Structure of Government of India

Dr.K.Tirupataiah,IFS (R )
Chief Consultant ( Trg)
 Government of India

• Union Government
• Central Government
• Republic of India
 Government of India

• New Delhi protested on the inaction of Beijing

on the border issue......
• Metonym
– A thing or concept is referred to by the name of
something closely associated with that thing or
concept
 West Minister Style

• Palace of West Minister, the place of the

Parliament in UK
– A Parliamentary government that incorporates a
series of procedures for operating a legislature
– First developed in UK
 GoI-
2nd Administrative Reforms Commission report

• 1st Report : Right to Information: Master Key to Good

Governance
• 2nd Report: Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlements and
Governance
• 3rd Report:Crisis Management
• 4th Report:Ethics in Governance
• 5th Report:Public Order
• 6th Report:Local Governance
• 7th Report:Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution
• 8th Report:Combating Terrorism - Protecting by Righteousness
 GoI-
2nd Administrative Reforms Commission report
• 9th Report Social Capital-A shared Destiny
• 10th Report Refurbishing of Personnel
Administration & Scaling New Heights
• 11th Report Promoting e-Governance : The Smart
Way Forward
• 12th Report Citizen Centric Administration
• 13th Report Organizational structure of GoI
• 14th Report Strengthening Financial Management
Systems
• 15th Report State and District Administration
GoI-2nd ARC-Strengths of GoI Structure

– Structure, rules and procedures

– Permanent civil service-continuity & stability
– Strong link between policy & implementation
– National outlook among public
functionaries/servants
GoI-2nd ARC-Weaknesses in Structure of GoI

– Undue emphasis on routine functions

– Extended hierarchy, too many levels
 History

• The 1883 Government of India Act passed by

the British Parliament,
• the first act of law to use the epithet
“Government of India”
• Government of India Act 1919
• 1935 Government of India Act
 History
• 1935 Government of India Act
– Largest act passed by the British parliament until
1999
– Substantially used for framing the constitution of
India
– Burma separated
– RBI Set up
– Federal court set up
– Federal PSC, Provincial PSCs
– Direct elections
 History

• Constituent Assembly
– MN Roy proposal
– Indirectly elected
– Drafting of the constitution
 Preamble

• India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of

States.......................................
 The President

• The President–The executive power of the

Union formally vests in the President
• exercised by him/her either directly or
through officers subordinate
• In accordance with the Constitution.
 The President

• Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

• In actual practice the executive power of the
Union resides in the Council of Ministers.
• The Council of Ministers consists of three
categories of Ministers, namely:
(a) Cabinet Ministers;
(b) Ministers of State; and
(c) Deputy Ministers.
 The Cabinet

• The Cabinet, which consists of Ministers of the first

category only,
• is responsible for shaping the overall policies of
the Government in discharging its responsibilities.
• A Minister of State with Independent Charge also
attends a Cabinet meeting when subject matter of
his/her Department is considered.
• The Cabinet also functions through its Committees.
 Office Procedures

• Chain of Command and Span of Control-

covered in an important document
• Central Secretariat Manual of Office
Procedure (CSMoP).
• It’s called Government Machinery
 The Government Business
• Allocation/Transaction of government business –
(1) rules issued by the President for the convenient
transaction of the business of the Government, under
Article 77(3) of the Constitution, are:
• a) The Government of India (Allocation of Business)
Rules; 1961(As amended from time to time). and
• b) The Government of India (Transaction of Business)
Rules 1961 (As amended from time to time).
• Secretariat (www.cabsec.nic.in)
 The Government Business

