateral entrants being recruited to this rank/post to infuse fresh energy and thinking into an insular, complacent and archaic bureaucracy.[36][37][38][39]
Non-IAS civil services have complained to the Government of India because of lack of empanelment in the rank/post of secretary on numerous occasions.[4][8][9][10][11][12]
See also
References
- ↑ Khare, Harish (February 8, 2005). "Fixed tenure planned for Home, Defence Secretaries". The Hindu. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ↑ "Fixed tenure for defence, home secretaries". Rediff.com. September 22, 2005. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
- ↑ "Fixed tenure for Defence, Home Secretaries". Outlook. September 22, 2005.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- 1 2 Biswas, Shreya, ed. (June 29, 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ↑ "The Central Staffing Scheme" (PDF). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. January 1996. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- ↑ "Only Cabinet can create Joint Secretary, above level posts". Press Trust of India. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
- 1 2 Tripathi, Shishir (December 8, 2015). "IAS: Emperor among the kings?". Governance Now. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- 1 2 Tikku, Aloke (January 15, 2016). "Parity between IAS and non-IAS? The IAS will get to decide". Hindustan Times. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- 1 2 "Non-IAS bureaucrats now eligible for secretary-level posts". The Asian Age. January 18, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- 1 2 "Need Pay Parity With IAS Officers, Say Officials Of 20 Civil Services". NDTV. June 30, 2016. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- 1 2 Dastidar, Avishek G (January 14, 2017). "Alleging bias, non-IAS officers petition PM Modi". The Indian Express. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- ↑ "Part I of the Constitution of India- The Union and its territory - Article 1" (PDF). Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ↑ "Part XIV of the Constitution of India- Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits - Article 300" (PDF). Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-03. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ↑ "Part XIV of the Constitution of India- Services under the Union and the States - Article 312(2)" (PDF). Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. pp. 3.1–3.10. ISBN 978-9339204785.
- 1 2 "Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure - 14th Edition (2015)" (PDF). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension. p. 6. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Army Pay Rules, 2017" (PDF). Ministry of Defence, Government of India. May 3, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ↑ "Order of Precedence" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. President's Secretariat. July 26, 1979. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ↑ "Table of Precedence" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat. July 26, 1979. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-27. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ↑ "Table of Precedence". Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat. Archived from the original on 2014-04-28. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ↑ Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. ISBN 9788125019886.
- 1 2 Kirk-Greene, A. (2000). Britain's Imperial Administrators, 1858-1966. New York City: Springer. ISBN 9780230286320.
- 1 2 As per published records and book named "The India List and India Office List 1905" as published by India Office and India Office Records.
- 1 2 Singh, Hoshiar; Singh, Pankaj (2011). Indian Administration (1st edition). Delhi: Pearson Education India. pp. 104–126. ISBN 978-8131761199.
- ↑ "PM to oversee cadre allocation of bureaucrats, postings of joint secretaries and above". The Times of India. August 21, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ↑ "MEA Moves its Men, Post-Haste". The New Indian Express. March 2, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ↑ "Compendium (RTI Act) – Government Residence (General Pool in Delhi) Rules" (PDF). Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Urban Development. January 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- ↑ Gupta, Geeta (July 21, 2011). "New homes for govt staff changing New Delhi". Indian Express. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ↑ Pandey, Maneesh (May 17, 2012). "Babu luxury: Bureaucrats and politicians get new address in south Delhi's East Moti Bagh". Daily Mail. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ↑ Singh, Vijaita (September 16, 2015). "Home Secretary gives the miss to fortified bungalow". The Hindu. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- 1 2 "Secretaries to the Government of India". Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India. September 1, 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-03-03. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
- 1 2 Verma, K.B. (1987). Readings In Indian Railway Finance. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. p. 97. ISBN 978-8171881215.
- 1 2 "CHAPTER II - STRUCTURE AND OBJECTIVES OF RAILWAY MANAGEMENT". Ministry of Railways, Government of India. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
- ↑ "Profile - Telecom Commission". Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
- ↑ Natarajan, Gulzar (April 13, 2015). "Lateral entry, blind alley". The Indian Express. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- ↑ Chandra, Shailaja (July 15, 2017). "Should the government allow lateral entry into the civil services?". Hindustan Times. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- ↑ "The need for lateral entry in civil services". Live Mint. HT Media. July 19, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
- ↑ Natarajan, Gulzar; Subbarao, Duvvuri (August 9, 2017). "The case for lateral entry". The Indian Express. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
Bibliography
- Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 978-9339204785.
- Maheshwari, S.R. (2000). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. ISBN 9788125019886.
- Kirk-Greene, A. (2000). Britain's Imperial Administrators, 1858-1966. New York City: Springer. ISBN 9780230286320.
- Singh, Hoshiar; Singh, Pankaj (2011). Indian Administration (1st edition). Delhi: Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-8131761199.
- Verma, K.B. (1987). Readings In Indian Railway Finance. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-8171881215.