ANDHRA Pradesh Secretariat_ a Review of Structures Processes &Personnel

8/22/2019 ANDHRA Pradesh Secretariat_ a Review of Structures Processes &Personnel

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Andhra Pradesh Secretariat

A Review of Structure, Systems, Processes and Personnel

C R KAMALANATHAN

INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISE

O U Campus, Hyderabad

February, 2006


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CONTENTS

Chapter No Subject Page No

1 The Machinery of Government and the Secretariat 1

2 Analysis of Machinery at Work 30

3 Earlier Committee Reports and Studies 48

4 Findings and Recommendations 57

References 112


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(i)



DETAILED CONTENTS

Chapter

No

Subject Page No

1 The Machinery of Government and the Secretariat 1-29

Scope of the Study

Evolution of Secretariat

Machinery of Government in India

State Executive and the Government SecretariatField Organizations of Government

Local Government Institutions

Council of Ministers

Allocation and Transaction of BusinessAllocation of Work of Ministers to Officers

Reference of Cases to Chief Minister

Cabinet CommitteesSubjects to be brought before Cabinet

Allocation of Subjects to DepartmentsAndhra Pradesh Secretariat Over the Years

Present Composition of Secretariat

Size of Secretariat in Other States

Sub Departments within DepartmentsWings of Secretariat

Sector / Subject Departments

Coordinating DepartmentsInterdepartmental Consultation

General Administration Department

Finance DepartmentPlanning Department

Public Enterprises DepartmentIT & C Department

Law Department

Legislature Department

Official Hierarchy in the Secretariat

Secretariat Personnel

Crucial Role of Chief Ministers Office


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(ii)

2 Analysis of Machinery at Work 30-47

Proliferation of Departments

Emergence of Sub Departments

Extremes of Size of DepartmentsFailed Experiment in Sectoral Coordination

Ex-officio Secretaries of Line Departments

Number and Diversity of Field Agencies

Duplication of Functions of OrganizationsMismatch of Structure and Civil Service Positions

Political Executive

Policy Vs Implementation, Precept and Practice

Layers of Futile ProcessingPreoccupation with Routine

Designed not to DeliverProblems of CoordinationSilo Mentality of Departments

Inadequacy of Policy Capacity

Outmoded Base and Unsuitable PersonnelMismanagement of Personnel Issues

Defective Personnel Policy

Rampant Corruption

Working Environment and Response to Public

3 Earlier Committee Reports and Studies 48-56

A D Gorwala CommitteeUnnithan CommitteeM R Pai and G Ram Reddy Study

Ramchandra Reddy Committee

K B Lal CommitteeG Ram Reddy and G Haragopal Study

M K Rustomji and Associates

S R Ramamurthy Committee

Reports of Other States

4 Findings and Recommendations 57-111

Impact of Expanding Role

Reform Trends

Structural Adjustment Initiatives

New Public Management

Responsive Governance


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(iii)Reform Initiatives in A P SecretariatWhy the Secretariat?

Coordinating Departments and Subject Departments

Combining Line and Staff?

Increasing Number and Size of DepartmentsCentral Pattern of Ministry and Departments within

Identity of Portfolio and Department

Reallocation of SubjectsRight-sizing of Machinery

Privatization

OutsourcingReducing Size of Civil Service

Corporatization

Devolution of Powers, Functions, Finances and

Functionaries

Delegation of Powers and FunctionsBy Cabinet

By Political Executive

Petition HandlingBy Coordinating Departments

By Subject Departments

De-concentration Within

Flattening Levels

Officer Oriented Administration

Shared Services

Regulatory ReformSimplification of Procedures

ICT Application

Citizen Facilitation and Infrastructure

Personnel PolicyCivil Service Reforms and HR Development

Strengthening Policy Capacity

Civil Society Involvement in Policy

Policy CoherenceCoordination of Policy

Sectoral Policy CoordinationEffective Cabinet MeetingsReforming Business Processes

Communication

Coordination MechanismsMonitoring and Evaluation

References 112-113


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Chapter 1

The Machinery of Government and the Secretariat

Scope of the Study

A study of the machinery of Government usually examines its structures that facilitate theallocation of functions between departments; the creation, abolition or amalgamation of

departments; and systems that enable coordination of activities among them. It also covers the

internal structure of departments and the allocation of functions within departments and to

outside bodies. This paper attempts to assess the machinery of the Andhra Pradesh StateGovernment Executive Secretariat as it is organized at present; identify areas of reform; and to

outline possible measures to strengthen its structure, systems, processes and personnel, and to

improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management and direction of the affairs of theExecutive wing on the one hand; and enhance its interaction with and responsiveness to the

citizen, the private sector and the civil society on the other. In particular it outlines the manner inwhich secretariat activities in relation to formulation, approval, communication, feedback andevaluation of policies, laws, regulations, decisions and programmes could be modernized and

more effectively coordinated so as to raise the standards of delivery of public services.

The administrative structure of Executive Government is the framework within which thepermanent civil service operates under the supervision, control and direction of the political

executive coordinating the different parts of the machinery and interacting with other

Government agencies and the world outside Government (UNDP Civil Service Reforms).Machinery changes are often brought in based on an expectation that better structures will

produce better results. Adhoc structural reforms in some countries till the early 1990s had relied

more on legislative changes superimposed on outdated organizational structure rather thanbased on an in-depth analysis of structural problems themselves. Now there is a holistic

approach to such reform through functional reviews which seeks to balance a focus on internalreform with a concern for changing relations between public administration and society (UNDP

Public Administration Reforms) with primary functions of redefining roles, missions and

functions of different layers of administration, identifying redundancy and duplication offunctions, new functions and the possibility of rationalizing functions that need to be continued,

backed by a statutory framework and staff appropriate to the new roles and functions with

requisite levers of horizontal and vertical coordination. Structures can be rationalized to create

strategic mechanisms and processes for policy and decision making coordination. It has to beborne in mind however that mere structural reform is not a panacea for improving public service

delivery. Equally important is to have good personnel to run the machinery. Even bad structurescan work under able hands but the opposite cannot always be so.

Evolution of Secretariat

A brief historical overview of the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat would take one back to the Madras

Settlement of the English East India Company and the British Government and the Nizams

Dominions. A small fort which came to be known as the Fort St George established on the


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Coromandal Coast in 1640 is even today the seat of the Tamilnadu Secretariat. The Tamilnadu

Secretariat started with the Public Department in 1670 with a Secretary who dealt with allbusiness of Government. (The Public Department, as pruned over time exists even today as the

department of the Chief Secretary, the equivalent of which is the General Administration

Department in Andhra Pradesh). The Secretariat also kept on expanding with the territorial

expansion of the colony over time; and new departments got created one by one like the MilitaryDepartment in 1752, the Revenue Department in 1774, the Secret Department in 1796 and the

Judicial Department in 1798. The five Boards viz., the Board of Revenue, the Board of Trade,

the Military Board, the Hospital Board and the Marine Board were constituted for fieldadministration in 1786 with subordinate departments placed under the control of these Boards.

(The Board of Revenue continued to exist in Andhra Pradesh as a field coordination department

till the 1980s) The post of Chief Secretary came into being in 1800 with three other secretarieswith Chief Secretary holding charge of political and secret departments. Finance department got

established in 1811 and a Law Department in 1815. In 1831 the Chief Secretary came to be in

charge of political, secret, and public department which comprised Finance, Law, Commercial,

Ecclesiastical and General Branches. From then on the Chief Secretary became the Head of the

Secretariat. Public Works Department came into being in 1843 among others. In 1857administration of the Madras Presidency came under the direct control of the Crown,

necessitating changes in the secretariat set up with Chief Secretary becoming in charge ofRevenue, Political and Legislative Departments. For the first time a new Development

department came into being in 1921 dealing with Agriculture, Cooperation, Civil Supplies,

Factories, Forests, Industries, Mines, Trade, Animal Husbandry, etc. Reorganization in 1936brought the following nine departments into existence viz: i) Public ii) Home iii) Finance iv)

Legal v) Revenue vi) Local Self Government vii) Development; viii) Education and Public

Health; and ix) Public Works

Machinery of Government in India

The provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, formalized the Government structure of

India during the British period. The Constitution of India, which envisages the country as aUnion of States, has drawn up substantially on this. In the way it is constituted, it is not a truly

federal state, with provinces joined together to constitute the Union. The 73rd

and 74th

amendments to the Constitution have strengthened the claim of the rural and urban local selfGovernment institutions as the third tier of this loose federal structure comprising the Centre and

the States.

