Additional secretary to the Government of India

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Template:Infobox official post Additional Secretary (often abbreviated as AS, GoI or Union Additional Secretary or Additional Secretary to Government of India) is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India.[1] The authority for creation of this post solely rests with Cabinet of India.[2]

Additional secretary is mostly a career civil servant,[3][4][5] and is a government official of high seniority. The civil servants who hold this rank are either from All India Services or Central Civil Services. All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

In the functioning of Government of India, an additional secretary is the administrative head of a wing in a department.[6] Additional secretaries in the Union Government[7][8][9] is analogous to Lieutenant General[10] or Major General (PSO)[11] in Indian Armed Forces. In the Department of Military Affairs of the Ministry of Defence, an officer from all the three armed forces of the rank of Lieutenant General and equivalent is currently appointedTemplate:Efn and designated as Additional Secretary (Army/Navy/AirForce).

Additional secretaries rank 25th on Order of Precedence of India.[12][13][14][15]

History

During the majority of the British period, particularly between 1920 and 1940, the position of Joint Secretary to the Government of India functioned as the second-highest rank within central departments, subordinate only to Secretary to the Government of India. By the mid-1940s, the designation of Additional Secretary was introduced in select departments, but was not yet universal.

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 an additional Secretary. Additional and joint secretaries should not be either cheap secretaries or expensive deputy secretaries."[16]

Tenure and Appointment

Tenure

A member of All India Services is appointed to this rank and post only on tenure. This tenure is a deputation to the Central Government and is fixed for 4 years, after which they are sent back to their own parent cadre. To be eligible for deputation, a civil servant has to have a mandatory prior central work experience at Deputy Secretary and above level in Government of India.[17][18]

A member of Central Civil Services is appointed to this rank and post as per vacancy in their own service cadre and are empanelled.

Powers, responsibilities and postings

File:Government of India hierarchy.svg
The organizational structure of a department of the Government of India.

Additional 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.[19] An additional secretary in charge of administration also exercises all administrative powers as head of the department wing of the ministry/department.[20]

Additional secretaries and joint secretaries are responsible for filing all affidavits and responses before the Supreme Court of India.[21][22]

The Prime Minister of India is the final authority on posting and transfer of officers of additional secretary level.[23] Additional secretaries report to their departmental secretary and ministerial/departmental cabinet minister.

Position

In the Union government, the members head department wings in the departments and ministries of Union Government.[20]

Government nominated board members in the Central Public Sector Enterprises/Public Sector Undertakings are either of the rank of additional secretary or joint secretary.[24]

According to the Seventh Central Pay Commission of India, IAS officers hold 98 out of 107 positions of additional secretary in the Government of India.Template:Citation needed

Emolument, accommodation and perks

File:Indian Official Passports Front.svg
An Indian Diplomatic Passport and an Official Passport generally issued to Additional Secretary (GOI).

All additional secretaries to Government of India are eligible for a diplomatic passport. They are allotted Type-V (D-II and D-I) and Type-VI (C-II) apartments in areas like New Moti Bagh across Delhi by the Ministry of Urban Development (Directorate of Estates).[25]

The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent[26] to Principal staff officers (PSO) of the rank of Major general and certain officers not PSOs, but in lieutenant general and equivalent ranks in Indian Armed Forces.[26][3]

Additional Secretary, GoI monthly pay and allowances
Base Salary as per 7th Pay Commission (Per month) Level on Pay Matrix Sources
Template:INRConvert (Minimum Pay) to Template:INRConvert (Maximum Pay) Level 15 [3][27]

Reforms and challenges

Non-IAS civil services have complained to Government of India because of lack of empanelment in the rank/post of additional secretary on numerous occasions.[3][4][5][28][29]

Lateral entry

During the tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a new post was created named "Spokesman and Media Advisor to the Prime Minister", which was equivalent to this rank [30] in Prime Minister's Office, where Sanjaya Baru served from 2004-2008.[30]

Notes

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References

  1. ↑ The Central Staffing Scheme. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions(January 1996).
  2. ↑ Only Cabinet can create Joint Secretary, above level posts. Press Trust of India.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India. Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Alleging bias, non-IAS officers petition PM Modi. The Indian Express(14 January 2017). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Parity between IAS and non-IAS? The IAS will get to decide. Hindustan Times(15 January 2016). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Archive: JS-level posts vacant at Centre, few takers. Business Standard.
  7. ↑ Part I of the Constitution of India- The Union and its territory - Article 1. Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Part XIV of the Constitution of India- Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits - Article 300. Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Part XIV of the Constitution of India- Services under the Union and the States - Article 312(2). Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India.
  10. ↑ Vice Admiral Atul Anand takes over as Additional Secretary, DMA.
  11. ↑ Govt 'clarifies', soldiers upset, Dutta, Sujjan. The Telegraph(28 October 2017).
  12. ↑ Order of Precedence. President's Secretariat(26 July 1979).
  13. ↑ Table of Precedence. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat(26 July 1979). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  14. ↑ Table of Precedence. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. President's Secretariat. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  15. ↑ Indian Administration{{#if:Maheshwari|, Maheshwari}. Orient Blackswan Private Ltd.(2000). ISBN 9788125019886
  16. ↑ Indian Administration 2 Vols. Set{{#if:Jayapalan|, Jayapalan}. Atlantic Publishers & Distri(2001). ISBN 9788171569212
  17. ↑ DoPT turns down Khemka request for empanelment, cites ‘nil central experience’. The Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  18. ↑ Centre tells HC: Ashok Khemka not eligible for central government appointment. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2025-07-22.
  19. ↑ Powers and Duties of Officers and Employees as defined in the Manual of Office Procedure. Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion(21 August 2014).
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure - 14th Edition (2015). Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension.
  21. ↑ Delhi Confidential: New Respons(e)ibility(11 January 2017).
  22. ↑ SC against filing of affidavit below officer of Jt Secy level(10 January 2017).
  23. ↑ PM to oversee cadre allocation of bureaucrats, postings of joint secretaries and above(21 August 2014).
  24. ↑ CHAPTER II PERSONNEL POLICIES (b) Composition of Board of Directors. Department of Public Enterprises, Government of India. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  25. ↑ Compendium (RTI Act) – Government Residence (General Pool in Delhi) Rules. Directorate of Estates, Ministry of Urban Development(January 2013).
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Army Officers Pay Rules, 2017: Government of India.
  27. ↑ 7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?. India Today(29 June 2016). Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  28. ↑ IAS: Emperor among the kings?. Governance Now(8 December 2015). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  29. ↑ Need Pay Parity With IAS Officers, Say Officials Of 20 Civil Services. NDTV(30 June 2016). Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 The Accidental Prime Minister: The Making and Unmaking of Manmohan Singh{{#if:Baru|, Baru}. Penguin Books Limited(2014). ISBN 9780670086740

Bibliography

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  • Indian Administration{{#if:Maheshwari|, Maheshwari}. Orient Blackswan Private Ltd.(2000). ISBN 9788125019886
  • Britain's Imperial Administrators, 1858-1966{{#if:Kirk-Greene|, Kirk-Greene}. Springer(2000). ISBN 9780230286320
  • Indian Administration 2 Vols. Set{{#if:Jayapalan|, Jayapalan}. Atlantic Publishers & Distri(2001). ISBN 9788171569212
  • Handbook Of Public Relations In India{{#if:Mehta|, Mehta}. Allied Publishers(1968). ISBN 978-8170233343

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