Union Secretary
State Emblem of India
Flag of India
Government of India
Member of	Committee of Secretaries on Administration
Reports to	Parliament of India President of India Union Council of Ministers Prime Minister of India
Seat	Union Ministries of India,New Delhi
Appointer	Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Term length	No term length[dead link][1][2] Term extendable
Formation	1st November 1858; 167 years ago (1st November 1858)[a]
Succession	23rd(on theIndian order of precedence.)
Salary	₹225,000 (US$2,700) monthly[3][4]

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Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated asSecretary, GoI, or simply asSecretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of theGovernment of India.^[5] The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with theUnion Council of Ministers.^[6]

The position holder is generally acareer civil servant^[7][8][9] and a government official of high seniority. The civil servants who hold this rank and post are either fromAll India Services orCentral Civil Services. All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by theAppointments Committee of the Cabinet.

In the functioning of theGovernment of India,^[10][11][12] a secretary is the administrative head of a ministry or department,^[13][14] and is equivalent tochief secretaries ofstate governments andVice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents in theIndian Armed Forces,^[15] In theDepartment of Military Affairs, theChief of Defence Staff is currently designated as Secretary (GoI), similarly in the National Security Council Secretariat, theNational Security Advisor is currently designated as Secretary (GoI).^[16]

Secretaries (GOI) rank 23rd onOrder of Precedence of India.^[17][18]

In mid-1930s, theCentral Secretariat contained only twenty-nine secretaries,^[19] who were all members of theIndian 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.^[19] As per warrant or precedence of 1905,^[20] secretaries to the Government of India was listed together withjoint secretaries to the Government of India and were ranked above the rank ofchief secretaries of provincial governments.^[20]

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."^[21] TheAdministrative Reforms Commission visualised the role of secretary, primarily as one of a "coordinator, policy guide, reviewer, and evaluator."^[21]

BeforePartition of India, notable officers who served as Secretary in the Central Government include -Allan Hume,Edward Buck,Thomas Holderness,N. R. Pillai,Y. N. Sukthankar,Charles Ogilvie,Archdale Earle,Charles Todhunter,Jeremy Raisman,Herbert Hope Risley,Robert Carlyle,Henry Smith,C. S. Venkatachar,V. P. Menon.

A member of All India Services is appointed to this rank and post only on tenure. This tenure is a deputation to the Central Government and does not carry a fixed term. They serve at the pleasure and will of theAppointments Committee of the Cabinet.

A member of Central Civil Services is appointed to this rank and post as per vacancy in their own service cadre and are empanelled.

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.^[14]

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.^[13]
• To act as the chief adviser to the minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.^[13]
• To represent the ministry or department before thePublic Accounts Committee of theParliament of India.^[13]

Theprime minister-ledAppointments Committee of the Cabinet is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of secretary level.^[22] Secretaries report to their ministerialcabinet minister and to theprime minister.^{[citation needed]}

In theIndian government, secretaries are the head of the ministries of the government and hold positions such asFinance Secretary,Defence Secretary,Foreign Secretary,Home Secretary,Chairperson of the Railway Board and members of the Railway Board andTelecom Commission.

According to the report of theSeventh Central Pay Commission of India, seventy-one out of ninety-one secretaries to the Government of India are from theIndian Administrative Service.^[3]

All secretaries to the Government of India are eligible for aDiplomatic passport or Official passport. Secretaries are allotted either type-VII or type-VIIIbungalows in areas likeNew Moti Bagh andLutyens' acrossDelhi by theMinistry of Housing and Urban Affairs' Directorate of Estates.^[23][24][25]

The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent^[15] tochief secretaries of state governments and toVice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents, in theIndian Armed Forces, which is to say Level 17 of the Central Pay Matrix.^[15]

The position of Secretary in Government of India is equivalent toPermanent Secretary inHis Majesty's Civil Service (UK), Administrative Vice-Ministers inCivil service of Japan, Secretary General inItalian Senior Civil Service,Department secretary inAustralian Government,Deputy Minister inGovernment of Canada andFederal Secretary inCentral Superior Services ofPakistan.

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.^[33][34][35]

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.^[36][37][9]

From 1998 to 1999,Vijay Kelkar served asFinance Secretary as a lateral entry. During the term ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee andManmohan Singh asPrime Minister of India,Ram Vinay Shahi served as Secretary (GOI) in theMinistry of Power from 2002 to 2007 as a lateral entry.^[38]

• Federal Secretary
• Chief secretary (India)

• Central Civil Services (India)
• Indian government officials
• Indian Administrative Service officers
• Indian Foreign Service officers

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