In India, the system of government is quite different than other countries.
In India, the situation is somewhat wherein a minister, who is indeed a part of the legislature and also the holding command over the permanent professional civil servants whose administrative head is the secretary, puts the minister on the top of this body.
The system of government is different from that in the USA too.
The relationship between the ministry and the secretary is of utmost importance as it can hamper the proper functioning of the government. The minister is a politician and acts like one.
He comes to the office knowing what the people expect from the government and what could cause a problem for them. The minister is not a permanent government servant as his fortune depends on the well-being of his political party.
It is known that the ministers have the legislative experience to their credit but not so much governmental experience. On the other hand, the secretary is a permanent civil servant having great administrative experience.
From the above statements, we can understand that each one supplements the other. But when one lacks in performing its role properly, it causes misunderstanding and obstructs the smooth running of the administration.
Policy and Administration:
There is a very important relationship between the two; the minister and the secretary. When the minister lays down the policy, it becomes the duty of the secretary to implement it.
As the minister is at the top of his office, the secretary needs to record all the decisions made by the minister, even if the decisions are made orally, to remove any confusion and ambiguity at the time of concern.
As we already know that policy-making is a very important function of the minister and it can only be formulated based on the facts and data presented by the secretary.
The secretary is also the principal advisor to his minister. The secretary must also keep his minister informed of all the important notices and decisions.
It is impossible to separate policy-making from this two as they are an integral part of the process. It is said that because of the above reason a close relationship must exist between the minister and his secretary.
The relationship must be full of trust as the secretary is the one to provide the minister with the data for policy-making.
The minister is directly answerable to the parliament so the secretary must keep this in mind while being the only advisor to the minister. It is also important for the secretary to maintain a good image of his minister outside, to the people.
Legislative Control:
In any type of government whether presidential or parliamentary, the legislature is the most important organ of the government as it can create laws and also has the representatives of the people.
In India, we have a parliamentary form of government. This government is based on the collective responsibility of the members.
The parliament consists of the ministers that are elected as their representatives by the people and therefore the ministers are responsible to the parliament for the policies and actions that are taken.
The legislative control is indirect in such a system and is only through ministers. The higher officials cannot be held responsible as they take shelter behind the principle of ministerial responsibility and remain anonymous.
Therefore it is the ministers who assume the responsibility for the actions taken by the administration.
It can be seen how important the relationship between the minister and a secretary is. It can hamper the way the government functions. The relationship is built on intangible elements such as trust and understanding but is necessary to maintain these things.
It will be helpful for both the minister as well as the secretary and in long run, for the country.
Written by: Bhavish Doshi
Edited by: Gourav Chowdhury
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