The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (PS to the PM) is the senior-most bureaucrat in, and the administrative head of, the Prime Minister's Office. The officeholder is generally a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, commonly from the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services ...

and occasionally from the Indian Foreign Service. The post is considered one of the most influential in the Indian civil services, and some principal secretaries are considered more powerful and influential than senior

government ministers A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

. The status of the principal secretary—akin to the additional principal secretary—was generally considered equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary, the Government of India's topmost civil servant. However, since 2019, the officeholder has been the accorded the status of a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘ prime minister� ...

History

The Prime Minister's Secretariat (PMS)—headed by an officer of the rank of joint secretary to the Government of India—was established after independence under the prime ministership of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

, as a successor to the office of the

Governor-General of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...

's secretary.

Lal Bahadur Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...

appointed Lakshmi Kant Jha, an

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

officer, as his secretary, making Jha the first secretary to the Government of India-ranked officer in the PMS. During

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

's tenure as prime minister, the post of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister was created; with retired Indian Foreign Service officer

P. N. Haksar Parmeshwar Narayan Haksar (4 September 1913 – 25 November 1998) was an Indian bureaucrat and diplomat, best known for his two-year stint as Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's principal secretary (1971–73). In that role, Haksar was the chie ...

becoming the first PS to the PM.

Powers

The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India acts as the administrative chief of the Prime Minister's Office, and as a result, wields a significant amount of power over the daily affairs of the Government of India. The main functions of the officeholder often include, but are not limited to: * Advising the prime minister on domestic and foreign policy matters. * Overseeing the affairs of ministries and departments assigned by the prime minister. * Coordinating activities in the Prime Minister's Office. * Dealing with official, governmental, important paperwork in the Prime Minister's Office. * Preparing notes on issues to be discussed by the prime minister with senior politicians, bureaucrats, and other dignitaries. * Placing before the prime minister critical files of importance for approval and instructions. The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister is generally considered the latter's most crucial aide. Some principal secretaries are considered more powerful and influential than senior

Office holders

List of office holders of the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Additional principal secretary

A prime minister—through the

Appointments Committee of the Cabinet The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) appoints several top posts within the Government of India. The committee is composed of the Prime Minister of India (''ex-officio'' Chairman) and the Minister of Home Affairs. Originally the Minist ...

—can also appoint an additional principal secretary. The only instance of an additional principal secretary being appointed was in May 2014, Pramod Kumar Misra, a retired 1972-batch Gujarat cadre

(IAS) officer, was appointed by the

to serve as newly-elected Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

History

Powers

Office holders

Additional principal secretary

Notes

References

Bibliography

Books

Paper