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(ii) The Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 seeks to
define the authority, responsibility and obligations of each department in
the matter of disposal of business allotted to it. While providing that the
business allotted to a department will be disposed of by, or under the
direction of, the Minister-in-charge. These rules also specify :

a. cases or classes of cases to be submitted to the President, the
Prime Minister, the Cabinet or its Committees for prior approval; and

b. the circumstances in which the department primarily concerned with
the business under disposal will have to consult other departments
concerned and secure their concurrence / comments before taking
final decisions.

2.4. Ministry/Department:

(i) A Ministry/Department is responsible for formulation of policies/schemes of
the Government in relation to business allocated to it and also for their
implementation, monitoring and review.

(ii) For the efficient disposal of business allotted to it, a Department is divided into
Wings, Divisions, Branches and Sections/Units/Cells.

(iii) A Department is normally headed by a Secretary to the Government of India
who acts as the administrative head of the Department and Principal Adviser
of the Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the
Department.

(iv) The work in a Department is divided into wings with a Special Secretary/
Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary in charge of each Wing.

(v) A Wing comprises of a number of Divisions each functioning under the charge
of an officer of the level of Director/Joint Director/Deputy Secretary or
equivalent officer, called Division Head. A Division may have branches, each
under the charge of an Under Secretary or equivalent officer, as Branch
Officer.

(vi) A Section or a Desk is the lowest unit in a Department with a well-defined
area of work. It consists of Assistant Section Officer/Senior Secretariat
Assistants, as dealing officers and Junior Secretariat Assistants as clerical
support. Sections are supervised by a Section Officer or an equivalent officer.
There are Departments that have a Unit or Cell which is almost similar to a
Section. Initial processing and submission of cases through noting and
drafting is primarily done by Dealing Officers of the level of ASO/ SSA or JSA.
However, there are instances where cases are to be initiated at higher level.
Even in such cases, functionaries in the Section will provide the required

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