Defence Secretary (India)

As a secretary to the Government of India, the Defence Secretary ranks 23rd on Indian order of precedence, along with all other secretaries to the Government of India, and lieutenant generals in the grade of army commander.

Powers, responsibilities and postings

The defence secretary is the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence, and is the principal adviser to the minister of defence on all matters of policy and administration within the Ministry of Defence.

The role of defence secretary is as follows:

• To act as the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence. The responsibility in this regard is complete and undivided.
• To act as the chief adviser to the defence minister on all aspects of policy and administrative affairs.
• To represent the Ministry of Defence before the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament of India.
• The defence secretary is responsible for coordinating the activities of the other departments (Department of Defence Production, Department of Military Affairs, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare and Department of Defence Research and Development) in the Ministry of Defence.
• To act as the first among equals among the secretaries in the Ministry of Defence.