Administrative Structure of Himachal Pradesh :

The present-day administrative system of Himachal Pradesh is somewhat different from the one it had as a Part 'C State or as a Union Territory. The basic point which one has to bear in mind is that as long as Himachal Pradesh v/as a part 'C State or a union territory its administration was run in the name of the President of India by a Lieutenant-Governor. Whereas now the administration is run by the state government which consists of Governor, the Council of Ministers and the administrative officials.

Following are the components of the administrative system in Himachal Pradesh :

i) The Governor:

The Governor is the head of the state administration. All the executive powers of the state are vested in him. But he does not exercise these powers on his own. These powers are exercised by him on the advice of the Council of Ministers. He is a constitutional head or nominal head.

 ii) The Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers:

There is a Chief Minister along with council of ministers. The council of Ministers and its leader, the Chief Minister, actually and effectively exercise all the powers which have formally been vested in the Governor by the constitution. They carry on administration with the help of permanent civil servants drawn from the Indian Administrative Services, State Administrative Services and other specialized services. The Chief Secretary is the head of the permanent administrative machinery. There are other secretaries. Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Under Secretaries etc. in the Secretariat. Each District has a Deputy Commissioner. There are Divisional Commissioners in between the Deputy Commissioners and the Secretariat Chief Medical Officer, District Education Officer and the Superintendent of Police are three important officials at the district level. Numerous other social and welfare departments are headed by their respective officers. These administrative officers play a vital role and help in implementing the pledges and policies of the ministers. They place at the latter's disposal their expert advice and help in the formulation of various schemes for the welfare of the people.

iii )The Legislative Assembly :

The Legislative Assembly is the popular elected house. The members are elected on the basis of adult franchise. In Himachal Pradesh there are 68 members of the Legislative Assembly out of which 19 belong to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Like central administration, different administrative departments have been established in State Governments to run administration effectively. Every department is under the control of some minister who works as political head of the department and he is responsible to the legislative assembly for his department. A minister can hold more than one department. There is a secretary to assist the minister. He works as administrative head. Secretary is appointed from amongst I.A.S. Officers working in the state. All departments are divided into sub-departments, branches, sections and sub-sections. Secretary has full control over the department. Group of all departments of the State Government whose administrative heads are secretaries and political heads are ministers is called Secretariat.

iv ) The Secretary  :

The secretary to the Government as a whole, not to the individual minister. The number of Secretariat departments is usually greater than the number of secretaries. The practice, normally, is to entrust more than one department to the charge of one Secretary. Secretary is the principal adviser to the Minister, head of department under his charge, is responsible for carrying out the policies and decisions made by the political chief and finally represents his 88 department before the committees of the legislature.

v ) Department :

A department consists of officers and the office. Among officers are included, besides the secretary, the Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary and/or Assistant Secretary. There may also be Additional and Joint Secretaries in the larger departments. Secretaries, Additional Secretaries, Joint Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Under-Secretaries are all subject to the well-known tenure system, appointed in the Secretariat for only a fixed term. The only exception to the tenure system is the Chief Secretary. The office comprises of the Superintendent or Section Officer, Assistants, Upper Division Clerks, Lower Division Clerks, Steno-typists and Typists. Unlike officers, the office constitutes the permanent element in the secretariat system. The number of secretariat departments natrually varies from state to state.

vi ) District Administration :

The government and administration can not be effectively conducted from a single centre. Therefore, state is divided into three divisions with divisional commissioner as head of the division. Each Division is divided into four districts with Deputy Commissioner as a head of the district. District has been and continues to be the principal unit of administration in India. The activities of the district administration cover a wide range and touch the lives of people at many points.

The  primary emphasis in the district administration is on the implementation of development programme with the cooperation and support of the people. Each district is divided into two or more sub-divisions, each of which is in the charge of a sub-divisional officer. Each sub-division is divided into two or more administrative areas called tehsils, under the charge of a tehsildar. Tehsils are divided, for administrative convenience, into sub-tehsils and these are further divided into revenue circles.

               It is clear from the above how administration is running in Himachal Pradesh. To keep control over the administration there are mainly three agencies i.e. legislature, executive and the judiciary.