Administrative Machinery: National, State, District, Block and Institutional Level.

 

Administrative Machinery: National, State, District, Block and Institutional Level.

India has adopted a federal form where there is a clear demarcation of subjects and powers between the central government, i.e. government of the union and the state governments. It is a federation but with a distinction. Though, federations have two-tier governing arrangement, but India has created a third structure of governance. Since 1992 when the country enacted the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution. Since then, local government in India – both rural and urban – has been included in the constitution. It is a bold measure of empowerment of local government.

There is no mention of the machinery of the government or the term like the Secretariat in the Constitution. There is simply a provision which empowers the President of India to make rules for the transaction of business.

Administrative Machinery at the Central Level:

Central secretariat may be defined as a common name for all the ministries and departments of the central government. The political head of the ministry is the minister and administrative head is the Secretary.

The main function of the secretariat is to advise the minister concerned in matters of policy and administration. Each minister is aided by the secretariat staff.

Organization of the Cabinet Secretariat:

The Cabinet Secretariat was created in 1947, another administrative machinery of the centre is Cabinet Secretariat, it can be understood in terms of organisation and function. It is headed politically, by the Prime Minister and administratively, by the Cabinet Secretary. Today, the Cabinet Secretariat has three wings – Civil Wing, Military Wing and Intelligence Wing. In 1988, the Directorate of Public Grievances was set up as its organ.

The function of the Cabinet Secretariat is to provide secretarial assistance to the cabinet and its various committees and make preparations them for the meetings of the cabinet, providing information and material necessary for its deliberations; it keeps a record of the discussions and decision of the cabinet

The next important role of the cabinet secretariat is that of functioning as the prime coordinating agency in the government of India. Several cases are brought before the cabinet secretariat involving the President, the Prime Minister, various ministries and the Parliament, on which it provides aid, advice and assistance.

Cabinet Secretary:

Cabinet Secretary as stated earlier, is the administrative head of the cabinet Secretariat. The office of Cabinet Secretary was created in 1950. The Cabinet Secretary functions under the leadership of the Prime Minister who is its minister in charge at the political level. He is drawn from the Senior most officers of the Indian Administrative Services. It is expected that he should be a man of rich administrative experience.

Although the chief function of the Cabinet Secretary is to provide assistance to the council of ministers, in fact, he deals primarily with cabinet affairs.

One important function of the Cabinet Secretary is to preside over the meetings of the Committee of Secretaries on administration which is set up to resolve inter-ministerial disputes. He also presides over the Chief Secretaries conferences.

The secretariat’s primary responsibility is to assist and advise the ministers in respect to the following matters:

Ø Making and modifying policies

Ø  Forming legislation rules and regulations

Ø Budgeting and control of expenditure

Ø Coordination and integration of policies and programmes, contact with state governments.

Ø Assisting the minister in discharge of his parliamentary responsibilities.

Main Functions of Cabinet Secretariat:

Ø Addresses and messages of the President to the Parliament.

Ø Cases involving negotiation with foreign countries on treaties and agreements etc.

Ø Cases involving financial implications.

Ø Cases which a minister puts to the cabinet for decision and directions. Cases of disagreements among ministries.

Ø Cases which the President or the Prime Minister may require to be put before the cabinet

Ø Proposals to appoint public committees of enquiry and consideration of reports of such enquiries.

 Prime Minister’s Office (PMO):

PMO is headed politically by the Prime Minister and administratively by the principal secretary. It deals with all governmental files and preparing, keeping the all records in the office.

 

 

 

The PMO performs several other functions such as:

Ø Maintaining liaison with central ministries and the state governments.

Ø It helps the PM in discharging his responsibilities as chairman of the Planning Commission and the National Development Council.

Ø It acts as the public relations agency of the PM and is considered as the ‘think-tank’ of the PM.

Ø It also deals with all such subjects which are not allotted to any ministry or department.

Think-tank - Group of experts studying and solving problems.

State Secretariat:  

It is the nerve center of state administration. It consists of several ministries and departments of state government. The Ministries, departments are headed politically by the ministers and administratively by the secretaries. The chief secretary is the head of the entire state secretariat, while, a secretary is head of one or two departments. He is usually a senior IAS officer. Here, it should be noted that the secretary is a secretary to the state government as a whole and not to the individual minister concern.

