Rajasthan State Secretariat :

Secretariat as at the union level, each state has a secretariat of its own which is the highest echelon of the state administrative structure offering locus for the exercise of authority by the state government. The expression “Secretariat” is used to refer to the complex of departments whose political heads are ministers while the administrative heads are Secretaries to the Government. The entire administrative machinery of the state is divided into several departments. The secretariat is a conglomeration of all these departments.

A secretariat department is different from an executive department. The latter is the executive organisation of the government and has its top a functionary, generally known as the head of the department. The Agriculture Department in the secretariat, for instance is headed by the Secretary Agriculture, but has the Director of Agriculture as its head of the department. The latter is subordinate to the former. Not all secretariat departments have, executive departments’ attached to them are engaged in an advisory and controlling capacity. Departments of Finance, Personnel, Planning, Administrative Reforms, Law, etc. come under this category.

The ministers are incharge of these departments and are answerable to the legislature for the activities therein. Below the ministers are posted in each department several career civil servants who carry out the orders of their political bosses, advise them and help them by providing necessary information required for facing the legislature and its committees.

The secretariat is divided into a number of departments. The exact number of departments varies from state to state. But there are few departments which are common to all states viz, General Administration, Personnel, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Public Works, Industries, Irrigation, Health, Education, Law, Medical, Planning, Information, Rural Development, Transport, Revenue etc.

The basic pattern of organisation in departments is broadly similar. The secretary is the official head and is assisted by one or more additional/ joint/ special, deputy and under/ assistant secretaries, depending upon the size of the department. Nomenclatures of these officials differ from state to state. In Rajasthan, for instance, the hierarchy comprises secretary, special secretary is given to an I.A.S officer who is of selection scale. Further a number of deputy and assistant secretaries belong to the State Secretariat Services. Most of the secretaries to the Government are I.A.S officers. Only a few belong to the specialist services. For instance, in Rajasthan the PWD Secretary is an engineer. For a few years, even the Secretary Irrigation was an engineer. Each department is divided into a number of sections with the section officer as incharge. He is assisted by assistants, clerks, typists etc.

Functions of Secretariat The broad functions of the secretariat in the Indian States mentioned briefly here:

 1. With its proximity to the seats of power, the secretariat tends to be the repository of all powers and authority of the state government. The secretariat helps the ministers in their individual and collective capacity to formulate policies on all matters of state administration.

2. It serves a ‘think –tank’ and ‘brain-trust’ of the state government. Since each policy is based on a body of data, the secretariat is a sort of data bank engaged in collecting information, classifying it, analysing it and supplying it promptly when most needed.

3. It is the main coordinating agency for state administration. The Departments of Planning, Finance, Personnel and General Administration help in this process of coordination.

4. It gives directions and guidance to the directorates and field organisations for the implementation of government policies.

5. It lays down rules and regulations for the guidance, advice and control of various public agencies and also helps the government in undertaking an evaluation of the work of these public agencies.

6. It also undertakes quasi-legislative work, as it helps the ministers in drafting legislation, framing rules and regulations and also formulates principles of procedures and financial control.

7. It approves service rules and their amendment.

8. It receives the complaints, representations and appeals from the people and solves them.

. It appoints heads of the departments and look into the consequent establishment work like salary administration.

10. It assists ministers in discharging their responsibilities to the state legislature, like answering questions.

Secretariat Reforms in Rajasthan :

1. The first major review of the working of the Rajasthan Government Secretariat was undertaken by G. Swaminathan of the Ministry of States, Government of India, in October, 1951. He made a number of recommendations regarding the norms, methods of working and strength of the Secretariat, a majority of which were implemented. Later in November, 1954 a committee was set up under the chairmanship of S.D. Ujjwal, the then Secretary to Government Home Department “to examine the mechanics of the Secretariat work, delegation of powers and methods of disposal and to make recommendations to the government to effect concrete improvement in the secretariat work”. As a result of its recommendations, the secretariat departments were reconstituted and more powers were delegated to field departments. In 1955, the Organisation and Method section was established (which now functions under the Department of Administrative Reforms) to serve as a nucleus for constant review of the administrative system and procedure in the government.

2. In 1960, as mentioned earlier, the cell system was introduced. This was not entirely an innovation of the Rajasthan government. It has been experimented with at the centre under several names, such as the ‘Officer-Oriented’ System. ‘Attache System’ and ‘Desk Officer System’. The system aimed primarily at cutting short delays and increasing delegation of more responsibilities to the cell officers. The system failed to develop roots for several reasons, some of which are that the cell does not have the benefit of personal memory, new officers find it difficult to deal with old cases as, despite the tenure system, transfers of administrative officers take place, and in case of elimination of office notes, consistency and continuity suffer.

3. In 1962, an Administrative Reforms Committee was set up by the state government and it also made suggestions regarding the working of the Secretariat.

4. The Rajasthan Secretariat Reorganisation Committee was set up in 1969, under the chairmanship of Mohan Mukerji to go into the details of the cell system and it pointed out the merits and demerits of the cell system.

5. In July 1981, the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Rajasthan Regional Branch, Jaipur organised a seminar on Administrative Reforms in Rajasthan. As regards secretariat reforms the seminar suggested that:

 a) Time schedule for disposal of papers at different levels be adhered to, to avoid delays; b) The levels of examination and decision making be reduced to three, to ensure quick disposal; and c) A continuous system of training for all levels of functionaries be started so that new methods of work and procedure are imbibed.