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REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99
The Gazette of India
CG-DL-E-20062025-263991
EXTRAORDINARY
PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (i)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No. 350]
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025/JYAISTHA 28, 1947
MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 13th June,2025
G.S.R. 393(E). – In exercise of the powers conferred by the proviso to article 309 of the
Constitution and in supersession of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Private
Secretary, Limited Departmental Competitive Examination Rules, 2018, except as respects things
done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the President hereby makes the following rules
regulating the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for promotion to the post of Private
Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, namely:-
1. Short title and commencement. - (1) These rules may be called the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology, Private Secretary, Limited Departmental Competitive Examination Rules,
2025.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. Definition. – In these rules unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) "appointing authority" means the Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology;
(b) "available vacancy" means a vacancy in the post of Private Secretary's grade in the
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology which is required to be filled up on the basis
of the results of the examination;
(c) "crucial date" means the first day of January of the year of the vacancies for which such
examination is held;
(d) "examination" means the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for promotion
to the post of Private Secretary held in the manner specified in the Schedule;
(e) "recruitment year" means the period commencing from the 1st day of January and ending
on the 31st day of December of the same year;
(f) "Schedule" means the Schedule annexed to these rules;
(g) "Scheduled Castes" and "Scheduled Tribes” shall have the same meanings respectively as
assigned to them in clauses (24) and (25) of article 366 of the Constitution.
3. Conditions of eligibility. – (1) Personal Assistant in level-7 in the pay matrix (Rs. 44900-
142400) in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with five years regular
service in the grade and having successfully completed two weeks training in relevant field or
area as decided from time to time and possessing a Bachelor's Degree from a recognized
university or equivalent on the crucial date shall be eligible to appear in the Limited
Departmental Competitive Examination.
(2) The eligibility shall continue to be the same for persons holding the feeder posts on regular
basis on the date of notification of the revised rules.
4. Holding of the examination. – (1) The appointing authority shall notify the dates and place of
the examination and number of available and anticipated vacancies assessed at the time of
announcing the examination.
(2) The examination shall be conducted after the expiry of at least thirty days from the date of
notifying the vacancies in the manner specified in the Schedule.
(3) The number of vacancies reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other
Backward Classes, Ex-servicemen and other special categories of person, if any, shall be clearly
indicated in the notification.
5. Results. - (1) On the basis of the aggregate marks secured by the candidate in Part I, II and III of
the examination, a merit list containing the names of the successful candidates in order of merit
shall be notified, keeping in view the number of vacancies and anticipated vacancies, if any,
falling in the recruitment year.
(2) The standards of evaluation for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes shall be as per the Government instructions from time to time.
(3) The candidates for appointment against the available vacancies shall be considered in the
order in which their names appear in the merit list prepared under sub-rule (1).
(4) The merit list shall remain in operation till the notified vacancies are filled up or upto a
period of 18 months from the date of its approval by the appointing authority or till next merit list
is approved by the appointing authority, whichever is earlier.
6. Appointment. – The inclusion of the name of any candidate in the merit list shall not confer a
right to appointment and he shall be appointed by the appointing authority only after satisfying
itself that no vigilance or disciplinary case is either pending or contemplated against the candidate
and after taking into account his placement in the merit list, the reservation of posts or such other
requirements as may be laid down by statutory orders or rules issued by the Central Government,
from time to time, in this regard.
7. Removal of name from merit list on resignation, etc. – (1) In case a candidate after appearing
at the examination resigns from the service or whose services are terminated or who is appointed
to an ex-cadre post or to any other service and does not have a lien on any post mentioned in rule
3, his name shall not be included in the merit list, or if included in the said merit list shall be
struck off therefrom.
(2) Where a candidate, whose name is included in the said merit list, is appointed to an ex-
cadre post or is transferred to another Department of the Central Government with the permission
of the appointing authority and continue to have a lien on any post mentioned in rule 3, shall not
be appointed as Private Secretary till he resumes the duties in the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology on his initial post during the period the merit list remains in force:
Provided that his claim for proforma promotion may be considered by the appointing
authority in accordance with the orders and rules of the Central Government, issued in this behalf
from time to time.
