Cabinet Secretariat

The cabinet secretariat is responsible for the Government of India (Business transactions) Regulation 1961 and Government of India (Business distribution) Regulation 1961, which promotes the smooth running of business in government departments/agencies. The secretariat supports decision-making within the government by providing secretarial support to the cabinet and its committees, ensuring inter-ministerial coordination, and building consensus through the secretariat’s standing/temporary committee. New political initiatives are also facilitated through this mechanism.

The cabinet secretariat makes sure that the president, vice-president, and ministers are informed on the critical activities of all ministries/ministerial through monthly activity summary sheets. Managing the country’s significant crises and coordinating the actions of various ministries in such cases is also one of the functions of the cabinet secretariat.

Origin

Before the adoption of the portfolio system by the government of India, all government affairs were handled by the governor-general of the board of directors, which served as a joint advisory committee. As the amount and complexity of government affairs increased, the work of each ministry was divided among members of the council, and only the most critical cases were handled collectively by the governor or council.

This process, enacted by the Indian Councils Act of 1861 in the days of Lord Canning, led to the introduction of a portfolio system and the creation of a governor’s executive committee. The governor-general’s assistant headed the executive committee secretariat, but he did not attend parliamentary meetings. Sir Willingdon initially began having a personal assistant participate in these meetings. This practice continued later, and in November 1935, the governor-general’s assistant was additionally appointed as secretary to the executive committee. However, these positions were subsequently divided, and a separate secretary was appointed to the executive board, unlike the governor’s assistant and the governor.

In September 1946, according to the constitution of the provisional government, the name of this office was changed. On September 5, 1946, the secretariat of the executive council was appointed as cabinet secretary, and the secretariat of the executive council was appointed as secretary of the cabinet. But, at least in retrospect, independence appears to have brought some change in the functioning of the cabinet secretariat. The office no longer just sends documents to ministries but has been transformed into an organisation for coordination between ministries.

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Functions

The secretariat reports to the prime minister. The administrative head of the secretariat is the chief cabinet secretary who is also the senior-most post of the IAS. Projects transferred to the cabinet secretariat under the Government of India (Distribution of Work) Regulations in 1961 include: (i) Secretarial assistance to the cabinet and cabinet committees; (ii) Rules of business.

The cabinet office is responsible for enforcing Government of India (Business Transactions) Regulation 1961 and Government of India (Business Distribution) Regulation 1961, which promotes the smooth conduct of the business of ministries or divisions. The secretariat supports government decision-making by ensuring coordination among ministries, resolving disagreements between ministries/ministers, and building consensus through the activities of the executive standing/Ad-hoc. Managing the country’s significant crises and coordinating the actions of various ministries in such situations is also one of the functions of the cabinet secretariat.

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Allocation and Disposal of Government Business

1. Government of India (Business Distribution) Regulation 1961 (AoB Regulation) and Government of India (Business Transaction) Regulation 1961 (ToB Regulation) are drawn up in accordance with Article 77(3) of the Constitution of India. The first schedule of the AoB rules lists the ministries, departments, offices, and secretariats. The second schedule lists the tasks assigned to the various ministries/divisions of the Indian government.
2. TOB Rules establish business disposal procedures and decisions from the Indian government. India’s business governments are usually discarded according to the general or particular areas of ministries that can be used to receive the required local trial counselling provided to the TOB directive. Furthermore, the ToB Rules stipulate which circumstances require the consent of the prime minister, the cabinet and its committees, and the president. Cases needing cabinet approval are included in the second schedule to the ToB rules, whereas those requiring cabinet committee approval are listed in the first schedule to the ToB rules. The instances that must be submitted to the prime minister and president are specified in the ToB rules’ third schedule. As a result, while most government activity is handled at the departmental level, certain instances, or classes of cases, that are essential from a national standpoint, require clearance from the cabinet or one of the cabinet committees.

Support to Cabinet Committees

• Assembling the committee
• Preparation of agenda
• Paper circulation on agenda
• Recording of data
• Implementation and monitoring of decisions taken by the committee
• Promotion of inter-ministerial coordination
• Among inter-departmental issues, coordination is required in:

1. Removing difficulties
2. Elimination of difference 
3.  Overcoming delays

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Coordination of Administrative Actions 

Policy Coordinations

Each ministry is responsible for operating government policies, plans, and programs but often seeks assistance from the cabinet secretariat regarding inter-ministerial cooperation. Inter-ministerial issues are resolved at the committee of secretaries (CCS) meeting. A committee is formed to discuss specific issues and proposals from various government secretaries, chaired by the cabinet secretary. These committees could eliminate bottlenecks or provide complementary interagency measures.

Ministries/departments send a monthly report to the cabinet secretariat providing details on a broader range of issues such as essential policy matters, compliance of CoS decisions, sanction for prosecution pending for more than 3 months, a departure from ToB rules, implementation of eGovernance, etc.

Development

After independence in 1949, the economic committee of the Cabinet was established under the ministry of finance and became the secretariat. In 1950, it was transferred to the secretariat of the cabinet and referred to as the economic wing before being integrated into the secretariat in 1955. 

In 1954, the organisation and methods division was founded under the cabinet secretariat, and in 1964 it was transferred to the ministry of home affairs. The officers from defence services were picked in 1957 to form the defence committee of the cabinet which was constituted under the cabinet secretariat. 

Conclusion

The cabinet secretariat provides secretarial assistance to the cabinet and its various committees as the administrative head. The position is significant. It is usually allotted to the senior-most civil servant. They are the head of all the civil services mentioned in the constitution of India.