What are the functions of different grades of officers of the secretariat?

At present the grades of officers in the Central Secretariat are as follows:

(1) Secretary

(2) Additional Secretary

(3) Joint Secretary

(4) Deputy Secretary

(5) Under Secretary

The first three grades constitute what in administrative parlance may be called ‘Top Management’ while the grades of deputy secretary and under secretary, are referred to as the ‘Middle Management’. The Secretary is the administrative head of the ministry/department and the principal adviser to the Minister. He represents his ministry/department before the committees of Parliament.

He is supposed to keep himself fully informed of the work of his ministry/department by demanding weekly summaries on the nature of cases disposed of by lower levels and the manner of their disposal.

Where the charge of a Secretary is too large, he may be assisted by a joint or additional secretary who formally functions as Secretary in relation to the subject allotted to him in the ministry/department.

The function of the latter is to relieve the Secretary of a bloc of work and to deal, where necessary, direct with the minister. The Secretary, however, is invariably kept informed on all these direct dealings with the minister, for he is not formally relieved of his responsibility as head of the ministry/department.

The deputy secretary is an officer who, as his designation implies, acts on behalf of the Secretary. He should dispose off as many cases as possible on his own. Only on more important cases he should in fact must seek the Secretary’s instruction either by referring to him in writing or discussing with him orally.

The under secretary should dispose of minor cases on his own. He should submit more important matters to the deputy secretary in such a form that the latter is able to deal with them quickly.

It must be stressed here that the functionaries at these different levels are supposed to perform their functions, keeping in mind the interests of the Government of India as a whole. The Secretary, in other words, is the Secretary to the Government of India, not to his minister alone. This is true of lower levels as well.