Collective Responsibility Administrative Literacy

Cabinet collective responsibility, also known as collective ministerial responsibility,[1] is a

constitutional convention in Parliamentary systems that members of the cabinet must publicly support
all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. This
support includes voting for the government in the legislature. Some Communist political parties apply
a similar convention of democratic centralism to their central committee.

If a member of the Cabinet wishes to openly object to a Cabinet decision then they are obliged to
resign from their position in the Cabinet.

Cabinet collective responsibility is related to the fact that if a vote of no confidence is passed in
parliament, the government is responsible collectively, and thus the entire government resigns. The
consequence will be that a new government will be formed or parliament will be dissolved and a
general election will be called. Cabinet collective responsibility is not the same as individual
ministerial responsibility, which states that ministers are responsible for the running of their
departments, and therefore culpable for the departments' mistakes.

Overview
Cabinet collective responsibility is a tradition in parliamentary governments in which the prime
minister is responsible for appointing the cabinet ministers. The cabinet ministers are usually selected
from the same political party as the prime minister to make collective decision-making for legislation
faster and more effective. Unlike a presidential system, as used, for example, in the United States, a
parliamentary system's executive and legislative branches are intertwined. Because of the fusion of
powers of the executive and legislative branches the prime minister relies on the cabinet to always
support policy decisions. A breach of cabinet collective responsibility, such as when a cabinet
member publicly disagrees with an executive decision, results in resignation or termination from the
cabinet.[3] The New South Wales Parliamentary Library Research Service in Australia explains that
"one aspect of collective ministerial responsibility is that Ministers share responsibility for major
government decisions, particularly those made by the cabinet and, even if they personally object to
such decisions, Ministers must be prepared to accept and defend them or resign from the cabinet". ]

Cabinet collective responsibility consists of two main features:

Cabinet confidentiality
The members of the cabinet must not reveal the content of discussions which take place. This
allows for cabinet members to privately debate and raise concerns.
Cabinet solidarity
The members of the cabinet must publicly show a unified position, and must vote with the
government even if they privately disagree with the decision that has been made.

Collective responsibility is not circumvented by appointing Ministers outside of Cabinet, as has

occurred in New Zealand where, from 2005 to 2008, Winston Peters and Peter Dunne were Ministers
outside of Cabinet, despite their parties not being considered part of a coalition.

In non-parliamentary governments like that of the United States, cabinet collective responsibility is
not formally practiced. This is due to a clearer separation of the executive and the legislature in
policy-making. The United States president's cabinet members cannot simultaneously serve in
Congress, and therefore cannot vote on legislation supported by the executive. The president instead
has veto power over legislation passed by Congress.[5] Cabinet unity and collective agreement between
members are important to cabinet stability and party politics, but cabinet members do not have to
publicly support legislation proposed or supported by the president. It is, however, in a cabinet
member's best interest to support and align with the president's policies because they serve at the
pleasure of the president, who can at any time dismiss them or appoint them to another position.
Examples
Parliamentary democracies such as Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada practice and adhere to
cabinet collective responsibility. Rhodes, Wanna and Weller offer this description of the principle of
cabinet solidarity in Westminster systems of parliamentary democracy: "Cabinet solidarity and
collective responsibility are twin dimensions of responsible party government that enjoy
constitutionality, albeit informally. They lie at the core of ministerial governance. Cabinet solidarity is
purely a political convention designed to maintain or protect the collective good as perceived by a
partisan ministry. It rests on the notion that the executive ought to appear a collective entity, able to
maintain cohesion and display political strength".[6]
Australia
In Australia, cabinet collective responsibility is fundamental to cabinet confidentiality, but also to
protect private information from becoming public and possibly threatening national security. Cabinet
solidarity is not a legal requirement, but a political convention and practiced norm. There is no written
law that upholds cabinet collective responsibility, but it is deeply ingrained in Australia's cabinets as a
political norm and is therefore an important aspect of the collective strength and influence of the
prime minister's administration.

Occasionally on highly controversial issues such as the 1999 republic referendum, there may be a
conscience vote where any MP may vote as they wish, but these issues are rare and never tied to
official party policy, and normally party discipline is very tight.

Canada
In Canada, the cabinet is on rare occasion allowed to freely vote its conscience and to oppose the
government without consequence, as occurred with the vote on capital punishment under Brian
Mulroney. These events are rare and are never on matters of confidence. The most prominent
Canadian cabinet minister to resign because he could not vote with the cabinet was John Turner, who
refused to support wage and price controls. In Canada, party discipline is much tighter than in other
Westminster-system countries; it is very rare for any MP to vote counter to the party leadership.
Finland
In Finland, collective responsibility has been established both constitutionally and as a convention.
The Finnish Government and its ministers are collectively responsible for all its decisions. However,
the constitution allows a minister to dissent by expressing an objection which is entered into the
minutes.[7] Nevertheless, while formally allowed, dissent is uncommon because it jeopardizes the
stability of the government. Namely, majority coalition governments became the norm after President
Kekkonen retired in 1981. A new cabinet must be approved by a parliamentary majority, thus a
government platform is agreed upon by the participating parties. It is distinct from party platforms and
details the compromises that parties made in order to cooperate. If a party fails to follow the
government platform, other parties in the government can pull the plug and force the entire
government to resign.

Ireland

Article 28.4.2° of the Constitution of Ireland states:[8]

The Government shall meet and act as a collective authority, and shall be collectively
responsible for the Departments of State administered by the members of the Government.

In 1992, the Beef Tribunal was investigating allegations of political corruption, and wanted to take
evidence from a minister about cabinet meetings at which controversial proposals had been discussed.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that such discussions could not be disclosed because Article 28.4.2°
required absolute confidentiality of cabinet discussions (though not of decisions which were formally
recorded).[9] The Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution was passed by referendum in 1997 to
add Article 28.4.3°, which allows such disclosures in exceptional circumstances.[10][11]
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom practices cabinet collective responsibility. The prime minister selects a number
of cabinet ministers from the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Once selected as cabinet
ministers, each minister is given a position as head of one of the government departments. Cabinet
ministers respond to oral questions from MPs. The cabinet members, along with the Prime Minister,
schedule weekly closed door sessions to discuss the collective stance of the cabinet to avoid
inconsistent responses from cabinet ministers. The solidarity of the cabinet is consistently challenged
by the opposition in an attempt to create contradictions between cabinet ministers. It is therefore
imperative for the cabinet members to have their responses as common and similar as possible.[5]

In the United Kingdom, the doctrine applies to all members of the government, from members of the
cabinet down to Parliamentary Private Secretaries. Its inner workings are set out in the Ministerial
Code. On occasion, this principle has been suspended; most notably in the 1930s when in Britain the
National Government allowed its Liberal members to oppose the introduction of protective tariffs; and
again when Harold Wilson allowed Cabinet members to campaign both for and against the 1975
referendum on whether the UK should remain in the European Economic Community. In 2003, Tony
Blair allowed Clare Short to stay in the cabinet, despite her public opposition to the 2003 Iraq War.
However, she later resigned.

The convention appeared to have been partially suspended under the Conservative - Liberal Democrat
Coalition Government of Prime Minister David Cameron, with Liberal Democrat ministers such as
Vince Cable frequently publicly criticising the actions of Conservative Cabinet members.

David Cameron suspended the cabinet collective responsibility doctrine for the EU referendum held
on 23 June 2016, following the precedent set by Harold Wilson in 1975. Prominent cabinet ministers
including Michael Gove and Chris Grayling opted to make use of the relaxation by campaigning to
leave.[12]

Advantages
A parliamentary system that uses cabinet collective responsibility is more likely to avoid
contradictions and disagreements between cabinet members of the executive branch.[citation needed] Cabinet
ministers are likely to feel there is a practical and collective benefit from being part of a team. [citation needed]
Cabinet collective responsibility to the people also benefits party and personal loyalty to the prime
minister. Solidarity within the cabinet can strengthen the prime minister's party and accelerate policy
decisions and interests of that party. Presidential democracies often lack the ability to pass legislation
quickly in times of emergency or instances of national security.[13]

Disadvantages
Because cabinet collective responsibility forces the cabinet ministers to publicly agree with the prime
minister's decisions, political debate and internal discourse is hindered. When disagreements occur
within a cabinet dependent on collective responsibility, negotiating collective agreements can be
difficult. Cabinet collective responsibility is therefore dependent on the mutual agreement and
collective unity of the cabinet and its members
PRESIDENT OF INDIA

1 Origin
Presidential Standard of India (1950–1971)

India achieved independence from the British on 15 August 1947, initially as a dominion within the
Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as king, represented in the country by a governor-
general.[3] Still, following this, the Constituent Assembly of India, under the leadership of
B.R.Ambedkar, undertook the process of drafting a completely new constitution for the country. The
Constitution of India was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January
1950,[4]:26 making India a republic. The offices of monarch and governor-general were replaced by the
new office of President of India, with Rajendra Prasad as its first incumbent.

The Indian constitution accords with the president, the responsibility and authority to defend and
protect the Constitution of India and its rule of law.[6] Invariably, any action taken by the executive or
legislature entities of the constitution shall become law only after the President's assent. The president
shall not accept any actions of the executive or legislature which are unconstitutional. The president is
the foremost, most empowered and prompt defender of the constitution (Article 60), who has pre-
emptive power for ensuring constitutionality in the actions of the executive or legislature. The role of
the judiciary in upholding the Constitution of India is the second line of defence in nullifying any
unconstitutional actions of the executive and legislative entities of the Indian Union.

Powers and duties

Under the draft constitution the President occupies the same position as the King under the English
Constitution. He is the head of the state but not of the Executive. He represents the Nation but does
not rule the Nation. He is the symbol of the Nation. His place in the administration is that of a
ceremonial device on a seal by which the nation's decisions are made known.

— Bhimrao Ambedkar, chairperson of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly of India, [7]

Duty

The primary duty of the president is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of
India as made part of his oath (Article 60 of Indian constitution).[6] The president is the common head
of all independent constitutional entities. All his actions, recommendations (Article 3, Article 111,
Article 274, etc.) and supervisory powers (Article 74(2), Article 78C, Article 108, Article 111, etc.)
over the executive and legislative entities of India shall be used in accordance to uphold the
constitution.[8] There is no bar on the actions of the president to contest in the court of law.[9][10]
Legislative powers

Legislative power is constitutionally vested by the Parliament of India of which the president is the
head, to facilitate the lawmaking process per the constitution (Article 78, Article 86, etc.). The
president summons both the houses (The House of the People and 'The Council of States') of the
parliament and prorogues them. He can dissolve the Lok Sabha.[4]:147

The president inaugurates parliament by addressing it after the general elections and also at the
beginning of the first session every year per Article 87(1). The Presidential address on these occasions
is generally meant to outline the new policies of the government.[11]:145

All bills passed by the parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent of the president per
Article 111. After a bill is presented to him, the president shall declare either that he assents to the
Bill, or that he withholds his assent from it. As a third option, he can return a bill to parliament, if it is
not a money bill, for reconsideration. President may be of the view that a particular bill passed under
the legislative powers of parliament is violating the constitution, he can send back the bill with his
recommendation to pass the bill under the constituent powers of parliament following the Article 368
procedure. When, after reconsideration, the bill is passed accordingly and presented to the president,
with or without amendments, the president cannot withhold his assent from it. The president can also
withhold his assent to a bill when it is initially presented to him (rather than return it to parliament)
thereby exercising a pocket veto on the advice of prime minister or council of ministers per Article 74
if it is inconsistent to the constitution.[10] Article 143 gave power to the president to consult the
supreme court about the constitutional validity of an issue. The president shall assent to constitutional
amendment bills without power to withhold the bills per Article 368 (2).

When either of the two Houses of the Parliament of India is not in session, and if the government feels
the need for an immediate procedure, the president can promulgate ordinances which have the same
force and effect as an act passed by parliament under its legislative powers. These are in the nature of
interim or temporary legislation and their continuance is subject to parliamentary approval.
Ordinances remain valid for no more than six weeks from the date the parliament is convened unless
approved by it earlier.[12] Under Article 123, the president as the upholder of the constitution shall be
satisfied that immediate action is mandatory as advised by the union cabinet and he is confident that
the government commands majority support in the parliament needed for the passing of the ordinance
into an act and parliament can be summoned to deliberate on the passing of the ordinance as soon as
possible. The promulgated ordinance is treated as an act of parliament when in force and it is the
responsibility of the president to withdraw the ordinance as soon as the reasons for promulgation of
the ordinance are no longer applicable. Bringing laws in the form of ordinances has become a routine
matter by the government and President, but the provisions made in Article 123 are meant for
mitigating unusual circumstances where immediate action is inevitable when the extant provisions of
the law are inadequate. Re-promulgation of an ordinance after failing to get approval within the
stipulated time of both houses of parliament is an unconstitutional act by the president.[13] The
President should not incorporate any matter in an ordinance which violates the constitution or requires
an amendment to the constitution. The president should take moral responsibility when an ordinance
elapses automatically or is not approved by the parliament or violates the constitution.[14]
Executive powers

The President of the Indian Union will be generally bound by the advice of his Ministers. [...] He can
do nothing contrary to their advice nor can do anything without their advice. The President of the
United States can dismiss any Secretary at any time. The President of the Indian Union has no power
to do so long as his Ministers command a majority in Parliament

— Bhimrao Ambedkar, chairperson of the drafting committee of the Constituent Assembly of India, [7]

Per Article 53, the executive power of the country is vested in the president and is exercised by
President either directly or through officers subordinate to him in accordance with the constitution.
When parliament thinks fit it may accord additional executive powers to the president per Article 70
which may be further delegated by the president to the governors of states per Article 160. Union
cabinet with prime minister as its head, should aid and advice the president in performing his
functions. Per Article 74 (2), the council of ministers or prime minister are not accountable legally to
the advice tendered to the president but it is the sole responsibility of the president to ensure
compliance with the constitution in performing his duties. President or his subordinate officers is
bound by the provisions of the constitution notwithstanding any advice by union cabinet.[15]

Per Article 142, it is the duty of President to enforce the decrees of the supreme court.

Judicial powers

The primary duty of the president is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of
India per Article 60. The president appoints the Chief Justice of India and other judges on the advice
of the chief justice. He dismisses the judges if and only if the two Houses of the parliament pass
resolutions to that effect by a two-thirds majority of the members present.[16]

The Indian government's chief legal adviser, Attorney General of India ,is appointed by the President
of India under Article 76(1) and holds office during the pleasure of the president. If the president
considers a question of law or a matter of public importance has arisen, he can also ask for the
advisory opinion of the supreme court per Article 143. Per Article 88, President can ask the Attorney
General to attend the parliamentary proceedings and report to him any unlawful functioning if any.[17]

Appointment powers

The president appoints as prime minister, the person most likely to command the support of the
majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). the president then
appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice
of the prime minister.[18]:72 The Council of Ministers remains in power at the 'pleasure' of the president.

The president appoints 12 members of the Rajya Sabha from amongst persons who have special
knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social
service. President may nominate not more than two members of Anglo Indian community as Lok
Sabha members per Article 331

Governors of states are also appointed by the president who shall work at the pleasure of the president.
Per Article 156, President is empowered to dismiss a governor who has violated the constitution in his
acts.
The president is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:[18]:72

 The chief justice and other judges of the Supreme Court of India and state/union territory high
courts.
 The Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Article 239 AA 5 of the
constitution).
 The Comptroller and Auditor General.
 The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.
 The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission.
 The Attorney General.
 Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries (only through the list of names given
by the prime minister)[19][20]:48.
 Officers of the All India Services (IAS, IPS and IFoS), and other Central Civil Services in
Group 'A'.

Financial powers

 A money bill can be introduced in the parliament only with the President’s recommendation.
 The president lays the Annual Financial Statement, i.e. the Union budget, before the
parliament.
 The president can take advances out of the Contingency Fund of India to meet unforeseen
expenses.
 The president constitutes a Finance commission after every five years to recommend the
distribution of the taxes between the centre and the States.[21][22]:48

Diplomatic powers

All international treaties and agreements are negotiated and concluded on behalf of the president. [23]:18
However, in practice, such negotiations are usually carried out by the prime minister along with his
Cabinet (especially the Foreign Minister). Also, such treaties are subject to the approval of the
parliament. The president represents India in international forums and affairs where such a function is
chiefly ceremonial. The president may also send and receive diplomats, i.e. the officers from the
Indian Foreign Service.[11]:143 The president is the first citizen of the country.[19]

Military powers

The president is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The president can declare war
or conclude peace,[19] on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the prime minister.
All important treaties and contracts are made in the President's name.[24]

Pardoning powers

See also: Presidential pardon

As mentioned in Article 72 of the Indian constitution, the president is empowered with the powers to
grant pardons in the following situations:[19]

 Punishment is for an offence against Union law.

 Punishment is by a military court.
 A sentence that is of death.[24]

The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of
the prime minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most cases, however, the president exercises his
executive powers on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet.[18]:239[25]
Emergency powers

The president can declare three types of emergencies: national, state and financial, under articles 352,
356 & 360 in addition to promulgating ordinances under article 123.[23]:12

National emergency

See also: The Emergency (India)

A national emergency can be declared in the whole of India or a part of its territory for causes of war
or armed rebellion or an external aggression. Such an emergency was declared in India in 1962 (Indo-
China war), 1971 (Indo-Pakistan war),[26] and 1975 to 1977 (declared by Indira Gandhi).[see main]

Under Article 352 of the India constitution, the president can declare such an emergency only on the
basis of a written request by the cabinet of ministers headed by the prime minister. Such a
proclamation must be approved by the parliament with an at least two-thirds majority within one
month. Such an emergency can be imposed for six months. It can be extended by six months by
repeated parliamentary approval-there is no maximum duration.[23][page needed]

In such an emergency, Fundamental Rights of Indian citizens can be suspended.[4]:33 The six freedoms
under Right to Freedom are automatically suspended. However, the Right to Life and Personal Liberty
cannot be suspended (Article 21).[27]:20.6

The president can make laws on the 66 subjects of the State List (which contains subjects on which
the state governments can make laws).[28] Also, all money bills are referred to the president for
approval.[22]:88 The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended by a period of up to one year, but not so as
to extend the term of parliament beyond six months after the end of the declared emergency.[18]:223

National Emergency has been proclaimed 3 times in India till date. It was declared first in 1962 by
President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, during the Sino-Indian War. This emergency lasted through the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and up to 1968. It was revoked in 1968. The second emergency in India
was proclaimed in 1971 by President V. V. Giri on the eve of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The
first two emergencies were in the face of external aggression and War. They were hence external
emergencies. Even as the second emergency was in progress, another internal emergency was
proclaimed by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, with Indira Gandhi as prime minister in 1975. In
1977, the second and the third emergencies were together revoked.

State emergency

See also: Federalism in India

If the president is not fully satisfied, on the basis of the report of the governor of the concerned state
or from other sources that the governance in a state cannot be carried out according to the provisions
in the constitution, he can proclaim under Article 356 a state of emergency in the state.[6] Such an
emergency must be approved by the parliament within a period of 2 months.

Under Article 356 of the Indian constitution, it can be imposed from six months to a maximum period
of three years with repeated parliamentary approval every six months. If the emergency needs to be
extended for more than three years, this can be achieved by a constitutional amendment, as has
happened in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.

During such an emergency, the president can take over the entire work of the executive, and the
governor administers the state in the name of the president. The Legislative Assembly can be
dissolved or may remain in suspended animation. The parliament makes laws on the 66 subjects of the
state list[29] (see National emergency for explanation).

A State Emergency can be imposed via the following:

1. By Article 356 – If that state failed to run constitutionally, i.e. constitutional machinery has
failed. When a state emergency is imposed under this provision, the state is said to be under
"President's rule.[30]:159
2. By Article 365 – If that state is not working according to the direction of the Union
government issued per the provisions of the constitution.[31]

This type of emergency needs the approval of the parliament within 2 months. It can last up to a
maximum of three years via extensions after each 6-month period. However, after one year it can be
extended only if

1. A state of National Emergency has been declared in the country or in the particular state.
2. The Election Commission finds it difficult to organise an election in that state.

The Sarkaria Commission held that presidents have unconstitutionally misused the provision of
Article 356 many times for achieving political motives, by dismissing the state governments although
there was no constitutional break down in the states.[32] During 2005, President's rule was imposed in
Bihar state, misusing Article 356 unconstitutionally to prevent the democratically elected state
legislators to form a government after the state elections.

There is no provision in the constitution to re-promulgate president's rule in a state when the earlier
promulgation ceased to operate for want of parliaments approval within two months duration. During
2014 in Andhra Pradesh, president's rule was first imposed on 1 March 2014 and it ceased to operate
on 30 April 2014. President's rule was promulgated after being fully aware that the earliest parliament
session is feasible at the end of May 2014 after the general elections. It was reimposed again
unconstitutionally on 28 April 2014 by the president.[33][34]

Financial emergency

Article 282 accords financial autonomy in spending the financial resources available with the states
for public purpose.[6][35] Article 293 gives liberty to states to borrow without any limit to its ability for
its requirements within the territory of India without any consent from the Union government.
However, Union government can insist for compliance of its loan terms when a state has outstanding
loan charged to the consolidated fund of India or an outstanding loan in respect of which a guarantee
has been given by the Government of India under the liability of consolidated fund of India.[36]

Under article 360 of the constitution, President can proclaim a financial emergency when the financial
stability or credit of the nation or of any part of its territory is threatened.[6] However, until now no
guidelines defining the situation of financial emergency in the entire country or a state or a union
territory or a panchayat or a municipality or a corporation have been framed either by the finance
commission or by the central government.

Such an emergency must be approved by the parliament within two months by a simple majority. It
has never been declared.[37]:604 A state of financial emergency remains in force indefinitely until
revoked by the president.[18]:195

The president can reduce the salaries of all government officials, including judges of the supreme
court and high courts, in cases of a financial emergency. All money bills passed by state legislatures
are submitted to the president for approval. He can direct the state to observe certain principles
(economy measures) relating to financial matters.[38]
Selection process
Eligibility

Article 58 of the constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office
of the president. A President must be:

 a citizen of India
 of 35 years of age or above
 qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha

A person shall not be eligible for election as President if he holds any office of profit under the
Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to
the control of any of the said Governments.

Certain office-holders, however, are permitted to stand as presidential candidates. These are:

 The current vice-president

 The governor of any state
 A Minister of the Union or of any state (including prime minister and chief ministers)[18]:72

In the event that the vice-president, a state governor or a minister is elected President, they are
considered to have vacated their previous office on the date they begin serving as President.

A member of parliament or of a State Legislature can seek election to the office of the president but if
he is elected as President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in parliament or State
Legislature on the date on which he enters upon his office as President [Article 59(1)].

Article 57 provides that a person who holds, or who has held, office as President shall, subject to the
other provisions of this constitution, be eligible for re-election to that office.

Under The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952,[39] a candidate to be nominated for
the office of president needs 50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders for his name to
appear on the ballot.[40]

Time of election
Article 56(1) of the constitution provides that the president shall hold office for a term of five years
from the date on which he enters upon his office. According to Article 62, an election to fill a vacancy
caused by the expiration of the term of office of President shall be completed before the expiration of
the term. An election to fill a vacancy in the office of President occurring by reason of his death,
resignation or removal, or otherwise shall be held as soon as possible after, and in no case later than
six months from, the date of occurrence of the vacancy; and the person elected to fill the vacancy
shall, subject to the provisions of Article 56, be entitled to hold office for the full term of five years
from the date on which he enters upon his office. To meet the contingency of an election to the office
of President not being completed in time due to unforeseen circumstances like countermanding of
election due to death of a candidate or on account of postponement of the poll for any valid reason,
Article 56(1)(c) provides that the president shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue
to hold office until his successor enters upon his office.
Conditions for the presidency

Main article: Electoral College (India)

Certain conditions, per Article 59 of the Indian constitution, debar an otherwise eligible citizen from
contesting the presidential elections. The conditions are:

 The president shall not be a member of either house of the parliament or of a house of the
legislature of any state, and if a member of either house of the parliament or of a house of the
legislature of any state be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that
house on the date on which he enters upon his office as President.
 The president shall not hold any other office of profit.
 The president shall be entitled without payment of rent to the use of his official residences and
shall be also entitled to such emoluments, allowances and privileges as may be determined by
parliament by law and until provision in that behalf is so made, such emoluments, allowances
and privileges as are specified in the Second Schedule.
 The emoluments and allowances of the president shall not be diminished during his term of
office.[37]:170

Election process

Whenever the office becomes vacant, the new President is chosen by an electoral college consisting of
the elected members of both houses of parliament (M.P.s), the elected members of the State
Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabha) of all States and the elected members of the legislative
assemblies (MLAs) of two union territories, i.e., National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi and Union
Territory of Puducherry. The election process of President is more extensive process than prime
minister who is also elected indirectly (not elected by people directly) by the Lok Sabha members
only. Whereas President being the constitutional head with duties to protect, defend and preserve the
constitution and rule of law in a constitutional democracy with constitutional supremacy, is elected in
an extensive manner by the members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and state legislative assemblies in a
secret ballot procedure.

