Manual of Office Procedure

Duties of Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Joint Secretary of Secretariat Establishment

Author

Aditya Dahiya

Published

September 22, 2023

Basics

Definitions

  • Branch: The work unit within a department responsible for attending to items of work allotted to it. It includes ‘Cell,’ ‘Unit,’ ‘Section,’ and similar terms. Generally headed by a Branch In-charge, Superintendent, or other officials.
  • Branch Officer (Secretariat): An officer of the level of Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary responsible for work within the Branch.
  • Come-back Case: A case received back for further action, such as re-examination or drafting a summary.
  • Call Book: If a current case cannot be expedited for at least 6 months (e.g., cases held up in law courts), it may be transferred to the call book with approval from an officer not below the level of Branch Officer.
  • Sectional Note: A note recorded on one of the many issues raised in the PUC.
  • Standing Note: A continuing note explaining the history and development of policy and procedure, serving as background material for policy reviews, replies to Assembly questions, and induction/training material.

Organizational Set-Up

Business of the Haryana Government (Allocation) Rules, 1974

  • Allocate government business among different departments.

Rules of Business of the Government of Haryana, 1977

  • Define the authority, responsibility, and obligations of each department.
  • Specify cases to be submitted for prior approval to the Governor, Chief Minister, and Cabinet.
  • Describe circumstances requiring consultation with other departments.
  • Rule 18: Cases disposed of by or under the authority of the Minister-in-charge. Delegation via Standing Orders.
  • Rule 19: Minister’s arrangement with Administrative Secretary for cases brought to personal notice.
  • Rule 28: Matters required to be submitted to the Chief Minister/Governor.

Duties of Branch Officer

Part-I: Duties of Branch Officer

  1. A Branch officer is the junior most officer on the first rung of the secretariat hierarchy authorized to issue orders in the name of the Governor of Haryana as per Rule 9(i) of the Rules of Business of Government of Haryana, 1977.
  2. Control and supervise the Branch(es) placed in his charge.
  3. Guide the staff on how to deal with papers, both generally and in individual cases.

Part-II: Duties of Branch Officer

  1. Check for delay, superfluous noting, and prolixity of language, whether in notes or drafts, and enforce the rigid observance of all rules.
  2. Pass final orders approving proposals of a routine nature or requiring only the formal sanction of Government.
  3. Ensure that points on which orders are required are clearly and concisely set forth and ordinarily express his own views on them.

Part-III: Duties of Branch Officer

  1. Noting and drafting on cases of policy framing and complicated nature should, as far as possible, be done by the Branch Officer who should utilize the service of Dealing-hand/Assistant/Branch In-charge for the collection of statistics or papers.
  2. If there is any dispute on a particular receipt regarding which Branch or who will examine it, the decision for allocation shall be taken by the Branch officer.
  3. Make surprise visits to the Branch to check attendance and ensure that other instructions are correctly observed.

Duties of Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO)

Part-I: Duties of DDO

  1. Assist the Head of Office/Head of Department in the discharge of financial activities.
  2. Timely preparation and submission of receipts/expenditure through the online system.
  3. Timely submission of reports and returns to the Finance Department/Principal Accountant General, Haryana.

Part-II: Duties of DDO

  1. Maintenance of Salary Bills Register, TA Bills Register, Contingent Register, and Cash Book.
  2. Update entries in the Service Book of employees manually and through HRMS.
  3. Make available all records required by the Audit Party.

Duties of Branch In-charge (Superintendent / Section Officer / any other nomenclature)

Part-I: Branch In-charge duties

  1. Overall responsible for supervising the activities and performance of the Branch.
  2. Go through the dak received, mark it to the dealing hands with dated initials indicating the urgency.
  3. Return the dak not concerned to the Branch, if any.
  4. Send a photo-copy of fresh receipt of important nature to the higher authorities for perusal in case the said authorities have not seen the same, with the indication that action is being taken.

Part-II: Branch In-charge duties

  1. See that all the corrections have been made before submitting the fair draft for signatures.
  2. Give special instructions, where necessary, on the draft as to the manner of its issue, e.g., “By Registered Post,” “Insured Cover,” “Speed Post,” “By Hand through Special Messenger,” or Through email, etc.
  3. Keep a note in his personal diary about all important receipts like Court Cases; Assembly Business; Important letters received from GOI; and letter(s)/file(s) with the remarks of higher authorities which need prompt examination.

