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
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
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
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.
| 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
| 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 | ||||
|
||||
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.