The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the president must be subscribed by at least
50 electors as proposers and 50 electors as seconders. Each candidate has to make a security deposit of
₹15,000 (US$210) in the Reserve Bank of India.[41] The security deposit is liable to be forfeited in case
the candidate fails to secure one-sixth of the votes polled.

The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation (PR) by means of the
single transferable vote (STV) method. The voting takes place by a secret ballot system. The manner
of election of President is provided by Article 55 of the constitution.[42]

Each elector casts a different number of votes. The general principle is that the total number of votes
cast by Members of parliament equals the total number of votes cast by State Legislators. Also,
legislators from larger states cast more votes than those from smaller states. Finally, the number of
legislators in state matters; if a state has few legislators, then each legislator has more votes; if a state
has many legislators, then each legislator has fewer votes.

The actual calculation for votes cast by a particular state is calculated by dividing the state's
population by 1000, which is divided again by the number of legislators from the State voting in the
electoral college. This number is the number of votes per legislator in a given state. Every elected
member of the parliament enjoys the same number of votes, which may be obtained by dividing the
total number of votes assigned to the members of legislative assemblies by the total number of elected
representatives of the parliament.
Although Indian presidential elections involve actual voting by MPs and MLAs, they tend to vote for
the candidate supported by their respective parties.[43]

Oath or affirmation

The president is required to make and subscribe in the presence of the Chief Justice of India—or in his
absence, the senior-most judge of the supreme court—an oath or affirmation that he/she shall protect,
preserve and defend the constitution as follows:[44]

I, (name), do swear in the name of God (or solemnly affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of
President (or discharge the functions of the President) of the Republic of India, and will to the best of
my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law, and that I will devote myself to
the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of India.

— Article 60, Constitution of India

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENTS

Article 53 vests powers in the President who carries out the business of government or affairs
of state excepting functions, which are vested by the Constitution in any other authority.

This ambit of the executive power has been expanded by the Supreme Court:

The executive function comprises both the determination of the policy as well as carrying in
into execution, the maintenance of order, the promotion of social and economic welfare, the
direction of foreign policy, in fact, the carrying on or supervision of the general
administration of the State. But, there are several constitutional limitations under which he
has to exercise his executive powers. He must exercise these powers according to the
Constitution which requires that ministers (other than the Prime Minister) can be appointed
by the President only on the advise of the Prime Minister.

If the President violates any of the mandatory provisions of the Constitution, he can be
removed by the process of impeachment. The executive powers are exercised by the
President in accordance with the advise of his council of ministers. Prior to 1976, he was not
bound to act in accordance with the advice tendered by the council of ministers.

The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 has amended Article 74(1) as under:

There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise
the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.

The word ‘shall’ makes it obligatory for the President to act in accordance with ministerial
advice.
But the 44th Amendment Act added a Proviso to Article 74(1) which says:

Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice,
either generally or otherwise and the President shall act in accordance with the advice
tendered after such reconsideration. The net result after the 44th Amendment, therefore, is
that except in certain marginal cases referred to by the Supreme Court, the President shall
have no power to act in his discretion. If the council of ministers adheres to their previous
advice, the President shall have no option but to act in accordance with such advice. The
power to return for reconsideration can be exercised only once, on the same matter.

The various powers that are included within the comprehensive expression
‘executive power’ can be classified as under:

2 1. Powers Pertaining to Administration:

Not being a real head of the executive like the American President, the Indian President does
not have any administrative function to discharge nor does he has the power of control and
supervision over the departments of the government. The various departments of
government of the Union are carried on under the control of the respective ministers and the
President remains the formal head of the administration.

All executive action of the Union is taken in the name of the President. Though, he is not the
‘real’ head of the administration, all officers of the Union are his ‘subordinates’ and he has a
right to be informed about the affairs of the government. The administrative power also
includes the power to appoint and remove the high dignitaries of the state. In making
appointments, the President is required to consult persons other than his ministers as well.

Thus, in appointing the judges of the Supreme Court, the President shall consult the Chief
Justice of India and such other judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts, as he
may deem necessary.

The President also has the power to remove:

(i) His ministers, individually;

ii) The Attorney-General of India;
(iii) The Governor of a state;
(iv) The chairman or a member of the Public Service Commission of the Union or of a state
on the report of the Supreme Court;
(v) A judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court or the Election Commissioner, on an
address of Parliament.
The Indian Constitution makes the ‘Union Public Services and the Union Public Service
Commission’ a legislative subject for the Union Parliament, and by making it obligatory on
the part of the President to consult the Public Service Commission in matters relating to
appointment, except in certain specified cases.
2. Powers as Commander of Armed Forces:
The military powers of the Indian President are much less than those of the American
President and the English Crown. The supreme command of the defence forces is vested in
the President, but the Constitution expressly lays down that the exercise of this power shall
be regulated by law. The President’s powers as Commander-in-Chief cannot be construed, as
a power independent of legislative control. The Constitution enjoins that certain acts cannot
be done without the authority of law. The President must approach the Parliament. Article
114(3) demands that money for raising, training and maintenance of the defence forces has
to be passed by the Parliament.

3. Powers in International Affairs:

The diplomatic powers and functions comprise “matters which bring the Union into relation
with foreign country”. The legislative power about these matters and the power to make
treaties and implementing them belongs to Parliament. But, the final power in these matters
vests in Parliament. The task of negotiating treaties and agreements, subject to ratification by
Parliament the President who acts on the advice of his ministers. He has the power of
appointing Indian diplomats to other countries and of receiving foreign diplomats as
recognized by Parliament.

4. Powers over Legislation:

The legislative powers of the Indian President are varied and comprehensive. Like the
English Crown, our President has the power to summon or prorogue the houses of
Parliament and to dissolve the lower house. He can summon a joint sitting of both houses of
Parliament m case of deadlock between them (Articles 85 and 108).

He addresses both houses of Parliament assembled together, at the first session after each
general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of
each year, and “informs Parliament of the causes of its summons”. Apart from the right to
address, the President has the right to send messages to either house of Parliament about
pending Bills, or to other matters which the House must consider. The President has the
power to send messages not only on legislative matters but ‘otherwise’ also.

The President has been given the power to nominate twelve members to the Council of
States, persons who possess special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science,
art and social service. He is also empowered to nominate not more than two members to the
House of the People from the Anglo-Indian community, if it is not adequately represented in
the house.
5. Powers in Matters of Finance:
It is the duty of the President to cause to be laid before Parliament:

(a) The Annual Financial Statement (Budget) and the supplementary statement, if any;
(b) The report of the Auditor-General relating to the accounts of the Government of India;
(c) The recommendations made by the Finance Commission, together with an action taken
report;
(d) The report of the Union Public Service Commission, explaining the reasons for non-
acceptance of the advice;
(e) The report of the special officers for Scheduled Castes and Tribes; Backward Classes and
linguistic minorities.
The Constitution requires the previous sanction of the President for introducing legislation
on certain matters. The courts are debarred from invalidating any legislation on the ground
that the previous sanction was not obtained, and the President has assented to the legislation
(Article 255).

These matters are:

i. Formation of new states or the alteration of boundaries of existing states (Article 3).
ii. Providing for matters specified in Article 31A (1).
iii. A Money Bill [Article 117(1)].
iv. A Bill which would involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India even though
it is not a Money Bill.
v. A Bill affecting taxation in which states are interested, or affecting the principles laid down
tor distributing moneys to the states and State Bills imposing restrictions upon the freedom
of trade. Every Bill needs the assent of the President. He has three options – he may assent;
or withhold his assent; or (in the case of Bills other than Money Bills) return the Bill for
reconsideration of the Houses, with or without a message.
A Money Bill cannot be returned for reconsideration. In case of return, if the Bill is passed
again by both houses of Parliament, it would be obligatory upon him to declare his assent to
it. From the standpoint of effect on legislation, executive vetos have been classified as
absolute, qualified, suspensive and pocket vetos.

The Indian President enjoys a combination of all the three. If, instead of refusing his assent
outright, he remits the Bill or any part of it for reconsideration, a re-passage of the Bill by an
ordinary majority would compel the President to give his assent. The effect of a return by the
President is thus merely ‘suspensive’ and this power is not there in the case of Money Bills.
6. Powers over State Legislation:
The Constitution does not prescribe any time limit within which the President should assent
or refuse or to return the Bill. Article 111 says ‘as soon as possible’ after the Bill is presented
to him. This absence of a time limit, permits the Indian President to exercise something like
a ‘pocket veto’ or a desk veto for an indefinite time. The President may disallow or return a
Bill of the State Legislature for reconsideration reserved by the Governor.

Reservation of a State Bill for the assent of the president is a discretionary power of the
Governor who may assent or withhold his assent or reserve the Bill for the consideration of
the President. If a Money Bill is so reserved, the President may either declare his assent or
withhold his assent. But in the case of the Bill, other than a Money Bill the President may,
direct the Governor to return the Bill to the legislature for reconsideration.

In this latter case, the legislature must reconsider the Bill within six months but it shall not
be obligatory upon the President to give his assent. He may keep a Bill of the state legislature
pending for an indefinite period of time, without expressing his mind.

There is no provision in the Constitution to a direct disallowance of state legislation by the

President, but the bills reserved by the State Governor for assent of the President can be
disallowed. There is no way to override the President’s veto on state legislation. So, the
Union’s control over state legislation is absolute, and the President is entitled to refuse his
assent without assigning reasons.

3 7. The Power to Proclaim Ordinances:

The President enjoys the power to legislate by ordinances whenever the parliamentary
enactment on the subject is needed. The ambit of this ordinance-making power is co-
extensive with the legislative powers of Parliament, with its constitutional limitations. Thus,
an ordinance cannot contravene the fundamental rights like an Act of Parliament. Article
13(3)(a) lays down that ‘law’ includes an ‘ordinance’ which has to be laid before Parliament
when it reassembles.

It automatically ceases to have effect at the expiration of six weeks. The ordinance-making
power is available to the President only when either of the two houses of Parliament has been
prorogued or is otherwise not in session. Even when the legislature is not in session, the
President promulgates an ordinance only when he is satisfied that there are circumstances
which render it necessary for him to take ‘immediate action’. The promulgation of an
ordinance is not dependent upon the existence of an armed rebellion or external aggression.
8. The Power to Pardon:
The ‘pardoning power’ comprises a group of allied powers each of which has a distinct legal
consequences, VIZ., pardon, reprieve, respite, remission, suspension, commutation. A
pardon rescinds both the sentence and the conviction and absolves the offender from all
punishment and disqualification. Commutation merely substitutes one form of punishment
for another of a lighter character.

The sentences of death; rigorous and simple imprisonments; fine, amount of sentence can be
reduced without changing its character. Respite means awarding a lesser sentence instead of
the penalty prescribed, in view of some special fact, like pregnancy of a woman offender.

Reprieve means a stay of execution of a sentence, pending a proceeding for pardon or

commutation. The President has the pardoning power in respect of all cases of punishment
by a Court Martial, (the Governor does not have such powers) offences against laws made
under the Union and Concurrent Lists. The only authority of pardoning a sentence of death is
the President.

4 9. The Residuary Powers:

The President has been vested with powers which may be called residuary in nature.

He has the constitutional authority to make rules and regulations relating to

matters, such as:

(1) Authentication of his orders;

(2) Custody of and withdrawal of money from the public accounts of India;
(3) The number and service conditions of members of the Union Public Service Commission;
(4) The procedure of joint sittings of the houses of Parliament;
(5) The manner of enforcing the orders of the Supreme Court;
(6) Emoluments payable to a Governor appointed for two or more states;
(7) The discharge of the functions of a Governor in contingency and
(8) Specifying of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
He is empowered to give instructions to a Governor to promulgate an ordinance if a Bill
containing the same provisions requires the previous sanction of the President. He can refer
any question of public importance for the opinion of the Supreme Court. He has the power to
appoint commissions for the purpose of reporting on specific matters, such as, commissions
to report on the Administration of Scheduled Areas and Welfare of Scheduled Tribes and
Backward Classes; the Finance Commission; Commission on Official Language; and Inter-
State Council.
The President enjoys several special powers relating to ‘Union Territories’, or territories
which are directly administered by the Union. The administration of such territories is
responsible to him alone. He has the final legislative power (to make regulations) relating to
the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; the Lakshadweep; Dadra and Nagar Haveli; and may
even repeal or amend any law applicable to such territories.

He enjoys special powers in respect of the administration of Scheduled Area and Tribal Area
in Assam. A Tribes Council may be established by the direction of the President in any state
having Scheduled Areas and also in states having Scheduled Tribes therein but not Scheduled
Areas.

The President enjoys protection from criminal proceedings against him in courts of law. This
privilege is covered under Article 361 of the Constitution which does not restrict the
instrumentality of Article 61. He cannot be arrested and produced before any court. No
criminal proceedings can be instituted nor can a writ be filed against his or her actions.
However, a civil suit can be filed against him, for an action that he or she has performed in
his or her personal capacity before or after joining service.

10. Powers during Emergencies:

Articles from 352 to 360 of the Indian Constitution talk about three kinds of emergencies in
which the President of India may play a special kind of role because these situations leave a
wide lee way for the President to take decisions in his discretion. National emergency, break
down of the Constitution in a state and financial emergencies are abnormal situations which
have been stipulated to tide over the crises till the situation returns to normal.

In fact, it is a hangover from the Government of India Act 1935 under which the Governors
and Governor-Generals used to take care of the political situation in imperial interest. The
national leaders who were highly critical of these provisions found them indispensable to
keep the country together and avoid mishaps in the working of democracy.

The Constituent Assembly members were skeptical about the intensity and scope of
emergencies. Yet, there was a general agreement that the fragile Union needed a protective
ring around it and, hence, the presence of these provisions was considered appropriate.
Viewed from the constitutional angle alone, these powers can turn the President into an
unabashed autocrat, but the practice of this power will be within restraints of the system.
(i) National Emergency:

The Article 352 states that if the President is satisfied that a grave emergency exists due to
which the security of India or any part thereof is threatened, whether by war or internal
disturbance, he may proclaim an emergency. Its duration, in the first instance will be two
months. Within two months, it has to be ratified by the Parliament. If the Lok Sabha stands
dissolved, the consent of the Rajya Sabha has to be sought within two months.

If the Rajya Sabha does not pass it, the emergency becomes void. If it gets passed, then too, it
should be approved by the newly constituted Lok Sabha within one month. After it has been
passed by both the houses, it will continue as long as the President desires. However, the
period cannot exceed more than six months at a time.

In India, emergency under this article has been declared three times. During this kind of
emergency, the term “if the President is satisfied” could mean that he does not have to
consult the cabinet. It is not necessary that an external aggression must be actual, potential
threat or anticipation of danger is adequate.

The life of the Lok Sabha can be extended by one year’s at a time by the President with the
possibility of indefinite renewal. During this time, the Parliament is empowered to frame
laws on the subjects of the State List. The President can issue directives to governments. He
will have the right to alter or amend the distribution pattern of financial resources between
the Centre and the states.

Even the fundamental rights can be suspended selectively or m the entire country. In 1975,
when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi got National Emergency declared by President
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, the President played no role and followed the parliamentary
procedure. But the national emergency did not disturb the state governments and
fundamental rights were selectively suspended in some states only. Amendment 42nd was
the product of this situation and three judges of the Supreme Court were superceded. But
then Amendment 44th restored the status quo anti and elections were held to repair the
damaged system.
(ii) President’s Rule in States:

The second kind of emergency under Article 356 is popularly known as President’s rule in a
state which can be declared by the President on the Governor’s report that the government of
the state cannot be run in accordance to the provisions of the Constitution. The proclamation
has to be approved by both the houses in the same manner as the first kind of emergency, but
by a simple majority.

The proclamation, in the first instance, is applicable for two months and, after ratification by
the Parliament for a period for six months, unless revoked earlier. It can be extended again
and again for six months each time but should not exceed more than three years. The
consent of the Governor is imperative because the President must have trust in his own
nominee. The Governor’s report cannot be open to public inspection.

It may bring a suspension of fundamental rights and the President can dissolve the state
legislature or put the same in a state of suspended animation. The state cabinet may be
dissolved and the laws and budget of the state will be passed by the Union Parliament. The
Parliament can authorize the President to sanction expenditure from the Consolidated Fund
of the state but the President will not interfere with the jurisdiction of the state High Court.

(iii) Financial Emergency:

Article 360 states that if the President is satisfied that a situation has arisen whereby the
financial stability or credit of India or any part of it is threatened, he may proclaim a
financial emergency. This state should also be approved by the Union Parliament.

This is also applicable for two months in the first instance, but the Parliament, by simple
majority can extend the period. During this time, the President can issue directions to the
state governments to observe such canons of financial propriety as may be specified in the
directions. He may order reduction of salaries and allowances of all or any class of persons
serving in connection with the affairs of a state.

A provision can be made requiring all money bills to be reserved for the consideration of the
President after they are passed by the legislative assembly of the state. The financial
emergency has never been declared although we have been very close to it. This situation
gives sweeping powers to the President in the Union executive to discipline the state
government from taking overdrafts from the Reserve Bank of India or other banks.

The amendments 38th, 42nd, 44th and the 59th have revised the situation. The 38th
Amendment Bill which was passed in 1975, made it clear that the President could issue
different proclamations of emergency on different grounds, whether or not there was a
proclamations already in existence and in operation.
It also made the satisfaction of the President in the matter final and conclusive and not
challengeable on any ground. By the 42nd Amendment, the period of six months in relation
to Article 356 was raised to one year. The words ‘armed rebellion’ have been substituted in
place of ‘internal disturbance’ vide the 44th Amendment.

It could be the actual breakdown of the state machinery or an attempt by the ruling party to
overthrow opposition governments. Therefore, the insertion of the words ‘armed rebellion’ is
more meaningful. The President can issue a proclamation only if the unanimous decision of
the cabinet in this regard has been communicated to him in writing.

Moreover, the Presidential order cannot suspend the fundamental rights of an arrested
person to move a court and ensure that an individual is not deprived of his immunity from
ex-post facto penal law. The mere satisfaction of the President is sufficient in this case. All
fundamental rights, can be suspended and the press can be forced to fall in line. No judicial
authority could call Presidential ‘satisfaction’ in question. In the term, ‘satisfaction of the
President’ in reality, becomes the will of the PM then the human rights get jeopardized.

Notwithstanding the utility of emergency provisions, all governments in India will have to
strike a balance between the threatened chaos and repression of human rights in a
democratic polity. The founding fathers were apprehensive and Mr Kamath staged a
symbolic walkout calling the day of enactment as a day of shame and sorrow. Several
members condemned the emergency provisions as ‘a chapter of reaction and retrogression’.

The President was seen as democratic despot in a totalitarian democracy. The misgivings
have proved right as well as imaginary. Instances of presidents like V.V. Giri, Fakruddin Ali
Ahmad, Gyani Zail Singh and even K.R. Narayanan are being quoted to push the arguments
on either side. Mistrust in the strength of democratic institutions is natural but the role given
to the Parliament is relevant and effective. The ratification of emergency by the Union
Parliament must make the vigilant Parliament assert and prevent the abuse of emergency
provisions by a cynical incumbent of the high office.

Similarly, it will be pessimistic to see malafide intentions of the Union government in

declaring the Presidents’ rule in a state. Union government has a key role in maintaining
internal security and restoring political stability in all the states. Article 356 has been a much
maligned provision of our federal arrangement.

It is true that its political abuse against ether party governments, mostly coalitional, has
caused much hue and cry. But the Supreme Court has intervened quite constructively in
Bomai Case and Buta Case and the procedures about Governor’s Report, Cabinet decisioning
and Presidential assent have become reasonably streamlined after the 44th Amendment.
Formerly the Presidents were forced to act as a mere rubber stamp and the Governors were
seen as ‘Villains of Peace’.
As democracy matures the President, the Prime Minister and the Governors are realising it to
their predicament that the provision has little discretion for any individual incumbent. The
Union Council of Ministers and its Prime Minister should accept the responsibility and
nobody can be made a scape-goat for the errors of commission or omission. The check and
balance system of decisioning has emerged as a healthy check upon the suspect intentions of
the President. It is a welcome development which represents the will of the founding fathers.

As a political head of the parliamentary government the Indian President should be a

phantom king without crown. In Dr Ambedkar’s view he should represent the nation but
should not rule over the nation. He conceded that unlike the British monarch he will not be a
golden zero or a mere rubber stamp. He enjoys the suspensory veto of returning the bills to
the Council of Ministers or ask for a reconsideration of its advice.

The Prime Minister has a constitutional obligation to keep him informed about
administrative decisions and legislative proposals. He may call for these proposals at his own
initiative. Even individual minister’s decisions may be referred by him to the Council of
Ministers. All this implies that ministerial advice does not mean an instant acceptance. He is
within his Presidential prerogative to make specific objectives or suggestion asking the
minister in council to reconsider the entire matter.

The non-acceptance of presidential advice by the Council of Minister is not easy and he can
create situations in which the Prime Minister will have to persuade his colleagues to tender
due regard and weightage to Presidential dissent. Of course he does not have the last word
and will accept the democratic verdict of the House which the Prime Minister represents.

Notwithstanding the federal nuances of the Union government, the President in India has to
work with the Prime Minister. The Constituent Assembly declared him a Formal Head in
unambiguous terms. Critics have their own reservation and think that impeachment is too
weak an instrument to keep him within limits. Petty differences apart even the Presidents
like Zail Singh and K.R. Narayanan never allowed the dignity of the high office to be
compromised.

The amendments 42nd and 44th have little to do with the Presidential ambitions. In fact the
office of the Prime Minister was made extra powerful under 42nd Amendment. The 44th
Amendment constitutionalised the Prime Ministerial position by making the President a
democratic check on populist dictatorship. In its ultimate the Indian President accepts the
position that like the British Crown.

He has a right to be consulted, right to encourage and even right to warn. No sensible
President of a plural democracy must demand or need anything more. Matters like dissolving
the Lok Saha and selection of the incumbent for the office of Prime Minister in case of hung
parliaments may cause temporary aberrations but no indirectly elected President will be in a
position to run the country without a popular mandate which the party and its majority
leader represents.

Suggestions like that of National government for sometime, as advanced by former President
Venktaraman might be worth a trial during emergency, but a huge democracy of India’s size
and diversities may replace party politics by alliance politics and make the Prime Minister
more powerful. So long India opts to stay in a parliamentary frame any confrontation
between the President and the Prime Minister will sooner than later go in favour of the latter.

The Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister on its behalf is expected to aid and advice
the President. The legal quibbling’s must be resolved in the light of British conventions.
Advises are merely recommendatory and aid implies running of the government under the
seal and signatures of the head of the state.

The advise is tendered and aid is rendered by the cabinet which represents the popular
aspirations through elected representatives. The President must respect this advise. If the
Prime Minister disrespects the popular verdict his government can be voted out by a vote of
non confidence. But no President can be impeached just because he violated the advice of the
Council of Ministers.

The British Crown is a working hypothesis and so is the Indian President. If the Prime
Minister or cabinet are not there, the President must create the alternate government of a
new Prime Minister. If he wants to get the Lok Sabha dissolved prematurely, the President
may not accept the advice and experiment with alternative government in national interest.

Unlike the British system, the Indian Constitution binds the President to consult various
dignitaries other than the Prime Minister in different areas of government. Chief Justice of
India, Chief Election Commissioner are consulted under Article 217(3) and Article 103(2)
respectively.

The Constitution specifically provides that these consultations or advises will not be inquired
into by the law courts. Naturally the aid and advise are a part of parliamentary procedure.
The Cabinet is not an advisory body but a decision-making political executive. The Governors
in the state have some discretion because they can withhold assents for President’s
consideration.

But the President has no such discretion. If he delays or denies he would be violating Article
74 of the Constitution which inter alia states “The President shall act in accordance with the
advice (given by the PM and his Council of Ministers). The President may reprive the Council
of Ministers to reconsider such advice – and shall act in accordance – after such
reconsideration. Whether any and if so what advice, was tendered shall not be enquired into
any court.” This closes all controversies and puts all doubts to rest. In fact the Presidency will
never become what the President chooses to make it.
Similarities and Differences between President and Governor in India

Similarities

 Both the President and Governor have the status of Constitutional Heads.
 All executive decisions are taken in their name but actual power is exercised by Council of
Ministers
 All ordinary / money bills passed must get their assent before they become an act.
 Both of them have powers to promulgate ordinances
 All Money bills can be introduced with prior recommendation of President in the Lok Sabha and
Governor in the state legislature.