State Executive and the Government Secretariat

Ours is a Parliamentary system of Cabinet Government following the Commonwealth traditionwith the three wings of Executive, Judiciary and Legislature; with a legitimate system ofdelegation from the Legislature to the Government, and within Government, from the cabinet to

ministers and from ministers to departments and agencies. Parts V and VI of the Constitution

deal with the Union and State Executive respectively. Article 154 of the Constitution vests theExecutive power of a State in the Governor, who is required to exercise it, either directly or

through officers subordinate to him, in accordance with the Constitution. The executive

structure of Government of a State comprises two parts viz., the political executive represented


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by the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister and the administrative structure

comprising the permanent Civil Service discharging staff functions at the centre of Governmentand line functions in the field. Executive Government thus involves bringing these two groups

of players in a harmonious way together to discharge its responsibilities to the citizens.

The two are brought together in the Government Secretariat. The Secretariat can be said to bethe administrative headquarters that serves the Head of the Government, the Council of Ministers

and the Ministers. The main responsibility of the secretariat, which is not purely administrative

in the sense of executing orders of the Government or the Minister, is derived from the collectiveresponsibility of the Ministers constituting the Council. By its very nature it has one foot in

the administrative world and the other in the political world. These organizations are the buckles

that link the political and administrative, and as such are the crucial elements in any process ofgovernance. The secretariat therefore has to simultaneously manage up to ministers and

manage down to public service departments and their managers and manage out by relating the

work of Government to private sector organizations and NGOs. (World Bank)

Field Organizations of Government

Each secretariat department may have, in its charge or under it, field organizations which may bestatutory authorities, heads of departments, statutory corporations, Government companies,

cooperatives, societies, or other institutions which are collectively called instrumentalities of

the State in terms of Article 12 of the Constitution. Regular Heads Departments underGovernment are obliged to act in accordance with the laws, rules, codes and procedures laid

down by the Government, where as agencies like corporations, societies etc., set up by

Government for the purpose of discharging development / welfare etc., functions of Governmentare not subject to such discipline and have liberty to formulate their own rules and regulations for

conduct of business and control of personnel. Heads of Departments are notified by Governmentfor the purpose of Financial Budgetary functions and for purposes of cadre control of Civil

Servants. Heads of Departments are notified by the Finance Department for finance purposes

and Heads Department for the purposes of cadre regulations by the General Administration

(Services) Department.

The Presidential Order on Public Employment requires the Government field departments to

organize their field units co-terminus with the zones and districts or to make them fall whollywithin them. Andhra Pradesh doesnt have a uniform territorial hierarchy in respect of

departmental field structure. Some of them are only head quarters organizations without any

field units of their own where necessary depending on the revenue or the Panchayat Rajestablishment to discharge their obligations in the field if any. Some have service institutions in

the districts along with controlling departmental units at the regional and or departmental level.

Some major departments are spread throughout the State right down to the village level withcircle, mandal, divisional, district, regional and head quarters establishments, while small

departments have a primarily two tier head quarters / district set up. The Police Department and

Engineering Departments are among those which have a full fledged multi level hierarchical set

up. On the other hand a department like Revenue has a Head Quarters / District structure,skipping the regional level, with divisional, mandal, circle, and revenue village set up below in

each district.


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Local Government Institutions

An alternate modality of devolved district / local governance is sought to be achieved through

devolution of powers under the Constitution to local government institutions. The Article 243

contemplates a three tier hierarchical structure for the rural local bodies at the village,intermediate and district levels which in Andhra Pradesh are called the Zilla Parishad, Mandal

Praja Parishad and the Gram Panchayat. Similarly urban local bodies constituted under Article

243 P to 243 Z A. contemplate a Nagar Panchayat for a rural area in transition to an urban unit, amunicipal council for a small town and a Municipal Corporation for a city. The provisions

relating to the panchayats and municipalities as they stand today are the result of the 73rd

& 74th

amendments to the Constitution which introduced new 11th

& 12th

schedules in the Constitutionlisting subjects allocated to the third tier of Government. The 11

thschedule lists 29 subjects

which may be entrusted to Panchayats by the State Legislature at its absolute discretion.

Similarly the 12th

schedule lists 18 subjects in relation to urban local bodies. In so far as the

State Government has full legislative and executive powers in respect of State subjects, some of

which are listed in the portfolio of the local bodies, the extent of powers of local Governments inrespect of these subjects is entirely subject to the discretion of the State executive and legislature.

Actual practice also indicates a marked reluctance on the part of State Governments to transferreal control and authority in respect of these subjects to the local bodies. Thus local bodies are

virtually at the mercy of the State Government and effective local self-Government institutions

are yet to emerge based on effective devolution of functions contemplated with requisitefinancial and personnel autonomy, continuing to concentrate power, purse and personnel in the

hands of the field departmental and other organizations reporting and responsible to

Government. But effective financial devolutions in pursuance of the recommendations andfollowing the spirit of the Constitutional amendments are yet to take place.

Mere transfer of responsibility without power is of no avail. On the analogy of appointment of a

Finance Commission to make recommendations in respect of sharing of taxes between the Union

and State, and for provision of grant in aid to States (which also makes recommendations for

supplementation of resources of Panchayats and Municipalities) each State Government isrequired to constitute every five years a Finance Commission to review the financial position of

the local bodies to make recommendations on distribution of State taxes revenue, assignment of

taxes / duties / tolls / fees which may be assigned to the Panchayats, sanction of grant in aid andfor to Panchayats and Municipalities.


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The following is a diagram depicting the Executive structure of State Government:

Machinery of Government - Executive Structure

Union of India

States

Judiciary Executive Legislature

Council of

Ministers

Permanent

Civil Service

Chief

Minister

Policy Advice------------------

SecretariatCMO

MinistersPersonal OfficeCoordinating

Departments

Sectoral

Departments

Field Implementing

Agencies

Head Quarters

Units

Heads ofDepartments Statutory,Corporate and

Other Agencies

Field Units - Regional / District /

Division / Mandal / Circle

/Village

Local Bodies

Urban / Rural


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Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers, which is the highest decision making body of Government plays the

central role in policy formulation and coordination with the assistance of the secretariat staff.

The main functions of the Council of Ministers can be categorized as:

(a) Determination of strategic priorities

(b) Formulation of work plan

(c) Discussion and decisions on major issues of intrinsic and political significance(d) Effective communication with the Legislature, the people and the public

(e) Coherent and coordinated decision making backed by the requisite legal, financial, and

personnel resources to facilitate implementation of the policy, reconciling competing claims andinterests of different ministries.

(f) Ensuring equitable, efficient, effective and ethical implementation of policy and service

delivery

It is the prerogative of the Chief Minister to choose the members constituting his Cabinet. Theministers constituting the Council are collectively responsible for its decisions and stand or fall

together. The number of members of the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of thestrength of the Legislature, by virtue of which the size of the Council of Ministers in Andhra

Pradesh shall not exceed 43. Currently there are 25 Ministers in the Council including the Chief

Minister with almost all ministers holding temporarily charge of additional portfolios, indicatingpossible expansion within the set limit.