• The Allocation as per of Business Rules

• assigned to the Ministers by the President on the
advice of the Prime Minister.
• In relation to the business allotted to a Minister,
rules permit the association of another Minister
or Deputy Minister to perform such functions as
may be specifically assigned to him.
 The Government Business
• ToBR seek to define the authority, responsibility and
obligations of each department
• the business allotted to a department will be disposed of
by, or under the direction of the Minister-in-charge,
• these rules also specify:
(a) Cases or classes of cases to be submitted to the President,
the Prime Minister, the Cabinet or its committees for prior
approval; and
(b) The circumstances in which the department primarily
concerned with the business under disposal will have to
consult other departments concerned and
• secure their concurrence before taking final decisions.
 GoI-PM Focus areas
Minimum Govt. and Max Governance
i. Public goods (Defense, Police, Judiciary etc.);
ii. Its externalities (such as pollution);
iii. Empowering markets (restrict monopoly);
iv. Fill information gaps; and
v. Ensuring a well-designed welfare and subsidy
mechanism.
 Organizational structure
To what degree are activities subdivided into Work Specialization
separate jobs?
On what basis will jobs be grouped together? Departmentalization
To whom do individuals report? Chain of Command
How many individuals can an officer Span of Control
efficiently and effectively control?
Where does decision making authority lie? Centralization and
decentralization
To what degree will there be rules and Formalization
regulations to direct officers and staff
Generic and Specific tasks, JOB CHART?
 Ministry/Department

Ministry/ formulation of policies/ schemes of the

Department government in relation to business
allocated to it and also for the execution
and review of those policies.
Department is divided into
Wings, Divisions, Branches and
Sections/Cells
 Ministry/Department

Secretary Administrative Head

Addl Secy/Joint Secy Heads of wings
Divisions Director/JD/Dy Secy
Branches Under Secy/BO
Section ASO/Sr. Sect Asst as DO
Jr Sect Asst for support
 West Minister Style

• Head of State
• Legislature-Law making body
• Executive-Law implementing body
• Judiciary-law interpretation, administration of
justice
 Ministry/Department

• there are certain variations, the most notable among

them being the
Desk Officer system
• In this system, the work of a Department at the lowest
level is organized into distinct functional desks each
manned by desk functionaries
• Under Secretary or Section Officer.
• Each desk functionary handles the cases himself/herself
and is provided adequate support staff.
 ASO
In General cases will put up a note keeping in view the
following points-
(i) to see whether all facts open to check have been
correctly stated;
(ii) to point out any mistakes or incorrect statement of the
facts;
(iii) to draw attention, where necessary, to precedents or
Rules and Regulations on the subject;
(iv) to put up the Guard file, if necessary, and supply other
relevant facts and figures;
(v) to bring out clearly the question under consideration
and suggest a course of action wherever possible
 Attached/Subordinate offices
• Attached offices
• For decentralized executive action/direction
• Serve as repository of technical information
• Subordinate offices
• filed establishments-report to attached
office/department
 Other Bodies
• Constitutional Bodies-under the Constitution-UPSC
• Statutory Bodies-under a statute/Act-NCW
• Autonomous bodies-MoA-AIIMS, CBSE
• Central Public Sector Enterprises->50%equity by GoI-
Companies-AAI, FCI, CWCI-shares held by the PoI
• Dept -run banking /insurance not covered
 Information & Facilitation Centers
• Information and Facilitation Counters (IFCs)- provide the
following services to the clients/customers of the
organization:
(1) Information regarding services provided and
programmes, schemes etc.
(2) Facilitating the customer/client to obtain the services
of the Organization optimally, timely, efficiently
(3) Information regarding the standards of quality of
service, time norms, etc.
(4) Information regarding hierarchical set up of Public
Grievance Redress Machinery of the organization;
(5) Receiving, acknowledging and forwarding & monitoring
 Empowered Organization.

• typology of empowerment styles:

i) Information sharing (downward communication)
ii) Upward problem solving (I am there to protect
you)
iii) Task autonomy (peer pressure becomes prime
control mechanism)
iv) Attitudinal shaping (training, education,
confidence building)
v) Self-management (shift from “THEM” to “ME”
model)
 Challenges for You

a. High tolerance level towards slow and centralized

decision making;
b. Short-term focus;
c. Individual orientation scores over team orientation;
d. Avoidance of conflict;
e. Low risk-tolerance;
f. Focus on results than on process;
g. Individual accountability;
 Challenges for You

h. Little or no horizontal cooperation;

i. Highly politicized environment;
j. Resistance to change;
k. Guarded communication;
l. Slow communication;
m. Adoption of indirect communication styles.
Government of India-Topics for discussion

– What steps do you suggest for Minimum

Government-Maximum Governance
– Is chain of command and span of control in
your department ideal? Suggestions to
change?
– How do you plan to overcome the challenges
faced by an ASO?