Differences

 The discretionary powers of Governor are with wider scope in the state than the President in the
Union.
 Governor cannot grant pardon to somebody convicted and sentenced to death, although he can
commute such sentence. Only president has power to pardon someone sentenced to death.
 President can nominate two members of Anglo-Indian Community in Lok Sabha, Governor can
nominate one member of Anglo-Indian Community in State Legislature.
 President nominates 12 members in Rajya Sabha. Governor nominates 1/6th members of State
Legislative Council wherever bicameral legislatures exist in states.
 Only President can declare war or peace.
 Only President can pardon a person punished under Martial law.

President vs Governor

The office of the President is more ceremonial than functional. But the Governor’s
office is ceremonial as well as functional.

The Constitution has explicitly conferred certain discretionary powers on the

Governor. But for President, there are no explicit discretionary functions. It is to be
inferred from the Constitution.

Other than all the discretionary powers of the President, a Governor enjoys the
following powers, which are not enjoyable with the President.
Governor is more powerful according to the provisions of the Constitution of India

According to Art. 163 (1), there shall be a Council of Ministers to aid and advise the
Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to
exercise his discretion. Thus, the discretionary powers of the Governor are explicitly
mentioned in Art. 163. According to Article 163 (2), if any question arises whether
any matter is discretionary or not, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall
be final.

Exercising powers under Art. 200, the Governor can reserve the Bill passed by the
State Legislature for the President’s consideration. Such power is not available to
the President.

Under Article 356, the Governor can invite President to take over the administration
of a State, if he feels that the State Government cannot function in accordance with
the provisions of the Constitution. Thus, the administration of the State will be
directly under the control of Governor. But there is no such provision of taking over
the administration for the President.

A Governor can exist without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers (during
the President’s Rule). But the President cannot function without the aid and advice
of the Council of Ministers. That is, there is no provision of “President’s Rule” for the
Union.

The Governors of certain States have been granted ‘Special Responsibilities’ under
the Constitution (Art. 371). In fact, this power has been invested in the office of the
President who directs the State Governors to perform specific work/duties. The
‘Special Responsibility’ is totally at the discretion of the Governor and his individual
judgment cannot be questioned in any court of law.
 Under the cover of Special Responsibility, the Governors of different States have
different functions.

1. For the Governors of Maharashtra and Gujarat, it is regarding special care,

for the development of Vidarbha and Saurashtra regions respectively.
2. For the Governor of Nagaland, it is the maintenance of law and order so
long as disturbance by Nagas continue.
3. For the Governor of Manipur, it is regarding securing proper functioning of
the Committee of Hill Areas.
4. For the Governor of Sikkim, it is basically for peace in the State and
equitable arrangement for ensuring the social and economic advancement
of different sections.
5. In states of Bihar (Jharkhand), Madhya Pradesh (Chhattisgarh), and Orissa,
the Governors have to see that a Special or Separate Ministry for the
development of tribals is constituted.

Thus, the office of the Governor is that of both dignity and authority, while that of
the President is more of dignity and prestige.
5 Midday Meal Scheme
The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to better
the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.[1] The programme supplies free lunches on
working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government aided,
local body, Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and
Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and National Child Labour Project schools run by
the ministry of labour.[2] Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education
Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest of its kind in the world.[3]

Under article 24, paragraph 2c[4] of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which India is a
party,[5] India has committed to yielding "adequate nutritious foods" for children. The programme has
undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the
National Food Security Act, 2013. The legal backing to the Indian school meal programme is akin to
the legal backing provided in the US through the National School Lunch Act.

History

Pre-independence and post-independence initiatives

The roots of the programme can be traced back to the pre-independence era, when a mid day meal
programme was introduced in 1925 in Madras Corporation by the British administration.[3] A mid day
meal programme was introduced in the Union Territory of Puducherry by the French administration in
1930.

Initiatives by state governments to children began with their launch of a mid day meal programme in
primary schools in the 1962–63 school year. Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in introducing mid day meal
programmes in India to increase the number of kids coming to school; Thiru K. Kamaraj, then Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu, introduced it first in Chennai and later extended it to all districts of Tamil
Nadu.[7]

During 1982, July 1st onwards, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. M. G. Ramachandran
upgraded the existing Mid-day meal scheme in the state to 'Nutritious food scheme' keeping in the
mind that 68 lakh children suffer malnutrition.[8]

Gujarat was the second state to introduce an MDM scheme in 1984, but it was later discontinued.[9]

A midday meal scheme was introduced in Kerala in 1984, and was gradually expanded to include
more schools and grades.[10] By 1990–91, twelve states were funding the scheme to all or most of the
students in their area: Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. Karnataka, Orissa, and West Bengal
received international aid to help with implementation of the programme, and in Andhra Pradesh and
Rajasthan the programme was funded entirely using foreign aid.[11]

In Karnataka, Children's LoveCastles Trust started to provide mid-day meals in 1997. A total of eight
schools were adopted and a food bank programme and an Angganwasi milk Programme were started.
The food-bank programme was replaced by the State Government midday meal scheme.[12]
Initiatives by the central government
President Pranab Mukherjee launching mid-day meal scheme at a Central Government-run school

The government of India initiated the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary
Education (NP-NSPE) on 15 August 1995.[3] The objective of the scheme is to help improve the
effectiveness of primary education by improving the nutritional status of primary school children.
Initially, the scheme was implemented in 2,408 blocks of the country to provide food to students in
classes one through five of government, government-aided and local body run schools. By 1997–98,
the scheme had been implemented across the country. Under this programme, a cooked mid day meal
with 300 calories and 12 grams of protein is provided to all children enrolled in classes one to five. In
October 2007, the scheme included students in upper primary classes of six to eight in 3,479
educationally backward blocks,[13] and the name was changed from National Programme for Nutrition
Support to Primary Education to National Programme of Mid Day Meals in Schools.[14]

Though cooked food was to be provided, most states (apart from those already providing cooked food)
chose to provide "dry rations" to students. "Dry rations" refers to the provision of uncooked 3 kg of
wheat or rice to children with 80% attendance.

Supreme court order

In April 2001, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) initiated the public interest litigation
(Civil) No. 196/2001, People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India & Others[15] – popularly
known as the "right to food" case. The PUCL argued that article 21 – "right to life" of the Indian
constitution when read together with articles 39(a) and 47, makes the right to food a derived
fundamental right which is enforceable by virtue of the constitutional remedy provided under article
32 of the constitution. The PUCL argued that excess food stocks with the Food Corporation of India
should be fed to hungry citizens. This included providing mid day meals in primary schools. The
scheme came into force with the supreme court order dated 28 November 2001,[16] which requires all
government and government-assisted primary schools to provide cooked midday meals.[17]
Interim orders
The supreme court occasionally issues interim orders regarding midday meals.[18] Some examples are:
Order Order
Exact text
regarding dated
"Every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary
28
Basic Schools with a prepared mid day meal with a minimum content of 300
November
entitlement calories and 8–12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of
2001
200 days"
Charges on
"The conversion costs for a cooked meal, under no circumstances, shall 20 April
conversion
be recovered from the children or their parents" 2004
cost
Central "The Central Government... shall also allocate funds to meet with the 20 April
assistance conversion costs of food-grains into cooked midday meals" 2004
"The Central Government shall make provisions for construction of 20 April
Kitchen sheds
kitchen sheds" 2004
Priority to Dalit "In appointment of cooks and helpers, preference shall be given to 20 April
cooks Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes" 2004
"Attempts shall be made for better infrastructure, improved facilities (safe
Quality drinking water etc.), closer monitoring (regular inspection etc.) and other 20 April
safeguards quality safeguards as also the improvement of the contents of the meal 2004[
so as to provide nutritious meal to the children of the primary schools"
"In drought affected areas, midday meals shall be supplied even during 20 April
Drought areas
summer vacations" 2004
 Entitlements

The nutritional guidelines for the minimum amount of food and calorie content per child per day are:

Entitlement norm per child per day under MDM

Item Primary (class one to five) Upper primary (class six to eight)
Calories 450 700
Protein (in grams ) 12 20
Rice / wheat (in grams ) 100 150
Dal (in grams ) 20 30
Vegetables (in grams ) 50 75
Oil and fat (in grams ) 5 7.5

In the case of micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, and folate) tablets and de-worming medicines, the
student is entitled to receive the amount provided for in the school health programme of the National
Rural Health Mission.

Finances

The central and state governments share the cost of the Midday Meal Scheme, with the centre
providing 60 percent and the states 40 percent.[22] The central government provides grains and
financing for other food. Costs for facilities, transportation, and labour is shared by the federal and
state governments.[23] The participating states contribute different amounts of money.[17] While the
eleventh five-year plan allocated ₹384.9 billion (US$5.4 billion) for the scheme, the twelfth five-year
plan has allocated ₹901.55 billion (US$13 billion), a 134 percent rise.[24] The public expenditure for
the Mid Day Meal Programme has gone up from ₹73.24 billion (US$1.0 billion) in 2007–08 to
₹132.15 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2013–14.[25] The per day cooking cost per child at the primary level
has been fixed to ₹4.13 (5.7¢ US) while at the upper primary level is ₹6.18 (8.6¢ US).[26]

Implementation models

Decentralised model

This is the most widespread practice. In the decentralised model, meals are cooked on-site by local
cooks and helpers or self-help groups. This system has the advantage of being able to serve local
cuisine, providing jobs in the area, and minimising waste. It also allows for better monitoring (e.g., by
parents and teachers).

In the absence of adequate infrastructure (such as kitchen sheds, utensils etc.), it can lead to accidents
and maintaining hygiene can be difficult.[27] In 2004, 87 children died when the thatched roof of a
classroom was ignited by sparks from a cooking fire,.[28] In 2011, a child died after succumbing to burn
injuries she sustained after accidentally falling into a cooking vessel.[29]

Centralised model

In the centralised model, an external organisation cooks and delivers the meal to schools, mostly
through public-private partnerships. Centralised kitchens are seen more in urban areas, where density
of schools is high so that transporting food is a financially viable option. Advantages of centralised
kitchens include ensuring better hygienic as large scale cooking is done through largely automated
processes. Various NGOs such as the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Ekta Shakti Foundation, Naandi
Foundation, and Jay Gee Humanitarian Society & People's Forum provides mid-day meals.[22]
A study of centralised kitchens in Delhi in 2007 found that even with centralised kitchens, the quality
of food needed to be improved.[30] The study also found that when the food arrives and is of inadequate
quality, even teachers feel helpless and do not know whom to complain to.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development reported that 95% of tested meal samples prepared by
NGOs in Delhi did not meet nutritional standards in 2010–12. In response, the ministry withheld 50%
of the payment for the deficient meals.[31]

International assistance

International voluntary and charity organisations have assisted. Church World Service has provided
milk powder to Delhi and Madras Municipal Corporation; CARE has provided corn soya meal, Bulgar
wheat, and vegetable oils; and UNICEF has provided high proteins foods and educational support.[32]
In 1982, 'Food for Learning' was launched with assistance from the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). Initially the programme was aimed at scheduled caste and scheduled tribe
girls.[32] In 1983, the federal Department of Education prepared a scheme under the auspices of the
World Food Programme to supply meals to 13.6 million scheduled caste girls and 10.09 million
scheduled tribe girls in classes one to five in 15 states and three union territories. The value of the
food itself was $163.27 million per year.[32] Labour, facilities, and transportation costs were to be paid
by the state governments. The reaction among the states and union territories was mixed. Many states
were interested, but some were concerned about their ability to afford it if the FAO support were to be
withdrawn.[1]

Tithi Bhojan

Tithi Bhojan is a concept designed to ensure greater public participation under the MDM Programme
being followed in Gujarat. In order to bring in greater community participation, local communities are
encouraged to celebrate important family events viz., birth of a child, success in exam, inauguration of
new house, etc. by contributing to the mid day meal served in the local schools. It is voluntarily served
by the community/family among school children in several forms like sweets and namkeen along with
regular MDM, full meals, supplementary nutritive items like sprouted beans, contribution in kind such
as cooking ware, utensils, dinner sets or glasses for drinking water. The concept has been adopted by
different states with local nomenclatures like "Sampriti Bhojan" in Assam, "Dham" in Himachal
Pradesh, "Sneh Bhojan" in Maharashtra, "Shalegagi Naavu Neevu" in Karnataka, "Anna Dhanam" in
Puducherry, "Priti Bhoj" in Punjab and "Utsav Bhoj" in Rajasthan.

Monitoring and evaluation / Monitoring mechanism

Committees to monitor the MDM Programme[23]

Level Committee Frequency of meeting
The national level steering / monitoring
National committee Quarterly
Program Approval Board (PAB)
The state level steering / monitoring
State Quarterly
committee
District The district level committee Monthly
Municipal The municipal committee Monthly
Block The Mandal level committee Fortnightly
Day-to-day functioning of the implementation of
Village Panchayat level sub-committee
the scheme
School management and development Monthly and as when it is
School committee
or Parent Teacher Association. required
The government of India Review Missions on Mid Day Meal Scheme, comprising members from the
central government, state governments, UNICEF, and the office of the supreme court commissioner
was created in 2010 to review the programme and offer suggestions for improvement.[33] The scheme
is independently monitored twice a year.

Evaluation of the scheme

The MDM scheme has many potential benefits: attracting children from disadvantaged sections
(especially girls, Dalits and Adivasis) to school, improving regularity, nutritional benefits,
socialisation benefits and benefits to women are some that have been highlighted

Studies by economists show that some of these benefits have indeed been realised. The positive effect
on enrollment of disadvantaged children (Dreze and Kingdon), on attendance (by Chakraborty,
Jayaraman, Pande),[37] on learning effort (by Booruah, Afridi and Somanathan), on improving
nutritional inputs (Afridi), on improving nutritional outcomes (by Singh, Dercon and Parker), and so
on.

Caste based discrimination continues to occur in the serving of food, though the government seems
unwilling to acknowledge this.] Sukhdeo Thorat and Joel Lee found in their 2005 study that caste
discrimination was occurring in conjunction with the Mid Day Meals programme.[39]

Media reports also document the positive effect of the programme for women, especially working
women[40] and its popularity among parents, children and teachers alike. Media reports have also
highlighted several implementation issues, including irregularity, corruption, hygiene, caste
discrimination, etc. A few such incidents are listed below:

- In December 2005, Delhi police seized eight trucks laden with 2,760 sacks of rice meant for primary
school children. The rice was being transported from Food Corporation of India godowns Bulandshahr
district to North Delhi. The police stopped the trucks and investigators later discovered that the rice
was being stolen by an NGO.[41]

- In November 2006, the residents of Pembong village (30 km from Darjeeling) accused a group of
teachers of embezzling midday meals. In a written complaint, the residents claimed that students at the
primary school had not received their midday meal for the past year and a half.[42]

- In December 2006, The Times of India reported that school staff were inflating attendance in order to
obtain food grains.[43]

- Twenty-three children died in Dharma Sati village in Saran District on 16 July 2013 after eating
pesticide-contaminated mid day meals.[25] On 31 July 2013, 55 students at a government middle school
fell ill at Kalyuga village in Jamui district after their midday meal provided by an NGO. On the same
day, 95 students at Chamandi primary school in Arwal district were ill after their meal.[44]

Criticism

Despite the success of the program, child hunger as a problem persists in India. According to current
statistics, 42.5% of the children under 5 are underweight. Some simple health measures such as using
iodised salt and getting vaccinations are uncommon in India.[45] "India is home to the world's largest
food insecure population, with more than 500 million people who are hungry", India State Hunger
Index (ISHI) said. Many children don't get enough to eat, which has far-reaching implications for the
performance of the country as a whole. "Its rates of child malnutrition is higher than most countries in
Sub-Saharan Africa," it noted.[46] The 2009 Global Hunger Index ranked India at 65 out of 84
countries. More than 200 million went hungry in India that year, more than any other country in the
world. The report states that "improving child nutrition is of utmost urgency in most Indian states".
 Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System
Public Grievances Redressal is one of the flagship initiatives for the reformation in governance started
by Central government through addressing the grievances of general public. It was created in June
2007 by DARPG(Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances). Under the public
grievance mechanism any citizen of India can raise their problems, grievance or pleas to the central
govt and state government Ministries and Departments. Grievance can be submitted to all important
portfolio ministers and Departments. The system has been designed in-house by the PMO team with
the help of National Informatics Centre.It has a telephonic feedback feature also.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the supreme head of the public grievances. Jitendra singh is
Currently the Minister for Independent Charge for grievances public personnel and pension
Department and Sumita Dasgupta is its Deputy Secretary in charge.[4][5]

Low effectiveness

Despite the Prime Minister's efforts, the grievance redressal mechanism is said to be yet not effective
since most grievances are either rejected, disposed or closed. The bureaucrats are said to dispose pleas
and grievances without resolving or addressing the issue.Though government is taking effective
measures to help people some of the bureaucrats in the system do not help in sound performance of
these schemes.

An example of this could be seen on the case of slain right to information (RTI) activist Satish Shetty
who was murdered in Talegaon Dabhade in Pune on 13 January 2010. Sandeep Shetty, brother of
Satish Shetty, said that in July 2015, about a month-and-a-half ago, he had sent all details of the case
to “pgportal.gov.in”, the official web portal for public grievances redressal. He said he got a reply
saying “Your grievance has been registered vide registration number PMOPG/E/2015/0119691.
Please quote the same in your future correspondence.” “But There is no progress further”.[6]
 SIGNIFICANCE OF MAHATMA GANDHI NATIONAL RURAL
EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE ACT, 2005

INTRODUCTION

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a job

guarantee scheme for rural Indians. It was enacted by legislation on 25 August 2005. The
scheme provides a legal guarantee for at least 100 days of paid employment in every
financial year to adult members of any household willing to do unskilled manual work related
to public work at the statutory minimum wage of 120 (US$1.80) per day in 2009 prices. If they
fail to do so the government has to pay the salary at their homes. The central government
outlay for the scheme was 4000 billion (US$61 billion) in the financial year 2010–11.

This act was introduced with the aim of improving the purchasing power of semi- or un-
skilled rural people of India, irrespective of whether or not they fell below the poverty line.
Around one-third of the stipulated work force is women. The law was initially called
the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and was renamed with the prefix
“Mahatma Gandhi” on 2 October 2009, Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

In the year of 2011, the program was commonly criticized as no more effective than other
hardship decrease programs in the country of India. Regardless of its finest objectives,
popular MGNREGA is beset with debate about damaged authorities, lack funding as the
source of resources, low quality of facilities designed under this program, and random
dangerous impact on hardship.

BACKGROUND AND COVERAGE OF MGNREGA

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a

flagship Programme of Government of India. The Act was notified initially in 200 most
backward districts of the country w.e.f. February 02, 2006 and subsequently extended all
over India in two phases:- it was extended to additional 130 districts added in the financial
year 2007-2008 (113 districts were notified with effect from April 1st, 2007, and 17 districts in
Uttar Pradesh (UP) were notified with effect from May 15th, 2007).

The remaining districts have been notified under MGNREGA with effect from April 1, 2008.
Thus, the MGNREGA covers the entire country with the exception of districts that have a
hundred percent urban population. The programme aims at enhancing livelihood security of
the rural poor by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial
year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

The Act seeks to create durable assets and strengthen the livelihood resource base of the
rural poor. The choice of works suggested in the Act address causes of chronic poverty like
drought, deforestation, soil erosion so that the process of employment generation is on a
sustainable basis.
 GOALS OF THE ACT

Every Act has some goals and aims to be achieved. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act was also enacted with some aim and goals. These goals are:

 To provide social protection for the most vulnerable people living in rural India by providing
employment opportunities to them.
 To provide Livelihood security for the poor through the creation of durable assets, improved
water security, soil conservation, and higher land productivity.
 To have efficient Drought-proofing and flood management in rural India.
 Empowerment of the socially disadvantaged people, especially women, Scheduled Castes
(SCs) and Schedules Tribes (STs), through the processes of rights-based legislation.
 Strengthening decentralized, participatory planning through the convergence of various anti-
poverty and livelihoods initiatives.
 Deepening democracy at the grass-roots by strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions.
 Effecting greater transparency and accountability in governance.

Thus, MGNREGA is a powerful instrument for ensuring inclusive growth in rural India
through its impact on social protection, livelihood security, and democratic empowerment.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE ACT

The salient features of the Act are as follow:

 All adult members of a rural household willing to do unskilled manual work have the right to
demand employment.
 Such a household will have to apply registration to the Gram Panchayat.
 After verification, the Gram Panchayat will issue a Job Card with photograph of all adult
members of the household willing to work under the programme.
 The Job Card must remain in the custody of the household.
 Job Cardholder can apply for work to the Gram Panchayat which will issue him/her a dated
receipt of the work application.
 Employment will be provided by the Gram Panchayat (local self-governing body) within 15
days of work application, failing which unemployment allowance will be paid.
 Disbursement of wages has to be done weekly basis and not beyond a fortnight.
 Wages will be paid at the wage rate to the wage earners through their Bank/Post office
accounts.
 An annual shelf of works to be prepared in advance for each year.
 A ratio of 60:40 for wage and material costs should be maintained at the GP level.
 No contractors/and no labor-displacing machinery shall be used in the execution of works.
 Panchayati Raj Institutions will have a principal role in planning, monitoring, and
implementation.
 At least one-third of the workers should be women.
 Inbuilt incentive-disincentive structure to the State Government for guaranteeing employment.
 SOME OTHER PROVISIONS OF THE ACT

5.1.1 Funding:

 Central Government -100% of wages for unskilled manual work, 75% of the material cost of
the schemes including payment of wages to skilled and semi-skilled workers.
 State Government- 25% of material including payment of wages to skilled and semi skilled
workers cost. 100% of the unemployment allowance by the state government.

Timely Allocation of Work:

 Schedule I, Para 10 of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA states that it shall be open to the PO and
the GP to direct any person who has applied for employment to do work of any type
permissible under the Act.

 The information on work requested and work allotted is required to be mentioned in the JC
and Employment Register also. Therefore, it is necessary that it should be recorded on the
Job Card and the Employment Register.

The State Government shall delineate clear coordination mechanisms so that data on
work requested and allotted by the Programme Officer and the Gram Panchayat are
properly maintained. Gram Panchayat and Block Officers should also share
information on work allocated and works opened.

Unemployment Allowance:

1. If an applicant is not provided employment within fifteen days of receipt of his/her application
seeking employment, he/she shall be entitled to a daily unemployment allowance. In the case
of advance applications, employment should be provided from the date that employment has
been sought, or within 15 days of the date of application, whichever is later. Else, the
unemployment allowance becomes due.
2. The unemployment allowance will be paid as per Section 7 of the Act. The allowance will not
be less than one-fourth of the wage rate for the first thirty days and not less than one-half of
the wage rate for the remaining period of the financial year.
3. State Govt shall:
a.) Under section 7 (2) of Act, specify the rate of unemployment allowance payable and

b.) Frame Rules governing the procedure for payment of unemployment allowance.

c.) Make necessary budgetary provision for payment of unemployment allowance

 4. The procedure to be prescribed by the State Govt. should be kept very simple. The procedure
may include:

a.) Automatic generation of a payment order (requiring no separate sanction order)

and payment of unemployment allowance from the SEGF or any other fund specified
for this purpose on the basis of data in NREGA soft.

b.) Payment to be made no later than 15 days from when it becomes due or else the
recipients shall be entitled to compensation based on the same principles as wage
compensation under the Payment of Wages Act, 1936.

c.) Unemployment allowances to be credited to Bank/ PO account as in the case of

wage payments etc.

5. In accordance with provisions in Section 8(2) of MGNREGA, every case of non-payment or

delayed payment of unemployment allowance shall be reported in the Annual Report
submitted by the DPC to the State Government along with the reasons for such non-payment
or delayed payment.
6. Section 8(3) of MGNREGA states that the State Government shall take all measures to
make the payment of unemployment allowance to the concerned household as expeditiously
as possible.
7. The liability of the State Government to pay unemployment allowance to a household during
any financial year shall cease as soon as:

a.) The applicant is directed by the GP or the PO to report for work either by himself
or depute at least one adult member of his household, or

b.) The period for which employment is sought comes to an end and no member of
the household of the applicant had turned up for employment; or

c.) The adult members of the household of the applicant have received in total at least
one hundred days of work within the financial year; or

d.) The household of the applicant has earned as much from the wages and
unemployment allowance taken together which is equal to the wages for one hundred
days of work during the financial year.

