Joint Secretary to Government of India

Joint Secretary (abbreviated as JS) is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India. The position holder is a career civil servant and a government official of high seniority. The members who hold this rank are either from All India Services (Deputation on tenure) 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 Order of precedence of India, Joint Secretaries are listed with Major-General and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces.

History

The post of Joint Secretary in Government of India was created in 1920s. In 1937, the Central Secretariat contained only 7 Joint Secretaries. However, until 1946, there were only 25 Joint Secretaries in Government of India.

According to A. D. Gorwala, ICS "The Joint Secretaries ought to in reality be what the name implies, namely secretaries for the subject entrusted to them and joined to a more senior secretary for the convenience of administrative work."

Sir Richard Tottenham, ICS had once expressed "In my opinion there is, or should be, no distinction of function, but only of pay between a Joint and a Additional Secretary. Additional and Joint Secretaries should not be either cheap Secretaries of expensive Deputy Secretaries."

Powers, responsibilities and postings

File:C H Bhabha inaugurating meeting of the Indian Oilseeds Committee.jpg

C. H. Bhabha with Secretary and Joint Secretaries to Government of India in 1947.

File:U. Win with R. R. Saksena.jpg

U. Win with Joint Secretary to Government of India in 1947.

Joint Secretary is the overall in-charge with the necessary measure of independent functioning and responsibility of the Wing of the Department allocated and entrusted to him.

Joint Secretary in charge of Administration also exercises all Administrative powers as Head of the Department of the Ministry/Department.

The Prime Minister of India is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of Joint Secretary level. Joint Secretaries report either to the Cabinet Minister of India or to the Prime Minister of India.

Position

In the federal government, the members head department wings in the departments and ministries in federal government and hold positions such as Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), emissaries in the foreign missions/embassies (Ambassadors and Ministers), Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Director General of Civil Aviation of India, Director General of National Literacy Mission Authority, Economic Advisers, Advisors of TRAI, Joint Directors of CBI, Additional Director Generals (AIR and Doordarshan), Board members of Staff Selection Commission of India Commissioner of Taxes and Police, Chief Engineers in Federal Government departments (Railways, CPWD etc.), Chairman, managing director, full-time functional Director/Member of the Board of Management of various Public Sector Undertakings/ Enterprises, Corporations, Banks and financial institutions.

They also hold the post of Social Secretary and Press Secretary to President of India.

In the Cabinet Secretariat, the Military wing is headed by an officer from one of the three services with the rank of Major General or equivalent. He is given the status of this rank and is designated as Joint Secretary (Military).

In the state government, the members hold positions such as Secretary, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCFs), Divisional Commissioners and in all north eastern states and few other states like Karnataka, Bihar they also hold the post of Principal Secretary and Additional Principal Secretary.

Emolument, accommodation and perks

An Indian Diplomatic Passport and an Official Passport generally issued to Joint Secretary (GOI).

All Joint Secretaries to Government of India are eligible for Diplomatic passport. They are allotted Type V (D-II and D-I) and Type VI (C-II) apartments across Delhi by Ministry of Urban Development (Directorate of Estates).

The officers appointed as Joint Secretary in the Government of India are allowed to use a blue beacon.

Joint Secretary GOI monthly pay and allowances

Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month)	Level
₹144,200 (US$2,100)	Level 14		Sources:

Notable members

Nagendra Singh (1948 to 1960) Manmohan Singh (1971 to 1972) Yashwant Sinha (1980 to 1984) Mani Shankar Aiyar (1985 to 1989) Duvvuri Subbarao (1988 to 1993) Hardeep Singh Puri (1992 to 1999) Najeeb Jung (1994 to 1999) Pulok Chatterji (2004 to 2009) U. K. Sinha (2002 to 2005)

Gautam Sanyal (2009 to 2011) Arun Kumar Singh (2000 to 2005) Navtej Sarna Y. Venugopal Reddy Montek Singh Ahluwalia Upamanyu Chatterjee Shekhar Dutt (1991 to 1996)

Raminder Jassal (1996 to 1999) Syed Akbaruddin (2012 to 2015) Vikas Swarup (2015 to current) Rabinder Singh

Notes

Challenges and reforms

Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India Bimal Jalan has voiced for posts at the level of Joint Secretary to be opened up to outside competition.

In 2015, Government of India modified Joint Secretary-level empanelment process to ensure greater uniformity, consistency and transparency.

See also

• Order of precedence of India

External links

Official

• Powers and Responsibilities of Joint Secretary in India, Cabinet Secretariat, India
• Empanelment Guidelines, DOPT (updated July 2014)

Others

• Non-IAS officers are top choices for Modi government for the crucial Joint Secretary positions by The Economic Times
• Prime Minister instructs DoPT for speedy empanelment of officers from all central services by The Times of India
• Swachh Bharat mission: Dedicated joint secretary to handle initiative by Indian Express
• IAS vs all central services in scramble for top posts
• Officers want end to ‘IAS raj’ in secretary posts, seek pay hike
• Prime Minister to oversee postings of Joint Secretaries by The Times of India
• Cyber Security Centre to be setup to shield India from cyber attacks by Hindustan Times
• DA case: 88-year-old former Joint Secretary GOI jailed for a year by Indian Express