The current allocation of portfolios among the ministers in the Andhra Pradesh Council ofMinisters is as shown below:

Current List of Ministerial Portfolios - 2005

S No Minister For Portfolio

1 Chief Minister General Administration, Law &

Order and all other portfolios notallotted

2 Information & Public Relations Information, Public Relations,

Energy, Coal

3 Panchayat Raj Panchayat Raj

Endowments

4 Minority Welfare Minorities Welfare, Waqf, Urdu

Academy and FisheriesPublic Enterprises

5 Tourism and Sugar Tourism SugarMajor Industries, Commerce and

Export Promotion

6 Home Home, Jails, Fire Services, Sainik

Welfare,Housing


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S No Minister For Portfolio

7 Major Irrigation Major IrrigationMedium Irrigation

8 Cooperation Cooperation Transport

9 Lift Irrigation Lift Irrigation, IrrigationDevelopment Corporation, Ground

Water, Rain Shadow AreaDevelopment, Printing Stationery

10 Revenue Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation,

Youth Services

11 Agriculture Agriculture Horticulture, Food,

Civil Supplies, Legal Metrology,

Consumer Affairs

12 School Education School Education, Adult Education,

Libraries, Archaeology, Museumand Archives, Women Development,

Child Welfare and Disabled Welfare

13 Commercial Taxes Commercial Taxes, Excise,Prohibition, Law and Courts

14 Roads and Buildings Roads and Buildings, Ports

15 Municipal Administration and Urban

Development

Municipal Administration and

Urban Development, Sericulture

16 Social Welfare Social Welfare, Tribal Welfare

17 Finance Finance, Legislative Affairs,Planning, Small Savings and

Lotteries, Health, Medical and

Family Welfare

18 Mines and Geology Mines and Geology, Infrastructure

& Investment and InformationTechnology and Communications

19 Marketing Marketing

20 Sports and Cultural Affairs Sports and Cultural Affairs,

Cinematography

21 Rural Development Rural Development, Water Supply

and Employment Generation, B C

Welfare and Urban Land Ceiling

22 Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Animal Husbandry and DairyDevelopment, Warehousing

23 Higher Education Higher Education, Technical

Education ITIs24 Forest and Environment Forest, Environment and Science &

Technology, Minor Irrigation

25 Labour and Employment Labour and Employment,

Handlooms and Textiles, Spinning

Mills, Khadi & Village Industries

Board


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The total number of ministers can have a bearing on the number of departments in the secretariatin so far as the creation of new departments may be considered expedient in order to

accommodate the number, even though such a practice is not resorted to in this State. There is a

growing realization of the importance of correlating the number of ministers and the number of

ministries (departments in the case of Andhra Pradesh) and the integration of functions withineach ministry creating internal cohesion. There is however no direct link in Andhra Pradesh

between the number of ministers and the number of departments. Luckily the present Chief

Minister has retained only the General Administration Department in his charge and has not keptany sectoral portfolio to himself freeing himself of a lot of routine pressure which would

otherwise have had to engage his attention. The compulsions of coalition politics at the Centre

has necessitated regrouping of ministries and departments to facilitate allocation of subjects tomembers of all the constituent coalition parties.

A Minister could be a Cabinet Minister, a Minister of State in independent charge or otherwise,

or a Deputy Minister. There could also be Parliamentary Secretaries to assist Ministers in the

discharge of their legislative business. Such a tyred structure, which is not the case in AndhraPradesh at present, has the advantage of inducting new talent in the Legislature into the

Executive at junior levels to enable them to gain experience in the onerous responsibilities of aMinister so that when he assumes independent charge of a ministry or a department he is in a

position to act without being misguided and provide leadership to the ministry. There have

been instances where newly inducted ministers without previous experience or expertise haveplayed into the hands of personal staff. Ordinarily it is only a Cabinet Minister who is entitled to

participate at a meeting of the Council. But there have been instances where by convention

Ministers of State have also been, as a matter of course, attending Cabinet meetings. There is apractice, at times, of assigning relative seniority to the Ministers which incidentally facilitates the

senior being treated as the Minister in charge of that department where a department has morethan one minister in charge. As of now members of the present Council of Ministers in the State

have not been assigned such ranking, differential status or order of seniority; and all the ministers

participate in the deliberations of the Council.

The Chief Minister occupies a preeminent position among all ministers, by virtue of his being the

Head of the Government, having the right to choose his Ministers and chair the Cabinet

meetings. It has been the tradition on the part of Chief Ministers in the State to reserve forhimself all or most of the subjects assigned to the General Administration Department. This

apart it has often been the practice to keep a couple of sectoral portfolios in his charge. Thus the

Chief Minister combines in himself the offices of the Chief Minister, Minister in charge ofGeneral Administration, Minister in charge of sectoral portfolios specifically retained by him if

any, and charge of residual subjects not allotted to any Minister in the Council. This is

mentioned here to indicate the possibility of the Chief Minister being swarmed by day to dayproblems of managing sectoral portfolios resulting in attendant pressures on his leadership and

coordination roles, diverting attention from core issues of crucial concern. The Chief Secretary,

by virtue of his being the head of the Civil Service, the Cabinet Secretary, and the administrative

head of the Secretariat and the Head of the General Administrative Department is assigned asimilar status among secretaries to Government. The secretaries to Government assist the

ministers in the discharge of his functions. As the designation indicates a secretary to


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Government is not a secretary to the minister but to the Government, emphasizing his whole of

Government responsibilities.

Allocation and Transaction of Business

Under Article 166 all Executive action of the Government of a State shall be expressed to betaken in the name of the Governor, who shall make Rules for the convenient transaction of

business of Government of a State and for the allocation, among the ministers of the said

business, in so far as it is not business with respect to which the Governor is, by or under theConstitution, required to act in his discretion. In exercise of the powers conferred by Clauses of

2 and 3 of Article 166 of the Constitution, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh has made The

Andhra Pradesh Government Business Rules to regulate the transaction of business of theGovernment. It deals with allocation and disposal of business; procedure of the Council of

Ministers; and departmental disposal of business, including consultation with Finance, Law,

General Administration (Services) and Public Enterprises Departments. The Governor has also

issued, under Rule 58 of the said Rules, The Andhra Pradesh Government Secretariat

Instructions to regulate the procedure to be followed for the circulation of files, undertakelegislation and matters connected therewith. In terms of these Rules the business of the State

Government shall be transacted in the departments specified in the first schedule to the rules andshall be classified and distributed between those departments as laid down therein. This follows

the scheme of the seventh schedule of the Constitution under Article 246 which lists 97 subjects

in the Union list, 66 subjects in the States jurisdiction, and 47 subjects in the concurrent list inrespect of which both the Parliament and the State legislature have concurrent jurisdiction to

legislate subject to the Central legislation prevailing in the event of a conflict. Correspondingly

subjects in the charge of each department are listed in Schedule I of the Rules under the headsState List, Concurrent List and Union List. Under Rule 5 the Governor, on the advice of the

Chief Minister, allots the business of the Government among the Ministers by assigning subjectsin one or more departments of the secretariat to the charge of a Minister. However it shall be

open to assign one department to the charge of more than one Minister, in which case the senior

of the two will be in administrative charge of the department in respect of establishment and

related matters of that department.

Allocation of work of Ministers to Officers

Rule 22 of the Business Rules stipulates that departmental business shall be disposed of by or

under the authority of minister in charge, who may, by means of standing orders, give such

direction as he thinks fit for the disposal of the cases in the department. He shall lay down, bymeans of standing orders, the matters or classes of matters to be brought to his personal notice

and matters which may be disposed of at the level of secretary of the department concerned.

General experience is that such delegations are rare. This provision is crucial and determines theway the business of Government within the charge of a department is carried on and the manner

in which power is exercised within the department.


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References of Cases to Chief Minister

The Business Rules also provide details of matters that are required to be referred to the Chief

Minister and cases which shall be referred to the Governor by the Chief Minister. These ensure

the operational primacy of the Chief Minister vis--vis the members of his Cabinet.

Cabinet Committees

For convenient transaction of business in the Council and to arrive at informed decisions afterconsultation and due deliberation it has been the practice often to constitute sub-committees of

the Council, at the discretion of the Chief Minister, or committees of group of Ministers to

examine and make recommendations on subjects specified. The Secretary to Government of thedepartment to which the subject belongs is nominated as the convener of such a group. An

illustrative list of groups of ministers which stand constituted currently is appended. An adhoc

though significant, amendment that has been introduced in regard to departmental disposal of

business relates to delegation of decision making power to specific boards like the State

Investment Promotion Board, and the State Tourism Promotion Board, by adding a proviso toRule 26 by virtue of this proviso it shall not be necessary to refer a subject which concerns more

than one department for consideration of all the departments concerned before issue of orderswhere such a matter has been considered and decided by either of these boards. Under Rule 9

cases considered by the State level Coordination Committee dealing with Agriculture and

Irrigation presided by the Chief Minister are not required to be brought before the Council. Theproviso empowers the department to issue final orders in anticipation of approval of the Council,

in the event the subject is required to go before it, in accordance with the decisions taken by the

said boards straight away without examination of such matters, based on the minutes of themeeting communicated by the concerned department in charge of the board, dispensing with

further consultations or approval of the ministers. In the event the matter falls within the ambitof the council it is required to be placed before it for ratification only.

