Secretary to the Government of India

Secretary to the Government of India, 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. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with the Union Council of Ministers.

The position holder is generally a career civil servant, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service, and a government official of high seniority.

Secretary is 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.

In the structure of the Indian government, a secretary is the administrative head of a ministry or department, and is equivalent to chief secretaries or additional chief secretaries of state governments and Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces, and are listed as such on the Indian order of precedence, ranking twenty-third.

History

C. H. Bhabha with a Secretary and a few Joint Secretaries to the Government of India in 1947.

In mid-1930s, the Central Secretariat contained only twenty-nine secretaries, who were all members of the Indian Civil Service. The salary for a member of this rank and post was fixed at ₹48,000 (equivalent to ₹12 million or US$140,000 in 2023) annum in the 1930s. As per warrant or precedence of 1905, 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.

N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar had once suggested ” 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.”

The Administrative Reforms Commission visualised the role of secretary, primarily as one of a “coordinator, policy guide, reviewer, and evaluator.”

Powers, responsibilities and postings

The organizational structure of a department of the Government of India.

A secretary to the Government of India is the administrative head of a ministry or department and is the principal adviser to the minister-in charge on all matters of policy and administration within the ministry or department.

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.
  • To act as the chief adviser to the minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
  • To represent the ministry or department before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of India.

The prime minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of secretary level. Secretaries report to their ministerial cabinet minister and to the prime minister.

Position

In the Indian government, secretaries are the head of the ministries of the government and hold positions such as Finance Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chairperson of the Railway Board and members of the Railway Board and Telecom Commission.

According to the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission of India, seventy-one out of ninety-one secretaries to the Government of India are from the Indian Administrative Service.

Emolument, accommodation and prequisites

An Indian diplomatic passport and an official generally issued to Secretaries to the Government of India.

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 Housing and Urban Affairs’ Directorate of Estates.

The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents, in the Indian Armed Forces, which is to say Level 17 of the Central Pay Matrix.

Secretary to the Government of India monthly pay and allowances 
Base salary as per the Seventh Pay Commission Pay matrix level Sources
₹225,000 (US$2,700) per month Pay level 17

