# Personnel Secretary

The Personnel Secretary (ISO: Kārmik Saciv) popularly called as Secretary (P), is the administrative head of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) under Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. The current Personnel Secretary is Rachna Shah , a 1991 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
As a Secretary to Government of India, the Personnel Secretary ranks 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.

## Powers, responsibilities and postings

Personnel Secretary is the administrative head of DoPT, and is the principal adviser to the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on all matters of policy and administration within DoPT.
The role of Personnel Secretary is as follows:
* To act as the administrative head of DoPT. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.
* To act as the chief adviser to the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
* To represent DoPT before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of India.

## Emolument, accommodation and perquisites

As the Personnel Secretary is of the rank of Secretary to Government of India, his/her salary is equivalent to Chief Secretaries of State Governments and to Vice Chief of Army Staff/Commanders, in the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces. The officer is also eligible for a diplomatic passport.
Personnel Secretary monthly pay and allowances :
| Base Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month) | Pay Matrix Level | Sources |
| ₹225,000 (US$2,700) | Pay Level 17 | |

## List of Personnel Secretaries

List of Union Personnel Secretaries :
| S. No. | Name | Assumed office | Demitted office |
| 1 | H. Lal | 1 August 1970 | 6 December 1970 |
| 2 | B B Lal | 6 December 1970 | 28 April 1971 |
| 3 | P. K. J. Menon | 15 September 1971 | 1 April 1972 |
| 4 | B. P. Bagchi | 7 September 1972 | 31 July 1975 |
| 5 | R. K. Trivedi | 1 August 1975 | 25 May 1977 |
| 6 | C. R. Krishnaswamy | 26 May 1977 | 2 June 1978 |
| 7 | Maheshwar Prasad | 3 June 1978 | 6 June 1980 |
| 8 | A. C. Bandopadhyay | 7 June 1980 | 26 July 1982 |
| 9 | U. C. Agarwal | 27 July 1982 | 24 February 1985 |
| 10 | K Ramanujan | 25 February 1985 | 7 July 1986 |
| 11 | P. P. Trivedi | 8 July 1986 | 29 February 1988 |
| 12 | Manish Bahl | 2 March 1988 | 2 January 1990 |
| 13 | M. Dandapani | 3 January 1990 | 17 July 1992 |
| 14 | N. R. Ranganathan | 5 August 1992 | 30 June 1995 |
| 15 | P. C. Hota | 14 July 1995 | 27 September 1996 |
| 16 | Arvind Verma | 30 September 1996 | 30 November 1998 |
| 17 | B. B. Tandon | 1 December 1998 | 13 June 2001 |
| 18 | A. K. Agarwal | 14 June 2001 | 30 November 2002 |
| 19 | S. S. Dawra | 2 December 2002 | 30 October 2003 |
| 20 | Arun Bhatnagar | 3 November 2003 | 29 June 2004 |
| 21 | A. N. Tiwari | 1 July 2004 | 26 December 2005 |
| 22 | Pratyush Sinha | 3 January 2006 | 31 July 2006 |
| 23 | L. K. Joshi | 1 August 2006 | 31 January 2007 |
| 24 | Satyanand Mishra | 1 February 2007 | 4 September 2008 |
| 25 | Rahul Sarin | 13 September 2008 | 31 August 2009 |
| 26 | Shantanu Consul | 1 September 2009 | 31 October 2010 |
| 27 | Alka Sirohi | 1 November 2010 | 3 January 2012 |
| 28 | P. K. Misra | 16 January 2012 | 30 June 2013 |
| 29 | S. K. Sarkar | 1 July 2013 | 31 July 2014 |
| 30 | Sanjay Kothari | 1 August 2014 | 30 June 2016 |
| 31 | BP Sharma | 1 July 2016 | 30 June 2017 |
| 32 | Ajay Mittal | 1 July 2017 | 28 February 2018 |
| 33 | C. Chandramouli | 1 March 2018 | 30 September 2020 |
| 33 | Deepak Khandekar | 25 January 2021 | 31 August 2021 |
| 34 | S. Radha Chauhan | 3 May 2022 | 30 June 2024 |
| 35 | Vivek Joshi | 19 August 2024 | 31 October 2024 |
| 36 | Rachna Shah | 26 December 2024 | Incumbent |