Joint Secretary to Government of India

Joint Secretary (abbreviated as JS-GOI) is a post and a rank under the Central Stafﬁng Scheme of the Government of India. This post is equal to Assistant Under Secretary, a post under Senior Civil Service Group in the United Kingdom or an officer in the Senior Executive Service in the United States.

The position holder is a career civil servant and a government official of high seniority. The members who hold this rank are either from All India Services (Deputation on tenure) or Central Civil Services (Group A; on empanelment). All promotions and appointments to this rank and post are directly made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet of India.

In the functioning of Government of India, Joint Secretary is the CEO for a department. In the international level, Joint Secretaries hold positions in the United Nations - such as Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO. In the state governments and Union Territories, they also hold senior positions such as Chief Secretary of Pondicherry, and, in all north eastern states and few other states like Karnataka, Bihar they also hold the post of Principal Secretary.