Subjects to be brought before Cabinet

Subjects which are required to be brought before the Cabinet are listed in the 2nd

schedule to the

Rules by virtue of which it shall be the responsibility of the Department in the terms of Rule 9

and Section II of the Rules (i.e. Rule 15 to Rule 21). The Chief Secretary to Government who isthe head of the Civil Service acts as the Secretary to the Council of Minister of the State

Government, as in the case with Cabinet Secretary at the Centre. Under Rule 14 it is permissible

to have either the Chief Secretary or such other officer as the Chief Minister may appoint as theSecretary to the Council. The pattern obtaining in the State is more conducive to unified

command and control while it may affect the extent of attention and detail one can devote to

individual issues going before the Council.

Allocation of Subjects to Departments

Criteria that are widely adopted for division of existing functions and allocation to ministries ordepartments and for creation of new departments as the case may be include:


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i) Grouping of organically linked subjects avoiding unrelated subjects or diverse activities and

duplication and overlap of functions;ii) Ensuring a structure that provides appropriate vertical accountability and clear span of

control;

iii) Structure that avoids conflict of interest;

iv) Creating departments to administer functions largely new to the Government;v) Departments to reflect priority medium term objectives of the Government;

vi) Focusing on client groups or what are called population ministries with accent on service

delivery;vii) To facilitate greater technical efficiency or economy or better coordination; and

viii) Enabling strategic policy coordination in coordinating departments leaving sectoral policy

initiatives with respective ministries etc.

Andhra Pradesh Secretariat over the Years

Reorganization of secretariat as a consequence of creation of Andhra State resulted in the

secretariat comprising the following nine departments viz., (i) Public (ii) Finance (iii) Law (iv)

Revenue (v) Home (vi) Agriculture (vii) Health, Education and Local Administration (viii)Industries, Labour and Cooperation (xi) Public Works. The Andhra Pradesh Secretariat upon

merger of Andhra and Hyderabad had eleven departments as follows:

i) General Administrationii) Financeiii) Lawiv) Planning and Local Administrationv) Revenuevi) Homevii) Agricultureviii) Industriesix) Health, Housing and Municipal Administrationx) Educationxi) Public Works

In the year 1964-65 the department of Panchayat Raj was added. The departments of Irrigation

and Power, Command Area Development, and Legislature Departments were added by 1975.By 1979 the Secretariat got further expanded. The Finance and Planning department was split

into two departments. In addition the departments of Labour Employment and TechnicalEducation, Social Welfare and Forest and Rural Development were created. The position in

1976 was as under:


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List of Departments in Andhra Pradesh Government Secretariat-1976

S No Secretariat Department No Of Directorates / Other

Agencies Under the

Department

1 General Administration Department 112 Finance and Planning (Finance Wing) Department 3

3 Finance and Planning (Planning Wing) Department 1

4 Law Department 1

5 Legislature Department 0

6 Revenue Department 13

7 Home Department 8

8 Panchayat Raj Department 4

9 Education Department 21

10 Health, Housing and Municipal Administration

Department

6

11 Food and Agriculture Department 1112 Forests and Rural Development Department 6

13 Employment and Social Welfare Department 15

14 Irrigation and Power Department 9

15 Irrigation and Power (Projects) Department 4

16 Command Area Development Department 4

17 Transport, Roads and Building Department 5

18 Industries and Commerce Department 20

Total 142

By the beginning of the 1980s Health and Social Welfare departments got separated and became

independent departments on their own.

In the Year 1994 the Secretariat comprised the following departments under which the number of

field agencies increased substantially to around 197.

List of Departments in Andhra Pradesh Government Secretariat 1994

S No Secretariat Department No Of Directorates / Other

Agencies Under the

Department

1 General Administration Department 12

2 Finance and Planning (Fin. Wing) Department 4

3 Finance and Planning (Plg. Wing) Department 1

4 Finance and Planning (Project Wing) Department 0

5 Law Department 3

6 Legislature Secretariat Department 0

7 Revenue Department 15

8 Home Department 10


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9 Education Department 22

10 Dept. of Tourism and Culture, Sports and Youth

Services Departments

7

11 Irrigation, Utilization and Command Area

Development Department

15

12 Minorities Welfare Department 313 Social Welfare Department 11

14 Women Development and Child Welfare

Department

10

15 Agriculture and Cooperative Department 11

16 Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Department 4

17 Food and Civil Supplies Department 3

18 Municipal Administration and Urban Development

Department

5

19 Housing Department 4

20 Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department 14

21 Industries and Commerce Department 2622 Panchayat and Rural Development Department 5

23 Transport, Roads and Buildings Department 3

24 Energy, Forest Department 7

25 Environment, Science and Technology Department 4

Total 197

At the turn of the century ie in 2001, the position of departments in secretariat and number of

heads of departments was as follows:

S No Secretariat Department No Of Directorates /

Other Agencies Underthe Department

1 Agriculture and Cooperation 23

2 Animal Husbandry, Dairy Dev. And Fisheries 7

3 Backward Class Welfare 5

4 School Education 13

5 Higher Education 23

6 Energy 10

7 Environment, Forests and S&T 6

8 Finance 6

9 Food, CS and CA (Ex-Officio Sec.) 4

10 General Administration 19

11 Health, Medical and FW 22

12 Home 6

13 Housing 4

14 Industries and Commerce 20

15 IT and C 1


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16 I & CAD 22

17 LE & TF 6

18 Law 7

19 Minorities Welfare 6

20 MA & UD 13

21 PR & RD 922 Planning 3

23 Public Enterprises -

24 Revenue 13

25 Social Welfare 11

26 TR & B 10

27 WDCW & A 8

28 YA & TC 14

Total 291

Present Composition of Secretariat

Presently there are, as at the end of December 2005, 31 departments in the A P Secretariat

including the Legislature Secretariat as follows:

List of Departments in Andhra Pradesh Government Secretariat 2005

S No Name of the Department

1 Agriculture and Cooperation Department

2 Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Department

3 Backward Classes Welfare Department

4 Education Department : (a) Higher Education

(b) School Education5 Environment, Forests, Science and Technology Department

6 Energy Department

7 Finance Department

8 Planning Department

9 Finance (Works & Projects) Department

10 Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies Department

11 General Administration Department

12 Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department

13 Home Department

14 Housing Department

15 Industries and Commerce Department

16 Department of Information Technology and Communications

17 Infrastructure and Investment Department

18 Irrigation and Command Area Development (a) Irrigation Wing Department(b) Projects Wing Department

19 Law Department

20 Labour, Employment, Training and Factories Department


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21 Legislature Department

22 Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department

23 Minorities Welfare Department

24 Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department

25 Public Enterprises Department

26 Rain Shadow Area Development Department27 Revenue Department

28 Social Welfare Department

29 Transport, Roads and Buildings Department

30 Women Development and Child Welfare Department

31 Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture Department

Size of Secretariat in Other States

Comparison of the number of departments in the secretariat in Andhra Pradesh with a few of

neighbouring states will indicate the relative position. The Tamil Nadu Secretariat today

comprises 35 departments as shown below.

List of Departments in Tamil Nadu Secretariat 2005

S No Department S No Department

1 Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare 19 Labour and Employment

2 Agriculture 20 Law

3 Animal Husbandry & Fisheries 21 Legislative Assembly

4 BC, MBC & Minorities Welfare 22 Municipal Administration and Water

Supply

5 Co-operation, Food and Consumer

Protection

23 Personnel and Administrative Reforms

6 Commercial Taxes 24 Planning, Development and Special

Initiatives

7 Energy 25 Prohibition and Excise

8 Environment and Forests 26 Public

9 Finance 27 Public Works

10 Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles

and Khadi

28 Revenue

11 Health and Family Welfare 29 Rural Development

12 Higher Education 30 School Education

13 Highways 31 Small Industries

14 Home 32 Social Welfare and Nutritious MealProgramme

15 Housing and Urban Development 33 Transport

16 Industries 34 Tamil Development Culture &

Religious Endows.

