Defence Secretary (India) Indian Defence Secretary
The Defence Secretary (ISO : Rakṣā Saciv ) is the administrative head of the Ministry of Defence . This post is held by a senior Indian Administrative Service of the rank of secretary to the Government of India . The current Defence Secretary is Shri. Rajesh Kumar Singh IAS.[ 7]
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.[ 8]
Powers, responsibilities and postings
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.[ 9]
The role of Defence Secretary is as follows:
Emolument, accommodation and perquisites
The Defence Secretary is eligible for a diplomatic passport . The official earmarked residence of the Defence Secretary is 7, New Moti Bagh , New Delhi , a Type-VIII bungalow .[ 1]
The salary and emolument in this rank is equivalent[ 12] to chief secretaries of state governments and to Vice Chief of the Army Staff /GOC-in-C and its equivalents in the Indian Armed Forces .[ 12]
Defence Secretary monthly pay and allowances
Base salary as per the 7th Pay Commission (per month)
Pay matrix level
Sources
₹ 225,000 (US$2,600)
Pay level 17
[ 5] [ 6]
List of Defence Secretaries
List of Union Defence Secretaries[ 13] [ 14] [ 15]
S. No.
Name
Assumed office
Demitted office
1
G. S. Bhalja
21 July 1947
6 October 1947
2
H. M. Patel
7 October 1947
20 July 1953
3
B. B. Ghosh
21 July 1953
12 November 1953
4
M. K. Vellodi
13 November 1953
13 June 1957
5
O. Pulla Reddy
14 June 1957
21 November 1962
6
P. V. R. Rao
21 November 1962
3 April 1965
7
A. D. Pandit
4 April 1965
4 August 1965
(5)
P. V. R. Rao
5 August 1965
31 December 1966
8
V. Shankar
1 January 1967
2 November 1968
9
H. C. Sarin
3 November 1968
7 December 1970
10
K. B. Lall
8 December 1970
18 May 1973
11
Govind Narain
19 May 1973
31 May 1975
12
D. R. Kohli
1 June 1975
31 March 1977
13
Gian Prakash
4 April 1977
26 March 1978
14
S. Banerjee
27 March 1978
3 July 1979
15
J. A. Dave
9 July 1979
10 April 1980
16
K. P. A. Menon
5 May 1980
11 August 1981
17
P. K. Kaul
12 August 1981
30 June 1983
18
S. M. Ghosh
26 July 1983
25 June 1984
19
S. K. Bhatnagar
6 July 1984
31 May 1988
20
T. N. Seshan
1 June 1988
22 February 1989
21
Naresh Chandra
22 February 1989
21 March 1990
22
Narinder Nath Vohra
21 March 1990
6 April 1993
23
K. A. Nambiar
6 April 1993
6 June 1996
24
T. K. Banerjee
5 August 1996
31 May 1997
25
Ajit Kumar
31 May 1997
1 January 1999
26
T. R. Prasad
1 January 1999
20 October 2000
27
Yogendra Narain
20 October 2000
30 June 2002
28
Subir Dutta
20 June 2002
4 July 2003
29
Ajay Prasad
14 July 2003
30 June 2004
30
Ajai Vikram Singh
1 July 2004
31 July 2005
31
Shekhar Dutt
1 August 2005
31 July 2007
32
Vijay Singh
1 August 2007
31 July 2009
33
Pradeep Kumar
1 August 2009
14 July 2011
34
Shashi Kant Sharma
14 July 2011
22 May 2013
35
R. K. Mathur
25 May 2013
24 May 2015
36
G. Mohan Kumar
25 May 2015
24 May 2017
37
Sanjay Mitra
25 May 2017
23 August 2019
38
Ajay Kumar
23 August 2019
31 October 2022
39
Giridhar Aramane
1 November 2022
31 October 2024
40
Rajesh Kumar Singh
1 November 2024
Incumbent
See also
References
^ a b "Telephone numbers and addresses of top executives in Defence Ministry" (PDF) . Retrieved October 10, 2017 .
^ Khare, Harish (February 8, 2005). "Fixed tenure planned for Home, Defence Secretaries" . The Hindu . Retrieved January 10, 2018 . [dead link ]
^ "Fixed tenure for defence, home secretaries" . Rediff.com . September 22, 2005. Retrieved January 10, 2017 .
^ "Fixed tenure for Defence, Home Secretaries" . Outlook . September 22, 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2018 .
^ a b "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF) . Seventh Central Pay Commission , Government of India . Archived from the original (PDF) on November 20, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2017 .
^ a b Biswas, Shreya, ed. (June 29, 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?" . India Today . Retrieved September 24, 2017 .
^ "Govt appoints Rajesh Kumar Singh as Defence Secretary" . Business Today . 2024-08-16. Retrieved 2024-08-17 .
^ "Order of Precedence" (PDF) . Rajya Sabha . President's Secretariat. July 26, 1979. Retrieved September 24, 2017 .
^ "Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure - 14th Edition (2015)" (PDF) . Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension . p. 6. Retrieved 15 November 2016 .
^ a b c Laxmikanth, M. (2014). Governance in India (2nd Edition) . Noida : McGraw Hill Education. pp. 3.1–3.10. ISBN 978-9339204785 .
^ "About DoD" . Department of Defence, Government of India . Retrieved January 10, 2018 .
^ a b "Army Pay Rules, 2017" (PDF) . Ministry of Defence , Government of India . May 3, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017 .
^ "Defence Secretaries (Page 1)" . Department of Defence, Government of India . Retrieved January 10, 2018 .
^ "Defence Secretaries (Page 2)" . Department of Defence, Government of India . Retrieved January 10, 2018 .
^ "Defence Secretaries (Page 3)" . Department of Defence, Government of India . Retrieved January 10, 2018 .
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