State Secretariat: organization and functions
Notebook: GS3
Created: 26-08-2019 16:50 Updated: 26-08-2019 17:28
Author: kaberi nath
The three components of government at the state level are: (i) the minister; (ii) the
secretary, and (iii) the executive head. (The last one in most cases is called the director,
although other nomenclatures are also used to refer to the executive head). The minister
and the secretary together constitute the Secretariat, whereas the office of the executive
head is designated as the Directorate. Literally, the term 'Secretariat' means the secretary's
office. It originated at a time when what we had in India was really a government run by
the secretaries. After independence the power of governance passed into the hands of the
popularly elected ministers and thus the Ministry became the seat of authority. In the
changed political situation, the term Secretariat has become a synonym for the minister's
office. But because the secretary is the principal adviser to the minister, he needs to be in
the physical vicinity of the minister. In effect, therefore, Secretariat refers to the complex of
buildings that houses the office of ministers and secretaries. The expression Secretariat, it
has been observed, is used to refer to the complex of departments whose heads politically
are ministers and administratively are the secretaries.
POSITION AND FUNCTION OF STATE SECRETARIAT
The State Secretariat, as the top layer of the state administration, is primarily meant to
assist the state government in policy making and in discharging its legislative functions. It
also acts "as a memory and a clearing house, preparatory to certain types of decisions and
as a general supervisor of executive action". The main functions of the State Secretariat are
broadly as follows:
i) Assisting the ministers in policy making, in modifying policies from time to time and in
discharging their legislative responsibilities
ii) Framing draft legislation, and rules and regulations
iii) Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and controlling their execution, and
reviewing of the results
iv) Budgeting and control of expenditure
v) Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state governments; and
vi) Overseeing the smooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery and
initiating measures to develop greater personnel and organisational competence.
STRUCTURE OF A TYPICAL SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT
Vertically, a typical Secretariat Department has two hierarchical formations; that of the
officers and, what is described as the office.
The structure of a typical department comprises:
Department - Secretary
Wing - Additional/Joint Secretary
Division - Deputy Secretary/Director
Branch - Under Secretary
Section - Section Officer
The section is the lowest organisational unit and it is under the charge of a section officer.
Other functionaries in a section are assistants, upper and lower division clerks, steno-
typists, typists, etc. A section is referred to as the office. Two sections constitute the branch,
which is under the charge of an under secretary. Two branches ordinarily form a division,
which is headed by a deputy secretary. When the volume of work of a department is more
than a secretary can manage, one or more wings are established with a joint secretary in
charge of each wing. At the top of the organisational hierarchy is the secretary who is in
charge of the department.
CHIEF SECRETARY
Every state has a Chief Secretary. This functionary is the kingpin of the State Secretariat, his
control extending to all secretariat departments. The Chief Secretary is the chief adviser to
the Chief Minister and Secretary to the State Cabinet. He is the head of the General
Administration Department whose political head is the Chief Minister himself. Chief
Secretary is also the head of the civil services in the state. He is the main channel of
communication between the state government and the Central and other state
governments. Chief Secretary is the chief spokesman and public relations officer of the
state government and is looked upon to provide leadership to the state's administrative
system.
The principal functions of the Chief Secretary are listed below:
He is the principal adviser to the Chief Minister in which capacity he, inter alia, works
out the detailed administrative implications of the proposals made by ministers and
coordinates them into a cohesive plan of action.
The Chief Secretary is the secretary to the Cabinet. He prepares the agenda for
Cabinet meetings, arranges them, maintains records of these meetings, ensures
follow-up action on Cabinet decisions, and provides assistance to Cabinet
committees.
The Chief Secretary is the head of the civil services of the state. In that capacity, he
decides on the postings and transfers of civil servants.
By virtue of the unique position he holds as the head of the official machinery and
adviser to the Council of Ministers, the Chief Secretary is the coordinator-in-chief of
the Secretariat departments. He takes steps to secure inter-departmental cooperation
and coordination. For this purpose, he convenes and attends a large number of
meetings at the Secretariat and other levels. Meetings serve as a powerful tool of
effecting coordination and securing cooperation of different agencies.
As the chief of the secretaries, the Chief Secretary also presides over a large number
of committees and holds membership of many others. Besides, he looks after all
matters not falling within the jurisdiction of other secretaries. In this sense, the Chief
Secretary is a residual legatee.
The Chief Secretary is the secretary, by rotation, of the Zonal Council of which the
particular state is a member.
He exercises 'administrative control over the secretarial buildings, including matters
connected with space allocation. He also controls the Central Record Branch, the
secretariat library, and the conservancy and watch and ward staff. The Chief Secretary
also controls the staff attached to the ministers.
In situations of crisis, Chief Secretary acts as the nerve centre of the state, providing
lead and guidance to the concerned agencies in order to expedite relief operations. It
would be no exaggeration to say that in times of drought, flood, communal
disturbances, etc., he virtually represents the government for all the functionaries and
agencies concerned to provide relief.