17 Information and Tourism 35 Youth Welfare and Sports Development

18 Information Technology


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As against this the Government of Madhya Pradesh has the following 51 departments .

List of Departments in Madhya Pradesh Secretariat 2005

S No Department S No Department1. 20 Point Implementation 27 Parliamentary Affairs2. Aviation 28 Public Grievances & Redressal3. Bio Diversity & Bio Technology 29 Public Relations4. Commerce & Industry 30 Religious Trust & Endowments5. Finance 31 SC & ST Welfare6. Forest 32 Social Welfare7. Home 33 Tourism8. Jail 34 Water Resources9. Medical Education 35 Animal Husbandry & Dairy10. Panchayat & Rural Development 36 Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief &

Rehabilitation11. Public Enterprises 37 Cooperation12. Public Health & Family Welfare 38 Energy13. Rehabilitation 39 Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer

Protection

14. Rural Industries 40 Higher Education15. Science & Technology 41 Information Technology16. Technical Education & Manpower

Planning

42 Law & Legislative Affairs

17. Urban Administration &Development

43 Narmada Valley Development

18. Agriculture 44 Planning & Economics & Statistics19. Backward Classes & Minorities

Welfare

45 Public Health Engineering

20. Commercial Tax 46 Public Works (PWD)21. Culture 47 Revenue22. Fisheries 48 School Education23. General Administration 49 Sports & Youth Welfare24. Housing & Environment 50 Transport25. Labour 51 Women & Child Development26. Mineral Resources


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When compared to Madhya Pradesh, the number of departments in Maharashtra is almost half ofits strength as can be seen below:

List of Departments in Maharashtra Secretariat 2005

S

No

Department S

No

Department

1 General Administration

Department14 Tribal Development Department

2 Home Department 15 Environment Department

3 Revenue and Forests Department 16 Co-operation and Textiles

Department

4 Agriculture and ADF

Department17 Higher and Technical Education

Department

5 School Education Department 18 Women and Child DevelopmentDepartment

6 Urban Development Department 19 Water Supply and Sanitation

Department

7 Finance Department 20 Employment and Self-employment

Department

8 Public Works Department 21 Medical Education and DrugsDepartment

9 Irrigation Department 22 Public Health Department

10 Law and Judiciary Department 23 Social Justice, Sports and SpecialAssistance Department

11 Industries, Energy and LabourDepartment

24 Planning Department

12 Rural Development Department 25 Legislative Affairs Department

13 Food, Civil Supplies and

Consumer Protection

Department

26 Housing and Special Assistance

Department

Sub Departments within Departments

The number of departments which at the time of formation of Andhra Pradesh was eleven,

increased to eighteen in 1976, to 19 in 1982 growing further substantially to 25 in 1994 bringingthe present number to 31. There has been parallel growth in the number of secretaries to

Government in a single department giving up the original concept of a department being in thesole charge of a secretary. Thus today the number of secretaries (including Principal Secretaries

and Special Chief Secretaries) in a department ranges from one in departments like Legislature,

Women Development, School Education, etc to four in Finance, five in the Revenue Department

and going up to a maximum of eight in the General Administration Department. Not only thenumber but also the official ranking and grade of an officer in the post of a secretary to


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Government have been going up over time. Today the position of a secretary to Government is

occupied not only by officers in the grade of suppertime scale of IAS but also two grades aboveit viz., that of Principal Secretary and Special Chief Secretary with the same salary and rank as

Chief Secretary. There are 64 officers occupying the position of a secretary to Government of

which 7 are of the rank of Special Chief Secretary, 31 of Principal Secretary and the remaining

of secretary level. A department-wise abstract statement depicting this position is given below:

Department-Wise Statistics of Senior Civil Servants

S No Name of Department No of Senior Officers & Grade

CS Pril.

Secy

Secy. Total

1 GAD 4 3 1 8

2 DPE 1 1

3 Revenue 1 1 3 5

4 Finance 1 1 2 4

5 Finance Works and Projects 1 16 Planning Department 1 1

7 IT and C 2 2

8 Home 1 1 2

9 Agriculture and Cooperation 3 3

10 Rain Shadow Area Development Dept. 1 1

11 FCS and CA 1 1

12 AHDD & F 2 2

13 Industries and Commerce 1 1 2

14 Infrastructure and Investment 1 1

15 Social Welfare 2 2

16 Energy 1 117 Backward Class Welfare 1 1

18 Education 1 1

19 Higher Education 1 1

20 TR & B 1 1 2

21 Health, Medical and Family Welfare 2 1 3

22 MA & UD 2 2

23 Housing 1 1

24 Panchayat Raj and Rural Development 2 2

25 I & CAD 2 1 3

26 LE & TF 1 1

27 WDCW & DW 1 1

28 Environment Forest and S & T 1 1 2

29 Minorities Welfare 1 1

30 Y A & T C 2 2

31 Law 2 2

32 Legislature 2 1

Total 7 31 26 64


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The details of the autonomous wings or sub departments in the 31 departments with the presentdesignations of secretary level officers in charge of them enable clear appreciation of the actual

number of reporting units of the Secretariat. In a manner of speaking there are in Andhra

Pradesh 64 departments for all intents and purposes.

S No Name of Department Sub Department

1 General Administration Department 1) Chief Secretary to Government2) Special Chief Secretary - Governance, Public

Management and Administrative Reforms

3) Spl. Chief Secretary to Govt. Services

4) Chief Electoral Officer & Ex-Officio SpecialChief Secretary - Elections

5) Director General, Vigilance & Enforcement &

Ex-Officio Principal Secretary Vigilance

6) Principal Secretary to Govt. Political7)Principal Secretary to Govt. Remote &

Interior Areas Development, Coordination8) Secretary to Govt. Accommodation

2 Department of Public Enterprises Principal Secretary to Government

3 Revenue Department 1) Special Chief Secretary to Government -Revenue

2) Principal Secretary to Government - Taxation

3) Secretary to Government - Endowments

4) Secretary to Government -5) Commissioner Disaster Management & Ex-

Officio Secretary to Government

4 Finance Department Special Chief Secretary to GovernmentPrincipal Secretary to Government R&E

Secretary to Government FP

Secretary to Government IF

5 Finance (Works & Projects) Dept. Principal Secretary to Government

6 Planning Department Principal Secretary to Government

7 Information, Technology &

Communication Department

Secretary to Government

Secretary to Government IT

8 Home Department 1) Principal Secretary to Government2) Special Chief Secretary to Government

9 Agriculture & Cooperation Dept. 1) Principal Secretary to Government -


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Agriculture2) APC & Principal Secretary to Government-

Horti. & Seri.

3) Principal Secretary to Government - Coop. &Mktg

10 Rain Shadow Areas Dev. Dept. Secretary to Government

11 Food, Civil Supplies & ConsumerAffairs Department

Commissioner Civil Supplies & EO Secretaryto Government

12 Animal Husbandry, Dairy

Development & Fisheries Dept.

1) Principal Secretary to Government

2) Principal Secretary to Government -Fisheries

13 Industries & Commerce Department 1) Principal Secretary to Government & CIP

2) Secretary to Government - SSI

14 Infrastructure and Investment Dept. Principal Secretary to Government & CIP

15 Social Welfare Department 1) Principal Secretary to Government - SW2) Principal Secretary to Government -TW

16 Energy Department Principal Secretary to Government

17 Backward Classes Welfare Dept. Principal Secretary to Government

18 Education Department 1) Principal Secretary to Government -HE2) Secretary to Government -SE

19 Transport, Roads & Buildings Dept. 1) Principal Secretary to Government Roads

2) Secretary to Government - Buildings

20 Health, Medical & Family WelfareDepartment

1) Principal Secretary2) Principal Secretary to Government

3) Secretary to Government

21 Municipal Administration & UrbanDevelopment Department

1) Secretary to Government2) Secretary to Government

22 Housing Department Secretary to Government

23 Panchayat Raj & Rural

Development Department

1) Principal Secretary to Government -PR &

RWS2) Principal Secretary to Government -RD


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24 Irrigation & Command AreaDevelopment Department

1) Principal Secretary to Government -Irrigation2) Principal Secretary to Government

3) Secretary to Government - Projects

25 Labour, Employment, Training &

Factories Department

Principal Secretary to Government

26 Women Development, Child

Welfare & Disabled Welfare Dept.