Organisation The number of secretariat departments vary from state to state. It ranges from 15 to 35 departments. There are certain departments which are found common to all the states. These are mainly General Administration, Home, Finance, Jail, Forest, Agriculture, Labour and Employment, Panchayati Raj, Public Works, Education, Planning, Social Welfare, Housing, Transport, Irrigation and Power, Law, local government, Health, Excise and Taxation, Industries, Publicity and Information unclear etc.

The State Secretariat performs mainly the following functions:

1.    To assist the Minister in the fulfilment of his task.

2.    To formulate the policies and programmes of the state government.

3.    To coordinate with state government/ Ministers to implement the program.

4.    To prepare the state budget.

5.     To frame legislation, rules and regulations.

6.     To review the results of the execution of the policy.

7.     To maintain contacts with Central and other State governments.

8.    To receive the complaints, representations and appeals from the people and solve them.

District Administration:

According to S.S. Khera, “District administration is the total functioning of government”. It continues to be the hub of Indian administration.

The government at the centre and the state level cannot implement its policies directly from the headquarters. Therefore, the state is divided into territorial divisions and districts. The actual work of the government is carried out at the district level. People tend to judge the performance of the government by the way the programmes are actually administered in the district. The people come into direct contact with the administration at the district level more than the state or central level.

The functions of the Head of the Directorate are:

1. To provide technical advice to the Ministers.

2. To prepare the budget of the department.

3. To inspect implementation of work by the departmental district staff.

4. To render/ provide advice to the State Public Service Commission regarding promotions and disciplinary actions.

 5. To organize in service training programmes for departmental officers.

District Development Officer.

He is made responsible for both regulatory and development administration. His role in rural development has also to be viewed in terms of his position in and relationship with the Zilla Parishads. This role has been changing and a balance has been resorted between the autonomy of the Zilla Parishad and the powers of the collector. Again the 73rd and 74th amendments and the enactments on Panchayati Raj by various states in 1993 and early 1994 have changed the role and the responsibilities of the collector with regard to developmental activities

Administration Below District Level:

 For administrative purposes the district is divided into subdivisions, Tehsils, Parganas or Circle and the village is at the lowest level. The sub division is headed by SDO – SDM/ Assistant Collector. He performs revenue as well as law and order functions in his sub divisions. He is a link between the district collector and the tehsildar in revenue matters and DM and the Station Police Officers in law-and-order matters. Tehsil is the basic unit for purposes of general administration, treasury, land revenue, land records, etc. Tehsil comprises of about 100 villages.

Block Development Officer (B.D.O.)

In 1952, Community development programmes started. A tehsil was divided into many blocks for administrative purposes. These blocks were in direct contact with the Villagers and could get the development programmes implemented quickly & effectively. B.D.O. is the main coordinator who implements the development programmes at the block level. He is a government servant selected by the State Public Service Commission. He functions as an agent of the state government under the supervision of the Tehsildar, He is closely related to the Panchayati Raj system. He acts as the secretary of the block level Panchayat Samiti.

Functions:

1. To convene the meetings of the block Samiti, to prepare its agenda and keep its records.

2. To prepare the budget at the block level.

3. To prepare programme for the development work and to assist in its implementation.

4. He supervises the work of the different agencies like Agriculture, Fisheries, Cattle stock etc.

 Administration in Institutional Level:

Universality Level:

Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Rector, Deans, Registrar, Finance Officer, Head of Department. etc.

College Level: Director, Principal, Head of Department, Coordinators, etc.

School Level:  Director, Principal, Headmasters/ Headmistress, Coordinators etc.

The main functions of a Vice-Chancellor are the following:

Ø The Vice-Chancellor is ex-officio the Chairman of the Executive Council (Syndicate or Board of Management) and the Academic Council as well as the Finance Committee and other statutory bodies like the Planning Board and Selection Committees.

Ø As the Chief Executive, he/she is responsible for ensuring that the university functions in accordance with the provisions of the Acts, statutes, ordinances and regulations.

Ø He/she is responsible for ensuring discipline among teachers, staff and students;

Ø In an emergency, he/she can exercise any power of any authority and report the matter to the authority concerned for ratification of the action/decision.

Ø He/she can delegate his/her powers to other officers.