The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM) is the administrative head of the Prime Minister’s Office. The officeholder is generally a civil servant, commonly from the Indian Administrative Service and occasionally from the Indian Foreign Service.
Since 2019, the officeholder has been accorded with the status of a cabinet minister.
History
The Prime Minister’s Secretariat (PMS)—headed by an officer of the rank of joint secretary to the Government of India—was established after independence under the prime ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru, as a successor to the office of the Governor-General of India’s secretary. Lal Bahadur Shastri appointed Lakshmi Kant Jha, an Indian Civil Service officer, as his secretary, making Jha the first secretary to the Government of India-ranked officer in the PMS. During Indira Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister, the post of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister was created; with retired Indian Foreign Service officer P. N. Haksar becoming the first PS to the PM.
Role
The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India acts as the administrative chief of the Prime Minister’s Office. The main functions of the officeholder often include, but are not limited to:
- Advising the prime minister on domestic and foreign policy matters.
- Overseeing the affairs of ministries and departments assigned by the prime minister.
- Coordinating activities in the Prime Minister’s Office.
- Dealing with official, governmental, important paperwork in the Prime Minister’s Office.
- Preparing notes on issues to be discussed by the prime minister with senior politicians, bureaucrats, and other dignitaries.
- Placing before the prime minister critical files of importance for approval and instructions.
The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister is generally considered the latter’s most crucial aide.
Office holders
List of office holders of the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
| No. | Portrait | Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Service | Prime Minister of India |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 |
P. N. Haksar (1913–1998) |
6 December 1971 | 28 February 1973 | 1 year, 84 days | Indian Foreign Service | Indira Gandhi (INC) |
| 2 |
|
V. Shankar | 4 April 1977 | 31 July 1979 | 2 years, 118 days | Indian Civil Service | Morarji Desai (JP) |
| 3 |
|
P. C. Alexander (1921–2011) |
2 May 1981 | 18 January 1985 | 3 years, 261 days | Indian Administrative Service | Indira Gandhi (INC) (2 May 1981 – 31 October 1984) Rajiv Gandhi (INC) (31 October 1984 – 18 January 1985) |
| 4 |
|
B. G. Deshmukh (1929–2011) |
27 March 1989 | 11 December 1990 | 1 year, 259 days | Indian Administrative Service | Rajiv Gandhi (INC) (27 March 1989 – 2 December 1989) Vishwanath Pratap Singh (JD) (2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990) Chandra Shekhar (SJP(R)) (10 November 1990 – 11 December 1990) |
| 5 |
|
S. K. Misra (born 1932) |
11 December 1990 | 24 June 1991 | 195 days | Indian Administrative Service | Chandra Shekhar (SJP(R)) |
| 6 |
|
A. N. Verma | 25 June 1991 | 15 May 1996 | 4 years, 324 days | Indian Administrative Service | Narasimha Rao (INC) |
| 7 |
|
T. R. Satishchandran (1929–2009) |
12 June 1996 | 30 June 1997 | 1 year, 18 days | Indian Administrative Service | H. D. Deve Gowda (JD) (12 June 1996 – 21 April 1997) I. K. Gujral |
| 8 |
 |
N. N. Vohra (born 1936) |
1 July 1997 | 19 March 1998 | 261 days | Indian Administrative Service | I. K. Gujral (JD) |
| 9 |
![Brajesh Mishra[a]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Brajesh_Mishra.jpg/100px-Brajesh_Mishra.jpg) |
Brajesh Mishra[a] (1928–2012) |
19 March 1998 | 22 May 2004 | 6 years, 64 days | Indian Foreign Service | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP) |
| 10 |
|
T. K. A. Nair (born 1939) |
28 May 2004 | 3 October 2011 | 7 years, 128 days | Indian Administrative Service | Manmohan Singh (INC) |
| 11 |
|
Pulok Chatterji (born 1952) |
3 October 2011 | 26 May 2014 | 2 years, 235 days | Indian Administrative Service | Manmohan Singh (INC) |
| 12 |
 |
Nripendra Misra (born 1945) |
28 May 2014 | 10 September 2019 | 5 years, 105 days | Indian Administrative Service | Narendra Modi (BJP) |
| 13 |
 |
Pramod Kumar Mishra (born 1948) |
11 September 2019 | Incumbent | 4 years, 142 days | Indian Administrative Service | Narendra Modi (BJP) |
Additional principal secretary[edit]
A prime minister—through the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet—can also appoint an additional principal secretary. The only instance of an additional principal secretary being appointed was in May 2014, Pramod Kumar Misra, a retired 1972-batch Gujarat cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet to serve as newly-elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s additional principal secretary.[18][19]