2. Structure within the Departments

a. A department is responsible for formulation of policies of the government in relation to business allocated to it and also for the execution and review of those policies.

b. For the efficient disposal of business allotted to it, a department is divided into wings, divisions, branches and sections.

c. 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.

d. Wing: The work in a department is normally divided into wings with a Special Secretary/Additional Secretary/Joint Secretary in charge of each wing. Such a functionary is normally vested with the maximum measure of independent functioning and responsibility in respect of the business falling within his wing subject, to the overall responsibility of the Secretary for the administration of the department as a whole.

e. Division: A wing normally comprises a number of divisions each functioning under the charge of an officer of the level of Director/Joint Director/Deputy Secretary.

f. Branches: A division may have several branches each under the charge of an Under Secretary or equivalent officer.

g. Section: A section is generally the lowest organizational unit in a department with a well- defined area of work. It normally consists of assistants and clerks supervised by a Section Officer. Initial handling of cases (including noting and drafting) is generally done by, assistants and clerks who are also known as the dealing hands.

h. Desk Officer System: While the above represents the commonly adopted pattern of organization of a department, there are certain variations, the most notable among them being the desk officer system. In this system the work of a department at the lowest level is

organised into distinct functional desks each manned by two desk functionaries of appropriate ranks e.g. Under Secretary or Section Officer.

i. Each desk functionary handles the cases himself and is provided adequate stenographic and clerical assistance.

Under the Government of India, Rules of Business, 1961, there are presently 51 Ministries, 56 Departments and 2 Independent Departments. Out of these 51 Ministries, only 20 have one or more departments attached to them.

Ministry	Department Associated
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare	♤ Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) ♤ Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare
Ministry of AYUSH
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers	♤ Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals ♤ Department of Fertilizers ♤ Department of Pharmaceuticals
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Ministry of Coal
Ministry of Commerce and Industry	♤ Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade ♤ Department of Commerce
Ministry of Communications	♤ Department of Posts ♤ Department of Telecommunications (DOT)
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	♤ Department of Consumer Affairs ♤ Department of Food and Public Distribution
Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Defence	♤ Department of Defence ♤ Department of Defence Production ♤ Department of Defence Research & Development ♤ Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
Ministry of Earth Sciences	♤ India Meteorological Department (IMD)
Ministry of Education	♤ Department of Higher Education ♤ Department of School Education and Literacy
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Ministry of External Affairs
Ministry of Finance	♤ Department of Economic Affairs ♤ Department of Expenditure ♤ Department of Financial Services ♤ Department of Investment and Public Asset Management ♤ Department of Revenue
Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying	♤ Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying ♤ Department of Fisheries
Ministry of Food Processing Industries

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	♤ Department of Health and Family Welfare ♤ Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises	♤ Department of Heavy Industry ♤ Department of Public Enterprises
Ministry of Home Affairs	♤ Department of Border Management ♤ Department of Home ♤ Department of Internal Security ♤ Department of Jammu & Kashmir (J & K) Affairs ♤ Department of Official Language ♤ Department of States
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Ministry of Jal Shakti	♤ Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation ♤ Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation
Ministry of Labour and Employment
Ministry of Law and Justice	♤ Department of Justice ♤ Department of Legal Affairs ♤ Legislative Department
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
Ministry of Mines
Ministry of Minority Affairs
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions	♤ Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) ♤ Department of Pension & Pensioner's Welfare ♤ Department of Personnel and Training
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Ministry of Power
Ministry of Railways
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Ministry of Rural Development	♤ Department of Land Resources (DLR) ♤ Department of Rural Development (DRD)
Ministry of Science and Technology	♤ Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India ♤ Department of Science and Technology (DST) ♤ Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)
Ministry of Shipping
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment	♤ Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities ♤ Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Ministry of Steel
Ministry of Textiles
Ministry of Tourism
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports	♤ Department of Sports ♤ Department of Youth Affairs
Independent Departments
1. Department of Atomic Energy 2. Department of Space