Cabinet Secretariat

UNIT 6 CABINET SECRETARIAT

Structure
6.0 Objectives
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Evolution of Cabinet Secretariat
6.3 Organization
6.4 Functions of Cabinet Secretariat
6.5 Office of Cabinet Secretary
6.5.1 Appointment and Tenure
6.5.2 Roles, Powers, and Functions
6.6 Cabinet Committees
6.6.1 Size
6.6.2 Roles and Functions
6.7 Cabinet Secretariat: Evaluation
6.8 Conclusion
6.9 References and Further Readings

6.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit, you should be able to:
highlight the evolution, organization, and functions of Cabinet secretariat;
explain the roles, powers, and functions of Cabinet Secretary; and
describe the size, functions, and roles of various Cabinet Committees.

6.1 INTRODUCTION
Cabinet secretariat is a British legacy to India. The basic duty of the cabinet
secretariat is to maintain records and provide secretarial assistance to the cabinet.

In this Unit we will discuss about the evolution, organization, and functions of
the cabinet secretariat. Further, the role of Cabinet Secretary and cabinet
committees will also be highlighted.

To begin with is the evolution of cabinet secretariat.

6.2 EVOLUTION OF CABINET SECRETARIAT

In India, before 1935, the Governor-General had a private secretary, who provided
secretarial assistance to him as well as to his Executive Council. Lord Wellington
who was the Governor-General, between (1931-1936) used to have his private
secretary attend meetings of cabinet and record the proceedings. Sir Eric Coates
was the first Cabinet Secretary in pre-independence India, but his designation
was of the Secretary to the Viceroy’s Executive Council.

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Institutional Framework After Independence, we adopted a parliamentary democracy, wherein there is a
Council of Ministers headed by the PM. The need for secretarial services,
especially to the cabinet, was felt, However, due to shortage of senior officials,
the new cabinet secretariat that came into existence in 1947 was combined with
the PM’s Secretariat. Later on, the two were separated, as independent entities
and a Cabinet Secretary was made in charge of the cabinet secretariat. Since
1948 units of different departments of the ministries were added to the cabinet
secretariat. Organization and Method Division (O & M) of the GoI started
functioning in March 1954 and continued to remain, as a separate wing of the
cabinet secretariat till March 25 1964. In 1964, a new department called
Department of Administrative Reforms was set up in the Ministry of Home Affairs
and the O & M Division was transferred to this new department. Owing to the
recommendations of the first ARC, a Central Personnel Agency (CPA) was created
in the cabinet secretariat in August 1970. In February 1973, owing to the
recommendation of CPA, the Department of Administrative Reforms was
transferred to the cabinet secretariat. In 1977, during the Janata Government, the
Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (that was already merged
into one department) was again transferred to the Ministry of Home Affairs in.
Since then, the Department is functioning in the Ministry.

6.3 ORGANIZATION
The cabinet secretariat has three wings- civil wing, military wing, and intelligence
wing. The civil wing provides advice and assistance to the Union cabinet. The
military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the
cabinet the Military Affairs Committee, the National Defence Council, and other
committees dealing with defence matters. The intelligence wing deals with matters
pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union cabinet.
Besides, the cabinet secretariat has the following organizations:
1) Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)
2) Director General of Security
3) Special Protection Group
4) Joint Intelligence Committee
5) Directorate of Public Grievances
6) National Authority, Chemical Weapons Convention
Besides, there are a large number of other secretaries and officials like under
secretary, deputy secretary to assist. In addition, the cabinet secretariat has subject
related advisors to the PM.

6.4 FUNCTIONS
The cabinet secretariat performs the following functions:
1) Prepares agenda for meetings of the cabinet and provides necessary
information and material for its deliberations.

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2) Keeps a record of the discussions and decisions of the cabinet and cabinet Cabinet Secretariat
committees and circulates them to all concerned ministries.
3) Provides secretarial assistance to the Cabinet Committees-Political Affairs
Committee, Economic Affairs Committee, Appointments Committee, and
Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (Chairperson-Home Minister).1
4) Keeps the President, Vice-President, and all the central ministries informed
of the activities undertaken by the central government.
5) Prepares and finalizes the rules of business of the government and allots the
same to ministries/departments of the Union government with the President’s
approval.
6) Functions, as the chief coordinating agency in the central government. In
this respect, it settles disputes between ministries.
7) Watches the implementation of cabinet decisions by the concerned ministries/
departments and executive agencies.
8) Handles the work pertaining to appointment and resignation of ministers,
allotment of portfolios to the ministers, and organization and re-organization
of ministries.