Part-III: Branch In-charge duties

  1. Scrutinize the notes and drafts submitted by Assistants for correctness and accuracy and add his own remarks or suggestions where necessary before submitting the case to the higher officers.
  2. Inspect the tables of his Assistant/Clerks periodically to see that fresh receipts and cases are properly and punctually submitted.
  3. Give priority markings on dak, drafts, letters, etc., and remove or revise such markings as and when necessary.

Part-IV: Branch In-charge duties

  1. Ensure that the Attendance Register is maintained correctly and submitted to the immediate superior in due time.
  2. Ensure availability of staff posted under him on holidays or early or late hours whenever required, maintain local addresses and mobile numbers of the entire staff.
  3. Ensure that each dealing hand and the diarist maintains all required registers and keep the same up-to-date. He should also check these registers at regular intervals.

Part-V: Branch In-charge duties

  1. Ensure that all Manuals, Acts, Rules, Instructions, Guard Files, and Precedent Registers of the Branch are kept up-to-date by inserting correction-slips or getting new editions.
  2. Keep in his custody the personal files of the staff and ensure that blank forms for annual reports are put up to the Officers In-charge of the officials working under them in the month of March.
  3. Check that the inventory of articles of furniture, etc., hung in their respective Rooms/Branches is kept up-to-date.

Duties of an Assistant/Dealing-hand

Duties of “dealing hand” - I

  1. An Assistant/dealing-hand posted in a branch/office works under the supervision of the Branch In-charge.
  2. He/she is expected to deal with all the matters allocated to him and submit to the Branch In-charge efficiently as per the prescribed procedure.
  3. Where a Record Keeper has not been provided, the functions of the Record Keeper will also be performed by the Assistant/Dealing-hand himself.

Duties of “dealing hand” - II

  1. Before proper examination of any issue on a file, Dealing-hand should ensure to go through the receipts to check the enclosures/facts and take note of any mistake(s).
  2. If a file exists for the receipt, add the receipt to the existing file containing previous papers. In case there is no file on the subject, a new file may be opened as per the procedure laid down.

Duties of “dealing hand” - III

  1. Put up the Standing Guard File/Precedents File or reference folder, other facts and figures relevant to the issue under consideration.
  2. Docket the receipt and reproduce the remarks, if any, recorded by an officer on the receipt, in the beginning on the right-hand side of his noting.
  3. Record his note on the noting-sheet as per the procedure laid down in Chapter-VII, Action on Receipt – Noting.

Duties of “dealing hand” - IV

  1. Bring out clearly the administrative, financial, and legal implications, if any, and suggest a course of action wherever possible.
  2. Prepare and keep up-to-date a “running summary of facts” or précis on a case where it is considered necessary.
  3. Put up a draft as per detailed procedure in Chapter-VIII of the Manual.
  4. Indicate the ‘Level’ of disposal in the margin of the note as per ‘Standing Order’ or any other order/decision in vogue.

Duties of “dealing hand” - V

  1. Maintain the Guard File of important decisions and instructions concerning him.
  2. Ensure acknowledgments to communications received from Members of Parliament, Legislature, and Public Bodies promptly, and issue interim replies if a delay is anticipated in sending out the final reply.
  3. Maintain a subject-wise collection of all important decisions and circulars/other communications relating to various subjects dealt with in the Branch along with standard drafts, if any.

File Referencing

Referencing on Files - I

  1. Every page of the noting/correspondence portion of the file should be consecutively numbered.
  2. The paper under consideration or a fresh receipt will be flagged ‘PUC’ on the right corner of the paper.
  3. In case a draft reply is also added, it will be flagged ‘DFA’ on the left corner of the paper. In referring to the papers, the relevant page number of the noting/correspondence portions will be quoted invariably in the margin of PUC/DFA.

Referencing on Files - II

  1. The recorded files and all other papers which are put up with the current file will be flagged with alphabetical slips for quick identification.
  2. Only one alphabetical slip will be attached to each recorded file or compilation. While giving reference to the papers contained therein, those should be identified by the relevant page in addition to the alphabetical slip, e.g., A/15, A/29, and so on.

