What is PMO?
- The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) consists of the immediate staff of the Prime Minister of India, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the Prime Minister. The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary.
- The PMO enjoys the status of a department of the Government of India under the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961. It has no attached and subordinate office under it.
- The PMO is headed politically, by the Prime Minister and administratively, by the Principal Secretary. Additionally, it consists of one or two additional secretaries, three to five joint secretaries and a number of directors/deputy secretaries and under-secretaries.
- The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are operated directly from the PMO. The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund was established in January 1948 as Trust, by then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan, due to partition of India.
- Agencies under Prime Minister
- Department of Atomic Energy
- Department of Space
Functions of PMO
- Assisting the Prime Minister in respect of his overall responsibilities as head of the government like
- Maintaining liaison with central ministries/departments and the state governments.
- Acting as the ‘think-tank’ of the Prime Minister.
- It acts as the residual legatee of the Central Government, that is, it deals with all such subjects which are not allotted to any ministry/department.
- It is not concerned with the responsibilities of the Prime Minister as the chairman of the Union Cabinet.
What is the cabinet secretariat?
- The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government.
- This Secretariat provides Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and its Committees, and also assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/ Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/ ad hoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism, new policy initiatives are also promoted.
- The administrative head of the Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board. The business allocated includes (I) Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet and Cabinet Committees; and (ii) Rules of Business.
- Attached offices of Cabinet secretariat
- Directorate of public grievances
- National authority chemical weapons convention
- Office of principal scientific adviser
- Direct benefit transfer mission
