Chief Secretary
- The Chief Secretary is the executive head of the state secretariat.
- He is the administrative head of the state administration and stands at the apex of the hierarchy of state administration.
- In fact, he is the chief of the secretaries and controls all the secretariat departments.
- He is the senior-most civil servant in the state.
- He has the powers and functions mentioned in the ‘Rules of Business’ framed by the state government.
- He also receives some of his powers from conventions.
- He performs the following primary and other functions.
Primary Functions
- As an advisor to the Chief Minister, the Chief Secretary explains the administrative implications of the proposals forwarded by the state ministers.
- As secretary to the cabinet, he prepares the agenda for cabinet meetings and keeps the records of its proceedings.
- As the head of civil service, he deals with all cases related to appointments, transfers and promotion of senior state civil servants.
- As chief coordinator, he works towards ensuring inter-departmental coordination. He is the chairman of coordination committees set up for resolving interdepartmental disputes.
- As the head of certain departments, he supervises and controls them; and
- As a crisis administrator, he plays a very significant role in times of crisis like floods, drought, communal disputes, etc in the state.
Other Functions
- The Chief Secretary acts as the residual legatee, ie, he looks after all the matters not included within the purview of other secretaries.
- He exercises general supervision and control over the entire secretariat.
- He acts as the secretary, by rotation, of the Zonal Council in which the state concerned is a member.
- He has administrative control over the secretariat building, staff attached to the ministers, the secretariat library, the conservancy and ward staff of the secretariat departments.
- He is the principal channel of communication among the state government, the central government and the other state governments.
- He plays an important role in the administration of law and order and planning.
- He acts as a spokesman of the state government.
- He attends the meetings of the National Development Council. He acts as the chief public relations officer of the state government;
- He acts as the chief advisor to the governor when the president’s rule is imposed in the state under Article 356 of the constitution when the central advisors are not appointed.
- Thus, the Chief Secretariat of Tamil Nadu is the nerve centre of state administration in general.
- As such, the Chief Secretary who is the chief all secretaries is the nerve system of secretariat administration in particular in the state of Tamil Nadu.