8. Penalty for impersonation or other misconduct. – A candidate, who is or has been declared by
the appointing authority to be guilty of -
(i) obtaining support for his candidature by any means; or
(ii) impersonation; or
(iii) procuring impersonation by any person; or
(iv) submitting fabricated documents or documents which have been tampered with; or
(v) making statements which are incorrect or false or suppressing material information; or
(vi) resorting to any other irregular or improper means in connection with his candidature for
the examination; or
(vii) using unfair means in the examinations hall; or
(viii) misbehaving in the examination hall; or
(ix) attempting to commit or, as the case may be, abetting the Ministry of all or any of the acts
specified in clauses (i) to (viii);
may, in addition to the criminal proceedings, liable –
(a) to be disqualified by the appointing authority from the examination; or
(b) to disciplinary action, under the appropriate rules:
Provided that no penalty under this rule shall be imposed except after-
(i) giving the candidate an opportunity of making such representation in writing as he may
wish to make in that behalf; and
(ii) taking the representation, if any submitted by the candidate within the period allowed to
him, into consideration.
9. Power to relax. Where the central Government is of the opinion that it is necessary or
expedient to do so, it may, by order and for reasons to be recorded in writing, relax any of the
provisions of these rules with respect to any class or category of persons.
10.Saving. - Nothing in these rules shall affect reservation, relaxation of age limit and other
concessions required to be provided for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other
Backward Classes, Ex-servicemen and other special categories of persons, in accordance with the
orders issued by the Central Government from time to time in this regard
SCHEDULE
(See rule 4)
The examination shall be conducted in the following three parts, namely: –
Part I
1. Written examination shall carry a maximum of 500 marks. The subject of the written examination,
the maximum marks allotted to each paper and the time limit allowed shall be as follows, namely: –
| Paper No. | Subject | Type of Paper | Maximum Marks | Time |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|---------------|---------|
| I. | Noting and Drafting, Precis Writing | Descriptive | 200 | 3 hours |
| II. | Procedure and Practice in the Government of India Secretariat and Attached Offices and General Financial and Service Rules duly taking into account the requirement of relevant categories of services. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and e-office. | Objective | 150 | 2 hours |
| III. | General Studies and General Knowledge of Constitution of India and Machinery of Government, Practice and Procedure in Parliament, the Right to Information Act, 2005. | Objective | 150 | 2 Hours |
2. Syllabus for examination:
A. Paper-I
Candidates are required to prepare notes and drafts on specific problems and precis from a passage.
B. Paper-II
The paper is intended to be intensive and detailed test in methods and procedure of work in the
Government of India Secretariat and attached offices. Detailed knowledge of General Financial
and Service Rules viz., Conduct Rules, Leave Rules, Travelling Allowance Rules etc. will be
tested. The following Reference Books (which are however not exhaustive) are recommended-
(i) Manual of office procedure;
(ii) Notes on office procedure issued by the Institute of Secretarial Training and Management;
(iii) Handbook of orders regarding use of Hindi for official purpose of the Union issued by the
Personnel and Training, Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances and Pension;
(iv) Fundamental and Supplementary Rules;
(v) The Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 2021;
(vi) The Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964;
(vii) The Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965;
(viii) Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972;
(ix) Compilation of the General Financial Rules, 2017 (Revised and Enlarged);
(x) Delegation of Financial Power Rules, 2024;
(xi) The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)
Act, 2013;
and
(xii) e-office.
C. Paper-III
This paper will cover subject of interest and importance in the present day. Questions will be
set to test knowledge of broad salient features of the Government Planning, Indian Economy
and major Development Schemes as also intelligence awareness of current affairs both national
and international.