8. An applicant who:

a.) Does not accept the employment provided to his/her household; or

b.) Does not report for work within fifteen days of being notified by the Programme
Officer or the implementing agency to report for the work; or

c.) Continuously remains absent from work, without obtaining a permit from the
concerned implementing agency for a period of more than one week or remains
absent for a total period of more than one week in any month.

It shall not be eligible to claim the unemployment allowance payable under this Act for a
period of three months but shall be eligible to seek employment under the Scheme at any
time.
 Wage related:

 Section 6(1) of MGNREGA states that notwithstanding anything contained in the Minimum
Wages Act 1948, the central Government may by notification specify the wage rate for the
purposes of the Act:

Provided that different rates of wages may be specified for different areas:

Provided further that the wage rate specified from time to time under any such notification
shall not be at a rate less than sixty rupees per day.

 Section 6 (2) states that until such time as a wage rate is fixed by the central Government in
respect of any area in a State, the minimum wage fixed by the State Government under
Section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for agricultural laborers shall be considered as
the wage rate applicable to that area.
 In exercise of powers under Section 6(1) of the Act, Ministry of Rural Development notified
wage rate on 01.01.2009 adopting the minimum wage rate for agricultural labor of the States
as on 1.12.2008.
 In pursuance to the announcement by Hon’ble Finance Minister in his budget speech-2009 to
provide a real wage of Rs. 100/- a day as an entitlement under the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act, on the request of this Ministry, the Ministry of Statistics &
Programme Implementation constituted a committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Pronab
Sen, Principal Adviser, Planning Commission to develop a mechanism to evolve a framework
to create a separate index for updating of MGNREGA wages. The Committee has
representatives from Ministry of Rural Development as Members along with representation
from other Ministries & Departments. The report of the Committee is awaited.
 It has been decided that till such time that a satisfactory index is proposed by Dr. Sen
Committee and accepted by the Government, the Government could index the wages with the
Consumer Price Index for Agriculture laborers (CPIAL). In pursuance of this, the Ministry
issued a notification dated 14th January 2011 revising wage rates under Section 6(1) of the
MGNREG Act with indexation to CPIAL.

The revised wage rates were made applicable w.e.f 01.01.2011. The wage rates have
been further revised in 2012 vide notification dated 23.3.2012 effective from 1st April
2012. For arriving at the latest revised rates, the percentage increase in the CPIAL for
November 2010 to December 2011 has been applied to MGNREGA wage rate as on
1st January; 2012. It has also been decided to increase the wage rate annually. The
details of revised wages notified for States are given in Annexure- XIII.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ACT

The MGNREGA has given rise to the largest employment programme in human history and
is unlike any other wage employment programme in its scale, architecture, and thrust. It’s
bottom-up, people-centered, demand-driven, self-selecting, rights-based design is distinct
and unprecedented. The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for wage employment. It is
a demand-driven programme where the provision of work is triggered by the demand for
work by wage-seekers.

There are legal provisions for allowances and compensation both in cases of failure to
provide work on demand and delays in payment of wages for work undertaken. The
MGNREGA overcomes problems of targeting through its self-targeting mechanism of
beneficiary selection, that is, a large percentage of poorest of the poor and marginalized
seek employment under the Scheme. The Act incentivises States to provide employment, as
100 per cent of the unskilled labour cost and 75% of the material cost of the programme is
borne by the Centre.
Unlike the earlier wage employment programmes that were allocation-based, MGNREGA is
demand driven and resource transfer from Centre to States is based on the demand for
employment in each State. This provides an additional incentive for States to leverage the
Act to meet the employment needs of the poor. There is also a concomitant disincentive for
failing to provide work on time, as the States then bear the cost of the unemployment
allowance. Gram Panchayats (GPs) are to implement at least 50 per cent of the works in
terms of cost.

This order of devolution of financial resources to GPs is unprecedented. Plans and decisions
regarding the nature and choice of works to be undertaken, the order in which each work is
to be triggered, site selection etc. are all to be made in open assemblies of the Gram
Sabha(GS) and ratified by the GP. Works that are inserted at Intermediate Panchayat(IP)
and District Panchayat(DP) level have to be approved and assigned a priority by the GS
before administrative approval can be given. The GS may accept, amend or reject them.

These decisions cannot be overturned by higher authorities, except to the extent of ensuring
conformity with the provisions of the Act and its Operational Guidelines. This bottom-up,
people-centred, demand-driven architecture also means that a great share of the
responsibility for the success of the MGNREGA lies with wage-seekers, GSs and GPs.
MGNREGA also marks a break from the relief programmes of the past towards an integrated
natural resource management and livelihoods generation perspective.

Social audit is a new feature that is an integral part of MGNREGA. Potentially, this creates
unprecedented accountability of performance, especially towards immediate stakeholders.
An Annual Report prepared by the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), on the
outcomes of MGNREGA is required to be presented annually by the Central Government to
Parliament.

Likewise, the annual reports prepared by State Employment Guarantee Councils (SEGC)
are to be presented to State Legislatures by the State Governments, facilitating oversight by
elected representatives. The radically new character of the programme, requires innovative
approaches for effective implementation. This will ensure that the novel elements of the
MGNREGA are realised appropriately on the ground; at the cutting-edge level of its
implementation. These Operational Guidelines have been issued to facilitate this
compliance.

CONCLUSION

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) 2005 is landmark legislation in
Indian history of social security legislation after independence. Enacted after a successful
struggle for employment guarantee legislation, it is a partial victory towards a full‐fledged
right to employment in any developing country context. The essential feature of this
legislation which separates it from any other public service provisioning scheme is its
enactment through the parliament of India.

This legislation has been bringing about a silent revolution in rural areas of the country.
MMGNREGA Act for the first time brings the role of the state as a provider of livelihood
within the reach of the participants/beneficiaries themselves. By design, it is different from
any employment generation scheme that has been previously implemented. It requires
different approach towards employment generation schemes and towards overall
involvement of the State in providing the right to employment to its masses (Centre de
Sciences Humanities and Institute for Human Development
LIMITATIONS

The performance audit on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) brought to light an array of
deficiencies. Apart from inadequate maintenance of records on fund disbursement and non-completion
of works, the programme has not performed well on its goal of generating employment too.

The CAG audit has noted that fund allotment has been arbitrary and there is no sign of increased funds
being allotted to states with higher poverty levels. None of this should come as a surprise considering
MGNREGS is a government make-work scheme that pretends to create productive employment, but
in real acts as nothing more than a benefits transfer mechanism.

It is quite far-fetched to consider MGNREGS’s failure to create adequate employment as an economic

loss due to non-utilization of labour resources. Make-work schemes like MGNREGS do not aim at
generating productive employment in the first place, but merely at creating work for work’s sake. In
other words, from the perspective of economic efficiency, it is the programme’s indifference towards
productive employment that merits public attention.

The only other sensible way, then, to gauge the worth of MGNREGS is purely as a public welfare
scheme. This, precisely, is what the CAG audit has done, and the results are not encouraging. In
welfare programmes, the misappropriation of public funds by government authorities is only to be
expected. Public authorities, entitled with rights over public resources, are bound to use them to their
personal ends.

Interestingly, these problems involving public money do not raise eyebrows any more, with taxpayers
remaining indifferent to the blatant misuse of their wealth. Such indifference is only to be expected as
taxation per se involves involuntary—and thus unaccountable—transfer of benefits. This essentially
means there is very little incentive for taxpayers, the ultimate funders of such programmes, to monitor
the use of their contributions.

The case of MGNREGS brings forth the potpourri of troubles that plague government programmes—
in terms of economic as well as social efficiency. Apart from this, the persistence of such
programmes, despite being a huge drain on public resources, shows the lack of incentives in the
current system that could encourage efforts by stakeholders towards reform.
 District Rural Development Agencies
DRDA has traditionally been the principal organ at the district level to oversee the implementation of
anti-poverty programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development. This agency was created originally to
implement the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). Subsequently the DRDAs were
entrusted with number of programmes of both state and central governments. From April 1999[1]a
separate DRDA Administration has been introduced to take care of the administrative costs. This aims
at strengthening the DRDAs and make them more professional in managing the anti-poverty
programmes and be an effective link between the ministry and the district level.

Rural development and poverty alleviation programmes are implemented on a decentralised basis,
keeping in view the large geographical areas, the administrative requirements and the need to involve
grassroots-level officials and the community in the implementation of the programmes. At the central
level the Ministry of Rural Areas & Employment has been implementing these programmes. The
Ministry is responsible for the release of central share of funds, policy formulation, overall guidance,
monitoring and evaluation of the programmes. At the State level Prl Secretary, Rural Development
and the Commissioner of Rural Development are overall incharge for implementation of the rural
development programmes. At the District level, the programmes are implemented through the DRDAs
(District Rural Development Agencies). The governing body of DRDA includes Members of
Parliament (MPs), Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs), District level officials of
Development Departments, Bankers, NGO's and representatives of weaker sections of the society. The
District Collector used to be (but not always at present) the Chairman of the Governing Board. The
Governing body at the district level provides guidance and directions to DRDA. The body in DRDA
responsible for actual implementation is headed by an Additional District Collector.

Many Schemes of the Central and State Governments are introduced from time to time. Several
schemes are available providing support to different components of Rural Development. Schemes are
also periodically modified to reflect the experience over the years. The task of DRDA has been to
identify the needs of the rural population and reach the appropriate schemes where they are needed. In
implementing the schemes, the role of the DRDA has been Technical, Managerial and Financial. Thus
DRDA is not only a body to disburse the funds for the schemes but also provide appropriate
Managerial and Technical support.

District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) are district level development execution and
monitoring agencies created under the Indian Societies Registration Act. Substantial sums of rural
development funds of government of India were transferred and routed through them under various
Centrally Sponsored Schemes. From purely a financial resource from Rural Development point of
view the DRDAs are extremely important institutions at the district level kalyan kumar
 Context of decentralization
With the adoption of the Constitutional mandate for decentralization of powers that privileged those
self-government institutions in planning for economic development and social justice, the proposal to
re-think the status of DRDAs and also to merge them with the panchayats had emerged. Under the
section on 'devolution of functionaries' the 1st Round Table had adopted a resolution, number IV(i),
for reconceiving the role of District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs). DRDAs were to be
progressively merged with the District Panchayats and their technical expertise made available to all
tiers of Panchayats.

At an all India level, the progress reported in this regard is far from satisfactory. There are some vexed
issues, one among which is the 'reported' reluctance on the part of some of the institutions of Union
Government for the proposal of merger of DRDAs with the district Panchayats. The complete merger
seems to have happened only in Kerala and Karnataka. The latter has a much longer history of doing
this. In both the States the DRDAs function as if they were the cells for poverty alleviation/ rural
development schemes within the Zilla Panchayats.

West Bengal is reported to have taken similar steps; yet, it does not measure up to the yardstick of
complete merger. Rajasthan and Lakshadweep State/ UT Profile make a similar assertion; this report
is unable to confirm this.

Status of DRDAs in the States

In 10 States/ UTs the DRDAs continue to be separate with the only linkage established with the ZPs is
making the President of ZP the Chairperson of the DRDA. These are Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha , Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Lakshadweep.
In Gujarat the District Development Officer, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla
Panchayat, continues to chair the DRDA. In nine States/ UTs either the Collector continues as the
Chair or some other arrangement has been made in this regard. These are Assam, Goa, Haryana,
Jharkhand, Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Pondicherry. Andhra
Pradesh has made the Zilla Panchayat President the Chair of the DRDA while designating the
Collector as the Executive Chairperson. Similarly, in Maharashtra, while the President Zilla Panchayat
is made the Chair of the DRDA, the Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat is designated as
the Executive Chairman of the Management Committee.[2]

Table : Status of DRDAs in the States

Sl.
State or U.T Status of DRDA
No
DRDAs are separate; Collector is the Executive Chairperson though ZP
Andhra
1 President is made the Chairperson; large number and scope of parallel bodies
Pradesh
across layers
Arunachal
2 DRDAs are separate
Pradesh
DRDA separate; Deputy Commissioner is Chair and Ex Director; many parallel
3 Assam
bodies
DRDA separate; ZP Chairman is Chairman of DRDA; many other parallel
4 Bihar
bodies;
Reportedly DRDA merged; practically only the ZP Chairman is made the
5 Chhattisgarh
Chairman of DRDA;
6 Goa DRDAs are separate;
7 Gujarat DRDA separate; District Development Officer is the Chairman;
DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is the Chairman of DRDA and Dy
8 Haryana
Commissioner/ Collector is the Executive Chairman of DRDA
9 Himachal DRDAs separate; ZP chairman is the chairman of DRDA; there are many other
 Pradesh parallel bodies
DRDAs separate; the DRDA administration is being refurbished, which by itself
Jammu &
10 could be a very positive step; Panchayat at district level is called the District
Kashmir
Planning & Development Board – in a way combining the ZP and DPC
11 Jharkhand DRDAs separate; Dy Commissioner is Chairperson of DRDA
DRDA merged with ZP since 1987; functions as a unit of ZP office with
12 Karnataka distinctiveness maintained only to facilitate transactions with the MoRD, New
Delhi
DRDAs merged with ZP, function as poverty alleviation cell of the ZP; some
parallel bodies (Freshwater Fish Development Agency, Brackishwater Fish
13 Kerala
Development Agency) still function as per the directions of GoI. The MLA-LDF is
also outside the purview and is sort of a parallel body.
DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is the Chairman of DRDA Many parallel bodies,
particularly those funded by multilateral and bilateral agencies and operated by
Madhya the State Government as para-statal entities; DPIP and
14
Pradesh
MPRLP are two examples.
DRDA separate, ZP Chairman has a cosmetic position of being Chairman of
15 Maharashtra Governing Body of DRDA with the CEO being the executive chairman of the
Management Committee
DRDA separate; Dy Commissioner as the Head; Many parallel bodies primarily
16 Manipur associated with the Development programmes/ schemes of the Union
Government.
DRDA separate; PD – DRDA is designated as the Secretary-cum- Executive
17 Odisha
officer of ZP; ZP President is the Chair of DRDA
DRDAs separate; ZP Chairman is made the Chairman and it is said that all
Panchayats have access to the expertise of DRDA; there are other parallel
18 Punjab bodies at district and village levels (Village Water and Sanitation

Committees, Village Education Committees), with no linkage with Panchayats

DRDA reportedly merged in 2003; however there are para-statals set up through
19 Rajasthan
multilateral funding as well as schemes of State and Union government
20 Sikkim DRDA is separate
DRDA separate institution; Chaired by the District Collector; many parallel
21 Tamil Nadu bodies like in village education committee, watershed Associations, village
forests committees exists.
22 Tripura DRDA exists separately; President of ZP is the Chairman of DRDA
DRDAs separate; Chaired by the District Magistrate(DM) and managed by Chief
23 Uttar Pradesh Development Officer(CDO) headed by ZP President; there are a few other
parallel bodies
DRDA separate; ZP President is its chair; Van Panchayats, Village Education
24 Uttarakhand
Committees are the other parallel bodies
25 West Bengal DRDA merged; rechristened as DRDC of ZP;
DRDA is separate; Out of three, only one ZP President is the Chair of DRDA
Andaman &
26
Nicobar

27 Chandigarh No DRDA
28 D Nagar Haveli DRDA is separate
29 Daman & Diu DRDA continues to function as a separate body and have not been merged.
DRDA is said to be merged; ZP President is the Chair; DRDA providing support
30 Lakshadweep
to the ZP; other parallel bodies relate to Central schemes such at the SSA;
DRDA is separate; Attempts are made to link other parallel bodies with
31 Pondicherry
Panchayats
 Prime Minister's Office (India)
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) (IAST: Pradhānamaṃtrī Kāryālaya) consists of the immediate
staff of the Prime Minister of India, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Prime
Minister. The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary, currently Nripendra Misra. The PMO was
originally called the Prime Minister's Secretariat until 1977, when it was renamed during the
Morarji Desai ministry.

It is part of the Government of India located in the South Block of the Secretariat Building.

History
During the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru as Prime Minister, the then Prime Minister's Secretariat was
headed by a Joint Secretary until his death.[2] The post of Principal Secretary to Prime Minister was
created during the tenure of Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister.[2] The Principal Secretary to PM is the
head of the Prime Minister's Office.
Function

The PMO provides secretarial assistance to the Prime Minister. It is headed by the Principal Secretary
to the Prime Minister. The PMO includes the anti-corruption unit and the public wing dealing with
grievances. The office houses the Prime Minister and few selected officers of Indian Civil Service
who work with him to manage and coordinate government and his office. The Prime Minister through
his office coordinates with all ministers in the central union cabinet, minister of independent charges
and governors and ministers of state government. The PMO is located at the South Block of the
Secretariat Building.

The subject-matter of files required to be submitted to the Prime Minister depends on whether he is
holding direct charge of the Ministry or whether there is a Cabinet Minister or Minister of State
(Independent Charge) in charge of the Ministry. In the case of the latter, most matters are dealt with
by the Cabinet Minister / Minister of State-in-charge. Only important policy issues, which the
Minister concerned feels should be submitted to the Prime Minister for orders or information, are
received in the PMO.

In cases where the Prime Minister is the Minister-in-charge, all matters requiring Ministerial approval
not delegated to the Minister of State/Deputy Minister, if any, are submitted for orders. The Prime
Minister has traditionally been the Minister-in-charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances
and Pensions and the Departments of Space and Atomic Energy.

Some of the important matters that require the Prime Minister's personal attention include the
following:

1. Important defence-related issues;

2. Decorations, both civilian and defence, where Presidential approval is required;
3. All important policy issues;
4. Proposals for appointment of Indian Heads of Missions abroad and requests for grant of
agreement for foreign Heads of Missions posted to India;
5. All important decisions relating to the Cabinet Secretariat;
6. Appointments to State Administrative Tribunals and the Central Administrative Tribunal,
UPSC, Election Commission, Appointment of members of statutory/constitutional
Committees, Commissions attached to various Ministries;
7. All policy matters relating to the administration of the Indian Administrative Service and other
Civil Services and administrative reforms;
8. Special Packages announced by the Prime Minister for States are monitored in the PMO and
periodical reports submitted to Prime Minister; and
Parliament Questions

Parliament Questions relating to the Ministries and Departments of which Prime Minister is the
Minister-in-charge are answered by a Minister of State nominated for the purpose or by Prime
Minister himself.

PM's Funds

The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are
operated directly from the PMO. The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund was established in
January 1948 as Trust, by then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, with public contributions to assist
displaced persons from Pakistan, due to partition of India. In the year 2013-2014, the Fund received
donations worth ₹377.04 crore (equivalent to ₹450 crore or US$63 million in 2018).[3]

The Office

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) located in South Block, overlooking the grandeur of Rashtrapati
Bhawan. Though in the 1990s I.K. Gujral and some of his predecessors, used Prime Minister's
Residence (PMR) spread over a 10-acre complex as office.[4] It is sandwiched between the cabinet
secretariat on one side and the ministries of external affairs and defence on the other. The 20-room
PMO is equipped to provide both infrastructural and manpower support to the nation's chief executive.
Hi-tech accessories and sophisticated communication devices were installed to monitor domestic and
international developments.

In 2012, the PMO had a staff of 404 officials, with annual budget ₹29.3 crore (equivalent to ₹41 crore
or US$5.7 million in 2018), of which, around 70% or ₹20 crore (equivalent to ₹28 crore or
US$3.9 million in 2018) was spent on salaries.[5]

Important officers in the PMO

Senior officials in the Office of the Prime Minister of India

Name Designation Rank

Nripendra Misra, IAS Principal Secretary Cabinet Secretary of India[8]
Ajit Kumar Doval, IPS, National Security Adviser Cabinet Secretary of India
Dr.Pramod Kumar Misra, Additional Principal
Cabinet Secretary of India[10]
IAS Secretary
Bhaskar Khulbe, IAS Secretary Secretary to Government of India[11]
Special Secretary
Anil Gupta, IAS Special Secretary to Government of India
(Project Monitoring Group)
Additional Secretary to Government of
Tarun Bajaj, IAS Additional Secretary
India
Additional Secretary to Government of
Arvind Kumar Sharma, IAS Additional Secretary
India
Rajeev Topno, IAS [12]
Private Secretary Joint Secretary to Government of India
Sanjeev Singla, IFS [13][14]
Private Secretary Joint Secretary to Government of India
POLICE ADMINISTRATION
INTRODUCTION
In the field of administration, police have an important role to play. In India, Police
is the coercive arm of the State, which is entrusted to perform the basic duty of the
State that is maintenance of law and order. Therefore, law and order administration
has acquired signif cance at the Central, State, Range, District and Sub-District level
in rural and urban areas. Rapid growth of population, industrialisation, urbanisation,
qowing political consciousness. led to law and order problems. Agrarian and tribal .
revolts, political caste and communal violence, labour and student unrest and
terrorism are indications of law and order problems. In all societies, particularly in
developing societies, these conflicts and tensions are inevitable and many manifest in
different forms. Freedom and independence will not have meaning unless these
basic issues are properly attended. In this Unit, an attempt will be made to study the
organisation of police at various levels; and critical issues that confront the Police
Administration.

