CABINET SECRETARY (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity & Governance

Context: Cabinet Secretary got an extension in service for another year. 

• He will remain in office till August 30, 2024.
• This is the third time his service has been extended for another year.
• He was in 2019 appointed to the country’s top bureaucratic post for two years.
• He was given one-year extension in 2021 and then in August last year.

Cabinet Secretary

• The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official and senior-most civil servant of the Government of India.
• She/he is the ex-officio head of the Civil Services Board, the Cabinet Secretariat, the IAS, and all civil services under the rules of business of the government.
• She/he ranks eleventh on the Indian order of precedence.
• She/he is under the direct charge of the PM and is appointed for a fixed tenure of two years.
• The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Transaction of Business and the Allocation of Business Rules 1961.
• She/he facilitates smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government.
• Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and its Committees
• Assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination ,
• Ironing out differences amongst Ministries/ Departments
• Evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/ adhoc Committees of Secretaries
• In 2019, All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement-Benefits) Rules, 1958, was amended by Government to provide extension.
• According to All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement-Benefits) Rules, 1958, the government can give extension in service to a cabinet secretary provided the total tenure does not exceed four years.
• As per the modified rules, the central government may give an extension in service for a further period not exceeding three months, beyond the period of four years to a cabinet secretary.