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 Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with the

Union Council of Ministers The Union Council of Ministers is the Cabinet (government), principal executive organ of the Government of India, which serves to aid and advise the President of India in execution of their functions.Article 74 of the ''Constitution of India' ...

. The position holder is generally a career civil servant, usually from the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

, and a government official of high seniority. The civil servants who hold this rank and post are either from

All India Services The All India Services (AIS) comprises three Civil Services of India common to the centre and state governments, which includes the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Police Service (IPS), and the Indian Forest Service (IFS). ...

(on deputation; on tenure, after empanelment) or

Central Civil Services The Central Civil Services (CCS) encompass the various Civil Services of India that are exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Government of India. This is in contrast to the All India Services, which are common to both the central and state go ...

(Group A; on empanelment). All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is a high-level committee within the Government of India responsible for appointing senior officials to key positions in the central government and public sector undertakings.Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, a secretary is the administrative head of a ministry or department, and is equivalent to chief secretaries of

state governments State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents in the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

, In the

Department of Military Affairs Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the department in charge of military matters within the Indian Ministry of Defence. Headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, as its ''ex-officio'' secretary, the DMA provides integration between the Indian ...

, the Chief of Defence Staff is currently designated as Secretary (GoI), similarly in the National Security Council Secretariat, the National Security Advisor is currently designated as Secretary (GoI). Secretaries (GOI) rank 23rd on Order of Precedence of India.

History

C H Bhabha inaugurating meeting of the Indian Oilseeds Committee

In mid-1930s, the Central Secretariat contained only twenty-ninesecretaries, who were all members of the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

. The salary for a member of this rank and post was fixed at annum in the 1930s. As per warrant or precedence of 1905,As per published records and book named "The India List and India Office List 1905" as published by

India Office The India Office was a British government department in London established in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of India, through the British viceroy and other officials. The administered territories comprised most of the mo ...

and

India Office Records The India Office Records are a very large collection of documents relating to the administration of India from 1600 to 1947, the period spanning Company and British rule in India. The archive is held in London by the British Library and is publi ...

. 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 Diwan Bahadur Sir Narasimha Gopalaswami Ayyangar (31 March 1882 – 10 February 1953) was an Indian civil servant and statesman, who served as the Prime Minister of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and later a minister in the firs ...

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 The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) is the commission appointed by the Government of India for giving recommendations for reviewing the public Public administration, administration system of India. The first ARC was established on 5 Jan ...

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 A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...

of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

. The

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

-led

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

and to the

Position

In the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

, secretaries are the head of the ministries of the government and hold positions such as Finance Secretary,

Defence Secretary A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

, Foreign Secretary,

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

Chairperson of the Railway Board The Chairperson and CEO of the Indian Railway Board is the administrative head of the Indian Railways, which functions under the overall control of the Parliament of India through the Minister of Railways. The chairperson also serves as ex-offic ...

and members of the Railway Board and Telecom Commission. According to the report of the SeventhCentral Pay Commission of India, seventy-one out of ninety-one secretaries to the Government of India are from the

Emolument, accommodation and prequisites

All secretaries to the Government of India are eligible for a

Diplomatic passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's Identity (social science), identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign ...

or Official passport. Secretaries are allotted either type-VII or type-VIII

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas. Th ...

in areas like

New Moti Bagh New Moti Bagh is a residential colony in South Delhi. New Moti Bagh occupies an area of 143 acres, in the exclusive New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area of New Delhi. It is one of Delhi's most expensive areas, where land rates vary from 10 la ...

and Lutyens' across

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

by the

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a ministry of the Government of India with executive authority over the formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in In ...

' 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

, which is to say Level 17 of the Central Pay Matrix.

List of current secretaries to the Government of India

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. 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.

Lateral entry

From 1998 to 1999,

Vijay Kelkar Vijay L. Kelkar (born 15 May 1942) is an Indian economist and academic, who is the chairman of the Forum of Federations, Ottawa & India Development Foundation, New Delhi and chairman of Janwani – a social initiative of the Mahratta Chamber of ...

served as Finance Secretary as a lateral entry. During the term of

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

and

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

Ram Vinay Shahi R.V. Shahi is the Chairman of Energy Infratech Private Limited. He previously served as the Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Power and formerly the Chairman and Managing Director of Bombay Suburban Electric Supply Limited ...

served as Secretary (GOI) in the Ministry of Power from 2002 to 2007 as a lateral entry. The Indian government in 2024 asked the

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is a constitutional body tasked with recruiting officers for All India Services and the Central Civil Services (Group A and B) through various standardized examinations. In 2023, 1.3 million applica ...

to cancel the recruitment of 45 specialists for senior positions through a lateral entry route. The Indian government also stated that it aims to introduce a quota system for lateral entries in order to respect social justice, particularly the reservation system in place for public appointments.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Union ministries of India Civil Services of India Indian government officials Indian Administrative Service officers Indian Foreign Service officers