PMO is one of the youngest organization of Union Government, but has
tended to emerge as tallest at different points in time.”
The Prime minister’s office can be considered as an agency that helps the prime minister
efficiently perform his role, responsibilities, and functions. Going back to the time, the first post
of prime minister was created just after the independence of India in 1947. A person who is the
prime minister of India can also be considered as the head executive of the government. Where
the prime minister’s office (PMO) can be considered as an extra-constitutional body that means
there is no mention of PMO in constitution of India. For the first time in India, the PMO was
considered as part of the Indian government in 1961 by the allocation of business rules in India.
The PMO is headed by the secretary of the prime minister of India and the secretary has had
this responsibility since 1977. Now we also have the secretary of the prime minister as the
principal secretary of the prime minister.
What is PMO?
The prime minister’s office (PMO) can be considered as an agency that consists of the staff of
the prime minister of India. With the immediate staff, various support staff are available in
multiple levels for reporting to the prime minister. This office is headed by the principal secretary
of the prime minister of India. The main responsibility of the PMO is to provide secretarial
assistance to the prime minister.
Evolution of PMO
Under Nehru, the 'Prime Minister's Secretariat' was established as the personal secretariat to
the Prime Minister.
Under Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Administrative Reform Commission (1964), chaired by Morarji
Desai, suggested strengthening the institution in the wake of the ever-increasing workload of the
Prime Minister. Hence, the Prime Minister's Office, in its current structure, came Into existence.
Under the Prime Ministership of Morarji Desai, the nomenclature was changed from 'Prime
Minister's Secretariat' to the 'Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 1977 This was done to tone down
the over-centralisation of power by the PMO düring the Emergency.
Composition of PMO: Key Players in Government
Decision-Making
● Politically headed by the Prime Minister.
● PMO Administratively headed by Principal Secretary (Usually senior retired
IAS)
● One or two additional secretaries.
● 5 joint secretaries
● National Security Advisor (NSA)
● A number of directors, deputy secretaries and under secretaries
Functions of the PMO in Indian Governance (As per the
Allocation of Business Rules 1961): Assisting the Prime
Minister’s Leadership
● Secretariat’s Main Function: The main task of the secretariat is to help the Prime
Minister in the performance of his functions as the head of the government
● Secretariat’s Role in Official Liaison: Assisting the PM in maintaining official
communication with union ministers, the president, governors, chief ministers,
and foreign government representatives.
● Public Interface: Handling various requests or complaints from members of the
public addressed to the Prime Minister from the public side.
●
● Secretariat’s Broad Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of the Secretariat may be said to
extend over all such subjects and activities which are not specially allocated to
any individual ministry department
● Other Functions: Strategic and Operational
Dimensions of the PMO in India
● Dual Role: Provides secretarial assistance to the PM and acts as a think tank.
● Handling of References: It deals with all references which under the Rules of
Business comes to the PM.
● Support in CEO Role: Helps the PM in discharge of his overall responsibilities as
CEO and as head of NITI Aayog.
● Public Relations Oversight: Looking after the public relations of the prime
minister like contact with the press and general public.
● Settlement Facilitation: Provide Prime Ministerial assistance in examination of
cases submitted to him for orders under prescribed rules so it acts as settlement
house to finalize decisions concerning administrative doubts.
● Operational Oversight: The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and
the National Defence Fund (NDF) are operated directly from the PMO
● However, the PMO is not responsible for duties that fall on the Prime Minister as
the head of the cabinet, except for matters managed through personal
correspondence between him and individual ministers,
○ It also do not involve in handling correspondence, either relating to party
policies or of a domestic nature
Status of PMO
The status of any office can be defined by the relation between the superior and the junior of the
office similarly the relation between PM and principal secretary can define the status of PMO.
Using the following points we can define the status of the PMO.
● The level of trust that the prime minister has on the principal secretary determines the status
of PMO.
● The weakness of the principal secretary makes the prime minister ask the cabinet for
decisions that make the PMO weak.
● In a situation where the government is a coalition PMO can be weak in comparison to the
PMO when the government is formed by a majority party.
● Personality of the staff of the PMO plays an important role in determining the status of the
PMO. the staff should be capable of making decisions that are acceptable to the cabinet to
apply to citizens of the country.
Conclusion
PMO is an agency for the government that helps the prime minister of India to fulfil all his
responsibility regarding running the governance of India. There are various staff works in the
PMO including immediate staff and support staff and PMO headed by the principal secretary of
India in the administrative sense and his personality defines the status of PMO.
Role ● Officially principal advisor to the PM
Reporting Structure ● Under the direct charge of the PM
First Cabinet ● N. R. Pillai
Secretary
Present Cabinet ● Rajiv Gauba (IAS)
Secretary
Precedence ● Ranks 11th in order of precedence
Tenure ● No fixed tenure; extendable, with a minimum 2-year
mandate (expandable up to 4 years)
● Tenure can go beyond the age of retirement
