# Secretary to the Government of India

Secretary to the Government of India, often abbreviated as Secretary, GoI, or simply as Secretary, is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with the Union Council of Ministers.
The position holder is generally a career civil servant, usually from the Indian Administrative Service, and a government official of high seniority. The civil servants who hold this rank and post are either from All India Services (on deputation; on tenure, after empanelment) or Central Civil Services (Group A; on empanelment). All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
In the functioning of the Government of India, a secretary is the administrative head of a ministry or department, and is equivalent to chief secretaries of state governments and Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces, In the Department of Military Affairs, the Chief of Defence Staff is currently designated as Secretary (GoI), similarly in the National Security Council Secretariat, the National Security Advisor is currently designated as Secretary (GoI).
Secretaries (GOI) rank 23rd on Order of Precedence of India.

## History

In mid-1930s, the Central Secretariat contained only twenty-nine secretaries, who were all members of the Indian Civil Service. The salary for a member of this rank and post was fixed at ₹48,000 (equivalent to ₹12 million or US$130,000 in 2023) annum in the 1930s. As per warrant or precedence of 1905, secretaries to the Government of India was listed together with joint secretaries to the Government of India and were ranked above the rank of chief secretaries of provincial governments.
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."
The Administrative Reforms Commission visualised the role of secretary, primarily as one of a "coordinator, policy guide, reviewer, and evaluator."

## Powers, responsibilities and postings

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.
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.
* To act as the chief adviser to the minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
* To represent the ministry or department before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of India.
The prime minister-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of secretary level. Secretaries report to their ministerial cabinet minister and to the prime minister.

## Position

In the Indian government, secretaries are the head of the ministries of the government and hold positions such as Finance Secretary, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chairperson of the Railway Board and members of the Railway Board and Telecom Commission.
According to the report of the Seventh Central Pay Commission of India, seventy-one out of ninety-one secretaries to the Government of India are from the Indian Administrative Service.

## Emolument, accommodation and prequisites

All secretaries to the Government of India are eligible for a Diplomatic passport or Official passport. Secretaries are allotted either type-VII or type-VIII bungalows in areas like New Moti Bagh and Lutyens' across Delhi by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs' Directorate of Estates.
The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff, General Officers Commanding in Chief of Army Commands, and their equivalents, in the Indian Armed Forces, which is to say Level 17 of the Central Pay Matrix.