Principal Secretary to Government

27 Environment, Forests, Science &Technology Department

1) Principal Secretary to Government2) Special Secretary to Government

28 Minorities Welfare Department Secretary to Government

29 Youth Advancement, Tourism &

Culture Department

1) Secretary to Government - Tourism

2) Secretary to Government -YS & Sports

30 Law Department 1) Secretary -Legal Affairs

2) Secretary to Government -Legislative Affairs

and Justice

31 Legislature Department 1) Secretary to Legislature2) Officer on Special Duty

In 1961 the Secretariat in all had 151 gazetted and 1803 non-gazetted employees. The positionas on 1.1.2002 as reflected in the last quinquinnial census indicates that there were 813 gazetted

officers in the secretariat with 3039 non-gazetted and other employees. This shows a more than

five fold increase in the number of gazetted officers while the increase in the non-gazetted staffwas only double.

Wings of Secretariat

The functions of the centre of Government comprising the Secretariat can be listed as policy

formulation, planning, programming, budgeting, coordination, communication, legislation,

regulation and oversight of service delivery by field agencies, external relations with outside

bodies, monitoring, feedback, evaluation and interest arbitration. The secretariat departmentscan be divided into two distinct categories viz., Nodal / Coordinating Departments and Sectoral

Departments. Sectoral departments could in turn be primarily in charge of regulation or servicedelivery or a combination of both. It would be difficult to categorize them to watertight

compartments however.


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Sector / Subject Departments

The remaining departments which are referred to as line ministries in the UK, can be called

sectoral departments in charge of implementation of policy in relation to distinct subjects

involving service delivery or in charge of territorial development or targeting service delivery ofspecific client (population) groups. Distinct major sectors can be roughly identified from among

these groups viz.,

i) Regulatory Departments like Home; Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs;Labour and Employment;

ii) Agriculture sector comprising Agriculture and Cooperation; Animal Husbandry,Fisheries, Dairy Development; Irrigation;

iii) Industrial sector covering Industry and Commerce; Energy; Information andCommunication Technologies

iv) Infrastructure comprising Infrastructure and Investment; Transport; Roads &Buildings, Irrigation (Projects Wing); Rural and Urban Developmentv) Social Services like Health; School Education; Higher Education; TechnicalEducation

vi) Welfare Services which comprise the departments of Social Welfare, BackwardClasses Welfare, Minorities Welfare, Women Development & Child Welfare and

Youth Affairs

Coordinating Departments

The nodal, cross cutting, coordinating departments in the secretariat can be grouped as follows:

i) General Administration,ii) Finance Department,iii) Planning Department,iv) Public Enterprises,v) Information, Communication Technology Department, (to the extent of E-

governance)

vi) Law and Legislative Affairs Department, and Legislative Department,vii) Legislature Secretariat

Inter Departmental Consultation

The Rules provide for inter departmental consultations for the disposal of business which

concern more than one department. The rules provide in particular, for consultation with theFinance department in respect of matters involving financial implication, General Administration

Department in respect of matters of policy, clarification or amendments or relaxation of service

rules, and the Public Enterprises Department in respect of general policy or those involving

general guidelines, or relating to release of funds to public enterprise. It has the responsibilityfor disinvestments which has assumed major significance by virtue of structural adjustment

obligations. Such consultation would also arise with Planning Department on five year plan and


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the annual plan and the Law Department for legal advise, interpretation of rules or law, framing

of rules, drafting of bills, other legislature business and even vetting of draft agreements, ordersetc. Section III B & C of the Rules deal with the role of and procedure for dealing with the

Finance Department and the Law Department respectively. These are provisions which deal

with the manner of transaction of departments business where horizontal coordination with the

other departments of Government is involved. The frequency and extent of consultationsrequiring concurrence of Finance and GA (Services) Departments depend on the concentration of

power in these departments.

General Administration Department

The core of the coordinating departments of the Secretariat in Andhra Pradesh is the GeneralAdministration Department which is charged with the primary responsibility, among others, of

providing direct assistance and advice to the Head of the Government viz., the Chief Minister

and the Council of Ministers. The General Administration Department is first and foremost the

Cabinet Secretariat assisting the CM and the Cabinet. With a few exceptions General

Administration Department is in the direct charge of the Chief Minister. In Andhra Pradesh itcombines in itself functions categorized as follows:

a) Cabinet Secretariatb) Logistical Support to Ministers and Secretariatc) Governance, Public Management and Administrative Reformsd) Personnel Management (Services)e) Political (law and order and security)f) Vigilance and Enforcementg) Administrative Coordinationh) Communication (Information and Public Relations)i) Shared Servicesj) Legislative Coordinationk) Centre State Relationsl) Liaison with the Governors Secretariatm)Conduct of Elections

All the above subjects except Information and Public Relations are subjects in the direct chargeof the Chief Minister at present.

As a Cabinet office the General Administration Department has responsibility for:a) Periodic conduct of sessions of the Council of Ministers including finalization of the agenda

and distribution of papers, issue of notice for meetings, recording and communication of

decisions duly observing and ensuring compliance of all legal, budgetary, financial and otherprocedural formalities;

b) Communication of decisions to the media and the public;

c) Securing action taken reports on the decisions and placing it for review of Cabinet;

d) Overseeing the conduct of meetings of groups of Ministers and Cabinet Committees andsubmission of recommendations to the Cabinet;

e) Coordination with Head of State, Legislature and the Centre;


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f) Resolution of inter departmental disputes and ensuring inter departmental coordination and

policy coherence through adhoc meetings, secretaries committees and routing of files through theChief Secretary to Government;

g) Coordination of monitoring of Government performance;

h) Strict observance of the provisions of the Business Rules and secretariat instructions dealing

with the transaction of the business of Government; andi) Assisting the Chief Ministers in the discharge of his duties as the Head of Government.

All proposals required to go before the Cabinet have to be routed through the Chief Secretary tothe Chief Minister for approval. Further under Rule 29 important cases involving adoption of

new principles, new schemes and proposals for amendments to existing Service Rules and

practices have to be submitted to the ministers concerned through the Chief Secretary toGovernment. Chief Secretary is the custodian of the Business Rules and any question of the

interpretation of the Rules or in respect of the jurisdiction of a department shall be referred to the

Chief Secretary. All proposals for in respect of senior appointments shall go through him under

Instruction 11. Chief Secretary has the power to call for papers and files relating to any case in

any department.

In Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary to Government is the administrative head of the GeneralAdministration Department and the administrative secretariat in general. By virtue of office he

is the Secretary of the Council. He also occupies the position of the head of the Civil Service of

the State. Thus he becomes the most crucial link between the officialdom and the Chief Ministerand the Cabinet performing a semi political role, while at the same time ensuring

operationalization of the manifesto and avowed policies of the party in power, while striving to

secure neutrality of the civil servant and to see that public interest remains paramountconsideration of the Public Service in his charge.

Finance Department

Finance Department can be said to be the second coordinating department of crucial importance

to all other departments in so far as it is in charge of budgeting, fiscal and financial matters, thetreasury, and pay and accounts offices, financial Rules, procedures and propriety, accounts,

institutional finance, regulation of pay and allowances and other financial conditions of service

of public servants. The transaction of business in the secretariat in so far as it has a bearing onfinances of the State shall be transacted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 11 and 37 to

40. In accordance with these provisions no matter in which the Finance department or the

Finance Minister is concerned can be transacted by the department or placed before the Councilof Ministers without consultation with them. No funds can be drawn from the treasury without

requisite sanction or delegation of powers and no reappropriation except that authorized by the

Finance Department by a general or special order can be done by any department. Departmentsare not permitted to sub-delegate powers delegated to them by Finance Department without prior

concurrence. No orders affecting the finances of the State involving grant of any land or

assignment of revenue or concession, grant or other rights or orders that involve relinquishment

of revenue can be issued by the departments without prior consultation. Strict financial control isexercised by the Government in relation to sanction or abolition of posts and sanction of

financial incentives. Strict expenditure control is exercised by the Finance Department except in


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respect of pay and allowances and routine expenditure. Release of funds and cash flows are also

subjected to exigencies of ways and means by the Finance Department. Finance (Works andProjects) Department (even though so called) functions as an independent department in relation

to expenditure control of works departments subject to the overall guidance of the Finance

Department.

