The Bihar government has taken a decisive step to maintain the integrity of ministerial operations. Guidelines have been issued to departmental heads concerning the roles of both external and official private secretaries (PS) of cabinet ministers. In an effort to establish clarity, State Chief Secretary Amir Subhani has directed that external PS, appointed based on ministerial advice, should refrain from engaging in official work. Instead, official PS from the state administrative service will be entrusted with assisting ministers in their official tasks. This directive is a response to historical ambiguity in work divisions and previous incidents that prompted the need for a delineation.
One such incident involved a private secretary (PS) external to the education minister, whose involvement in departmental affairs garnered objections. This interference led to the education minister’s absence from the office for a span of three weeks. The issue emerged when the aforementioned external PS took it upon themselves to intervene in departmental matters. On July 5, the PS penned a letter to Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) K K Pathak, voicing concerns about negative media coverage and the leakage of official communications. In response, the department asserted that the PS should not directly communicate with government officials and criticized their dispatch of “useless letters” that consumed officials’ time. Consequently, the education minister opted to distance themselves from the office for a duration of three weeks.
The newly established guidelines clearly define the roles: administrative service PS will manage interdepartmental communications, while external PS will concentrate on non-governmental functions of the minister. This initiative is designed to curtail unnecessary intervention and facilitate seamless departmental operations.
