Chief secretary (India)

The Chief Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the state government.^[3] The Chief Secretary is the ex-officio head of the state Civil Services Board, the State Secretariat, the state cadre Indian Administrative Service and all civil services under the rules of business of the state government. The Chief Secretary acts as the principal advisor to the chief minister on all matters of state administration.

Chief Secretary of the State
Emblem of India
Flag of India
State Secretariat
Status	Head of Permanent Executive
Abbreviation	CS
Member of	State Civil Services Board[lower-alpha 1] Committee of Secretaries of the state on Administration[lower-alpha 1] State Crisis Management Committee[lower-alpha 1] Senior Selection Board[lower-alpha 1]
Reports to	Governor of the State Chief Minister of the State State Cabinet State Legislative Assembly
Seat	State Secretariat
Appointer	Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Chief Secretary is usually the senior most IAS officer of the senior most batch in the state. The appointee for the office is approved by state Chief Minister, based on appointee's ability and strong confidence with him or her.
Term length	No fixed tenure is imposed on the office but term can be extended.
Succession	23rd (on the Indian order of precedence)
Salary	₹225,000 (US$2,700) monthly[1][2]

The Chief Secretary is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service. The Chief Secretary is the senior-most cadre post in the state administration, ranking 23rd on the Indian order of precedence. The Chief Secretary acts as an ex-officio secretary to the state cabinet, therefore called "Secretary to the Cabinet". The status of this post is equal to that of a Secretary to the Government of India.

History

The salary of Chief Secretary of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Punjab and Burma was fixed and was same to Joint Secretary to Government of India during the British Raj.^{[lower-alpha 2]} As per Warrant or Precedence of 1905,^{[lower-alpha 2]} Secretary to Government of India was listed together with Joint Secretary to Government of India and was ranked above the rank of Chief Secretary.^{[lower-alpha 2]}

States

Chief Secretaries are members of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) who are the administrative head of state governments.^[4] A Chief Secretary functions as the central point of interdepartmental coordination at the departmental level and is classified as being in the Apex Grade.^[4][5] Chief Secretary is considered to be 'a linchpin' in the administration.^[4][6][7][8] Chief Secretary of the state also acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the State Civil Service Board, which recommends transfer/postings of officers of All India Services and State Civil Services in the state.^{[4][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Traditionally, the most senior IAS officer within a state is chosen as the Chief Secretary;^{[15][16][17][18][19][20]} however, there are exceptions.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Chief Secretaries are assisted by Additional Chief Secretaries or Special Chief Secretaries, depending on the state, and Principal Secretaries, who are the administrative heads of departments they are assigned to.

Chief Secretaries are chosen by the state's Chief Minister.^{[25][26][27][28][29]} State Chief Secretaries are IAS officers generally equivalent in rank to a Secretary to Government of India and are placed 23rd on Indian Order of Precedence.^[30][31]

The post of Chief Secretary of a State Government is equivalent to senior three-star rank officers in the armed forces who are in the C-in-C (Commanding-in-Chief) grade or vice chiefs of staff, holding the rank of Lieutenant General or equivalent rank in the Indian Armed Forces, and are listed as such in the Order of Precedence.^[30][31]

List of current Chief Secretaries in the States of India^[32][33]