6.5 OFFICE OF CABINET SECRETARY

The Cabinet Secretary is an administrative officer of the highest rank, selected
for the office for his/her special qualities of tact, energy, initiative, and efficiency.
Being the head of the cabinet secretariat, he/she is entrusted with the function of
securing coordination, as well as, timely and effective action by all departments
in matters in, which the cabinet, as a whole or the PM is interested. He should be
a sufficiently senior officer so as to command the confidence and respect of all
heads of departments.

6.5.1 Appointment and Tenure

The Cabinet Secretary is the ex-officio chairperson of the Civil Services Board
and heads the Indian Administrative Services. As a matter of convention, a senior
most civil servant is appointed, as a Cabinet Secretary. He/She belongs to the
Indian Administrative Services. The incumbent generally has tenure of 2 to 3
years. Though, there is no fixed tenure so far, the average tenure of the Cabinet
Secretary in India has not been more than 3 years. His/Her tenure, however, can
be extended. The Cabinet Secretary is directly responsible to the PM and reports
to the PM concerning all matters.

Below the Cabinet Secretary, there are three other secretaries in the cabinet
secretariat. They head three wings respectively: security, coordination, and
political. Below the secretaries, there are a number of additional secretaries,
joint secretaries, directors, deputy secretaries, and under secretaries. Besides,
there are two advisers attached exclusively to the PM in areas on science and
technology.

1
The first three Committees are headed by the PM and the last one is headed by the Home
Minister. 87
Institutional Framework 6.5.2 Roles, Powers, and Functions
The following points highlight the roles, powers, and functions of the Cabinet
Secretary. He/She/is the
1) Chief Coordinator of central administration.

2) Chairperson of the senior selection board, which selects officials for the
post of joint secretary in the central secretariat.

3) Selects the officers for the post of secretary and additional secretary in the
central secretariat.

4) Chairperson of the committee of the Secretaries on administration, which is

set up to resolve inter-ministerial disputes.

5) Presides over the conference of chief secretaries, which is held annually.

6) Chief advisor to the PM in all administration and policy matters.

7) Gives sanction to a minister before the latter decides to lodge prosecution

against the publisher or auditor of news paper in cases of defamation. In
this respect, a Cabinet Secretary can act on his own discretion, without
even resorting to the advice of the PM.

8) Advisor and conscience-keeper to all civil servants. He/She do help in

resolution of departmental difficulties. As analyzed by Ramesh K.Arora
and Rajni Goyal, “As a head of the civil services, the Cabinet Secretary
ensures that morale of the civil servants remain high. He/She acts, as a
buffer between the politicians and the civil servants and protects the interests
of the latter in situations of conflict….”

9) Acts, as a link between the PMO and various administrative agencies on

one hand, and also between the civil services and the political system, on
the other.

A former Cabinet Secretary observes that the cabinet secretary is the eyes and
ears of the PM to enable the latter to keep in touch with official conduct of
business in the central government. But he/she is in no sense a watch dog or an
invigilator on behalf of the PM…. A Cabinet Secretary performs a staff function…
for his/her business is to help and not to oversee (paraphrased).

The Gopal Swamy Ayyangar Report on ‘Reorganization of the Machinery of

Government’ (1949) made the following recommendations with regard to the
status and role of a Cabinet Secretary.
1) He/She should be an administrative officer of the highest rank, selected for
the office for his special qualities of tact, energy, initiative, and efficiency.
2) He/She should entrusted, as a head of the cabinet secretariat, with function
of securing coordination as well as timely and effective action by all
departments of the government in the matters in, which the Cabinet as a
whole or the Prime Minster is interested.