List of current secretaries to the Government of India

Secretaries to the Government of India
Office or Ministry Designation Name of secretary Background Batch
President’s Secretariat Secretary to the President Rajesh Verma IAS officer 1987[a]
Vice President’s Secretariat Secretary to the Vice President Sunil Kumar Gupta 1987[a]
Prime Minister’s Office Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P.K. Mishra 1972[a]
1986
Supreme Court Registry Office Secretary General of Supreme Court of India Shri Atul M. Kurhekar Legal Service Officer
Parliament’s Secretariat Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha Pramod Chandra Mody IRS (IT) Officer 1982
Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh IAS officer
Cabinet Secretariat Cabinet Secretary[b] Rajiv Gauba 1982
Secretary (Coordination) Vacant
Secretary (R&AW) Ravi Sinha IPS officer 1988
Secretary (Security) Swagat Das[30] 1987
Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) Manoj Ahuja IAS officer 1990
Secretary (Agricultural Research and Education) Himanshu Pathak Scientist
Atomic Energy Secretary (Atomic Energy) and chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission Ajit Kumar Mohanty[31] Scientist
AYUSH Secretary (AYUSH) Rajesh Kotecha
Chemicals and Fertilizers Secretary (Chemicals and Petrochemicals) Nivedita Shukla Verma IAS officer 1991
Secretary (Fertilizers) Rajat Kumar Mishra 1992
Secretary (Pharmaceuticals) Arunish Chawla 1992
Civil Aviation Secretary (Civil Aviation) Vumlunmang Vualnam[32] 1992
Coal Secretary (Coal) Amrit Lal Meena 1989
Commerce and Industry Secretary (Commerce) Sunil Barthwal 1989
Secretary (Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) Rajesh Kumar Singh 1989
Communications Secretary (Posts) Vineet Pandey IPoS officer 1986
Secretary to (Telecommunications) and chairperson, Telecoms Commission Neeraj Mittal[32] IAS officer 1992
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Secretary (Consumer Affairs) Nidhi Khare 1992
Secretary (Food and Public Distribution) Sanjeev Chopra 1990
Co-operation Secretary (Co-operation) Ashish Kumar Bhutani 1992
Corporate Affairs Secretary (Corporate Affairs) Manoj Govil 1991
Culture Secretary (Culture) Govind Mohan 1989
Defence Defence Secretary Giridhar Armane 1988
Secretary (Defence Production)
Secretary (Defence Research and Development) and chairperson, DRDO Samir V. Kamath Scientist
Secretary (Ex-Servicemen Welfare) Niten Chandra IAS officer 1990
Secretary (Department of Military Affairs) and Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan Indian Armed Forces officer
Development of North Eastern Region Secretary (Development of North Eastern Region) Chanchal Kumar[33] IAS officer 1992
Earth Sciences Secretary (Earth Sciences) and chairman, Earth Sciences Commission M. Ravichandran Scientist
Education Secretary (Higher Education) K. Sanjay Murthy IAS officer 1989
Secretary (School Education and Literacy) Sanjay Kumar 1990
Electronics and Information Technology Secretary (Electronics and Information Technology) S Krishnan[32] 1989
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Secretary (Environment, Forest and Climate Change) Leena Nandan 1987
External Affairs Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra IFS officer 1984
Secretary (East) Jaideep Mazumdar 1989
Secretary (West) Pavan Kapoor 1990
Secretary (CPV & OIA) Muktesh Kumar Pardeshi 1991
Secretary (Economic Relations) Dammu Ravi 1989
Secretary (Dean) Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service Gaddam Dharmendra 1990
Finance Finance Secretary
Secretary (Expenditure)
T. V. Somanathan IAS officer 1987
Secretary (Economic Affairs) Ajay Seth 1987
Secretary (Public Enterprises) Ali Raza Rizvi 1988
Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra 1990
Secretary (Investment and Public Asset Management) Tuhin Kanti Pandey 1987
Secretary (Financial Services) Vivek Joshi 1989
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Secretary (Animal Husbandry and Dairying) Alka Upadhyaya 1990
Secretary (Fisheries) Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi 1991
Food Processing Industries Secretary (Food Processing Industries) Anita Praveen 1989
Health and Family Welfare Secretary to (Health and Family Welfare) Apurva Chandra 1988
Secretary (Health Research) Dr. Rajiv Bahl Scientist
Heavy Industries Secretary (Heavy Industry) Kamran Rizvi IAS officer 1991
Home Affairs Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla 1984
Secretary (Official Language) Ansuli Arya 1989
Secretary (Border Management) Rajendra Kumar 1992
Secretary (Inter-State Council Secretariat) K.Moses Chalai IAS officer 1990
Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) Vacant IAS officer
Information and Broadcasting Secretary (Information and Broadcasting) Sanjay Jaju 1992
Jal Shakti Secretary (Drinking Water and Sanitation) Vini Mahajan 1987
Secretary (Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) Debashree Mukherjee[34] 1991
Labour and Employment Secretary (Labour and Employment) Sumita Dawra 1991
Law and Justice Secretary (Justice) Raj Kumar Goyal 1990
Secretary (Legal Affairs) Vacant
Secretary (Legislative) Dr. Rajiv Mani Legal Service Officer
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Secretary (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) Subhas Chandra Lal Das IAS officer 1992
Mines Secretary (Mines) VL Kantha Rao 1992
Minority Affairs Secretary (Minority Affairs) Katikithala Srinivas[32] 1989
New and Renewable Energy Secretary (New and Renewable Energy) Bhupendra Singh Bhalla 1990
NITI Aayog (Planning Commission) Chief Executive Officer and ex officio Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam 1987
Panchayati Raj Secretary (Panchayati Raj) Vivek Bhardwaj 1990
Parliamentary Affairs Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) Umang Narula[32] 1989
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Secretary (Personnel and Training) S Radha Chauhan 1988
Secretary (Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) V. Srinivas 1989
Secretary (Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare)
Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary (Petroleum and Natural Gas) Pankaj Jain 1990
Ports, Shipping and Waterways Secretary (Ports, Shipping and Waterways) T K Ramachandran 1991
Power Secretary (Power) Pankaj Agarwal 1992
Ministry of Railway (Railway Board) Chairperson, Railway Board and ex-officio Principal Secretary Jaya Varma Sinha IRTS 1988
Road Transport and Highways Secretary (Road Transport and Highways) Anuraj Jain IAS officer 1989
Rural Development Secretary (Land Resources) Manoj Joshi 1989
Secretary (Rural Development) Shailesh Kumar Singh 1991
Science and Technology Secretary (Biotechnology) Rajesh Sudhir Gokhale Scientist
Secretary (Science and Technology) Abhay Karandikar[35]
Secretary (Scientific and Industrial Research) N. Kalaiselvi
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Secretary (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) Atul Kumar Tiwari IAS officer 1990
Social Justice and Empowerment Secretary (Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities) Rajesh Aggarwal 1989
Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) Amit Yadav 1991
Statistics and Programme Implementation Secretary (Statistics and Programme Implementation) Saurabh Garg IAS officer 1991
Space Secretary (Space) and Chairperson of ISRO S. Somanath Scientist
Steel Secretary (Steel) Nagendra Nath Sinha IAS officer 1987
Textiles Secretary (Textiles) Rachna Shah 1991
Tourism Secretary (Tourism) V. Vidyavathi 1991
Tribal Affairs Secretary (Tribal Affairs) Vibhu Nayar 1990
Women and Child Development Secretary (Women and Child Development) Anil Malik 1991
Youth Affairs and Sports Secretary (Sports) Sujata Chaturvedi 1989
Secretary (Youth Affairs) Meeta R Lochan 1990
Notes
  1. Jump up to:a b c Retired
  2. ^ Cabinet Secretary is not a secretary rank position but the highest level of empanelment in the Government of India is at secretary rank.

Reforms

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.

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.