S.No.	State	Capital	Chief Secretary	Batch
1	Andhra Pradesh	Amaravati	Neerabh Kumar Prasad, IAS	1987
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Itanagar	Manish Kumar Gupta, IAS	1991
3	Assam	Dispur	Dr. Ravi Kota, IAS[34]	1993
4	Bihar	Patna	Amrit Lal Meena, IAS	1989
5	Chhattisgarh	Raipur	Amitabh Jain, IAS	1989
6	Goa	Panaji	Puneet Kumar Goel, IAS	1991
7	Gujarat	Gandhinagar	Raj Kumar, IAS[35]	1987
8	Haryana	Chandigarh	T. V. S. N. Prasad, IAS	1988
9	Himachal Pradesh	Shimla	Prabodh Saxena, IAS	1990
10	Jharkhand	Ranchi	Lalbiaktluanga Khiangte, IAS	1988
11	Karnataka	Bengaluru	Shalini Rajneesh, IAS	1989
12	Kerala	Thiruvananthapuram	Sarada Muraleedharan, IAS	1990
13	Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal	Veera Rana, IAS[36]	1988
14	Maharashtra (List)	Mumbai	Sujata Saunik, IAS	1987
15	Manipur	Imphal	Vineet Joshi, IAS	1992
16	Meghalaya	Shillong	Donald Philips Wahlang, IAS	1993
17	Mizoram	Aizawl	Dr. Renu Sharma, IAS	1988
18	Nagaland	Kohima	J. Alam, IAS	1991
19	Odisha	Bhubaneswar	Manoj Ahuja, IAS	1990
20	Punjab	Chandigarh	Anurag Verma, IAS[37]	1993
21	Rajasthan (List)	Jaipur	Sudhansh Pant, IAS	1991
22	Sikkim	Gangtok	Vijay Bhushan Pathak, IAS	1990
23	Tamil Nadu	Chennai	N. Muruganandam, IAS	1991
24	Telangana	Hyderabad	Shanthi Kumari, IAS	1989
25	Tripura	Agartala	Jitendra Kumar Sinha, IAS	1996
26	Uttar Pradesh	Lucknow	Manoj Kumar Singh, IAS	1988
27	Uttarakhand (List)	Dehradun	Radha Raturi, IAS[38]	1988
28	West Bengal	Kolkata	Dr. Manoj Pant, IAS	1991

Union territories

In the union territories, which are governed by Administrators, Chief Secretaries are absent. In these territories an Adviser to the Administrator is appointed by the Union Government. However, the union territories of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry, which have been granted partial statehood, do have Chief Secretaries. In Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry, the Chief Minister chooses the Chief Secretary and is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.^[6]

Chief Secretaries and Advisers to the Administrators of Union territories, in general, are junior in rank compared to the Chief Secretaries of the States. The office bearers generally are of the rank Joint Secretary to Government of India and its equivalents. However, in Delhi and Chandigarh, the topmost civil servant is either of the ranks of Secretary to Government of India and its equivalents or Additional Secretary to Government of India and its equivalents.

List of current Chief Secretaries/Advisor to Administrators of Union territories^[32]

S. no	Union territory	Capital	Chief Secretary/Advisor to Administrator	Batch
1	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Port Blair	Keshav Chandra, IAS	1995
2	Chandigarh	Chandigarh	Rajeev Verma, IAS	1992
3	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	Daman	Amit Singla, IAS	2003
4	Delhi	New Delhi	Dharmendra, IAS	1989
5	Jammu and Kashmir	Srinagar (May–Oct) and Jammu (Nov–Apr)	Atal Dulloo, IAS[39]	1988
6	Ladakh	Leh	Pawan Kotwal, IAS	1994
7	Lakshadweep	Kavaratti	Sandeep Kumar, IAS	1997
8	Puducherry	Pondicherry	Dr. Sharat Chauhan, IAS	1994

See also

• List of chief secretaries of Assam
• List of chief secretaries of Maharashtra
• Cabinet Secretary of India
• Secretary to Government of India
• Joint Secretary to Government of India
• Principal Secretary
• Head of Forest Forces
• Director General of Police
• Advocate General
• Indian Forest Service
• Indian Administrative Service
• Indian Police Service
• List of chief secretaries of Uttarakhand