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3) He/She should be a sufficiently senior officer so, as to command the Cabinet Secretariat
confidence and respect of all heads of departments.
4) He/She should be ex-officio President of the Committee of Secretaries set
up to advise the Prime Minster and other Ministers on selections for
administrative appointments.
5) His/Her status in the service should be such, as to entitle him/her, to be
regarded as the first member of the public services under the control of the
central government; and one in whose judgement and impartiality the
government as well as the services, could rely implicitly.

6.6 CABINET COMMITTEES

The cabinet makes use of the committee system to facilitate decision-making in
specific areas. The business rules provide for the constitution of standing
committees of the cabinet so, as to ensure speedy decisions on matters of political
and economic significance, as also to ensure coordination in administrative
matters. These committees are appointed, as per the requirements of the situation
and are occasionally ad hoc in nature.

6.6.1 Size
The numbers of committees do vary but normally there are three to eight members
that constitute such committees. The PM or a cabinet minister can be the
chairperson. There are some committees that function on a permanent basis.
They are the Political Affairs Committee, Economic Affairs Committee,
Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Appointments Committee, Committee on
Accommodation, Committee on Industry and Trade, and the Committee on Food
and Agriculture and such others. Amongst these, the Political Affairs Committee
is the most powerful one, as it has most of the senior ministers in it.

6.6.2 Roles and Functions

The cabinet committees are to work on clearly defined fields that require in-
depth study and can relieve the cabinet of the burden of such work. The flexibility
is ensured by these committees that enable ministers of different departments to
come to a platform and sort out issues and work. The flexibility delves on
particular issues to arrive at a consensus. Also, many matters, which could
otherwise travel up to the cabinet for decisions, get settled at the level of these
committees. This ensures not only a coordinated action on vital economic and
political issues that confront the cabinet but also renders speedy decisions. The
cabinet, more often, accepts the decisions of the cabinet committees.
However, despite the fact that some cabinet committees have often exercised
real authority, these committees have not been consistently effective. First, they
do not cover all important areas of governmental functioning. Second, they can
take up a matter only when it is referred to by the Minister concerned or by the
Cabinet. Lastly, they do not meet regularly, which is absolutely necessary, if
sustained attention is to be given to complex problems and the progress in
implementation of important policies and programmes is to be kept under constant
review.
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Institutional Framework
6.7 CABINET SECRETARIAT: EVALUATION
During the Congress regime the cabinet secretariat substantially grew in stature
and influence. It became a ‘super-cabinet’ and enjoyed real authority to get the
top-level policies or decisions implemented by government departments or
agencies. Most of the officials enjoyed the status of a minister of state or
secretary to the state of India.
The rise of cabinet secretariat in India (including the PM’s secretariat) in recent
decades, especially from late eighties, is an indicator of the growing
centralization of policy and decisional authority in the position of the PM. It
has acted, as an overall supervisory agency over the line ministries in the name
of exercising coordination.
Nevertheless in this context, caution needs to be exercised to ensure that the
staff agencies should not assume too much of powers to subdue the ministers
and secretaries that could lead to the erosion of their powers and status. The
cabinet secretariat, should keep itsself to the role of secretarial assistance only.

Activity
Distinguish between cabinet secretariat and central secretariat.

6.8 CONCLUSION
Cabinet secretariat is to provide secretarial assistance to the cabinet and its
various committees. The Cabinet Secretary is it's administrative head. Owing
to the position being significant, is usually allotted to a senior most civil servant.
He/She is the head of all the civil services mentioned in the Constitution of
India.

6.9 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS

1) Avasthi, A., 1980, Central Administration, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi
2) Chanda, Asok, 1967, Indian Administration, George Allen and Unwin Ltd.,
London
3) Indian Administration, 2013, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University,
Hyderabad
4) Indian Administration, BPAE-102, 2005, School of Social Sciences,
IGNOU, New Delhi
5) Jain, H.M., 1969. The Union Executive, Chaitanya Publishing House,
Allahabad
6) Khera, S.S., 1975. The Central Executive, Orient Longman, New Delhi
7) Laxmikanth, M., 2013, Public Administration, McGraw Hill Education
(India) Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
8) Maheswari, S.R., 2001, Indian Administration, Orient Longman, New
Delhi
90 9) Sharma, L.N., 1976, The Indian PM, Macmillan, Delhi