Planning Department

Planning Department which was hitherto part of the integrated Finance and Planning Departmentfor long has now been bifurcated from it and given independent status as a separate department.

In so far as this department is in charge of formulation, monitoring and review of annual plan

and five year plans, this department can be categorized as one among the coordinatingdepartments. It has also responsibility for decentralized planning, formulation of district plans

and preparation and monitoring of district credit plans, oversight of district planning committees

and metropolitan planning committees (which are yet to be constituted in terms of the

constitutional amendments) and district development and review committee. In addition it has

responsibility for preparation and monitoring of external aided projects and special programmeslike 20 Point programme, MP LAD scheme, etc. It is in charge of statistical database through the

Directorate of Economics and Statistics. Among its mandates include manpower studies,manpower planning, training, project appraisal, evaluation studies of plan schemes, regional

perspective plans, and economic advice, many of which remain on paper only. In terms of

Instruction 36 of the Secretariat Instructions contained in Part-2 of the Rules - all proposalsrelating to sanction of continuance of ongoing schemes, new plan schemes including centrally

sponsored schemes and for release of funds to Public Enterprises should be placed before the

Departmental Clearance Committee for Plan Schemes, Project and Programme ApprovalCommittee and Committee for Release of Funds for Public Enterprises respectively for clearance

before sanction. Any change or deviation from a plan scheme or a provision needs approval ofthe planning department.

Public Enterprises Department

Public Enterprise Department which was hitherto the part of the General Administration

Department, dealing with general issues of policy and public enterprise management including

privatization, disinvestment and winding up, in respect of public enterprises under alldepartments of various descriptions including companies, cooperatives and societies, with an

Implementation Secretariat receiving consultancy from an International Consultancy

Organization under DFID assistance. All departments are required to consult this department inrespect of matters coming within its purview.

I T & C Department

IT & C Department, in charge of comprehensive development of information technology in the

State, partly also deals with the coordinating function of technology upgradation of the

departments, creation of organizational structures for policy formulation and implementation,establishment of broad band digital connectivity up to the village level including Rajiv Internet

Villages Kiosks and eGovernance initiatives comprising projects like A P SWAN, AP SCAN,


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MPHS, CARD, VIDEO Conferencing, Secretariat Knowledge and Information Management

System, eSeva, Computerization and Intranet and Internet connectivity of departments ofGovernment throughout the State. The other part of the function of the department relates to

information technology, industry and infrastructure development and computer education in the

State. Thus this is the latest entrant into the category of coordinating departments.

Law Department

The Law Department, which in a nut shell, is responsible for all matters connected with draftinglegislation including subordinate legislation, ensuring legal conformity of actions of Government

through legal advise to departments, assistance in matters involving Government litigation and

matters connected with judiciary and law officers. The Business Rules 41 to 54 and Instructions22 to 30 deals with consultation in respect of legislations. Under Rule 55 Law Department is

required to be consulted to issue a statutory rule, notification or order, authorize issue of sanction

for issuing any rule, by law or an order by a subordinate authority or where a statutory rule,

notification or order is proposed to be referred to the Centre unless they are of routine or a

repetitive nature. Rule 56 similarly requires consultation in respect of doubts or clarificationsrelating to statute, acts, regulations, rules, orders etc general legal principles arising in any case

and involving institution or withdrawal of any prosecution at the instance of any department.

Legislature Department

The Legislature Secretariat, directly subordinate to the Hon. Speaker, has a special position

among the departments categorized as secretariat departments, is also a coordinating department

which assists the Legislature in its business and its relations with the Executive includingsecuring Executive accountability to the Legislature, through the mechanism like the Legislature

Committees.

Official Hierarchy in the Secretariat

Each department of the secretariat shall consist of a Secretary to Government who shall be theofficial head of that department, with such other officers and servants as may be required for the

disposal of business of that department, the lower levels of the department being that of a deputy

secretary, an assistant secretary and sections under a section officer with two assistant sectionofficers and a typist cum assistant. A secretary means and includes a Special Chief Secretary, a

Principal Secretary, a Special Secretary and also an officer of the above ranks in an ex-officio

capacity. This is the result of a mismatch between designation of the posts and the status of theofficers which incidentally points to the need for congruence. Similarly, the level of a deputy

secretary could be occupied by an officer of the rank of an additional or a joint secretary. The

officers are supported by Stenographers and Class IV Staff. Progressively the number ofdepartments with more than a secretary in charge of specified subjects within a department has

been steadily increasing as has already been indicated. The following is the secretariat hierarchy

of posts within each department.


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Special Chief Secretary / Principal Secretary / Secretary to Government(Discharging the function of a Secretary)

Private Secretary ----------------

Additional Secretary / Joint Secretary / Deputy Secretary(Discharging the function of a Circulating Officer)

Spl Cat / UD / LD Steno ----------------

Assistant Secretary

Section Officer

Assistant Section Officer

(two for each section)

Typist cum Assistant

Secretariat Personnel

The selection, appointment and continuance in Office of the Chief Secretary to Government is

the prerogative of the Chief Minister. He is ordinarily the senior most officer of the IndianAdministrative Service serving in connection with the affairs of the State. Posts of all Special

Chief Secretaries, Principle Secretaries and Secretaries to Government in the Secretariat (all of

whom are under the rules functionally secretaries) other than secretariat heads of the departmentsof Home, Law, Legislature and Ex-officio secretaries are in variably, by convention and practice,

officers of the Indian Administrative Service. An I P S Officer is normally nominated as Home

Secretary. An exception is the case of a Special Secretary in the E F S & T Department, being anofficer of the I F S. Rarely have there been, in the recent past, any such officer belonging to

other All India or State services or from outside Public Service. Legislature Secretary is

ordinarily appointed from within the legislature secretariat and Secretary Law by tenureappointment of a District Judge. The posts of additional secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy

secretaries (all of whom by virtue of Rules are functionally treated as deputy secretaries) forming

part of the Single Unit, other than in the departments of law, legislature and finance, are

apportioned as cadre posts earmarked for the officers of the Indian Administrative Service andnon-cadre posts to which officers belonging to the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat Service are

appointed. The Finance and Law departments are specialized units in which all posts of


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additional secretaries and below are treated as separate units for purposes of appointments,

promotions and postings in accordance with the special rules governing these posts. Similar isthe case in respect of all posts in the Legislature secretariat.

Crucial Role of Chief Ministers Office

Before one proceeds to undertake a detailed examination of the composition, structure and

functions of the departments constituting the secretariat it would be advantageous to refer to the

role of the secretary to the Chief Minister in relation to the secretariat in general and the GeneralAdministration Department in particular. The office of the secretary to Chief Minister is not a

department of the Government and he is not a secretary to Government by virtue of his office.

Chief Ministers Office assists him in discharging the multifarious functions of Governmentapart from liaison with the Legislature and the Governor, external relations with the Centre and

other agencies and organizations and political liaison. In short the functions of this office could

be grouped under logistical support, political and policy advise, communications support, and

speech writing for the Head of Government. In some countries the functions of the Office of the

Head of Government and the Cabinet Secretariat are combined in one organization, but in oursystem the two are distinct and separate, being linked only for administrative purposes and

effective liaison. Similarly the composition of the office also varies. It could be purely an officemanned by Civil Servants. It could be in addition assisted by political advisers and or political

appointees. In Andhra Pradesh there is no system of political advisers being appointed even

though there have been the cases of non civil servants occupying officers of advisers or officerson special duty. It is desirable, to facilitate continuity through change of Governments to have a

core permanent element in the CMO to ensure institutional memory, continuity, acquaintance

with procedure and knowledge of policy in such a way that no dislocation of business is causedby a change of Government resulting in wholesale replacement of personnel manning the office.

