February 06, 2019:
Secretary to the Government of India is a post and a rank under the Central Staffing Scheme of the Government of India.
The authority for the creation of this post solely rests with the Union Council of Ministers.
The position holder is generally a career civil servant, mostly from the Indian Administrative Service and a Government official of high seniority.
The post of the Secretary, however, is an ex-cadre post, hence, anyone can occupy it, but the office-bearers generally are either from All India Services (deputation; on tenure, after empanelment) or Central Civil Services (Group A; on empanelment).
All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
In the functioning of Government of India, a Secretary is the administrative head of a Ministry or Department, and is equivalent to Chief Secretaries of State Governments and Vice Chief of the Army Staff, commanders, Officers of the rank of full four-star general and their equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces, and are listed as such on the Indian order of precedence, ranking twenty-third.
Here is the list of current Secretaries to the Government of India
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