1. N. Gopalaswamy Iyengar Committee suggested that a minister and a secretary be designated solely for pursuing the subject of administrative reform and promoting it.

2. In 1970, the Department of Personnel was constituted on the recommendation of the Administrative Reforms Commission 1966, and this was placed under the Prime Minister’s charge.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a. 1 Only

b. 2 Only

c. Both 1 and 2

d. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer- b

Explanation:

In 1949, the Gopalaswami Ayyangar Committee, while recommending restructuring of the Central Secretariat, suggested that a Department should be identified with a Secretary’s charge and a Ministry should be identified with a Minister’s charge and that this should be the distinction between ministries and departments.

Also, each department should constitute a clearly manageable charge for one secretary, and the responsibility of the secretary as the head of the department should be complete and undivided.

As per the recommendations of the 1st ARC(1966), headed first by Morari Desai and later by Hanumanthaiya gave the following recommendations:

• A separate Department of Personnel should be set up, with a full Secretary in charge who should work under the general guidance of the Cabinet Secretary.  
• The Department of Personnel should not administer any service cadre itself. The administrative control of different service cadres should vest with individual Ministries and Departments concerned. 

•  The Cabinet Secretary should, by convention, be regarded as Secretary-General of the new Department of Personnel, without being formally so designated.
• The new Department of Personnel should be placed directly under the Prime Minister. 

Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

About the Department of Administrative Reforms:

• In March 1954, an Organisation and Method (O & M) Division was set up in the Cabinet Secretariat as a follow-up on one of the recommendations made by Paul H. Appleby. 
• In March 1964, a Department of Administrative Reforms was set up within the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Organisation and Method (O & M) Division was transferred to its charge from the Cabinet Secretariat.
• Department of Personnel created under Cabinet Secretariat on 01st August 1970
•  On 07th February 1973, the work relating to the Department of Administrative Reforms was transferred to the Department of Personnel and was re-designated as the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms. 
• In April 1977, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms was shifted from the Cabinet Secretariat to the Ministry of Home Affairs. 
• In March 1985, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms was elevated to a full-fledged Ministry of Personnel and Training, Administrative Reforms, Public Grievances and Pensions. On December 10, 1985, the Ministry of Personnel and Training, Administrative Reforms, Public Grievances and Pensions was re-designated as the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions with three departments, namely, Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare.
•  This Ministry was placed under the overall charge of the Prime Minister, assisted by a Minister of State.

Hence, statement 2 is correct.

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