References

1. "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
2. "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
3. "What are the Roles and Functions of Chief Secretary of a State?". Preserve Articles. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
4. Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. pp. 4.3–4.5. ISBN 978-9339204785.
5. "Describe the role and importance of Chief Secretary in State government". Parivarthan. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
6. Saikumar, Rajgopal (23 May 2015). "More constitutional than political". The Hindu. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
7. Choudhary, Amit Anand (25 April 2017). "Chief secretary can be shifted, but not DGP: Supreme Court". Times of India. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
8. "Centre's stand on giving Najeeb Jung final say on transfer-postings is illegal: Venugopal". The Economic Times. 24 May 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
9. "PM, CMs final authority to decide premature transfer of civil servants". Daily News and Analysis. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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11. "Civil services board to oversee officers' postings". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram. Special Correspondent. 1 May 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. OCLC 13119119. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
12. Jain, Bharti (31 January 2014). "2-year fixed postings for IAS, IPS and forest service". Times of India. New Delhi. OCLC 23379369. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
13. Chhibber, Maneesh (31 January 2014). "Centre notifies 2-yr tenure for IAS, IPS, Forest Service officers". The Indian Express. New Delhi. OCLC 70274541. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
14. "Fixed 2-year tenure for IAS, IPS, IFoS officers". The Hindu. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
15. "PK Gupta is new Haryana chief secretary". Hindustan Times. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
16. "Meghalaya: Senior most IAS officer Y Tsering appointed as Chief Secretary of Meghalaya". The Northeast Today. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
17. "Raghotham Rao is new Chief Secretary". The Hindu. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
18. "Sumit Mullick appointed as Maharashtra Chief Secretary". Zee News. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
19. "Nalini Netto assumes charge as Kerala chief secretary". Malayala Manorama. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
20. "Dr K M Abraham, new Kerala Chief Secretary". Times of India. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
21. "Shakuntla Jakhu takes over as new Haryana Chief Secretary". Daily News and Analysis. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
22. "D J Pandian is new Gujarat chief secretary". Business Standard. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
23. Ali, Muddasir (7 September 2015). "B R Sharma is JK's new Chief Secretary". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
24. "Subhash Chandra Khuntia is new Chief Secretary of Karnataka". The Hindu. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
25. "Appointment of Harinder Hira as Chief Secretary of Himachal Pradesh" (PDF). Department of Personnel, Government of Himachal Pradesh. 31 March 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
26. "Appointment of Basudev Banerjee as Chief Secretary of West Bengal" (PDF). Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Government of West Bengal. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
27. "Appointment of Aditya Prasad Padhi as Chief Secretary of Odisha" (PDF). Department of General Administration, Government of Odisha. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
28. "Appointment of Vinod Kumar Pipersenia as Chief Secretary of Assam" (PDF). Department of Personnel, Government of Assam. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
29. "Appointment of J.N. Singh as Chief Secretary of Gujarat" (PDF). Department of General Administration, Government of Gujarat. 30 July 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
30. "President's Secretariat" (PDF). Secretariat of the President of India. Rajya Sabha. 26 August 1979. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
31. Maheshwari, S.R. (2001). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. p. 666. ISBN 9788125019886.
32. "Chief Secretaries of States and Union Territories (as on 9 January 2022)" (PDF). Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
33. "URL Generated Report". doptcirculars.nic.in. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
34. "Ravi Kota next chief secy of Assam, to take charge in March". The Times of India. 18 January 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
35. "Pankaj Kumar appointed new chief secy of Gujarat". The Indian Express. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
36. www.ETGovernment.com. "Madhya Pradesh elevates Veera Rana as state chief secretary - ET Government". ETGovernment.com. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
37. "Anurag Verma assumes charge as Punjab's 42nd chief secretary". The Indian Express. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
38. PTI. "Radha Raturi to be first woman chief secretary of Uttarakhand". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
39. Desk, GK Web (29 November 2023). "Atal Dulloo appointed as J&K chief secretary". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 29 November 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)

Notes

1. As chairman.
2. As per published records and the book named "The India List and India Office List 1905" as published by India Office and India Office Records.

Bibliography

• Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition). Noida: McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 978-9339204785.
• Maheshwari, S.R. (2001). Indian Administration (6th Edition). New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Ltd. ISBN 9788125019886.