Referencing on Files - III

  1. Whenever reference to the papers contained in other files is given in the note, the number of the file may also be quoted in the note in order to facilitate the location of the reference after those files are removed from the current file after completion of action.
  2. When a single reference is quoted in a fresh receipt, and that reference is in a file put up with another case, a copy of the required paper should be made, and the fresh receipt submitted with it to avoid delay.

Referencing on Files - IV

  1. No case should be kept pending until the connected references are available without the specific orders of the Branch In-charge.
  2. In urgent cases, the Branch In-charge should take orders of higher officers, and he should do the same in ordinary cases if the references needed do not become available within, say, a week of receipt of the communication. Such cases should always be shown in the arrear lists, and it should be noted whether the case is pending under the orders of an officer.

Noting and Drafting

Guidelines for Noting

  1. A note must be concise, clear, complete, correct, courteous, and to the point. Lengthy notes are to be avoided.
  2. The verbatim reproduction of extracts from or paraphrasing of the paper under consideration, fresh receipt, or any other part of correspondence or notes on the same file should be avoided.
  3. All notes should be written in the third person.
  1. Relevant extracts of the provisions of the Act, Rules, and /or guidelines will be placed on the file, and attention will be drawn to it in the note, rather than reproducing the relevant provisions in the note.
  2. Make a note of the actual points proposed to make without reiterating the ground already covered in the previous notes. If one agrees with the line of action suggested in the preceding note, merely append a signature.
  3. A self-contained note will be put up with every case submitted to the Administrative Secretary or Minister.
  1. A self-contained note is prepared while seeking advice or opinion or concurrence of another Department.
  2. Sufficient space, not less than one quarter of the page, should be left below the last recorded note in the note sheet of the file, especially when the file is submitted to the Secretary or Minister level.
  1. Two extra blank note-sheets should be added to the noting portion after completing the note.
  2. The dealing hand (non-gazetted) is required to sign the note on the extreme left part near the margin. However, the gazetted officers will sign on the right-hand side.

U.O. Letter or Un-Official References - I

  1. Inter-departmental references are made un-officially to officers and Heads of Departments who are not part of Secretariat.
  2. When Secretaries to Government desire to obtain an expression of opinion, advice, or supplementary information from such officers and Heads of Departments in an un-official manner, they should do so by sending the files and notes.
  3. It is only where these officers make references as Secretaries on their own files that it is treated as an un-official reference.

U.O. Letter or Un-Official References - II

  1. In the case of inter-departmental reference, the department or office of origin should state, with as much precision as possible, the specific points in respect to which reference is made.
  2. References to the Legal Remembrancer should definitely state the points on which his opinion or advice is required.

U.O. Letter or Un-Official References - III

  1. In every file referred to by one department or office to another department or office, the notes written in the department or office referred to should (when this is desirable) be on separate sheets (in duplicate) from the notes written in the referring department, and the conclusion only should be recorded under the signature of the officer to whom an un-official reference was made.

Level of Approval of Draft

  • After the orders are passed by the competent authority on a file, the Draft for Approval (DFA) should be approved by the authority minimum one step above the authority who has to sign the fair draft, except in routine cases (e.g., reminder letter, supply of definite information) after the approval of the competent authority.

Drafting by Officers of Important Cases

  • Branch officers are expected to prepare drafts of important cases. As a general rule, the Branch officer should send to Branch only such cases for submission of drafts, which can easily be followed by an Assistant/Dealing hand.

Inter-Departmental Consultation

  • On file, the consultation with the concerned Department can be done by either of the two methods:
    • By referring the case file; or
    • By making a self-contained U.O. (Un-Official) reference with all relevant documents.
  • The first method is the common one and is generally followed in most of the cases, as it is simple because all relevant papers are usually available in the case file.

Dealing Files from Another Department

  • In every file referred by one Department to another for advice, concurrence, or opinion, the notes written by the Department or Branch/Section referred to should be on a ‘shadow file,’ i.e., a separate file.
  • In case the proposal of the receiving Department has been approved by the concerned Minister-in-Charge/Chief Minister, then a specific mention should be made in the advice being tendered to the referring Department that “Minister-in-Charge or Chief Minister, as the case may be, has approved.”