Before the 1970s the CMs Office was a miniscule, private and personal office comprising

purely of personal and security staff providing logistic support to the Chief Minister. Since

1970s the Chief Ministers office has begun expanding, starting with the appointment of a

Secretary to the Chief Minister to the present day when it has grown into a full fledged officeoutside the secretariat hierarchy consisting of a Principal Secretary, Secretaries and

corresponding lower personnel not only assisting the Chief Minister but also progressively

acquiring significant strategic policy and public sector modernization functions and coordination.Occasionally there have been cases of non civil servants being appointed as officers on special

duty and advisers in the Chief Ministers Office. A similar practice can be noticed in

commonwealth countries including the United Kingdom in a much more prominent and activerole. It is important to emphasize the point here that CMs office is not treated as a regular

department of Government Secretariat and still continues to be his private office attached to

the General Administration Department for administrative purposes. There was a periodhowever during the 1970s when the Secretary to Chief Minister functioned simultaneously as a

regular Secretary to Government in the General Administration Department in charge of six

point formula, coordination and Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes special cell reporting to the

Chief Minister.


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The role of Prime Minister in a parliamentary system of Cabinet Government has been assuming

more and more dominance in some countries in the last couple of decades with the possibility ofa hybrid quasi presidential system emerging with its attendant characteristics of reduced

emphasis on the role of Cabinet, (which gave birth to the passing of the Cabinet Government

thesis), preeminent position of the Prime Minister, informal decision making mechanisms,

greater personalization of politics, with great focus and media attention on Prime Minister. Forexample, in England, the focus of decision making has gradually shifted from the Cabinet to

Cabinet committees and 10 Downing Street has been assuming newer roles reducing

correspondingly the role of the Cabinet office. The Prime Ministers office in England is headedby a Chief of Staff with responsibility for coordinating operations across Number 10 Downing

Street ranging from international diplomacy to policy making with a deputy, a Principal Private

Secretary to the Prime Minister, a Director Communications, Director Events, Visits andScheduling, a Director Political Operations, paid for by the party, a head of Policy Directorate

and a Director of Government Relations with a Chief Adviser on strategy.

The beginnings of the Prime Ministers office at the Centre can be traced to mid 1960s when for

the first time a Secretary to Prime Minister assumed office which has progressively grown in sizeand responsibilities. This is not in consonance with the recommendation of the Administrative

Reforms Commission in 1968 when it recommended that the role of the Cabinet Secretaryshould not be limited to that of a Coordinator that he should also act as the Principal Staff

Adviser to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committee on the important policy

matters. Today the PMO is headed by a Principal Secretary to Prime Minister assisted by anAdditional Secretary and four Joint Secretaries and a number of Directors and Deputy

Secretaries. An Anti Corruption Unit and Public Wing dealing with grievances are also attached

to this office. Other offices attached to the PMO include the National Security Adviser with therank of Minister of State and a Media Adviser assisted by a Central Public Information Officer.

A criticism of the role of this office often heard is that it has assumed roles that eclipse the statusof the office of the Cabinet Secretary. It could thus be seen that there are common threads that

can be discerned in the trend towards an increasing role for the Office of the Chief Minister in

the light of what has been happening in England and at the Centre.


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Chapter 2

Analysis of Machinery at Work

An overview of the evolution and historical growth of the centre of Government viz., the

Secretariat in Andhra Pradesh established to lay down policy and oversee implementation in thefield, with a range of field agencies penetrating in layers right down to the village indicates how

the Government administrative structure has expanded manifold over time acquiring newfunctions.

Proliferation of Departments

During the pre independence days there were only 9 departments of secretariat of which 3 were

coordinating, 3 regulatory and the remaining 3 development departments comprising

Development, Education & Health and Public Works. The number of departments uponformation of Andhra Pradesh increased to a modest 11 with 4 coordinating, 2 regulatory and 5

development departments comprising Agriculture; Industries; Health, Housing and MunicipalAdministration; Education and Public Works. There are today 31 departments, of which 7 arecoordinating, 4 regulatory and remaining development and welfare departments. This, by itself

does not complete the full picture.

Emergence of Sub Departments

Many of these departments have sub-departments within them, each headed by a secretary or an

officer of a higher rank. Starting with less than a dozen secretaries in as many departmentsincluding the Chief Secretary to Government, today we have 63 officers in these 31 departments

of the rank of Secretary, Principal Secretary or Special Chief Secretary all discharging the

functions of a Secretary to Government within their respective span of control. The process offragmentation of departments can be appreciated better with specific examples in the Andhra

Pradesh context. Social Welfare Department was the only Welfare Department in 1982bifurcated from the Employment and Social Welfare. Today we have, in order to reflect the

growing emphasis on welfare of specific population groups and to focus pointed attention on

their development and welfare, we now have the Department of Social Welfare (within whichthere is a Tribal Welfare Sub Department), Backward Class Welfare; Minorities Welfare;

Women Development, Child Welfare and Disabled Welfare; and Youth Affairs and Tourism &

Culture looking after among others Youth Affairs thus constituting four different departments.

Thus it can be seen that the role and functions of Government and size and complexity of the

administrative apparatus serving the political Executive have developed incrementally andexpanded over the decades to embrace new regulatory, developmental, production, commercialand service delivery functions in keeping with the growing aspirations of the citizen and

objectives of the Government in diverse sectors of economic, social, environmental, welfare etc

areas reflecting current priorities and keeping up with the technological advancements andchanging political environment and management context. This growth has been influenced by

value systems, law, politics and administration, political expediency, the head of Governments


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personality and social and economic compulsions. Since independence it is also guided by goals

set by the Constitution and the political philosophy of the Government in power.

The following statement provides an overview of the secretariat departments with the categories

of personnel manning them including the number of basic sections constituting a secretariat

department. Category-wise Strength of Posts in Secretariat 2005S

No

Name of

Department

Officers in Secretary

and Above Grade

AS,DS,

JS Grade

Officers

A S

Grade

Officer

Sections

/ SO

ASO

CS PrlSecy

Secy Tot

1 GAD 4 3 1 8 14 27 70 136

2 DPE 1 - 1 1 1 5 10

3 Revenue 1 1 3 5 6 14 55 111

4 Finance 1 1 2 4 9 12 58 116

5 Finance W&P 1 - 1 2 10 19

6 Planning 1 - 1 4 4 22 437 IT & C - 2 2 1 - - -

8 Home 1 1 - 2 3 8 28 56

9 A and C 3 - 3 3 9 24 47

10 RSADD - 1 1 1 1 - -

11 FCS and CA - 1 1 - 1 4 8

12 AHDD & F 2 - 2 1 3 9 18

13 I and C 1 1 2 4 5 21 41

14 I and I 1 - 1 1 2 - -

15 S W 2 - 2 3 8 22 46

16 Energy 1 - 1 1 2 9 18

17 B C W 1 - 1 1 2 5 918 Education

Higher Education

-

1

1

-

1

1

6 5

4

19

13

37

26

19 TR & B 1 1 2 2 5 21 43

20 HM & F W 2 1 3 3 6 21 43

21 MA & UD - 2 2 3 7 23 45

22 Housing - 1 1 1 2 8 16

23 PR &RD 2 - 2 8 11 48 96

24 I & CAD

Projects Wing

2 1 3 6 8

7

28

22

56

45

25 LE & TF 1 - 1 1 2 8 15

26 WDCW & DW 1 - 1 2 2 7 14

27 E F S&T 1 1 2 1 3 9 18

28 M W - 1 1 2 2 10 20

29 YA & TC - 2 2 2 2 8 16

30 Law - 2 2 12 7 14 28

31 Legislature - 2 2 5 10

Total 7 31 26 64 107 184 601 1196


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It could be observed from this statement that where as there are 64 officers of the rank ofsecretary and above whereas there are only 107 officers at the next lower level ie of deputy, joint

or additional secretary and 184 assistant secretaries which is indicative of overcrowding at the

top with 601 sections and nearly double the number of assistant section officers.

Extremes of Size of Departments

Focus on new and emerging functions and needs of particular population groups and specialproblems of identified regions have contributed to the emergence of a number of small and at

times unviable departments with considerable overla

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ANDHRA Pradesh Secretariat_ a Review of Structures Processes &Personnel

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