## List of current secretaries to the Government of India

Secretaries to the Government of India :
| Office or Ministry | Designation | Name of secretary | Background | Batch |
| President's Secretariat | Secretary to the President | Deepti Umashankar | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Vice President's Secretariat | Secretary to the Vice President | Sunil Kumar Gupta | IAS officer | 1987 |
| Prime Minister's Office | Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister | P.K. Mishra | IAS officer | 1972 |
| Supreme Court Registry Office | Secretary General of Supreme Court of India | Shri Atul M. Kurhekar | Legal Service Officer | — |
| Parliament's Secretariat | Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha | Pramod Chandra Mody | IRS (IT) Officer | 1982 |
| Parliament's Secretariat | Secretary General of the Lok Sabha | Utpal Kumar Singh | IAS officer | 1986 |
| Cabinet Secretariat | Cabinet Secretary | T. V. Somanathan | IAS officer | 1987 |
| Cabinet Secretariat | Secretary (Coordination) | Vandana Gurnani | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Cabinet Secretariat | Secretary (Research) | Ravi Sinha | IPS officer | 1988 |
| Cabinet Secretariat | Secretary (Security) | Harinath Mishra | IPS officer | 1990 |
| Agriculture and Farmers Welfare | Secretary (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) | Devesh Chaturvedi | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Agriculture and Farmers Welfare | Secretary (Agricultural Research and Education) | Himanshu Pathak | Scientist | — |
| Atomic Energy | Secretary (Atomic Energy) and Chairperson, Atomic Energy Commission | Ajit Kumar Mohanty | Scientist | — |
| AYUSH | Secretary (AYUSH) | Rajesh Kotecha | Scientist | — |
| Chemicals and Fertilizers | Secretary (Chemicals and Petrochemicals) | Nivedita Shukla Verma | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Chemicals and Fertilizers | Secretary (Fertilizers) | Rajat Kumar Mishra | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Chemicals and Fertilizers | Secretary (Pharmaceuticals) | Amit Agrawal | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Civil Aviation | Secretary (Civil Aviation) | Vumlunmang Vualnam | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Coal | Secretary (Coal) | Vikram Dev Dutt | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Commerce and Industry | Secretary (Commerce) | Sunil Barthwal | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Commerce and Industry | Secretary (Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) | Amardeep Singh Bhatia | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Communications | Secretary (Posts) | Vandita Kaul | IPoS officer | 1989 |
| Communications | Secretary (Telecommunications) and ex officio Chairperson, Digital Communication Commission | Neeraj Mittal | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Secretary (Consumer Affairs) | Nidhi Khare | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | Secretary (Food and Public Distribution) | Sanjeev Chopra | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Co-operation | Secretary (Co-operation) | Ashish Kumar Bhutani | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Corporate Affairs | Secretary (Corporate Affairs) | Deepti Gaur Mukerjee | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Culture | Secretary (Culture) | Vacant | IAS officer | |
| Defence | Defence Secretary | Rajesh Kumar Singh | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Defence | Secretary (Defence Production) | Sanjeev Kumar | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Defence | Secretary (Defence Research and Development) and Chairperson, DRDO | Samir V. Kamath | Scientist | — |
| Defence | Secretary (Ex-Servicemen Welfare) | Niten Chandra | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Defence | Secretary (Department of Military Affairs) and Chief of Defence Staff | General Anil Chauhan | Indian Armed Forces officer | — |
| Development of North Eastern Region | Secretary (Development of North Eastern Region) | Chanchal Kumar | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Earth Sciences | Secretary (Earth Sciences) and Chairperosn, Earth Commission | M. Ravichandran | Scientist | — |
| Education | Secretary (Higher Education) | Vineet Joshi | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Education | Secretary (School Education and Literacy) | Sanjay Kumar | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Electronics and Information Technology | Secretary (Electronics and Information Technology) | S Krishnan | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Environment, Forest and Climate Change | Secretary (Environment, Forest and Climate Change) | Tanmay Kumar | IAS officer | 1993 |
| External Affairs | Foreign Secretary | Vikram Misri | IFS officer | 1989 |
| External Affairs | Secretary (East) | Jaideep Mazumdar | IFS officer | 1989 |
| External Affairs | Secretary (West) | Tanmaya Lal | IFS officer | 1991 |
| External Affairs | Secretary (CPV & OIA) | Arun Kumar Chatterjee | IFS officer | 1992 |
| External Affairs | Secretary (Economic Relations) | Dammu Ravi | IFS officer | 1989 |
| External Affairs | Secretary (Dean) Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service | Raj Kumar Srivastava | IFS officer | 1997 |
| Finance | Secretary (Expenditure) | Manoj Govil | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Finance | Secretary (Economic Affairs) | Ajay Seth | IAS officer | 1987 |
| Finance | Secretary (Public Enterprises) | Vacant | IAS officer | |
| Finance | Finance Secretary (Revenue Secretary) | Tuhin Kanti Pandey | IAS officer | 1987 |
| Finance | Secretary (Investment and Public Asset Management) | Arunish Chawla | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Finance | Secretary (Financial Services) | Nagaraju Maddirala | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying | Secretary (Animal Husbandry and Dairying) | Alka Upadhyaya | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying | Secretary (Fisheries) | Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Food Processing Industries | Secretary (Food Processing Industries) | Subrata Gupta | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Health and Family Welfare | Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) | Punya Salila Srivastava | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Health and Family Welfare | Secretary (Health Research) and ex officio Director General, ICMR | Dr. Rajiv Bahl | Scientist | — |