BACKGROUND OF PaICE ADMINISTRATION IN INDIA

In all societies, organisations were established to protect the life and liberties of
people since the dawn of civilisation. With the passage of time, complexities in the
nature of societies have led to the creation of modem police. In the European
context the term 'police' refers to a 'force for the city' and the police officer was
known as Nagarpal, which means protector of the city and governance based on
Dharma and Danda. Dandaneeti was an important ingredient of Statecraft. Manu
talked about the preventioi and detection 'of crime and also a system of collecting
intelligence during the vedic period. Vedas refer to different kinds of crimes and
punishments for the criminals. During the Mauryan and Gupta periods, policing was
undertaken systematically. Kautilya's Arthashastra gives a vivid picture of the
nature of police organisation and their functions. During Mughal period, law and
order administration was under the charge of Fauzdars. They were assisted by
Thanedars who were in charge of Police Stations. He was also responsible for
revenue functions. The office of the Kotwal was fairly important, as he was the
chief of city police. His functions included patrolling the city at night, collection of
intelligence, prevention of crime and social abuses and regulation of jails. During
the British period, the police system that existed under the Mughals was allowed to
continue with certain reforms to meet the changing needs.
The present Indian police system is based on the Police Act of 1861. Under this act
the pojice was made subordinate to the Executive Government. Later, several
changes were brought about in the structure as well as functioning of the police
system. But the basic structure and characteristics as enshrined in the police act of
186 1 continued to dominate over the police system in the country. By the time India
attained lndependence in 1947, the Police Administration had developed into one of
the best systems. After independence, the Government of India felt that the system
was capable of facing new challenges and was also well developed to help the new
Government to maintain stability.
ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE POLICE
Prevention of crime and maintenance of public order are the major functions of the
police. According to 1861 Act, Police functions are to prevent commission of
offences and public nuisances; bring offenders to justice; collect information
affecting public peace; and keep order in all public places, keeping in view the
changing political and social scenario. U.N. Congress prevention of crime, held in
1970 identified urbanisation, industrialisation, population growth, internal migration,
social mobility, technological changes etc. as the crimogenetic factors. Communal
tension and other social tensions are also the causes of crime due to which public
order gets disturbed and violence breaks out.
The main task of police is to enforce law and order, protect the citizens and
safeguard their property. The police have to play a positive role in the scheme of
social defence. It can no longer take a restrictive view of their role. In a democratic
society the role of police is linked to social service. It is an important area where
police has been assigned a positive role in relation of social. legislation. These
legislations touch upon the lives of the people at countless number of places. This .
provides various opportunities to serve the people and proves to be a challenge as
well. In the changing political context, the police have to function as officers of law
rather than as officers of the Government or Party in power.
According to the National Police Commission set up by the Government of India in
1977, the duties and responsibilities of the police are to:
i) Promote and preserve public order;
ii) Investigate crime;
iii) Identify problems and situations that are likely to resuIt i;~c ommission of
crimes;
iv) Reduce the opportunities for the commission of crimes through preventive
patrol and other appropriate police measures;
v) Aid and co-operate with other relevant agencies in implementing; appropriate
measures for prevention of crimes;
vi) Aid individuals who are in danger of physical harm;
vii) Create and maintain a feeling of security in the community;
viii) Facilitate orderly movement of people and vehicles;
ix) Counsel and resolve conflicts and promote amity;
x) Provide other appropriate services and afford relief to people in distress
situations; and Police Administration, Field and Local, Administration

xi) Collect intelligence relating to matters affecting public peace and crime.
including social and economic offences, and national integrity and security.
As civilisation advances, and democracy takes roots, the laws of the land also
change. Instead of individual fancies, the people or their chosen representatives base
law making on participation. Personalised laws are replaced by public laws. It's
inter-dependence with other wings of criminal justice system such as judiciary and
prosecution, and its interface with various sections and groups in the society have far
reaching implication for its functionary.
ORGANISATION AT THE CENTRAL AND STATE LEVEL
Article 246 (entry 2, List 11, Seventh Schedule) of the Indian Constitution
enumerates police as a State subject. Police Administration, therefore, is a State
responsibility. This does not, however, minimise the role of Central Government in
.Police Administration. The Constitution itself enumerates a long list of subjects like
All India Services, preventive detention, hrms, ammunition, passports etc. in the
union list. The Central Government's role in Police Administration is related to
making laws on subjects included in Union and Concurrent lists and making
amendments to the basic police laws like Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal
Procedure, Evidence Act, etc. Administration of the States, policing the Union
Territories, management of Indian Police Service, matters relating to arms and
ammunition are also thelresponsibility of the Central Government. The Ministry of
Home Affairs and the Department of Personnel plays the administrative and
coordinating role. In maintenance of law and order, whenever required, the Central
Government provides aid and assistance to the States. To discharge this function,
the Central Government maintains a network of line and staff units all over the
country. The Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Railway
Protection Force, Central Industrial Security Force are some of the reserve units.
Similarly Central Forensic Institutes, Police Wireless and Sa'rdar Vallabhbhai Patel
Police Academy are the staff units at the Central level. These apart, there are
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB) also to
aid the Central Government. These agencies, under the control of the Central
Government provide assistance to the State Police Organisation in the fields of law -
and order, security and administration of justice in the country. Rules and
regulations have been formulated for the operation of these agencies in the States.
There are occasions when these rules are violated leading to tensions between the
Central and State Governments.
At the State level, the Police Administration is more or less uniform throughout the
country. The Chief Minister or Home Minister is largely responsible for policy and
supervisory functions. The Home Department coordinates and supervises the Police
Administration in the State. It acts as a link between Central and State Governments.
But the Inspector General of Police (IGP) or the Director General of Police (DGP)
who is the Head of the State Police undertakes the real work. His office is called the
Office of the IGPIDGP popularly called Chief Office. This office collects
information and feeds it to the Government; advises political decision-makers like
the cabinet and'the ministers; supervises and controls line agencies. It organises
training and acts as a clearinghouse of special police services. The IGP/DGP aids
and advises the Government and exercises general supervision and control over the
police department. He exercises administrative, personnel, and financial power. He
provides leadership to the Police Administration in the State. He is assisted in his
duties of IGP by the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGS) and Superintendents
of Police (SPs) and other staff. They Head the specialised branches like intelligence
department, crime branch, transport department, training, armed forces, general
administration, law and order etc. The organisation of police will become more
evident by the following chart.
RANK STRUCTURE IN
A STATE POLICE FORCE
Home Minister / Home ~ecretar=
4 1 Director General of Police
Or the Inspector General of Police (in a union territory)
(Head of the State/office or the Chief (office) Deputy Inspecto+r ~eneralbPf olice
(Head of the range office)

Superintendent of Police .
(Head of the district police office)
Deputy Superintendent of Police
(Generally called the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDO)
(Head of the sub-divisional office)
Inspector of Police(~eadotfh e circle ofice)
Sub-Inspector
(Head of the Police Station, generally called the Station House Officer)
+I Asst. Su b-Inspectors +
Head Constable
Police Constables
The real police work takes place in the districts and below. Before we discuss the
field organisation, let us have a cursory view of police organisation at the range level
into which the State police organisation is divided.
18.5 ORGANISATION AT RA~LEEV EL
Many States are too big to be administered effectively and 'efficiently from a central
point. It is not possible for the Head of the police that is the police chief or the
DGPIIGP to keep in touch with the functioning of the entire organisation. Therefore,
the police organisation in a State is divided into ranges for operational convenience.
This is above the district and below the State level. This broadly corresponds to the
divisional set up about which we have studied in Unit 17. Deputy Inspector
General of Police Heads each range. Each police range comprises a few districts.
The number of districts in each range varies from 2 to 8 depending upon the size of
the district, population, and importance of the district.
'The DIG functions as a staff officer to the State police chief and as a line officer to
the district police. His functions include periodic inspections, receiving and
processing reports and returns from districts, and issuing instructions to the district
police functionaries. A major function of the range DIG is to coordinate the
activities of district police and also take measures for inter-district co-operation. He
is personally responsible for the enforcement of discipline among the police
personnel under his charge. He exercises power of transfer and discipline over
certain categories of personnel. He keeps a watch on the crime situation in the
district particularly over grave offences like dacoity, mltrder etc. He also exercises
control ,over police funds. The range of DIG'S functions, thus, includes personnel
management, budgetary control and coordination. He is responsible for the
maintenance of efficiency and discipline of his staff. He ensures uniformity of
procedure and securing co-o~eration between the oolice functionine in the districts
Police Administration
-
Field and Local within his range. He has to ensure harmonious relations between the police and the
Administration executive magistracy.
There are some criticisms about a range becoming a mere post office. It is criticised
to be functionally superfluous. Some feel that inspite of range offices the workload
of the State level offices has not been reduced and in fact it has been on the increase.
The National Police Commission recommended that DIG of the range should play a
positive role in functioning of the districts under his control. He should act as
coordinating authority between districts in his range and with those of the adjacent
ranges. It also recommended that hetshe should be a sensitive judge of public
opinion and play an important role in planning and modernisation of the force. The
commission felt that to be effective, the range of DIG should not have more than five
districts under his control. It also recommended that for adequate supervision,
territorial Inspector General of Police should be appointed in large States. They
should not have more than 15 to 20 districts or 4-5 ranges under his charge. The
Armed Battalions of the range should also be placed under the operational charge of
the territorial IGP. They should be delegated administrative, financial, disciplinary
and other power. This will reduce the workload on the DGP and enable him to
cohcentrate on higher matters of policy and administration.
ORGANISATION AT DISTRICT AND SUB- DISTRICT LEVEL
As we have discussed in Unit-17, district is an important unit of the public
administrative structut-e in the country. Almost all the State Government offices are
located in the district. In Police Administration also district plays a pivotal role. All
the laws and rules passed by the police are transformed into action at this level.
District Police Organisation is responsible for the effective maintenance of law and
order and control of crime. Police Administration at the district level is carried out
by the chief of the district police, called Superintendent of Police, who is responsible
for the maintenance of law and order, and other law enforcement activities.
Technically, Superintendent of Police functions under the overall control of the
Collector. He and his subordinate officers, in practice, enjoy operational autonomy
in the discharge of their functions. The Collector as a District Magistrate is broadly
responsible for preventive aspects; and the police is responsible for the control of
crime, maintenance of law and order, etc. Police Administration below the district
level is organised into divisions; divisions into circles; and circle into Police
Stations. The organisation and working of Police Stations, marginally, varies
between urban and rural areas.
District Police work under the Superintendent of Police. He is always a member of
the Indian Police Service and wields a great amount of power and prestige in the
districf. He is accountable to the Head of the range police that is Deputy Inspector
General of Police for the maintenance of law and order in his district. He is also
responsible to the Director General of Police at the State Headquarters. The
Superintendent of Police (S.P) is responsible for the efficiency, morale and discipline
of the police force in the district. He collects information about various aspects from
the entire district and communicates the same to the State Government along with
his own assessment.
The Superintenden't of Police is primarily responsible for the maintenance of law and
order, and prevention of crime. He is empowered to take preventive measures to
ensure peace in the district. He has to make adequate police arrangements during
fairs and festivals as well as elections and agitations. If he apprehends untoward
situations, he can advise the Collector to promulgate prohibitory orders and even to
clamp curfew. He cohtrols crime by patrolling, investigating and taking preventive
measures. He also supervises the operations of crime and special branches working
under him. He has many personnel and organisational responsibilities like adequate
SUDDIY of arms. vehicles. uniform etc. He also has res~onsibilities regarding matters
of training, promotion and discipline of the staff, maintaining financial property etc.
He is the link between police organisation and people's representatives at the district
level. He maintains coordial and friendly relations with people. In the district where
important urban centers are located, he has responsibilities of regulating traffic and
receiving VIPs. Thus, the SP occupies a pivotal and a powerful position not only in
the district police organisation but also in the District Administration itself. The
Additional Superintendent of Police assists him. The later helps him in his day-today
general administration. Deputy superintendents of Police, Circle Inspectors of
Police, Sub-Inspectors of Police, Head Constablesand Police Constables assist him
in the entjrcement of law and order at various levels. To assist him in undertaking .
his functions. professionals and technical units are also placed at his disposal.
The organisation at the district level broadly consists of two wings namely the
District Police Office (DPO) and the Field Organisation. The general administration
of the entire police in the district is carried by the DPO. It works under the SP or
ASP, who is in-charge of the office administration and also exercises general control and supervision.
The office administration is carried out by several sections like
crime and statistics, crime bureau, audit and accounts, equipments and stores, etc.
The DPO can be considered as the secretariat of the police and the nerve centre of
the Police Administration in the district. Generally, the accommodation and facilities at the DPO are
not adequate. One find ill-equipped and overstaffed office;
insufficient accommodation; and inadequate lighting and ventilation in these offices.
To provide special assistance to the police, a number of field units function at the
district level. The district armed reserve, the home guards, the women police, crime
bureau, special branch finger print unit, dog squad, transport unit are some of the
field units supporting the district Police Administration. Sub-division
For operational convenience, the district police organisation is divided into a number
of sub-divisions. Police sub-division is a unit where police work is coordinated and
controlled. It is an intermediary link between police circles, Police Stations and the
district police office. The police sub-division is under the charge of a Deputy
Superintendent of Police or Additional Superintendent of Police. They are generally
called Sub-Divisional Police Officers. The main work of the subrdivision is to look
into law and order matters, and discipline among the police force and other related
matters at the sub-divisional level. A number of reports and registers relating to
crime, security and other administrative aspects are maintained in the Sub-divisional
office. The Sub-Divisional Officers are responsible primarily for the maintenance of
law and order and crime control; collection and communication of intelligence;
submission of periodic reports to the Superintendent of Police, Inspection of Police
Stations and Circle Offices. They also have an important p~rblic relations role to
perform. They act as a link between the Superintendent of Police and the Sub-
Inspectors and Inspectors.
Circles
Sub-Divisions are further divided into police circles, which is a link between Police
Stations and sub-division. This is the third tier in the district police organisation.
Sometimes, the police circles are coterminous with taluka; sometimes with blocks;
and sometimes they may not be in conformity with either of them. As there are no
rules governing the formation of police circles, they vary iri size from State to State
and even in the State from circle to circle. The number of Police Stations in each
police circle is determined on the basis of crime, population, area, topography, etc.
- Each circle may have 3 to 10 Police Stations. The Circle office facilitates smooth
administration at the tield level.
Police Administration
Inspector of Police is the Head of police circle. He is responsible for the
maintenance of law and order, and control of crime. He has to promote discipline
among the policemen. He guides, advises, and supervises the work of Police
~ietdan d Local Stations and the men working there. He also investigates grave crimes with the
Administration assistance of supporting staff. As is the case with the divisional office, several
registers and records are maintained at the circle level. They include communication
register, case diary, circle information book, annual review of crime, crime charts,
criminal intelligence file, etc.
The Police Station is the lowest tier in the police organisation. It is here that the
actual work of the police is undertaken. It is the basic and primary unit, which is
responsible for the maintenance of Law and order, prevention and control of crime
and protection of life and property of the community.
Check Your Progress 1
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) Discuss the functions of police.
.................................................................................................
2) Describe the organisation and functions of a 'Range'.
.................................................................................................
3) Discuss the role and funcfions of Superintendent of Police at the District level.
18.7' RURAL POLICE
It is necessary, to discuss organisation of rural Police Stations as well as the system
of policing in the villages because major portion of India's population lives in rural
areas.
Rural Police Station
Police Stations are established for a group of villages. There are wide variations
from state $0 state, and station to station within the State regarding area and
population required to set up a Police Station. A Police Station to be more effective
should be a compaat unit. The area should not be too large, as it would defeat the
very purpose of policing. It should not be too small also as it would cause heavy
expenditure. The second Indian Police Commission (1902-03) recommended that
the Poliv Station must be established for every 150 sq. km. area. This was endorsed
by the Nbtional Police Commission also. It also recommended that once in every 10
years a review of the area and jurisdiction of the Police Station must be undertaken.
This would enable proper de.p loyment of police personnel.
Normally, the Police Stations are located in taluka or block Headquarters or in
important villages in the area of its jurisdiction. The Police Station is Headed by a
Station House Officer (S.H.0). To assist him, there are Assistant Sub-Inspectors,
Head Constable and Police Constables. The number of these officers varies from Police
Administration
station to station depending upon the population size and the volume of crime. The
S.H.O. seeks the assistance of the village officers in the discharge of his work. He
works under the overall supervision of the Circle Inspector.
Maintenance of law and order, prevention, investigation and control of crime,
collection of intelligence, police prosecution, and traffic control are some of the
functions of the Police Stations. Unlike the urban areas, traffic crime and law and
order functions are also entrusted to the rural Police Stations.
There are a number of problems in the working of the Police Stations viz. lack of
proper buildings, absence of essential minimum needs and facilities for the staff,
absence of proper equipment, inadequate residential accommodation of the staff,
absence of quicker modes of transportation and compunication. The.National Police
Co~nmission as well as several State Police Commissions have made
recommendations to strengthen the Police Stations to make them effective in rural
and urban areas.
Village Policing
Maintenance of peace and tranquility is essential not only'for the development of
villages but also for national development. Village policing has been in existence for
over centuries. In some form or other it consisted of Village Patel, Village Headman
and the Village Chowkidar. In most of the states, they are hereditary functionaries.
The responsibility for drawing the attention of police to any matter of importance in
the villages vests in these functionaries. They are also responsible for preventing
crime in the village. The 1902 Police Commission emphasised that they should
function as servants of the village community rather than as subordinates to the
regular police. The British Government recognized the need and importance of these
hereditary village police officials. The same system, therefore, was allowed to
continue. The same system continued even in independent India because of its
historical roots, acceptability of the system to the community and its role in policing
the village. Thus the system of Village Headman and Watchman prevailed in Ihdia
before, during and after the British rule. These hereditary functionaries were given
land as remuneration. They were also given some proportion of land revenue,
collected at the village level. The village Headman was responsible to keep a watch
on crime and criminals and report to the Police Station regularly. After
independence, due to the emergence of democratic institutions at the grassroots
level, the village functionaries moved increasingly towards development work. In
some of the States, they are either wholly or partially brought under the Panchayats.
But the system in actual working was found to be deficient in several respects. The
National Police Commission identified some of these deficiencies as lack of
attention, absence of perception of their responsibilities for collecting information or
for reporting, low pay, and excessive control of police.
To overcome some of these problems and deficiencies alternatives to the hereditaj
system were introduced in some States. In Orissa, for example, the hereditary
offices were abolished in 1963-64. They were replaced by a system of Beat-
Constable who had to frequently visit the villages and maintain a regular liaison. As
this system failed, it was abolished soon after and a Gram Rakhi System was
introduced. They discharge more or less similar functions as that of a traditional
village chowkidar. In Karnataka under the Karnataka Village Defence Parties Act of
1964, a system of village Dalpathis and Village Defence Parties was introduced.
Dalpathi who Heads the Village Defence Party is expected to be in regular touch
with the nearest Magistrate or Police Station. But the performance of the system
does not seem to be to the desired level in all the villages. In some districts they are
very active and in others they do not seem to have a proper perception of the scheme.
The National Police Commission recommended that the existing Chowkidari system
in the country should be retained with some changes to make it more effective. The
suggested reforms include prescription of age limits and educational qualifications,
Field and Local
Administration
proper pay, etc. The Commission also recommended constitution of village defence
parties with one of the members being designated as Dalapathi. Thus, the National
Police Commission envisaged that the Dalapathi, village defence party and the
former chowkidar should constitute the village police set-up. The commission also
suggested that there was a need for provision of a telephone and a cycle to enable
them to have regular contact with the police.
URBAN POLICE
In recent years India's urban population is on the increase and also the number of
towns. It creates numerous and complicated problems to the Police Administration.
Heterogeneous population, sensitive public, slums, frequent breakdown of law and
order, high incidence of crime etc. compound the problems of police in these cities
and towns. Linguistic groups, labour population, student community etc. also add up
to the complicated urban situation. Therefore, the urban areas need a different type
of policing than the rural areas. In India, two different patterns of urban policing
have emerged over the years. Firstly, all metropolitan towns with more than a
million population have Commissionerate system. In this system the responsibility
and accountability for performance for all aspects of policing vests with the
Commissioner. He is vested with power of regulation, control, licensing etc. in
addition to usual police power. The system is commended by all as it leads to a
prompt and coordinated police action in dealing with matters of crime and disorders.
The National Police Commission, therefore, recommended the introduction of this
system @ all cities with 5 lakhs population or in places, which are experiencing
urbanisation, industrialisation etc. A major question that is often raised is, should the
Commissioner of Police be under the State Police Chief or directly accountable to
State Government? In Kolkata, the Com~nissioner of Police is independent of the
State Police Chief. While in other cities like Mumbai and Chennai they are under
the State chief. Several commissions and committees including [he National Police
Commission suggested that the Commissioner of Police must be 1 ought under the
Chief of State Police with operational autonomy and independence.
Secondly, major urban centers work under the Superintendent of Police. However,
in some States like Andhra Pradesh major urban centres, which do not merit
Commissionarate system are cawed as urban districts for purposes of policing and
Superintendents of Police are appointed exclusively for the urban police districts. In
the later case, they enjoy more power in comparison to the Superintendent of Police
of a district. Several Police Commissions at the State level, which examined this
problem recommended commissionarate system for all major cities and towns
conferring executive magisterial power on the Head of police of such towns and
cities. The National Police Commission and the Andhra Pradesh. Police
Commission suggested a separate City Police Organisation with senior police
officers Heading the city to deal with multifarious and difficult problems. The urban
police require control rooms, staff for investigation to deal with difficulties. In fact,
they should be provided with more facilities to deal with different urban problems.
In urban areas, the Police Station is also the primary unit for police work. There are
variations from State to State about the area and population of urban Police Stations.
The average area of Police Stations in urban area in Assam is 7.9 sq. kms, in Gujarat
38.1 sq. kms. and in Tamil Nadu 22.2 sq. kms. The Police Stations in the rural and
urban areas have different organisational structure, as the volume and character of
work are different. In impodant urban areas like Headquarters of the district, town is
divided into a number of Police Stations like Law and Order Police Stations, traffic
Police Stations, Central Crime Stations and Police Control Room. The Police Station
is responsible for the maintenance of peace and protection to life and property in the
town. They investigate all cases relating to property offences, riots, faction fights
etc. The persons in the police Station are allotted to different detachments called
general detachment, beat detachment and standby detachment, each undertaking
specific function. The Traffic Police Station is responsible for the regulation of the
traffic in the town. Central crime stations are established in big urban areas tc
review the law and order position. They are responsible for effective control of Police
Administration
crime. They investigate property offences like robbery, thefts, house breaking etc.
They keep a constant check over criminals and bad characters. Police control rooms
have been established to assist the Police Station. They are equipped with high
frequency wireless sets. Their function is to dispatch striking forces to place where
there is trouble as a primary measure as soon as they receive messages. Later, they
pass on the information to Police Stations for further actions.
ISSUES CONFRONTING POLICE ADMINISTRATION
The Police Administration in its present form was established long back. Through
the decades the system has not undergone any significant change. The Indian Police
Act of 1861 continues to be the basis for police system in India. There are several
suggestions for its replacement by new legislation. But they have remained only
suggestions. There are several issues, which affect the organisation and working of
the police in the country.
In recent years one finds a proliferation of the posts of Inspector General of Police,
and Deputy Inspector General of Police. Though expansion of any organisation
including police is inevitable, Critics argue that the expansion cannot be to the extent
as it has taken to. The Police Administration is accused of being a top-heavy
administration. Si~nilarlyf requent changes of the DGPs or IGPs whenever there is a
change of political leadership has created a serious credibility gap in this police
leadership. This problem has been aggravated with emergence of regional parties
in some States. The police coming in for criticism and praise by different political
parties has led to the politicisation of the police.
Constitutionally, law and order is a State subject. But over the years the central
police organisations like Central Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force
have increased. Deployment of the police force in the States on occasions without
informing them has created tensions in Centre-State relations. Similar is the case
with the use of Central Bureau of Investigation. A few States even barred
investigations by the CBI in their States leading to acrimony between the Centre and
the States.
Several studies on the image of police have revealed that the public has greater
dissatisfaction and disenchantment with the working of the police. Apathy of the
police, inefficiency and incapacity of the police has given a poor image to it. As
long as police image does not improve, it is difficult for the police to create
confidence among the public. In such situation, it is not possible for the public to
approach the Police Stations confidently and expect justice from them.
Another issue is the accountability of police. The National Police Commission has
suggested constitution of State Security Boards to make them more accountable and
responsible. These institutions unfortunately have not been constituted and wherever
they exist, their working is not upto the mark.
Facilities at the Police Station level are important to make them effective.
Accommodation, facilities and modernisation are important areas, which need
critical evaluation as well as reform. In all these areas the facilities are inadequate.
As a result some Police Stations are not in a position to establish regular contacts
with the community. Similarly they are not in a position to take'prompt action.
The relation between Superintendent of Police and Collector is an important area of
concern. There appears to be a tendency on the part of Superintendents of Police to
ignore or undermine the Collector and his authority. This has its implications not
only on the police but also on the entire district administration.
In recent years terrorism and violence in different parts of the country are on the
increase. The community expects the police to take steps to controi the problem.
Field and Local Their failure to do this is not only leading to worsening law and order situation but
i
Administration also giving a bad name to the police. This has also shattered the confidence oft
people in the police.
Recruitment and training are important in any organisation; police organisation is no
exception to this. Unfortunately several criticisms are levelled against the practices
and methods of recruitment of police personnel. People feel that the best and
meritorious are not recruited in the police. There are allegations of partisanship in
selections. The recruiting authorities are alleged to be corrupt. Training, that is
imparted, is also considered to be inadequate. Training is not able to motivate the
police. The committee on Police Training, which was set up by the Government of
India in 1973 made several recommendations to improve the training of police
officials. Though efforts are being made to rationalise the recruitment and training
practices of the personnel.
.Police Commissions at the National and State levels have made several suggestions
' to make the police efficient, responsive and responsible. But unfortunately on one
consideration or the other they have not been seriously considered. This indicates
that police reform is a low priority area in the country. Whatever reforms were
implemented they were done half-heartedly without understanding the socio-political
milieu within which the police has to operate. Because of the adhoc and piecemeal
nature of the reforms they did not have the intended effect. The reforms are required
not only in organisation, personnel. procedures but also in the attitudes of the people
and the police officials. Still colonial attitude pervades the minds of the police
personnel. Reform should be continuous because no adhoc approach will give the
intended results.
The police behaviour like rudeness, non-registration of FIR, maltreatment in lockups
and so on, are forbidden in the Police Regulations. Mohit Bhattacharya
explained the problem areas in the field of human rights. In his words "(a) General
feeling that the ground realities - how crime and criminals have actually to be dealt
with - are not appreciated by "human rights" protagonists, (b) the balance seems to
be tilting towards criminals, leading to police discomfiture; (c) human rights are, no
doubt, of great value; at the same time, police discretion is necessary to deal with the
ground situation". The major problems faced by police functionaries and Police
Stations are intra-organisational issues related to human resource like insufficient
manpower, low motivation, lack of promotion opportunities, lack of proper training
etc. Infrastructure related problems such as shortage of vehicles and fuel, poor
maintenance and limited space to work and lack of communication facilities affect
the efficiency. In addition, ill lighted unhealthy place; difficulties in supply of food
for lock-up inmates, short supply of stationary items; lack of elementary
investigation kit, inordinately long time in post mortem reports; pending cases and
low priority to investigation also affect the services. In the context of finance, Police
Station has no system of keeping fund, travelling allowance bills are hard to get and
remain pending for months. Strict discipline becomes an artificial barrier to genuine
inter-personal understanding of work, which affect inter-personal relations as well as
dealing with public. In certain cases, police extorts money, nothing moves without
greasing palms. In rural areas, payments are generally made in kind.
Human Rights are promised on two important aspects, that is dignity and equality for
a human being. The incorporation of the rights on the paper or in the Constitution
does not ensure their fulfillment. Constitutional guarantees and legal stipulations are
of no use unless these are put into practice by the enforcement agencies. Since
police is the first step on the ladder of the criminal justice system as an agency that
investigates and detects crime. Human rights can be imperative and effective if the
functional level is fair, just and reasonable in its dealings with suspects and others. It
largely depends upon the law enforcement officers. Hence, the contribution of police
is crucial for the successful implementation of law and order; and in building-up of
an institution for justice. For this, senior leader must internalise the concept of
human rights. He has to undergo a change in his style of thinking and functioning
with the conviction that human rights are inevitable and a technique for better
governance.
The above mentioned issues need to be examined critically. There is no dearth of
suggestions but what is important is the political will. One has to examine the police
reforms in the total context of social change, and political dynamics. Reform in the
police cannot be viewed in isolation. Structural and institutional changes can only
bring marginal improvements in the working of the police system. What is important
is attitudinal change, both on the part of the police personnel and also the
community. Neither police can take law into its hand and curtail the liberties of the
people nor people can expect peace and order unless they themselves co-operate with
the police in discharge of its functions.
Check Your Progress 2
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answers.
ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1 ) Discuss the problems faced by a rural Police Station.
..............................................................................................
2) Comment upon the urban policing system.
..................................................................................... b........
3) Analyse any three critical issues in Police Administration.
18.10 LET US SUM UP
Police Administration
In India police system has a long history, though in its present form it came into
existence during the British rule. In a developing society, police has an important
and a positive role. Its functions are many and varied ranging from maintenance of
law and order to social defence. It is considered as an instrument of change in a
modern society. Policing in India is a State subject. However, the Central
Gover~~mehnats some role to play in the areas of legislation and also in the provision
of police force in the States. In this Unit, we have discussed the background and
structure of Police Administration at the Central, State, Range, District and Sub-
District level. This disci~ssionw as followed by an analysis of the role of police and
,conditions of Police Stations in rural and urban areas. Finally, we have discussed a
few important and critical issues confronting the Police Administration. This
,organisation has been a highly centralised one and it has not been able to imbibe the
spirit of democracy as a way of institutional life. The organisational accountability
via higher-level supervision is no substitute for public accountability. There is a
need to reorganise the police organisation. In the next Unit, we will concentrate on
Field and Local
Administration the Municipal Administration in India.
18.11 KEY WORDS
Central Forensic Institdtes: These are specialised institutes, which provide various
kinds of scientific aids to the police force in detecting crime. These aidd help the
police to examine, compare and evaluate physical evidence with a view to link a
suspect to the victim or scene of crime.
Danda Neeti: It is the law of regulating human conduct of punishment
Morale: It is an attitude of satisfaction in a person, with a desire to continue and
sense of willingness to strive for the goals of organisation.
Unity of Command: It is an important principle of organisation, which implies that
employees should receive orders only from one superior.
18-12 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
Government of India, 1979, Reports ofthe National Police Commission I to VIII.
National Human Rights Commission, 1995-96 - Annunl Report.
Arora, Ramesh K. (ed.), 1999, Indian Administration Perceptions and Perspectives,
Aalekh Publishers, Jaipur.
Gupta, K.N, 2002, Indian Police and Vigilance in the 21" Century, Anmol, New
Delhi.
Roy, JGtilak Guha (ed.), 1999, Policing in Twenty First Century, Indian Institute of
Public Administration, New Delhi
. , Raghavan, R.K, 1999, Policing a Democracy -A Comparative Study of India and
. C* the US., Manohar, New Delhi.
Singh, Joginder, 2002, Inside Indian Police, Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi.
Subramanian, K.S. 1995, Police Orgunisation in India - A Historical and
Contemporary Assessment, Nehru Memorial Museum Library, New Delhi.
ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
EXERCISES
Check Your Progress 1
1) Your answer should include the following points:
Prevention of ctime and maintenance of public order.
Protection of citizens and safeguarding their property.
Social defence.
Social legislation.
Redressing people's problems.
2) Your answer should include the following points:
Division of Police Organisation in a State into Range for operational
convenience.
Range is above the district and below the State level.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Heads each range and the range Police Administration
consists of few districts.
There is no uniformity in the number of districts under the range, as it
depends on size of the district, population etc.
The functions of DIG of the range include:
- Co-ordinate the activities of district police and to ensure inter-district
co-operation;
- Personnel management; and
- Periodic inspection and budgetary control over police funds.
3) Your answer should include the following points:
The Superintendent of Police is responsible primarily for the maintenance of
law and order and prevention of Crime.
Supervision of the operations of Crime and Special branches working at the
district level.
Discharging personlie1 and organisational responsibilities and public
relations.
The superintendent of Police acts as a link between police organisation and
representatives of people at the district level. '
He is responsible for the efficiency, morale and discipline of the police force
- in the district
Check Your Progress 2
1) Your answer should include the following points:
Lack of proper buildings
Absence of essential minimum needs, equipment and facilities for the staff.
Inadequate residential accommodation for the staff.
Lack of quicker modes af transportation and communication.
2) Your answer should include the following points:
Urban Police Stations are equipped to tackle the minor and major law and
order problems in urban areas.
The persons in the Police Station are given different detachments.
Different types of Police Stations exist in urban areas like law and order
Police Stations, traffic Police Stations etc.
Many urban areas in the States have the Commissionerate system of
policing. .
Some urban centers work under Superintendent of Police in the district.
3) Yoursnswer should include the following points:
Politicisation o&e police.

