Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha

The Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha is the administrative head of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The secretary general is appointed by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Vice President of India). In Indian order of precedence, the post of secretary general is of the rank of Cabinet Secretary, who is the senior most bureaucrat in the Government of India.[1][2]

Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha
since 12 November 2021
TypeHead of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat
AppointerChairman of Rajya Sabha (Vice President of India)
Inaugural holderS. N. Mukherjee (1952–1963)
FormationMay 1952 (72 years ago) (1952-05)
Websiterajyasabha.nic.in

Role

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As the administrative head of the Rajya Sabha secretariat, the secretary general exercises the power vested in the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, including the determination of the strength, method of recruitment and of qualifications for various categories of post. The secretary general exercises financial powers and initiates budget proposals relating to the Rajya Sabha. The secretary general is assisted by a hierarchy of officers as Secretary, Joint Secretaries and Directors, who with the help of subordinate officers perform the entire functions of the Secretariat.[3][4]

It is the responsibility of the secretary general to summon each Member of Rajya Sabha to attend session of Parliament. When the President arrives to address Parliament, the secretary general along with Prime Minister, Vice President, Lok Sabha Speaker, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs receive the President at the gate of Parliament House and escorts the President to the Central Hall of the Parliament.[5]

The secretary general prepares a list of business for each day of the session in Rajya Sabha. The secretary general signs messages to be sent from Rajya Sabha to Lok Sabha and reports to the house messages received from the Lok Sabha. For the elections of President and Vice President, Secretary General of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha is appointed as returning officer along with one or more assistant returning officers.[6]

List of Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha

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List of Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha[7]
No. Name Term of office
Took office Left office Time in office
1 S. N. Mukherjee 13 May 1952 8 October 1963 11 years, 148 days
2 B. N. Banerjee 9 October 1963 31 March 1976 12 years, 174 days
3 S. S. Bhalerao 1 April 1976 30 April 1981 5 years, 29 days
4 Sudarshan Agarwal 1 May 1981 30 June 1993 12 years, 60 days
5 V. S. Ramadevi 1 July 1993 25 July 1997 4 years, 24 days
6 S. S. Sohoni 25 July 1997 2 October 1997 69 days
7 Ramesh Chandra Tripathi 3 October 1997 31 August 2002 4 years, 332 days
8 Yogendra Narain[8] 1 September 2002 14 September 2007 5 years, 13 days
9 V. K. Agnihotri 29 October 2007 30 September 2012 4 years, 337 days
10 Shumsher K. Sheriff[9] 1 October 2012 31 August 2017 4 years, 334 days
11 Desh Deepak Verma[10] 1 September 2017 31 August 2021 3 years, 364 days
12 P. P. K. Ramacharyulu[11] 1 September 2021 11 November 2021 71 days
13 Pramod Chandra Mody[12] 12 November 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 9 days

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. August 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Introduction: Rajya Sabha Secretariat". rajyasabha.nic.in. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  3. ^ "STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS OF RAJYA SABHA SECRETARIAT" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. June 2009. p. 12. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ^ Prasad, Narmadeshwar. "Why it is vital for the credibility of India's Parliament secretary-generals to be restored". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  5. ^ "Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. August 2011. p. 10. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha" (PDF). Rajya Sabha. August 2011. pp. 10–13. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. ^ "FORMER SECRETARIES-GENERAL OF THE RAJYA SABHA". rajyasabha.nic.in. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  8. ^ "Yogendra Narain to be Rajya Sabha Secretary General". Zee News. 2002-08-29. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  9. ^ "Shumsher Sheriff assumes office of Rajya Sabha Secretary General". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  10. ^ "Retired UP bureaucrat appointed Rajya Sabha secretary-general". Hindustan Times. 2017-08-19. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  11. ^ "Rajya Sabha gets new Secretary General". The Hindu. 2021-08-31. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  12. ^ "Ex-CBDT chief PC Mody takes over as new Rajya Sabha secretary-general". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-03-08.