File Presentation

Examination of File Note by a Branch In-charge

  • When making suggestions for approval of senior officers, the Branch In-charge will confine his note to the actual points he proposes to make without re-iterating the grounds already covered in the previous notes.
  • State the questions for consideration and bring out clearly the points requiring a decision.

Running Summary of Facts

  • To facilitate consideration and to obviate repeated recapitulation in important, complex, and court cases, a running summary of facts will be prepared and placed on the file in a separate folder labeled as such in every case where it is evident that such a summary would contribute to its speedy disposal.
  • Previous versions of the running summary, if any, shall not be destroyed.

Modification of Notes or Order

  • Where a final decision already communicated to a party is found later on to have been given on a mistaken ground or wrong facts or wrong interpretation of rules due to misunderstanding or otherwise, such replacement or modification of a note may have legal implications.
  • In all such cases, wherever necessary, a review of the decision should be examined, and the revised decision shall be taken with the approval of an officer higher than the one, if available, who took the original decision.

Types or Categories of Cases and Quantum of Noting

Type or Category of the Case Quantum of Noting
1 Ephemeral No noting is needed
2 Action in Correspondence Cases Short notes of a few sentences
3 Routine or Repetitive Case Develop and use Standard Process Sheet
4 Problem Solving Case A structured and detailed note is prepared.
5 Policy/Planning Case Detailed note is prepared covering various aspects, implications, and expected outcomes of a policy to be developed or under review.

Charge Notes for the Successor

Components of a Charge handing-over Note - I

  1. List of key areas/responsibilities related to key areas.
  2. Staff position at present.
  3. A brief write-up on the sensitive matters being dealt with in the Division.

Components of a Charge handing-over Note - II

  1. List of documents required by the officer for handling the responsibilities are annexed.
  2. What were the predecessor’s experiences of working in the ministry/Department and what steps need to be taken to improve the situation.
  3. Challenges that he/she has faced and how they have overcome them.

Components of a Charge handing-over Note - III

  1. What are the constraints under which the work had to be undertaken.
  2. Details of counterparts in other Ministries with whom constant interaction takes place and also details of officers of nodal ministries/Departments.
  3. List of counterparts in various Departments along with the subject matter.

Documents to be Kept in Office of JS / DS / US

List of important documents - I

  1. Second Schedule of Rules of Business of Haryana Government, 1977.
  2. Relevant portion of the Business of the Haryana Government (Allocation) Rules, 1974.
  3. Organisation / Functional Chart.
  4. Work allocation with details of work allocated to sections.

List of important documents - II

  1. List of attached offices, subordinate offices, autonomous bodies.
  2. Delegation of powers and Departmental instructions for decision-making within the Organisation.
  3. Parliamentary matters - A folder containing answers provided to previous questions, notes for supplementary questions, Question days of the Ministry/Department.

List of important documents - III

  1. Court cases - Status of court cases requiring attention.
  2. Projects/schemes completed and under process.
  3. Budget provision and the status of the utilization of funds/budget. Action on additional budget requirements, pending Audit paragraphs.
  4. RTI applications - pending.

List of important documents - IV

  1. Important instructions on files from senior officers on which responses are pending.
  2. Important meetings in the next fortnight. Follow-up action on previous meetings.
  3. List of periodic reports that are generated by the office and that are received by the office.

A.I. in our Workplace

Why?

1. The Fall of the Byzantine Empire:

  • The Byzantine Empire fell in 1453 to the Ottoman Empire in part because they failed to adopt newer military technologies such as gunpowder cannons and firearms. This historic event illustrates how the reluctance to embrace technological innovation can lead to a civilization’s downfall.

2. The Kodak Story:

  • Kodak, once a dominant force in the photography industry, failed to embrace digital photography technology in its early stages. The company’s reluctance to adapt eventually led to its decline, while digital photography companies like Canon and Nikon thrived. This story emphasizes the importance of staying ahead in the technology curve.

3. Nokia and the Smartphone Revolution:

  • Nokia, once the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, underestimated the shift toward smartphones and touchscreen technology. Their inability to adapt quickly led to a significant decline in market share and eventual acquisition by Microsoft. It underscores the importance of recognizing and adapting to industry-changing technologies.

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Conclusion

Thank You