Accountability of police.
Improving the infrastructural facilities of the Police Station.
Building confidence amongst the people regarding the police.
Attitudinal change on the part of both public and police.
Rationalising the personnel policies of Police Administration specially 'in
recruitment and training.
STATE SECRETARIAT: ORGANISATION AND FUNCTIONS

OBJECTIVES
After studying this Unit you should be able to: Understand the meaning, significance and role of the
State Secretariat; Explain the yertical structure of a typical secretariat department and the pattern of
departmentalisation in the State Secretariat; Bring out the distinction between the secretariat
department and the head of the executive department as well as their mutual relationship; Define the
terms policy and administration and explain if they are discrete processes or a continuum; and
Discuss the significance and role of the Chief Secretary in the State Secretariat system.

INTRODUCTION
The functioning of the government is made effective with the help of task- oriented Ministries. No
Ministry can run smoothly without the support of a Secretariat at the Unioh as well as state levels.
The Secretariat helps the government in policy making and execution of legislative functions. This
Unit discusses the organisation and functions ,of the State secretariat. It explains the pattern of
departmentalisation in the Secretariat and brings out the distinction between the secretariat
department and executive department. In addition, position and fpnctions of the Chief Secretary in
the state administration are also discussed.

MEANING OF SECRETARIAT
The three components of government at the state level are: (i) the minister; (ii) the secretary, and (iii)
the executive head. (The last one in most cases is called the director, although other nomenclatires
are also used to refer to the executive head). The minister and the secretary together constitute the
Secretariat, whereas the office of the executive head is designated as the Directorate. Literally, the
term Secretariat means the secretary s office. It originated at a time when what we had in India was
really a government run by the secretari es.
Aftor Tnrlononrlonro tho nn\x or

State Administration
popularly elected ministers and thus the Ministry became the seat of authority. In the changed
political situation, the term Secretariat has become a synonym for the minister's office. But because
the secretary is the principal adviser to the minister, he needs to be in the physical vicinity of the
minister. In effect, therefore, Secretariat refers to the complex of buildings that houses the office of
ministers and secretaries. The expression Secretariat, it has been observed, is used to refer to the
complex of departments whose heads politically are ministers and administratively are the
secretaries.
13 3 POSITION AND ROLE OF STATE SECRETARIAT
The following extract from the Administrative Reforms Commission's Report on State Administration
gives a succinct expression to the position and role of the State Secretariat: The State Secretariat, as
the top layer of the state administration, is primarily meant to assist the state government in policy
making and in discharging its legislative functions. It also acts as a memory and a clearing house,
preparatory to certain types of decisions and as a general supervisor of executive action . The main
functions of the State Secretariat are broadly as follows: i) Assisting the ministers in policy making, in
modiQing policies from time to time and in discharging their legislative responsibilities ii) Framing
draft legislation, and rules and regulations iii) Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and
controlling their execution, and reviewing of the results iv) Budgetingand control of expenditure v)
Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state governments; and vi) Overseeing
the sinooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery and-initiating measures to develop
greater personnel and organisational competence. The administrative philosophy to which the
secretariat system owes its existence is that policy making must be kept separate from policy
execution. Several advantages are claimed in favour of such an arrangement: i) Freedom from
operational involvement makes the policy making apparatus forward looking and allows it to think in
terms of overall goals of government rather than narrow, sectional interests of individual
departments. ii) Policy making receives the time and attention it deserves, if different set of persons
are charged with the functions of policy makings
well as its execution. This is because, policy making, is a serious exercise in drawing up what would
be a future course of action. It should not be treated as less urgent than policy execution, which
involves routine, day-to-day administration. iii) Secretariat servess
a disinterested adviser to the minister. It is important to remember that the secretary is the secretary
to the government and not to the minister concerned, which ensures objective examination of the
proposals coming from the executive departments. It enables a more balanced scrutiny of proposals.
iv) Policy making must be separated from current administration and day-to-day implementation
should be left to a different agency with executive freedom, which ensures delegation of authority. It
should be in order at this stage to portray the broad dimensions of the Secretariat's role in some
detail. The foremost of these is the Secretariat's role in
nnlirv mnlrino t nccictc the minicterc in the fnrmiilntinn nf onvernmentnl nnliriec

This has many aspects. First, the secretary supplies to the minister all the data and information
needed for policy formulation. Second, the secretaries sometimes provide the programmes, with
content by working out their details, on whose strength ministers are voted to power. Third, the
Secretariat assists ministers in their legislative work. Drafts of legislations to be introduced in the
legislature by ministers are prepared by the secretaries. Besides, to answer questions in the
Legislature, the minister needs relevant information; the secretary supplies this information to the
minister. Secretary also collects information required with respect to the legislative committees.
Fourth, the Secretariat functions as an institutionalised memory. This means that the emerging
problems require an examination in the light of precedents. Records and files maintained in the
Secretariat serve as an institutional memory and ensure continuity and consistency in the disposal of
cases. Fifth, the Secretariat is a channel of communication between one government and another,
and between the government and such agencies as the Planning Commission and Finance
Commission. Finally, the Secretariat evaluates and keeps track of execution of policies by the field
agencies.

STRUCTURE
OF
A TYPICAL SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT
Vertically, a typical Secretariat Department has two hierarchical formations; that of the officers and,
what is described
as
the office.
Officers
Conventionally, the officers' hierarchy has had three levels. Under this, a typical administrative
department is headed by a secretary who will have a complement of deputy secretaries and
underlassistant secretaries. But with growth in the functions of various secretariat departments, the
number of levels in the officers' hierarchy has been on the increase. As a result, between the
secretary and the deputy secretary, in some states, positions of additional apd/or joint secretaries
have also been created.
Office
A unique feature of the Secretariat System in India has been the distinction between its two
component parts the transitory cadre of a few superior officers and the permanent office . The
officers in each department, because they hold tenure posts, come and go. It is the office, which is
manned by permanent functionaries, which provides the much needed element of continuity to the
secretariat department. Unlike officers, the office constitutes the permanent element in the secretariat
system. The office component is comprised of superintendents (or section officers), assistants, upper
and lower division clerks, steno-typists and typists. Office performs the spadework on the basis of
which the officers consider cases and make decisions. Office supplies officers with materials, which
constitute the basis for decision-making. The structure of a typical department comprises:
Department Secretary Wing AdditionalIJoint Secretary Division Deputy SecretaryIDirector Branch
Under Secretary Section Section Officer The section is the lowest organisational unit and it is under
the charge of a section officer. Other functionaries in a section are assistants, upper and lower
division clerks, steno-typists, typists, etc. A section is referred to
as
the office. Two
State Secretariat: Organisation and Functions
State dministration
sections constitute the branch, which is under the charge of an under secretary. Two branches
ordinarily form a division, which is headed by a deputy secretary. When the volume of work of a
department is more than a secretary can manage, one or more wings
re
established with a joint secretary in charge of each wing. At the top of the organisational hierarchy is
the secretary who is in charge of the department.
13 5
P TTERN F DEP RTMENT LIS TION N ST TE SECRET RI T
Each secretary is normally in charge of more than one department. The number of secretariat
departments would therefore be larger than the number of secretaries. The number of secretariat
departments, quite naturally, varies from state to state. Their number broadly ranges between 10 and
40 in different states. The number of departments in a particular state is not necessarily related to its
size in terms of population. For instance, a small state like Mizoram had s

secretariat departments in 1987, the corresponding figure for Andhra Pradesh (which is a mudh
larger state), was 19 in 1982. Following is a typical example of the pattern of departmentalisation at
the Secretariat Level: General Administration Department Home Department Revenue Department
Food and Agriculture Department Finance and Planning Department (Planning Wing) Finance and
Planning Department (Finance Wing) Law Department krigation and Power Department Medical and
Health Department Education Department Industries Department ~e~islature epartment Panchayati
Raj Department Command Area Development Department Transport, Roads and Buildings
Department Housing and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department Labour,
Employment and Technical Education Dtpartment Social Welfare Department Rural Development
Department Forest Department Environment Department Women and Child Welfare Department
Larger number of departments, in particular states, would result from restricting the scope of the
functions and charges of those which may be created. Partly, such increase in the number of
departments may arise from the peculiar problems a particular state may face. There is a lot of
criticism about the work allocation existing in the secretariat departments, which is:
First
work allocation is lop-sided in that some departments are burdened with more work than others.
Second
allocation is far from rational even in terms of homogeneity of work. Not only are the subjects handled
by a particular department too numerous and therefore unmanageable but these are also too
heterogeneous, causing problems of coordination. These are arther aggravated when charges of
particular departments are incomplete in scope.

Your rogress
1
Note:
i) Use the space given below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of
the Unit.
1
In what way has the significance of the word Secretariat changed in the post-Independence period
from that in the pre-Independence period?
2)
What is the legislative role of a ~ecretariai?
3)
Discuss the significance of the Office
4
What is the typical pattern of departmentalisation in the State Secretariat?
13.6 DISTINCTION BETWEEN
SECRETARIAT~
DEPARTMENT AND EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT: DISCRETE PROCESSES OR A CONTINUUM
State Secretariat: Organisation and Functions
The Secretariat Department must be distinguished from the executive department. The Secretariat
has the function of aiding, assisting and advising the political executive
in
arrivin at nolicv choices. The heads of executive denartments who
State
dministration
are in the main known as director (although other nomenclature are also used to refer to them) have
theresponsibility of implementing policies formulated by the political executive. Therefore, the
secretaries assist in policy formulation whereas the directors role lies in executing policy. Long ago,
the Simon Commission had observed, that executive department is an administrative unit separate
from the Secretariat, which reaches its apex, usually, in a single officer like the Inspector General of
Police, or the Chief Conservator of Forests, outside the Secretariat altogether. Such a head of a
department will usually be concerned principally with a single secretary to Government and a single
minister of his orders and the funds which he has to spend. Each secretariat department is in charge
of a number of executive departments. This number varies over a wide range with some departments
taking charge of a much larger number of executive heads than others. There is an average of
6
to
7
executive departments in relation to one secretariat department. However, it must be carefully noted
that not all secretariat departments have executive departments attached to thek. Some of the
secretariat departments are engaged in advisory and controlling functions and therefore do not have
executive departments reporting to them. Examples are Departments of Law, Finance, etc. The
Secretariat and executive departments organisationally express the policy formulation and policy
execution processes involved in the functioning of the government; the two may be looked upon as
extensions of the personality of the Council of Ministers. The former is a policy-making organ, the
latter a policy executing organ.
--
The secretariat department is normally headed by a generalist civil servant (drawn from the IAS), the
executive department by a specialist. The specialist (the head of the executive department) functiop
under the supervision of the generalist (the secretary or the head of the secretariat department). This
can be illustrated with some examples, Director of Agriculture, who is a specialist, in that he is trained
in and holds a formal degree in agricultural sciences, would function under the supervision of the
Secretary, Agriculture (a generalist, an IAS). The latter represents agriculture department at the
secretariat level, whereas the Director of Agriculture represents agriculture department at the
executive level. The director is the executive head of the agriculture department the Directorate of
Agriculture. Likewise, the home department in the Secretariat has the Director-general of Police as its
executive head of the department. Similar correlation obtains between education secretary and
education director, industries secretary and industries director, social welfare secretary and social
welfare director, and so on.
We
have emphasised the distinctness of the roles of the Secretariat and the Directorate by saying that,
while the former is concerned with pb~icy formulation, the latter is concerned with policy execution
(or with administering policy or to put it yet more simply, the administration). The question which may,
heref fore,
be asked is whether policy and administration are discrete processes. The answer is that at a
conceptual level, the two are distinct; it is possible to identify and define them as two clearly
distinguishable phenomena. But at a practical plane, the two are inextricably interlinked, .even tend
to become indistinguishable anq, therefore, it is difficult to say where the policy ends and
administration begins. Policy is concerned with political choices and involves questions of broader
values, whereas ad~inistration s concerned with implementing programmes emanating from
particular policy decisions. Administration, therefore, involves such details of execution as framing
organisational structures, staffing of organisations, coordinating activities, directing, controlling,
motivating the personnel and so on.

That the two are dichotomous is the traditional view, which owes its origin to Woodrow Wilson's
essay of 1887, 'The Study of Administration'. Politics, he said, is the proper activity of Legislature and
other policy-making groups (e.g., political parties, cabinet, etc.). Administration is the sphere of
administrators who cany out the policies stated in the laws. The context of the dichotomy was the civil
service reform movement of the 1880s in the United States, which aimed to eliminate political
interferen in civil service. It was argued that civil service recruitment should,
in
the erest of administrative efficiency, be based on considerations of merit and fitness rather than
partisan politics. In other words, politics should be kept out of administration.
Max
Weber further justified separation of policy from administration by arguing that the attributes of
pbliticians are exactly the opposite of those of the civil servants. The essence of politics to take a
stand, to take personal responsibility for the policies decided on, and to admit the transitory nature of
the political role. The essence of administration is to execute conscientiously the order of the political
authority, even if it appears wrong to the administrator. The administrator is politically neutral. He
simply does what he is asked to do and assumes no personal responsibility. However, the
complexities of governmental operations have increasingly required administrators to become
involved in policy making or political decisions. As a result of this, it is in practice found to be difficult
to draw a clear boundary separating policy and administration, or to say where policy ends and
administration begins. This would be clear from the following:
Sources of Administrative Expertise
There are several sources from which the modem day administrators have obtained a kind of
'expertise', which the politicians need to use when formulating policies as: (i) The administrators stay
in office longer 8hey are career civil servants) than the politicians, who come and go with elections,
the former have opportunities of giving sustained attention to problems. From this, they gain an
invaluable kind of practical knowledge that comes from the experience of handling these very
problems day in and day out. This knowledge is conserved
in
records and transmitted to new generations of civil servants through training programmes. This
monopoly of experience and practical knowledge coupled with continuity in office gives them a
decisive edge over politicians in framing policies. (ii) The administrators are in possession of facts,
figures, information and intelligence regarding the specific areas in which policies are to be framed.
Politicians would need these data and statistics in formulating policies. (iii) Administrative expertise
also comes pre-eminently from the fact that the governments of today employ a large variety of
professionals (doctors, engineers, scientists, economists, etc.). The) possess technical knowledge,
which forms a vital ,input in policy making. (iv) The advent of merit system has also helped to build up
administrative expertise by attracting better talent in civil service and loosening the grip of politicians
on civil service.
Administrators Role in Policy Making
The increase in civil service expertise, together with growth in the functions of government and
growing complexity of administration, has resulted
in
an increasing dependence of politicians on administrators
in
the task of policy making. This is reflected in the following: i) Policy makipg exercise is done on the
basis of facts, figures, information and data, which are supplied by the bureaucracy.
In
other words, politicians, in order to enhance the credibility of the policies they he, epend on the
administrators' data support to their policies. ii) Civil servants based on their long administrative
experience, tender advice to the lay politicians on the administrative, technical and financial feasibility
of the various policy options under consideration. iii) Civil servants prepare the draft legislations
(bills), which after ministerial approval, are placed before the legislature for its consideration. In other
State Secretariat: Organisation and Functions

State Administration
words, administrators initiate the process of public policy formulation, which in its final form assumes
the shape of an Act passed by the Legislature. iv) Administrators formulate policy through the
exercise of administrative discretion. When an administrator is required to choose between
alternative courses of action within a policy frame, he is said to exercise discretion. In this sense,
administrators are described supplementaty lawmakers. Because here, the actual content of policy
becomes entirely a matter for bureaucratic determination. Here administrators actually decide how
the power of the State shall be used in specific cases. In modern times, there has come about a
tremendous increase in administrative discretion by virtue of an incessant increase in the volume of
legislation to be enacted. Legislature is under the circumstances, compelled to confine itself to
indicating broad framework of law, leaving details to be filled up by the administrative agencies. The
growing variety and complexity of laws to be enacted has further circumscribed the Legislature s
competence. The legislators do not have the technical know-how and training to venture into the
details of particular legislations. This further necessitates exercise of administrative discretion. And,
at any rate, if the Legislature delves into the details of each law, this would be at the cost of other
important duties and functions of the legislators and therefore an undesirable thing to happen. This,
coupled with the assurance that it has the necessary means available to hold administration
accountable to itself has, in fact, encouraged the Legislature in its attitude of not delving too deeply
into the details of the enactments it hrmulates. And, it is not possible to work out the details of the
enactments for another reason too. Ultimately, the policy is to be executed in the field where an
administrator must necessarily face a bewildering variety of situations as he sets himself to the task
of policy execution. For the law making agency, it is clearly not possible to visualise, at the point of
legislation, the different variety of situations that may arise in the field. For this reason, once again,
the policy makers must do no more than provide only broad guidelines in the legislations they frame.
Check Your Progress Note:
i) Use the space given below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of
the Unit. 1) Explain
the
major differences between the Secretariat and executive departments
2
Why has the separation between policy and administration been advocated?