A broad knowledge of the following aspects will also be expected:
(i) The main principles of the Constitution of India;
(ii) Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha;
(iii) The organisation of the machinery of Government of India – designation and allocation of
subjects between Ministries, Departments, and attached or subordinate offices and their
relation inter-se; and
(iv) The Right to Information Act, 2005.
3. Penalty for wrong answers (in Objective Type Papers). There will be penalty (Negative
Marking) for wrong answers marked by a candidate in the objective question papers as under-
(i) There will be four alternatives for the answer to every question and for each question for
which a wrong answer has been given by the candidate, one-fourth (0.25) of the marks
assigned to that question will be deducted as penalty;
(ii) If a candidate gives more than one answer, it will be treated as a wrong answer even it one
of the given answers happens to be correct and there will be same penalty as above for that
question; and
(iii) If a question is left blank, i.e. no answer is given by the candidate, there will be no penalty
for that question.
4. Candidates are allowed the option to answer the Noting and Drafting, Precis Writing paper either
in Hindi (Devanagari) or in English. All the three question papers or test booklets will be set both
in Hindi and English.
Note 1: Candidates desirous of exercising the option to answer the Noting and Drafting, Precis
Writing paper in Hindi (Devnagari) should indicate their intention to do so in the application
form otherwise it would be assumed that they would answer the aforesaid paper in English. The
option once exercised shall be treated as final and no request for change shall be entertained later
on. No credit shall be given for examination taken in a language other than the one opted for by
the candidate.
Note 2: Candidates exercising the option to answer the paper in Hindi (Devanagari) may, if they
so desire, give English version within brackets of the description of the technical terms, if any, in
addition to the Hindi version.
Note 3: If a medium other than the one indicated by the candidate in the application form is
used to write the answer in the examination, the paper of such candidates will not be evaluated.
5. The minimum qualifying marks in each of the three subjects in Part I should be thirty-five per
cent. and aggregate marks should be forty-five per cent.
6. Marks will not be allotted for mere superficial knowledge.
7. Deduction upto 5% of the maximum marks in the written subject will be made for illegible
handwriting.
8. Credit will be given for neat and methodical expression of ideas with due economy of words, in
the descriptive paper.
9. The decision of the Central Government with regard to the acceptance of the application of a
candidate and his eligibility or otherwise for admission to the examination shall be final.
10. Appearance of candidates in all the three papers is a must for qualifying in the examination.
11.Candidates should use only international form of Indian numerals (e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,6 etc.) while
answering paper-I.
Part II
SHORTHAND SKILL TEST IN HINDI OR IN ENGLISH (FOR THOSE WHO QUALIFY IN
THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION) – 200 MARKS.
Scheme of shorthand test will be as follows, namely: –
(1) The Stenography or shorthand test in English will comprise dictation test at 100 words per
minute for 10 minutes which the candidates will be required to transcribe in 50 minutes on the
Computer.
(2) The Stenography or shorthand test in Hindi will comprise dictation test at 100 words per
minute for 10 minutes which the candidates will be required to transcribe in 65 minutes on the
Computer.
Part III
1. Assessment of Annual Performance Appraisal Reports:
(a) This part shall carry a maximum of 100 marks.
(b) The Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of the candidates shall be scrutinised for the service
period reckoned for promotion and marks will be accordingly allotted by the Departmental
Promotion Committee.
(c) The minimum qualifying marks in the Annual Performance Appraisal Reports of each year
during the residency period will not be lower than the benchmark prescribed for promotion to
the post of Private Secretary.
2. The Departmental Promotion Committee referred to in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph 1 shall
consist of the following persons, namely:-
(1) Additional Secretary (Personnel) or Joint Secretary (Personnel),
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
- Chairperson;
(2) Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology
- Member;
(3) Deputy Secretary or equivalent to the Government of India from a
Ministry or Department other than the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology
- Member.
[F.No. 01(08)/2024-P.III]
AMITESH KUMAR SINHA, Addl. Secy.
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054. GORAKHA NATH YADAVA Digitally signed by GORAKHA NATH YADAVA
Date: 2025.06.20 14:05:04 +05'30'