# Defence Secretary (India)

The Defence Secretary (ISO: Rakṣā Saciv) is the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence. This post is held by a senior Indian Administrative Service of the rank of secretary to the Government of India. The current Defence Secretary is Shri. Rajesh Kumar Singh IAS.
As a secretary to the Government of India, the Defence Secretary ranks 23rd on Indian order of precedence, along with all other Secretaries to the Government of India, and Lieutenant Generals in the grade of Army Commander.

## Powers, responsibilities and postings

Defence Secretary is the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence, and is the principal adviser to the Minister of Defence on all matters of policy and administration within the Ministry of Defence.
The role of Defence Secretary is as follows:
* To act as the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.
* To act as the chief adviser to the Defence Minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
* To represent the Ministry of Defence before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of India.
* The Defence Secretary is responsible for coordinating the activities of the other departments (Department of Defence Production, Department of Military Affairs, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare and Department of Defence Research and Development) in the Ministry of Defence.
* To act as the first among equals among the secretaries in the Ministry of Defence.

## Emolument, accommodation and perquisites

The Defence Secretary is eligible for a diplomatic passport. The official earmarked residence of the Defence Secretary is 7, New Moti Bagh, New Delhi, a Type-VIII bungalow.
The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff/GOC-in-C and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces.
Defence Secretary monthly pay and allowances :
| Base salary as per the 7th Pay Commission (per month) | Pay matrix level | Sources |
| ₹225,000 (US$2,600) | Pay level 17 | |

## List of Defence Secretaries

List of Union Defence Secretaries :
| S. No. | Name | Assumed office | Demitted office |
| 1 | G. S. Bhalja | 21 July 1947 | 6 October 1947 |
| 2 | H. M. Patel | 7 October 1947 | 20 July 1953 |
| 3 | B. B. Ghosh | 21 July 1953 | 12 November 1953 |
| 4 | M. K. Vellodi | 13 November 1953 | 13 June 1957 |
| 5 | O. Pulla Reddy | 14 June 1957 | 21 November 1962 |
| 6 | P. V. R. Rao | 21 November 1962 | 3 April 1965 |
| 7 | A. D. Pandit | 4 April 1965 | 4 August 1965 |
| (5) | P. V. R. Rao | 5 August 1965 | 31 December 1966 |
| 8 | V. Shankar | 1 January 1967 | 2 November 1968 |
| 9 | H. C. Sarin | 3 November 1968 | 7 December 1970 |
| 10 | K. B. Lall | 8 December 1970 | 18 May 1973 |
| 11 | Govind Narain | 19 May 1973 | 31 May 1975 |
| 12 | D. R. Kohli | 1 June 1975 | 31 March 1977 |
| 13 | Gian Prakash | 4 April 1977 | 26 March 1978 |
| 14 | S. Banerjee | 27 March 1978 | 3 July 1979 |
| 15 | J. A. Dave | 9 July 1979 | 10 April 1980 |
| 16 | K. P. A. Menon | 5 May 1980 | 11 August 1981 |
| 17 | P. K. Kaul | 12 August 1981 | 30 June 1983 |
| 18 | S. M. Ghosh | 26 July 1983 | 25 June 1984 |
| 19 | S. K. Bhatnagar | 6 July 1984 | 31 May 1988 |
| 20 | T. N. Seshan | 1 June 1988 | 22 February 1989 |
| 21 | Naresh Chandra | 22 February 1989 | 21 March 1990 |
| 22 | Narinder Nath Vohra | 21 March 1990 | 6 April 1993 |
| 23 | K. A. Nambiar | 6 April 1993 | 6 June 1996 |
| 24 | T. K. Banerjee | 5 August 1996 | 31 May 1997 |
| 25 | Ajit Kumar | 31 May 1997 | 1 January 1999 |
| 26 | T. R. Prasad | 1 January 1999 | 20 October 2000 |
| 27 | Yogendra Narain | 20 October 2000 | 30 June 2002 |
| 28 | Subir Dutta | 20 June 2002 | 4 July 2003 |
| 29 | Ajay Prasad | 14 July 2003 | 30 June 2004 |
| 30 | Ajai Vikram Singh | 1 July 2004 | 31 July 2005 |
| 31 | Shekhar Dutt | 1 August 2005 | 31 July 2007 |
| 32 | Vijay Singh | 1 August 2007 | 31 July 2009 |
| 33 | Pradeep Kumar | 1 August 2009 | 14 July 2011 |
| 34 | Shashi Kant Sharma | 14 July 2011 | May 24, 2013 |
| 35 | R. K. Mathur | May 25, 2013 | May 24, 2015 |
| 36 | G. Mohan Kumar | May 25, 2015 | May 24, 2017 |
| 37 | Sanjay Mitra | May 25, 2017 | August 22, 2019 |
| 38 | Ajay Kumar | August 23, 2019 | October 31, 2022 |
| 39 | Giridhar Aramane | November 1, 2022 | October 31, 2024 |
| 40 | Rajesh Kumar Singh | November 1, 2024 | Incumbent |