3
Identify the sources of administrative expertise.
4.
DiScuss the policy-making role of the administrators.
__F________________
13.7
CHIEF SECRETARY
-
13.7.1
Position of Chief Secretary
Every state has a Chief Secretary. This functionary is the kingpin of the State Secretariat, his control
extending to all secretariat departments. He is not simply first among equals, he is, in fact, the chief
of the secretaries. The Chief Secretary s pre-eminent position is clearly reflected in the varied roles
he or she assumes in the state administrative set-up. The Chief Secretary is the chief advisor to the
Chief Minister and Secretary to the State Cabinet. He is the head of the General Administration
Department whose political head is the Chisf Minister himself. Chief Secretary is also the head of the
civil services in the state. He is the main channel of communication between the state government
and the Central and other state governments. Chief Secretary is the chief spokesman and public
relations officer of the state government and is looked upon to provide leadership to the state s
administrative system. The office of the Chief Secretary is an institution unique to the states; it is
without a parallel in the administrative landscape of the entire country. The Chief Secretary s office
has, for instance, no parallel in the Central government. The work he performs in relation to the state
government is, at the Union level, shared by three high-ranking functionaries of more or less
n
equal status, i.e., Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, and Finance Secretary, This is a vivid
reflection on the wide scope of the duties and powers of the Chief Secretary. Yet another significant
reflection on the position of the Chief Secretary s ofice is the fact that it has been excluded from the
operation of the tenure system. Chief Secretary would normally retire as the Chief Secretary or else
he would, from this position, move to the Union government to take up a more important position. In
considering the position of the Chief Secretary, another fact needs to be taken note of. The
incumbent of this office is not necessarily the seniormost civil servant of the state. This was at any
rate the situation till
973
when, for instance,
in
U.P., the Chief Secretary was junior in rank and seniority to the members of
State Secretariat: Organisation and Functions

State Administration
the Board of Revenue. Same was the case in Punjab, where he was junior to the Financial
Commissioner. Since
1973,
however, the office of the Chief Secretary has been standardised; its incumbent since then has
begun to hold the rank of the Secretary to ~overnment f India and receives emoluments admissible to
the latter. How does the clamping. of the Presidents rule on a state affect the Chief Secretary s
Office? Where the Centre does not appoint advkers during the President s rule, the Chief Secretary
becomes clothed with the 6Ger.s belonging to the Chief Minister. When, however, central advisers
are appointed, it tends to inhibit the Chief Secretary in his administrative capacity because the former
are drawn from the ranks of senior civil servants (senior to the state s Chief Secretary) as a result of
which
a
hierarchical relationship becomes operative.
13.7.2 Chief Secretary s Functions
The principal functions of the Chief Secretary are listed below: He is the principal adviser to the Chief
Minister in which capacity he,
int r
alia,
works out the detailed administrative implications of the proposals made by ministers and
coordiriates them into a cohesive plan of action. The Chief Secretary is the secretary to the Cabinet.
He prepares the agenda for Cabinet meetings, arranges them, maintains records of these meetings,
ensures follow-up action on Cabinet decisions, and provides assistance to Cabinet committees. The
Chief Secretary is the head of the civil services of the state. In that capacity, he decides on the
postings and transfers of civil sewants. By virtue of the unique position he holds as the head
of
the official machinery and adviser to the Council of Ministers, the Chief Secretary is the coordinator-
in-chief of the Secretariat departments. He takes steps to secure inter-departmental cooperation and
coordination. For this purpose, he convenes and attends a large number of meetings at the
Secretariat and other levels. Meetings serve as a powerful tool of effecting coordination and securing
cooperation of different agencies. As the chief of the secretaries, the Chief Secretary also presides
over a large number of committeks and holds membership of many others. Besides, he looks after all
matters not falling within the jurisdiction of other secretaries. In this sense, the Chief Secretary is a
residual legatee. The Chief Secretary is the secretary, by rotation, of the Zonal Council of which the
particular state is a member. He exercises administrative control over the secretarial buildings,
including matters connected with space allocation. He also controls the Central Record Branch, the
secretariat library, and the conservancy and watch and ward staff. The Chief Secretary also controls
the staff attached to the ministers. In situations of crisis, Chief Secretary acts as the nerve centre of
the state, providing lead and guidance to the concerned agencies in order to expedite relief
operations. It would be no exaggeration to say that in times of drought, flood, communal
disturbances, etc., he virtually represents the government for all the functionaries and agencies
concerned to provide relief. In conclusion, it may be noted that a host of personnel matters and many
other minute and unimportant administrative details consume a sizeable chunk of the Chief Secretary
s time~,The dministrative Reforms Commission is constrained to agree with the following
observations of the Maharashtra ~eorganisation Commission (1962-68) on the manner in which the
Chief Secretary has become burdened with trivial details:
..
it seems unfortunate that the highest official in the state has to sin azette notifications of
a~~ointments. romotions. ransfers

reave;etc., that he has to spend time on minutiae of protocol, passports, etc. To rectify this situation,
the ARC has recommended that this functionary be relieved of the work of routine natbre as well as
be provided with appropriate staff assistance. That alone will ensure speedy implementation of
decisions and effective coordination of policies and programmes of the state government.
Check Your Progress
3
Note:
i) Use the space given below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of
the Unit,
1
Bring out the salient aspects of the position of the Chief Secretary.
2
What are the main functions of the Chief Secretary?
13 8
LET
US SUM UP
The term Secretariat refers to the complex of departments, which at political level, are headed by
ministers and, at an administrative level, by secretaries. Secretaries assist ministers in the task of
policy formulation and in their legislative duties. Organisationally and functionally, the heads of the
executive departments constitute separate and distinct administrative units, which are hierarchically
subordinate to the secretariat departments. In most cases, executive departments are designated as
Directorates because their heads are, in most cases known as directors. Directorates execute policy.
Each secretariat department is usually in charge of a number of Directorates. Policy and
administration, though conceptually distinct categories, are at a practical plane, inextricably
interlinked. They form a continuum; it is difficult to say where the policy ends and administration
begins. This is because the administrators work
s
supplementary policy makers, and have, besides, a large policy making role to perform. The Chief
Secretary, as the head of the administrative set-up of the state, performs important leadership and
coordination functions. This functionary is the nerve centre of the State Secretariat. This Unit has
thrown light on all these aspects of state administration.
13 9
KEY
WORDS
Chief Secretaryas a
The matters which do not fall within the jurisdiction
Residual Legatee
of other secretaries are passed on to the
PhnC
CP~-P P.II
State Secretariat Organisation and Functions

State dministration
Inter alia
Among other things.
Line and Staff
This refers to the division between those agencies and individuals engaged mainly in implemknting
policy, and those concerned primarily .with providing advice and assistance to the Chi f Executive.
Whereas, the staff agencies are cpar d with aiding the Chief Executive, line officials are engaged in
developing and implementing policies. Broadly speaking, the Directorate is a line agency and
Secretariat is a staff agency.
Spadework
Routine preparatory work.
The Department
Literally, the word department means a part or portion of a larger whole. Sometimes, it is used to
denote parts of things other than the administrative structure. However, in the present context, the
term department refers to the biggest blocks or compartments, immediately below the Chief
Executive, into which the entire work of government is divided. It is thus the highest and the biggest
organisational formation below the Chief Executive. Avasthi, A., 1980,
Central Administration
McGraw Hill, New Delhi Maheshwari, S.R., 1995,
Indian Administration
Orient Longman, Delhi Maheshwari, S.R., 1979,
State Governments in India
Macmillan, Delhi
13 11
ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS EXERCISES
Check Your Progress
1
1) Your answer should include the following points: Origin of the term Secretariat in India during pre-
Independence era, when it was referred to as Secretary s Office. Ministry becoming the seat of
authority after Independence and importance given to the popularly elected ministers. In the changed
political situation, the Secretary is the principal advisor to the minister and both work together, and
the Secretariat is referred to as conglomeration of departments whose political heads are ministers
and administrative heads are the secretaries.
2)
Your answer should include the following points: The Secretariat assists the ministers in preparing
drafts of legislations to
e
introduced in the Legislature. Providing necessary information for answering questions in the
Legislature. Collecting information required with respect to the Legislative Committees. 3) Your
answer should include the following points: An important element of continuity provided by the office,
which has permanent functionaries. It constitutes the permanent element in the Secretariat System.

Performance of spadework by the office, which enables the officers to consider cases and make
decisions. Provides sufficient materials to the officers, which forms the basis for decision making. 4
See Section 13.5.
Check Your Progress
1
Your answer should include the following points: Policy formulation function of the Secretariat
Department, while the function of the executive department is that of policy execution. The
Secretariat Department headed by a generalist and the executive department by a specialist.
Functioning of the specialist or the head of the executive department under the supervision of the
head of the Secretariat Department. 2 Your answer should include the following points: Views
expressed by Woodrow Wilson in 1887 regarding the separation of policy from administration.
Justification ofgeparation of policy from administration by
Max
Weber. 3 See Section 13.6. 4 Your answer should include the following points: Administrators draft
legislation They provide the data support. They tender advice to politicians. They formulate policy
through exercise of administrative discretion.
Check Your Progress
State Secretariat Organisation and Functions
I See Sub-section 13.7.1.
2
See Sub-section 13.7.2.
central secraterite

UNIT
7
CENTRAL SECRETARIAT: ORGANISATION AND FUNCTIONS
tructure
7.0
Objectives
71
Introduction
72
Evolution of Central Secretariat
7.2.1 Mean~ng 7.2 2 Role
73
Functions of Central Secretariat 7.4 Structure of Secretariat
7.4.1 DepartmentlMln~stt y
7.5 Functions of Different Grades of Officers of the Secretariat 7.6 Tenure System 7.7 Executive
Agencies
7.7.1 Meaning 7.7.2 Classification 7.7.3 Relat~on Between Executive Agencies and the Secretariat
7.8 Subordinate Offices 7.9 Let Us Sum Up 7.10 Key Words 7.1 References and Further Readings
7.12 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises
7.0
OBJECTIVES
After studying this Unit you should be able to: Explain the meaning role and functions of the Central
Secretariat; Describe the structure and functions of different grades of officers of the SCcretariat;
Explain the significance of the tenure system; Explain the meaning and classification of Executive
Agencies; and Describe the relation between Executive Agencies and the Secretariat.
7.1
INTRODUCTION
The Central Secretariat stands for the complex of departments or ministries whose administrative
heads are designated as Secretaries and whose political heads are ministers. In this Unit we shall
briefly trace the evolution of the Secretariat and describe its structure and hnctions. The tenure
system and the staffing of the Secretariat will also be discussed. Under the Secretariat there is a
network of agencies which are responsible for the execution of the government policies. The relation
between these agencies and the Secretariat will also be explained in this Unit.
7.2 EVOLUTION OF CENTRAL SECRETARIAT
To begin with the Secretariat in India referred to the office of the Governor Gei~eral n British India.
However the size of the Central Secretariat and the scope of its activities have undergone
considerable change over the last hvo hundred years of its evolution in keeping with the changes in
the aims objectives and nature of the central government in India. At the end of the eighteenth
century the ce~tral government consisted of a Governor General and three Councillors and the
Secretariat of four departments.

Each of them was under a Secretary, and there was a Chief Secretary heading them all. A hundred
years later, on the eve of the Montford Reforms in 1919, the Government of India consisted of a
Governor General and seven members and there were nine secretarial departments. This number
remained the same till the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. Prior to 191 9, the Central
Government, while administering certain subjects directly like the army, posts and telegraphs and
railways, had by and large left the task of implementation of other subjects to the local provincial
governments. A major change came in the above position with the inauguration of the reforms of
1919 which for the first time, made a division of functions between the Central and provincial
governments. Both the Central and provincial governments became responsible for both policy and
administration. As a result, the role of the secretariat began to change from a merely policy-
formulating, supervising and coordinating agency to that of an executive agency as well. The
inauguration of provincial autonomy in 1937 and the outbreak of the Second World War accelerated
the above process. In consequence, there was a four fold increase of the Central Secretariat and its
total strength rose to about two hundred. The Government of India was still struggling with the post-
war problems of demobilisation and reconstruction, when Independence came, accompanied by the
partition of the country. At its very inception, therefore, the new government found itself faced with
tremendous problems like rehabilitation of refugees from Pakistan, external aggression in Jammu
and Kashmir, integration of princely states into the Indian Union, internal security,.shortage of
essential articles, at a time when there occurred serious shortage of personnel due to the British
Officers returning home and many Muslim officers opting for Pakistan. Soon after, the adoption of the
goal of a welfare state made unprecedented demands on the already over burdened administrative
machinery. At the same time, the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 started the process of a vast
expansion of the public sector.,The inev~table onsequence of such a vast expansion, in the functions
and responsibilities of the government was a marked increase in the number of departments, and
personnel. Thus, the number of departments in the secretariat, which stood at four in 1858. 9 in 19
19, 10 in 1939,
18
in 1947) had risen to 74
by
1994. Correspondingly has also multiplied.
7 2 1 Meaning
The Central Secretariat occupies a key position in Indian administration. The Secretariat refers to the
conglomeration of various ministries/departments of the central government. The Secretariat works
as a single unit with cpIlective responsibility as in the case of the Council of Ministers. Under existing
rules, each secretariat department is required to consult any other department that may be interested
or concerned before disposing of a case. Secretaries, thus, are secretaries to the Government as a
whole and not to any particular minister.
7 2 2 Role
The Secretariat assists the ministers in the formulation of governmental policies. Ministers finalise
policies on the basis of adequate data, precedents and other relevant information. The Secretarial
makes these available to the minister, thus, enabling him to fornulate policies. Secondly, the
Secretariat assists the ministers in their legislative work too. The Secretariat prepares legislative
drafts to be introduced in the legislature. It engages In the collection of relevant information for
answering parliamentary questions. and, also, for various parliamentary committees. Fourthly. it
carries out a detailed scrutiny of
a
pioblem bringing an overall comprehensive biewpoint on
it.,
getting approval, if required, of other lateral agencies like the Ministry of
Lab
and the Ministry of Finance; and also, consulting. other organisations concerned with a particular
matter. The
Corrot~vigt e
the
rle r;nn
nllu~
r~l;m~nor\
n
nn
irrnmont-1
ericinnr FiCthlxr
t
Central Secretariat: Organisation and F~rnctions

Central Administration
functions as the main channel of communication between the ~overnment nd other concerned
agendies like the Planning Commission, Finance Commission, etc. And lastly, the Secretariat also
ensures that field offices execute, with efficiency and economy, the policies and decisions of the
Government.
7.3,:
FUNCTIONS OF CENTRAL SECRETARIAT
The Central Secretanat system
in
India is based on two phnciples:
1
The task of pblicy formulation needs to be separated fiom policy implementation. 2) Maintaining
Cadre of Officers operating on the tenure system is a prerequisite to the working of the Secretariat
system. The Central Secretariat is a policy making body of the government and is not,ko undertake
work of execution, unless necessitated by the lack of official agencies to perform certain tasks. The
Central Secretariat normally performs the folkwing functions:
1
Assisting the minister in the discharge of his policy making and parliamentary functions. 2) Framing
legislation, rules and principles of procedure.
3
Sectoral planning and programme formulation.
4
a) Budgeting and control of expenditure in respect of activities of the ministryldepartment. b) Securing
administrative and finaocial approval to operational programme and their subsequent modifications.
c) Supervisian and control over the execution of policies and programmes by the executive
departments or semi-autonomous field xncies. d) ~luuatlng teps to develop greater personnel and
organisational competenae
h~th
n
the
ministry/department and its execgtive agencies. e) Assisting in increasing coordination at the Central
level.
Cbek
Yoar Progress
1
Note:
i
Use the ~~ace ~iven elow for your answers. ii) Check your answers with thoc; given at the end of the
Unit.
1
What are the role and objectives
of
the Central Secretariat? 2) What are the, functions generally performed by the Central Secretariat?

74
STRUCTURE OF SECRETARIAT
The Central Secretariat is a collection of various ministries and department.
A
ministry is responsible for the formulation of the policy of government within its sphere of
responsibility as well
as
for the execution and
re\
iew of that policy. A ministry, for the purpose of internal organisation, is divided into the following sub-
groups with an officer in charge of each of them. Department
SecretaryIAdditionallSpecial
Secretary Wing AdditionalIJoint Secretary Division Deputy Secretary Branch Under Secretary
Section Section Officer The lowest of these units is the section in charge of a Section Officer and
consSsts of a number of assistants, clerks, typists and peons. It deals with the work relating to the
subject allotted to it. It is also referred to
as
the office. Two sections constitute the branch which is under the chqge of
an
under secretary, also known as the branch officer. Two branches ordinarily form a division which is
normally headed by a deputy secretary. When the volume of work in a ministry exceeds the
manageable charge of a secretary, one or more wings
are
established with a joint secretary in charge of each wing. At the top of
the
hierarchy comes the department which is headed by the secretary himself or in some cases by
an
additionalkpecial secretary. In some cases, a department may be
as
autonomous
as
a ministry and equivalent to it in rank.
741
DepartmentlMinistry
The distinction between department and ministry may be explained by referring to ministry as the
minister s charge and department
as
the secretary s charge. Although a ministry stands for the minister s charge, its administrative
divisions are not uniform. A ministry may not have a department: or may have one or more than one
department in which it is formally divid
.,
While a department may be referred to as the secretary s charge, all secretaries, although they get
the same salary, are not necessarily of equal
rank .
A Ministry may have two or more secretaries, each in charge of a specified segment of the Ministry s
work, or of a department in it, but there is, in addition, one ~ecre~ who is head of, and represents, the
entire ministry. Although all of them are secretaries, the former are subordinate to the latter who, in
addition to his own work, coordinates the work of these secretaries of departments/segments
of
wnr r
within the ministry.
75
FUNCTIONS OF DIFFERENT GRADES OF OFFICERS OF THE SECRETARIAT
At present the grades of officers it1 the Central Secretariat
are
as
follows:
1
Secretary
2
Additional Secretary
3)
Joint Secretary
4
Deputy Secretary
5
Under Secretary The first three grades constitute what is administrative parlance may be called Top
Management while the grades of deputy secretary and under secretary, are referred to as the Middle
Management . The Secretary is the administrative head of the ministryldepartment and the principal
adviser to the Minister. He represents his ministrldeartment before the committees of Parliament.
Central Secretariat: Organisation and Functions

Central Administration
He is supposed to keep himself fully informed of the work of his ministry/department by demanding
weekly summaries on the nature of cases disposed of by lower levels and the manner of their
disposal. Where the charge of a Secretary is too large, he may be assisted by a joint or additional
secretary who formally functions
as
Secretary in relation to the subject allotted to him in the ministryldepartment. The function of the latter
is to relieve the Secretary of a bloc of work and to deal, where necessary, direct with the minister.
The Secretary, however, is invariably kept informed on all these direct dealings with the minister, for
he is not formally relieved of his responsibility as head of the ministryldepartment. The deputy
secretary is an officer who, as his designation implies, acts on behalf of the Secretary. He should
dispose of as many cases
as
possible on his own. Only on more important cases he should in fact must seek the Secretary s
instruction either by refening to him in writing or discussing with him orally. The under secretary
should dispose of minor cases on his own. He should submit more important matters to the deputy
secretary in such a form that the latter is able to deal with them quickly. It must be stressed here that
the functionaries at these different levels are supposed to perform their functions, keeping in mind the
interests of the Government of India as a whole. The Secretary, in other words, is the Secretary to
the Government of India, not to his minister alone. This is true of lower levels as well.
76
TENURE SYSTEM
The system of filling senior posts in the Secretariat by officers who come from the States (or from the
Central Services) for a particular period and who after serving their tenure, revert back to their parent
States or services is known as the tenure system. It has been a principle of Secretariat staffing since
1905 and continued by the Government of India, even after Independence. The reasons for the
continuance of the system may be summed up
as
follows: 1)
A
joint pool of officers at the reserve of both the centre and the states helps in administrative
coordination at the centre and state level and exercises a unifying influence on the functioning of our
federal policy. 2) The Central Secretariat benefits from the administrative experience of a number of
bureaucrats who have first hand work experience at the district and state levels.
3
A
prolonged stay in the Secretariat may get senior bureaucrats out of touch with actual administrative
reality at the field level. The tenure system enables them to get a constant feedback from the field
and from the general public.
4
The states also benefit from having at their service senior experienced officers with a wide national
perspective on all problems.
5
Under the tenure system most officers are promised a chance of work at the Secretariat thus
equalising opportunities for all.
6
It strengthens the independence of the civil service. It is a check against the possible dangers of
subservience by a few to the political masters for narrow personal gains. Though the tenure system
is still in operation many arguments have been put forth against it. They may be briefly sumrnarised
as below: 1) Bureaucratic work in the Secretariats is gradually becoming specialised. The tenure
system is essentially based on the myth of the superior efficiency of the generalist civil servants. 2)
District experience is really not necessary in many areas of Secretariat work.

3
The tenure system has led to the bureaucrats getting too dependent on the office establishment to
get things done. This had led to 'over bureaucratisation' of the Secretariat. The tenure system,
however, was never prevalent in all the departments of the Government of India. Foreign Affairs,
Indian Audit and Accounts, Post and Telegraphs, Customs and Income Tax Departments had been
the Well-known exceptions even during the British-peridd. The creation of the Central Secretariat
service has, thrown a new challenge to this piactice (even in depa&ents where tenure system
officially operates). The specialists whose numbers are increasing in the Secretariat are also not
subject to rotation t2areas away frcfrfi the Secretariat. The creation in 1957 of the Central
Administrative'Pool has also made a significant impact on the system. This 'Pool' was established by
the selection of officers from the Indian AdministrativeServices. There are two categories of posts in it
general purpose and specialised. The 'Pool' system was meant to overcome the uncertainties in the
matters of quality and quantity inherent in the tenure system. Finally, despite the tenure system, there
are numerous officers in the Secretariat who have never goneback to their parent State. Therefore,
the original intention of the tenure system does not necessarily hold good in the changed conditions
today.
heck
Your Progress
Note
i) Use the space given below for your answers. ii) Check your answers with those given at the end of
the Unit.
I
What are the functions of the Joint Secretary and the Under Secretary, in the Government of India?
2
What are the disadvantages of the tenure system?
77
EXECUTIVE AGENCIES
All over the country, there are various types of administrative agencies which are meant to carry out
the policies of the government
s
decided upon in the secretariat. Such agencies are called executive agencies and can be grouped
into various categories
s
discussed below..
7.7.1
Meaning
Under the Secretariat there are a network of agenkies which are responsible for the execution of the
government policies. With the steady expansion in, and increasing complexity of, the governmental
functions, the executive agencies have been variously organised to suit the requirements of the job.
Central Secretariat: Organisation and Functions

Central Administration
7.7.2 Classification
The executive agencies may be classified into the following types: 1) An attached office (e.g., The
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi) 2) Subordinate office (e.g., Inspectorate of
Explosives, Nagpur)
3
Departmental undertaking (e.g., Ordinance ~adories) 4) A company registered under the ~ompanie:~
ct (e.g., Hindustan Steel Limited)
5
A Corporation or Board set up under a special statute (e.g., ONGC, Tea Board, etc.)
6
A society registered under the Societies Registration Act (e.g., Institute of Foreign Trade) There are
also instances of executive agencies hnctioning as an integral part of the ministry itself (e.g.,
Directorate of Exhibition in the Ministry of Commerce). These are, however, exceptlions.
7.7.3 Relation between Executive Agencies and the Secretariat
The existence of Secretariat as an entity separate from the executive agencies is based on the belief
that the task of policy-making needs to be separated from that of its execution. Development
administration must necessarily move towards decentralisation which means that effective power and
authority must be possessed by the executive agencies. Though the number of executive agencies
have steadily risen over the years there has not been an increase in their power corresponding to
their responsibilities. It is common knowledge that the Secretariat performs a lot of polic): execking
tasks of an original nature which cgyld readily be passed on to the executive agencies. However,
what need to be noted is that the relations between the Central Secretariat and the executive
agencies have been quite strained and tension-ridden instead of gradually becoming cooperative and
amiable. There are six principal patterns of relationship developed at the Central level, between the
secretariat and the executive agencies. These may briefly be discussed here: 1) There is complete
merger between the ministry and heads of executive departments. The examples are the Railway
Board and the Ministry of Railways, the Posts and Telegraphs Board and the Ministry of
Communications. This pattern is most suitable for organisation undertaking work of an operational or
commercial nature. 2) In the second pattern, a senior officer of the ministry concurrently operates
as
head of the executing department. In this way he becomes responsible both for formulation of
policies and for its implementation with the assistance of the common ofice located in the Ministry.
The Additional Secretary in
the
Department of Agriculture is the Director-General of Food. But the main disadvantage of this pattern
is that the system completely blurs the functions of the Secretariat and the head of an executive
department.
3
The ministry s Ofice is merged in the office of the executive department. The common office serves
both the Secretariat offices and the officers of the executive office. The advantages of this
arrangement are that any administrative proposal is examined only once, thus, expediting the
disposal of cases, and, secondly it results in sizeable economy office maintenance becomes more
economical. 4) The ministry and the executive department continues to have separate officers but
have common files and common file bureau, all located in the organisation of the executive agency.
This pattern has significant advantages

but
it
does not do away with the problems of separate offices with duplicate staff and double scrutiny. A
good example is the Ministry of Defence and the Air Force Headquarters.
5
The ministry and the executive depaiiments continue to have separate offices and separate files but
the head of the Executive Office is given an ex-officio Secretariat status. Thus, the Textile
Commissioner is the ex-officio Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce. This pattern has the
following advantages: Under this arrangement, there is considerable saving of time as well as the
paper work, as every matter does not travel up to the Secretariat for finalisation. Also, the accepted
policy is implemented in a more efficient manner,
as
the head of the office, because of his secretariat status is fully aware of the background in which the
policy was framed. Its major drawback, however, is that it goes against the fundamentar principle of
secretariat system, namely, policy-making must remain separated from policy implementation.
6
Both the Ministry and the executive agency have separate and distinct offices and files of their own,
and consultation between them occurs through self-contained letters. This is the standard pattern
both at the Centre and in the States. This pattern is based on the dichotomy between staff and line.
The mqnistry is Staff: he executive office is Line. An example is the DirectorateGeneral of All India
Radio in relation to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In other words, in this pattern, a
wider perspective is brought to bear on the examination of a proposal. Secondly, it is always
desirable to have a specialist s scheme scrutinised by layman. Thirdly, this arrangement provides for
a division of work between the Secretariat and the executive agencies. The former concentrates on
policy-making and the latter on the execution of the policy. The disadvantages of this arrangement is
that, this scheme is processed twice in two different offices. This involves duplication of work and
cause delay. Each pattern has thus advantages as well as disadvantage. No hard and fast rules can
be laid down regarding the pattern of relationship which could be appropriate to a particular sphere of
governmental activity. The pattern has to be so tailored as to suit the nature of activities or the past
experience of the organisation. Nevertheless, neither absolute separation nor absolute merger ofboth
is normally desirable.
78
SUBORDINATE OFFICES
A Subordinate Office functions as the field establishment or as the agency responsible for the
detailed execution of the decisions taken by the Government. A Subordinate Office normalIy
functions under an Attached Office. But where there is no Attached Office under a ministry, it
operates directly under the ministry. The criteria of classifying a certain organisation as the Attached
Office and another one as the Subordinate Office are neither well defined nor consistently followed.
Although it is the Subordinate Office, which is responsible for the execution of the policy or decisions
of the Government, it has.been accorded a distinctly inferior status, as is indicated by the label,
Subordinate . The pay scales of personnel in the Subordinate Offices are the lowest; and their future
prospects are not bright. The employees in these offices very often do the same type of work and
possess the same qualification as the Secretariat personnel. Despite that, the Subordinate Offices
continue to be accorded an unreasonably lower status.
Central Secretariat: Organisation and Functions
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) is a government-run health insurance scheme for the BPL
family. It provides cashless insurance for hospitalisation in public as well as selected private hospitals.
RSBY became fully operational on April 1, 2008 and is active in 25 states of India. It provides for IT-
enabled and smart–card-based cashless healthy insurance cover, up to Rs. 30,000/- per annum on a family
floater basis to the BPL families (a unit of five) and 11 occupational groups in the unorganized sector and
most importantly the workers who have worked for more than 15 days under MGNREGS. It also covers
maternity benefits. Over about 36 million families have been enrolled. Initially the RSBY project was
under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, but from April 1, 2015 it was transferred to Ministry of
Health and family welfare.
This scheme is supposed to be subsumed in Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission from
2018.
 Public distribution system
The Indian food security system was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor
at subsidised rates. This scheme was first started in February 1944, during the Second World War, and
was launched in the current form in June 1947. Major commodities distributed include staple food
grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar and essential fuels like kerosene, through a network of fair price
shops (also known as ration shops) established in several states across the country. Food Corporation
of India, a Government-owned corporation, procures and maintains the PDS(public distribution
system).