| Heavy Industries | Secretary (Heavy Industry) | Kamran Rizvi | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Home Affairs | Home Secretary | Govind Mohan | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Home Affairs | Secretary (Official Language) | Ansuli Arya | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Home Affairs | Secretary (Border Management) | Rajendra Kumar | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Home Affairs | Secretary (Inter-State Council Secretariat) | K.Moses Chalai | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Housing and Urban Affairs | Secretary (Housing and Urban Affairs) | Katikithala Srinivas | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Information and Broadcasting | Secretary (Information and Broadcasting) | Sanjay Jaju | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Jal Shakti | Secretary (Drinking Water and Sanitation) | Ashok Kumar Kaluaram Meena | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Jal Shakti | Secretary (Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation) | Debashree Mukherjee | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Labour and Employment | Secretary (Labour and Employment) | Sumita Dawra | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Law and Justice | Secretary (Justice) | Raj Kumar Goyal | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Law and Justice | Secretary (Legal Affairs) | Anju Rathi Rana | Legal Service Officer | – |
| Law and Justice | Secretary (Legislative) | Dr. Rajiv Mani | Legal Service Officer | – |
| Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises | Secretary (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) | Subhas Chandra Lal Das | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Mines | Secretary (Mines) | VL Kantha Rao | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Minority Affairs | Secretary (Minority Affairs) | Chandra Sekhar Kumar | IAS officer | 1992 |
| New and Renewable Energy | Secretary (New and Renewable Energy) | Nidhi Khare | IAS officer | 1992 |
| NITI Aayog ( previously Planning Commission) | Chief Executive Officer and ex officio Secretary | BVR Subrahmanyam | IAS officer | 1987 |
| Panchayati Raj | Secretary (Panchayati Raj) | Vivek Bhardwaj | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Parliamentary Affairs | Secretary (Parliamentary Affairs) | Umang Narula | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | Secretary (Personnel and Training) | Rachna Shah | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | Secretary (Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances) | V. Srinivas | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions | Secretary (Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare) | V. Srinivas | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Petroleum and Natural Gas | Secretary (Petroleum and Natural Gas) | Pankaj Jain | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Ports, Shipping and Waterways | Secretary (Ports, Shipping and Waterways) | T K Ramachandran | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Power | Secretary (Power) | Pankaj Agarwal | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Ministry of Railway (Railway Board) | Chairperson, Railway Board and ex officio Principal Secretary | Satish Kumar | IRSME | 1986 |
| Road Transport and Highways | Secretary (Road Transport and Highways) | V Umashankar | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Rural Development | Secretary (Land Resources) | Manoj Joshi | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Rural Development | Secretary (Rural Development) | Shailesh Kumar Singh | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Science and Technology | Secretary (Biotechnology) | Rajesh Sudhir Gokhale | Scientist | — |
| Science and Technology | Secretary (Science and Technology) | Abhay Karandikar | Scientist | — |
| Science and Technology | Secretary (Scientific and Industrial Research) and ex officio Director General, CSIR | N. Kalaiselvi | Scientist | — |
| Skill Development and Entrepreneurship | Secretary (Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) | Atul Kumar Tiwari | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Social Justice and Empowerment | Secretary (Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities) | Rajesh Aggarwal | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Social Justice and Empowerment | Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) | Amit Yadav | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Statistics and Programme Implementation | Secretary (Statistics and Programme Implementation) | Saurabh Garg | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Space | Secretary (Space) and ex officio Chairperson of ISRO and Space Commission | V. Narayanan | Scientist | — |
| Steel | Secretary (Steel) | Sandeep Pondrik | IAS officer | 1993 |
| Textiles | Secretary (Textiles) | Neelam Shammi Rao | IAS officer | 1992 |
| Tourism | Secretary (Tourism) | V. Vidyavathi | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Tribal Affairs | Secretary (Tribal Affairs) | Vibhu Nayar | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Women and Child Development | Secretary (Women and Child Development) | Anil Malik | IAS officer | 1991 |
| Youth Affairs and Sports | Secretary (Sports) | Sujata Chaturvedi | IAS officer | 1989 |
| Youth Affairs and Sports | Secretary (Youth Affairs) | Meeta R Lochan | IAS officer | 1990 |
| Notes |||||
| 1 2 3 4 5 Retired ↑ Cabinet Secretary is not a secretary rank position but the highest level of empanelment in the Government of India is at secretary rank. |||||

## Reforms and challenges

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.
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.

### Lateral entry

From 1998 to 1999, Vijay Kelkar served as Finance Secretary as a lateral entry. During the term of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister of India, Ram Vinay Shahi served as Secretary (GOI) in the Ministry of Power from 2002 to 2007 as a lateral entry. The Indian government in 2024 asked the Union Public Service Commission to cancel the recruitment of 45 specialists for senior positions through a lateral entry route. The Indian government also stated that it aims to introduce a quota system for lateral entries in order to respect social justice, particularly the reservation system in place for public appointments.