In coverage and public expenditure, it is considered to be the most important food security network.
However, the food grains supplied by the ration shops are not enough to meet the consumption needs
of the poor or are of inferior quality. The average level of consumption of PDS seeds in India is only
1 kg per person per month. The PDS has been criticised for its urban bias and its failure to serve the
poorer sections of the population effectively. The targeted PDS is costly and gives rise to much
corruption in the process of extricating the poor from those who are less needy. Today, India has the
largest stock of grain in the world besides China, the government spends Rs. 750 billion ($13.6
billion) per year, almost 1 percent of GDP, yet 21% remain undernourished.[1] Distribution of food
grains to poor people throughout the country is managed by state governments.[2] As of 2011 there
were 505,879 fair price shops (FPS) across India.[3]

Overview

The central and state governments share the responsibility of regulating the PDS. While the central
government is responsible for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains,
state governments hold the responsibility for distributing the same to the consumers through the
established network of fair price shops (FPSs). State governments are also responsible for operational
responsibilities including allocation and identification of families below the poverty line, issue of
ration cards, and supervision and monitoring the functioning of FPSs

Under the PDS scheme, each family below the poverty line is eligible for 35 kg of rice or wheat every
month, while a household above the poverty line is entitled to 15 kg of foodgrain on a monthly basis.[4]

A below poverty line card holder should be given 35 kg of food grain and the card holder above the
poverty line should be given 15 kg of food grain as per the norms of PDS. However, there are
concerns about the efficiency of the distribution process.

Fair price shops

A public distribution shop, also known as fair price shop (FPS), is a part of India's public system
established by the Government of India which distributes rations at a subsidized price to the poor.[5]
Locally these are known as ration shops and public distribution shops, and chiefly sell wheat, rice and
sugar at a price lower than the market price called Issue Price. Other essential commodities may also
be sold. To buy items one must have a ration card. These shops are operated throughout the country
by joint assistance of central and state government. The items from these shops are much cheaper but
are of average quality. Ration shops are now present in most localities, villages towns and cities. India
has 478,000 shops, constituting the largest distribution network in the world.
The introduction of rationing in India dates back to the 1940s Bengal famine. This rationing system
was revived in the wake of acute food shortage during the early 1960s, before the Green Revolution. It
involves two types, RPDS and TPDS.

The public distribution system of India is not without its defects. With a coverage of around 40
million below-poverty-line families, a review discovered the following structural shortcomings and
disturbances:

1. Growing instances of the consumers receiving inferior quality food grains in ration shops. [7]
2. Rogue dealers swap good supplies received from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) with
inferior stock and sell the good quality FCI stock to private shopkeepers.
3. Illicit fair price shop owners have been found to create large number of bogus cards to sell
food grains in the open market.
4. Many FPS dealers resort to malpractice, illegal diversions of commodities, holding and black
marketing due to the minimum salary received by them.[8]
5. Numerous malpractices make safe and nutritious food inaccessible and un-affordable to
many poor thus resulting in their food insecurity.[9]
6. Identification of households to be denoted status and distribution to granted PDS services has
been highly irregular and diverse in various states. The recent development of Aadhar UIDAI
cards has taken up the challenge of solving the problem of identification and distribution of
PDs services along with Direct Cash Transfers.
7. Regional allocation and coverage of FPS are unsatisfactory and the core objective of price
stabilization of essential commodities has not met.
8. There is no set criteria as to which families are above or below the poverty line. This
ambiguity gives massive scope for corruption and fallouts in PDS systems because some
who are meant to benefit are not able to.

Several schemes have augmented the number of people aided by PDS, but the number is extremely
low. Poor supervision of FPS and lack of accountability have spurred middlemen who consume a
good proportion of the stock meant for the poor. There is also no clarity as to which families should be
included in the below the poverty line list and which are not. This results in the genuinely poor being
excluded whilst the ineligible get several cards. Awareness about the presence of the PDS and FPS to
poverty-stricken societies, namely the rural poor has been dismal.

The stock assigned to a single family cannot be bought in installments. This is a decisive barrier to the
efficient functioning and overall success of PDS in India. Many families below the poverty line are
not able to acquire ration cards either because they are seasonal migrant workers or because they live
in unauthorized colonies. A lot of families also mortgage their ration cards for money. Lack of clarity
in the planning and structuring of social safety and security programs in India has resulted in the
creation of numerous cards for the poor. Limited information about the overall use of cards has
discouraged families below the poverty line from registering for new cards and increased illegal
creation of cards by such families to ensure maximum benefit for the family members.[10]

To improve the current system of the PDS, the following suggestions are furnished for:

1. Vigilance squad should be strengthened to detect corruption, which is an added expenditure

for taxpayers.
2. Personnel-in-charge of the department should be chosen locally.
3. Margin of profit should be increased for honest business, in which case the market system is
more apt anyway.
4. F.C.I. and other prominent agencies should provide quality food grains for distribution, which
is a tall order for an agency that has no real incentive to do so.
5. Frequent checks and raids should be conducted to eliminate bogus and duplicate cards,
which is again an added expenditure and not foolproof.
6. The Civil Supplies Corporation should open more fair price shops in rural areas.
7. The fair price dealers seldom display rate chart and quantity available in the block-boards in
front of the shop. This should be enforced.
In aggregate, only about 42% of subsidised grains issued by the central pool reach the target group,
according to a Planning Commission study released in March 2008.

Food stamps given to the needy and to the underprivileged by issue of coupons, vouchers, electronic
card transfer etc. they can purchase commodities at any shop or outlet. The state government would
then pay back the grocery shops for the stamps, said the finance minister in his budget.[11] But the
United Progressive alliance, which came to power in 2004, decided on a common minimum
programme (CMP) and on the agenda was food and nutrition security. Under that the government had
plans to strengthen the food security program DS.[12]

However, finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech went contrary to the idea proposed in the
CMP and proposed the idea of the food stamp scheme.[13] He has proposed to try the scheme in few
districts of India to see its viability.[14] In the CMP the government had proposed that if it is viable it
would universalise the PDS; if food stamps are introduced it would be a targeted public distribution
system. A group of about 40 economists have cautioned the NAC headed by Sonia Gandhi against the
food security bill as it would put an additional burden on the exchequer. They instead have advised to
go ahead and experiment with food stamps and other alternative methods and pointed out the flaws in
PDS. This set of economists hail from institutes like Delhi School of Economics, Indian Statistical
Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Centre for
Development Studies, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, London School of Economics, University
of British Columbia, University of California and University of Warwick.[15] In a landmark judgment,
Delhi High Court has ruled that fair price shops cannot be allotted to a below poverty line card
holder.[16]

Operation Black

Aaj Tak news channel on 14 October 2013 performed a sting operation on PDS[17] named Operation
Black. It showed how the distribution reaches to mills instead of fair price shops. All the
documentation via computerisation is clean

NDTV did a show which documented how the Government of Chhattisgarh's food department
managed to fix its broken system so that the diversion of grain came down from about 50% in 2004-5
to about 10% in 2009-10.

Research on the PDS suggests (as these two programmes show) that the situation varies quite a lot
across the country.

Distribution of food stamps

Opportunities

 It will reduce India's dependence on buffer stock for price stabilization and in turn reduce the
cost.
 It provides incentive must to deregulate the domestic market and thus will induce private
entrepreneurs.
 There is an immense need to develop appropriate marketing infrastructure and institutions to
deal with trade in agricultural commodities.
 Appropriate policy changes are a must, for instance, in the post WTO period the international
prices of wheat and rice came to their lowest levels. But in India due to high MSP's the prices
were relatively high. Thus as a result importing was cheaper than buying from the domestic
market. As a result, the government levied 50% tariff on wheat and 80% percent tariff on rice
which further resulted in one of the outlandish incidents in the Indian history that was
accumulation of buffer stocks which were exported which, incidentally, came back for sale at
high MSP's for instance in 2002-03, the government sold 1.6 million tones to exporters but in
reality exports were only 0.682 million tones.
The government may have to set up a complete system for the same or would have to put this
responsibility on post office, banks or such other institutions. In this process there could be leakages
which are a matter of concern. There would also be a burden which would come on the poor class who
has to benefit from the same of going and collecting the food stamps.[14]
Historical Background

Before the creation of HUDA, the Urban Estates Department (U.E.D.) which was
established in the year 1962, used to look after the work relating to planned
development of urban areas and it functioned under the aegis of the Town &
Country Planning Department. Its functioning was regulated by the Punjab Urban
Estates Development and Regulations Act, 1964 and the rules made there under
and the various development activities used to be carried out by different
departments of the State Government such as PWD (B & R), Public Health,
Haryana State Electricity Board etc. With the passage of time, it was experienced
that the involvement of several agencies in the development of Urban Estates at
various places was suffering from lack of coordination, with the result that growth
of most of Urban Estates slowed down and caused unnecessary dis-satisfaction to
the plot-holders in particular and public in general. Besides, as the Department
had to follow the financial rules and regulations of Government, the arrangement
of funds and sanction of estimates used to take a long time and the development
works did not keep pace with the required standards of physical achievements. It
was also felt that being a Government department, it was unable to raise
resources from various lending institutions although there were many financial
institutions in the country to finance urban development programmes and thus, it
was benefit of availing these facilities. In nut-shell, the Urban Estates
Department was not effective in achieving its defined goals of planed urban
development to the satisfaction of the public at large. Thus, in order to over come
all these difficulties and to achieve the expeditious development of urban estates,
it was felt that the Department of Urban Estates should be converted into such a
body which could take up all the development activities itself and provide various
facilities in the Urban Estates expeditiously and consequently the Haryana Urban
Development Authority came into existence on 13-01-1977 under the Haryana
Urban Development Authority Act, 1977 to take over work, responsibilities hither
to being handled by individual Government departments.

The functions of Haryana Urban Development Authority are :-

1. To promote and secure development of urban areas in a systematic and

planned way with the power to acquire sell and dispose off property, both
movable and immovable.

2. Use this so acquired land for residential, industrial, recreational and

commercial purpose.

3. To make available developed land to Haryana Housing Board and other bodies
for providing houses to economically weaker sections of the society, and

4. To undertake building works.

1. Administrative set up of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA)

The Authority consists of a Chairman, a Vice Chairman, a Chief Administrator

and such other members (not more than 12 but not less than 6) appointed under
notification issued from time to time, provided that the number of non-official
members shall not, at any time exceed three.

The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is a statutory body under

Haryana Urban Development Authority Act, 1977. The constitution of the
Authority is as under:-
1. Minister-in-Charge, Town & Country Planning Chairman
Department
2. Chief Secretary to Government, Haryana. Vice-Chairman
3. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Haryana, Member
Chandigarh.
4. Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Member
Government Haryana, Finance Department.
5. Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Member
Government Haryana, Town & Country Planning
Department.
6. Financial Commissioner & Principal Secretary to Member
Government Haryana, Power Department.
7. Commissioner & Secretary to Government Member
Haryana, Urban Development Department,
8. Director, Town & Country Planning Department. Member
9. Chief Administrator, Haryana Urban Development Member
Authority,
10. Engineer-in-Chief, PWD B & R, Haryana, Member
Chandigarh.
11. Engineer-in-Chief, PWD, Water Supply and Member
Sanitation Department, Haryana, Panchkula.

Under Section-8 of the Haryana Urban Development Authority Act, 1977, the
Authority is competent to appoint one or more committee for the purpose of
ensuring the efficient dis-charge of the functions of the Authority and particularly
for the purpose of ensuring the efficient maintenance of amenities and
development projects. Accordingly, by virtue of these powers, the Authority has
constituted a number of Committees/Sub Committees to take up decisions on
various important matters.

The Chief Administrator at the Head-Quarter is the overall incharge and

responsible for discharging the functions of the Authority. The Chief Administrator
is assisted by 5 Zonal Administrators, posted at Faridabad, Gurgaon, Hisar,
Panchkula and Rohtak and one Administrator at Head Quarter. The Chief
Administrator is guided by the policies framed by the Authority headed by the
Minister-in-charge (designated as the Chairman of the Authority) of the Town &
Country Planning Department.
Zonal Administration:

The entire state is divided into 30 Urban Estates. The work of these Urban Estates
is being supervised and monitored by 5 Zonal Administrators assisted by 18
Estate Officers. The main functions of these Estate Officers are to manage the
estates by selling developed and undeveloped plots/properties of all categories of
land and realize the revenue. All the financial receipt of transactions are looked
after by the Estate Officers and channelized through the accounts branch of Head
Office for expenditure on development activities. The Estate Officers are also
responsible for pursuing the matters relating to the construction activities within
the framework of construction and building byelaws applicable thereto. The Zonal
Administrators acts as co-coordinators between various wings at zonal level
engaged in the planned urban development of the respective areas and are
responsible for the implementation of various schemes/projects being executed in
these areas. The zonal Administrators are located at following places:-

Functions of various wings of HUDA

i) Engineering Wing

Engineering wing is headed by a Chief Engineer. As soon as land is acquired and

handed-over to HUDA, infrastructural development works are taken up by the
Engineering wing as per approved layout plan/demarcation plan of the area and
after providing the basic infrastructural facilities, possession of the plots is
handed over to the Estate Office, who in turn offers the possession to the
respective allottees. The basic infrastructural facilities include the approach road,
electrification, water supply and sewerage facilities. The other infrastructural
activities like community buildings, parks and other facilities are taken up
simultaneously and are linked with the inhabitation in the Urban Estate.

ii) Finance Wing

Finance/Accounts Wing is headed by the Chief Controller of Finance which

comprises of One Senior Accounts Officer at the Head Quarter and One with each
of the Administrators, and their supporting staff posted in all the Estates, Circles,
Divisional offices etc. This wing is responsible for the financial management of the
Authority. The existing system of accounting at all levels including that of
Engineering Wing is basically on the pattern of P.W.D. which is being replaced by
the commercial system of accounts in such a way that it yields information
required for planning and control of different functional areas and in the
preparation of managerial reports. Similarly, the planning and control of material
stores is of crucial significance which is being improved through introduction of
performance budgeting, materials and inventory planning and control based on
net work and cost control techniques.

The Haryana Urban Development Authority is working on ?No Profit No Loss?

basis and carrying out its activities by circulation of funds. The funds generated
out of sale of Residential, Industrial, Commercial and Institutional plots are
invested in acquisition of new areas, which enable HUDA to generate more plots
for the public and more funds for the development works and new acquisitions.

The price fixed on ?No Profit No Loss? is charged from the plot holders with the
stipulation that any enhanced compensation in the land cost awarded by the
Courts under Section-18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 shall be recoverable in
addition as and when such eventuality happens.

iii) Town Planning Wing

Town Planning Wing established at Head Quarter to look after the work of
perspective planning for establishment of new Urban Estates. The Planning Wing
is headed by a Chief Town Planner with supporting staff for town planning works
and entrusted with the job of designing and issue of advertisements in the news
papers regarding sale of sites in City Centers, Shopping Centers and
Residential/Industrial Sectors in all the Urban Estates.

iv) Architecture Wing

Architectural Wing is headed by a Senior Architect with supporting staff and

entrusted with the job of preparation of architectural controls and Architectural
designs of all buildings constructed by HUDA. There is also one Land Scape
Architect for designing parks, open spaces and gardens.

v) Legal Wing

HHUDA is an organization which deals with the acquisition and disposal of

developed land for various purposes and accordingly legal complications of various
natures do arises which are being taken care of by the Legal Cell of the Authority
which is headed by a Legal Remembrancer who is assisted by District Attorney,
Deputy District Attrorneys, Additional District Attorneys and necessary
supporting staff both at the Headquarter and field offices. The court cases are
being monitored through web-based Court Case Tracking System (CCTS).

vi) Monitoring Wing

In order to monitor the progress of the developmental works done by the field
offices on regular and timely basis, a Monitoring Cell was set-up at the Head
Office of the Authority which is headed by the Deputy Economic & Statistical
Adviser with supporting staff. The work relating to the regular systematic inflow of
performance data and its appraisal for future planning of urban development is
being done by this cell.

vii) Enforcement Wing.

This wing is headed by the Enforcement Officer at Head Quarter along with
supporting staff. All the matters relating to the removing of encroachments are
being dealt by this wing.

viii) Vigilance Wing.

This wing is headed by the Executive Engineer (Vigilance). All the matters relating
to vigilance enquiries are dealt by this wing. The objective of this wing is to bring
out transparency in the functioning of various wings and thus checking corrupt
practices and also to ensure quality in development works.

ix) Establishment and Authority Wing

This wing is headed by the Secretary, HUDA. It deals with the establishment
matters of the employees. All the Authority meetings are also conducted by the
Secretary, HUDA.

x) Policy Wing

This wing is headed by Administrative Officer. All the matters relating to policy
and allotment of land to various institutions and Government Department are also
being dealt with by this wing.

xi) Land Acquisition Divisions

The acquisition of land for urban development is undertaken by five Land

Acquisition Officers of the Urban Estates Department at the instance of Authority.
The State Government on the request of the Authority acquires land under the
provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 and after taking possession of land,
transfers it to the Authority on payment. The overall cost of acquisition and
enhanced compensation if ordered by the competent court is paid by HUDA out of
its own funds.

xii) Information Technology Wing (I.T.Wing)

The Information Technology Wing of HUDA was established in year 2006 and is
headed by General Manager (IT). The main job is to automate the functioning of
various wings of HUDA. Currently, various e-Governance initiatives have been
undertaken by the Information Technology Wing to facilitate the internal efficiency
of the Department and to provide quality services to the allottees, citizens and
external agencies through website of HUDA. The web enabled application
developed by TCS comprising of two modules viz; Plot and Property Management
(PPM) and Financial Accounting System (FAS) have been implemented in all the
Estate Offices of HUDA. Through which allottees having user ID and password are
made enable to see the detail of their property anywhere, anytime and even the
status of their application can be tracked on the net. HUDA is also in the process
of establishing a state of the art dynamic portal with payment gateway
interface.
GOVERNMENT LAND SCHEME

Haryana Government took a decision in the year 1987 to utilize the surplus
Government lands for generating resources for State Exchequer. The Council of
Ministers in the meeting held on 14.12.1987 had approved the general scheme of
alienation of surplus Government land and properties which had been identified
by the concerned Deputy Commissioners in consultation with the departments
concerned in various towns of Haryana. These lands were then transferred to the
Department of Town & Country Planning, Haryana for further alienation to HUDA
for development and disposal. In all 15 schemes have been taken up with an area
of 715.58 acres out of these 15 schemes, 9 schemes were commercial in nature, 4
residential-cum-commercial, 1 residential and 1 industrial scheme. The detail of
Govt. Land Schemes is given below:-

Sr.No Name of Name of Scheme Type of

Urban Scheme
Estate
Detail of Government Land Schemes
1 Ambala Jail Land Residential-
cum-
Commercial
2. Gurgaon (i) Agr.Farm land Residential-
cum-
Commercial
(ii) Jail Land Commercial
(iii) Old Judicial Complex Commercial
3. Hisar (i) Mela Ground Residential-
cum-
Commercial
(ii) Old Distt.Court Commercial
(iii) Police Line Residential-
cum-
Commercial
4. Jind (i) Diwan Khana Commercial
(ii) PWD.Store Commercial
(iii) B&R Shop Commercial
5 Karnal (i) Mahila Ashram Commercial
(ii) Old Tehsil Complex Commercial
6. Panipat Industrial Plot No.3 Industrial
7. Rohtak Agriculture Farm Land Residential
8. Sirsa Old Bus Stand Commercial
Detail of Surplus Government Land Schemes
1 Narwana Old Tehsil Complex Commercial
2 Kurukshetra Old Tehsil Complex Commercial
3 Faridabad Rehabilitation Land Village Residential
Gaunchi, Scetor-56, 56A
4 Sirsa Old Jail Land Recreation
(Park)
Since disposal of plots under Government Land Schemes through auction has not
worked well. It has been decided by the Government that balance residential plots
under Government Land Scheme falling in low potential areas may be floated and
the plots may be allotted through draw of lots.

MANDI TOWNSHIP AREAS

Consequent upon the winding up of the Colonization Department with effect from
30th September, 1983 vide Haryana Government Town & Country Planning
Department?s notification No.18(43) 85-2TCP dated 19.9.1983, the Mandi Portion
of 31 Mandi Townships established by the Colonisation Department were
transferred to the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board and the remaining
portion of the 29 Mandi Townships came to the share of Haryana Urban
Development Authority. As a sequel to the HUDA become a successor organisation
to the Colonisation Department for all intents and purposes for Township areas.

The total land measuring 3516.439 acres (including vacant land measuring
1316.81 acres and 3422 vacant plots) of 29 Mandi Townships established by
erstwhile Colonization Departmetn were taken over by HUDA on 11.9.1987. As a
sequel to that HUDA became a successor organisation to the Colonization
Department for all intents and purposes for Township Areas. The list of present
Mandi Townships is given below:-

Sr.No. Name of Mandi Sr.No. Name of Mandi

Townships Townships
1. Adampur 2. Amin
3. Ambala City 4. Bhattu-Kalan
5. Bhawani Khera 6. Bhiwani
7. Ballabhgarh 8. Dabwali
9. Dharsul Khan 10. Ellenabad
11. Fatehabad 12. Gurgaon
13. Guhla 14. Hansi
15. Hathin 16. Hisar
17. Jhajjar 18. Kalayat
19. Kaithal 20. Kalanwali
21. Kosli 22. Narwana
23. Narnaul 24. Pehowa
25. Pundri 26. Papra
27. Ratia 28. Rewari
29. Sirsa 30. Tohana
31. Tosham
URBAN ESTATES OF HUDA

Sr. No Name of Urban Estates Name of Zones

1 Faridabad Faridabad
2 Palwal Faridabad
3 Roz-Ka-Meo Faridabad
4 Hathin Faridabad
1 Gurgaon Gurgaon
2 Rewari Gurgaon
3 Dharuhera Gurgaon
4 Narnaul Gurgaon
5 Pataudi Gurgaon
1 Hisar Hisar
2 Sirsa Hisar
3 Hansi Hisar
4 Jind Hisar
5 Bhiwani Hisar
6 Fatehabad Hisar
1 Panchkula Panchkula
2 Ambala Panchkula
3 Naraingarh Panchkula
4 Karnal Panchkula
5 Kurukshetra Panchkula
Jagadhari / Yamuna
6 Panchkula
Nagar
7 Shahabad Panchkula
8 Kaithal Panchkula
1 Rohtak Rohtak
2 Bahadurgarh Rohtak
3 Panipat Rohtak
4 Gohana Rohtak
5 Jhajjar Rohtak
6 Sonepat Rohtak
7 Murthal Rohtak