Chandigarh: A detailed delegation-of-powers order issued by the Haryana School Education Department has become a talking point in the state’s administrative circles for its unusually exhaustive list of responsibilities assigned to different levels of the bureaucracy.
Issued on August 12, 2026, the order spells out which authority will take decisions on a wide range of matters — from appointments, promotions and prosecution sanctions of Group A officers to relatively minor issues such as writing off lost government stores, casual leave and changes in service records.
The order was circulated on August 19 by the Superintendent, Administration, on behalf of the Principal Secretary, School Education Department.
Copies were sent to the Governor’s office, Chief Minister’s Office, Chief Secretary, and branch officers and superintendents in the Directorates of Secondary Education and Elementary Education.
The order contains five annexures, each assigning a defined set of decisions to a particular level of the administrative hierarchy.
Five Annexures Define the Administrative Chain
The five annexures form the core of the order and establish a hierarchy of decision-making from the Chief Minister and Education Minister down to the Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary.
The purpose, according to a School Education Department official, is to eliminate uncertainty over who has the authority to decide a particular matter.
The official said that by assigning every category of case to a designated authority, the order is intended to prevent confusion and reduce delays in disposal of files.
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Annexure A: Chief Minister to Decide Major Matters
The first annexure assigns important matters to the Chief Minister.
These include decisions relating to appointments, promotions, dismissals and prosecution sanctions of Group A officers.
The Chief Minister will also decide matters concerning the framing of new service rules and cases involving a “major question of policy.”
The annexure further places certain high-level administrative matters before the Chief Minister, including Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) of administrative secretaries and Directors General.
Cases in which the minister and the administrative secretary disagree are also specifically included among matters requiring consideration at the highest level.
Thus, Annexure A largely covers issues involving senior officers, major policy decisions and matters requiring resolution at the top of the government hierarchy.
Annexure B: Powers Assigned to the Education Minister
The second annexure lays down the matters to be decided by the Education Minister.
These include transfers of Group B, C and D employees.
The minister will also deal with administrative approval for building works and equipment purchases exceeding ₹10 lakh.
Another provision covers permission for officers to write books.
The minister’s list also extends to several matters concerning educational institutions. These include decisions relating to the takeover of private educational institutions and declaring government girls’ schools as co-educational.
The naming of government or aided educational institutions after defence and paramilitary martyrs, freedom fighters or eminent personalities also falls under this category.
At the end of the minister’s list is a broad provision covering: “Generally, all matters related to educational institutions of the Government.”
This provision gives the minister responsibility over a wide range of institutional matters that may not fall under the more specific categories listed in the annexure.
Annexure C: Powers of Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary or Commissioner-cum-Secretary
The third annexure assigns responsibilities to the Additional Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary or Commissioner-cum-Secretary.
Among the matters listed here are financial irregularities involving amounts up to ₹10 lakh.
The authority will also decide cases concerning extension of service beyond 55 years for senior officers.
Other responsibilities include sanctioning foreign travel by Class-I and Class-II officers and matters involving references to the Haryana Public Service Commission.
This level therefore handles a combination of financial, personnel and service-related matters that require senior departmental scrutiny but do not necessarily have to go to the minister or Chief Minister.
Annexure D: Secretary or Special Secretary Handles Service and Financial Matters
The fourth annexure delegates several matters to the Secretary or Special Secretary.
These include approval of medical reimbursement claims of up to ₹3 lakh where treatment has been taken at hospitals outside the approved list.
The Secretary or Special Secretary will also deal with appeals against penalties imposed by field officers.
Permission for non-gazetted officers to travel abroad on personal visits is another responsibility assigned at this level.
The annexure also includes the issuance of No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for passports for Group A and Group B officers.
Annexure E: Even Small Administrative Matters Have a Designated Authority
The fifth and final annexure assigns relatively smaller administrative matters to the Joint Secretary or Additional Secretary.
These include the power to write off lost government money or stores up to ₹25,000.
The list also includes granting casual leave to Under Secretaries.
Even requests by non-gazetted employees seeking changes to their name or date of birth in official service recordshave been assigned to a designated authority under this annexure.
The exhaustive nature of the delegation has attracted attention because the order goes down from high-level decisions concerning senior officers to routine service-record and government-store matters.
From Group A Appointments to Lost Typewriters
The breadth of the delegation order has become one of its most notable features.
At one end of the administrative spectrum are decisions such as appointments, promotions, dismissals and prosecution sanctions involving Group A officers, framing service rules and major policy questions.
At the other end are routine matters such as write-offs of lost government stores up to ₹25,000, casual leave and changes in personal details in service records.
The detailed classification effectively attempts to create a decision-making matrix in which every type of file has a prescribed authority.
The objective appears to be to ensure that files do not remain pending simply because there is uncertainty over which level of the department is competent to take a decision.
Special Arrangement When Minister Is Away From Chandigarh
The order also contains a provision for handling urgent matters when the Education Minister is away from Chandigarh.
In such circumstances, cases that would ordinarily require the minister’s consideration can be dealt with by the Additional Chief Secretary or Principal Secretary.
If the concerned senior officer is also away, the matter can be cleared by the Secretary or Special Secretary concerned.
However, such cases are to be placed before the minister upon his return to Chandigarh for: “information and orders as he may deem fit.”
The provision is intended to prevent important files from being held up because the minister is temporarily unavailable.
Decision Cannot Be Challenged Merely on Ground of Approval
Another significant provision in the order concerns the validity of decisions taken under the delegated powers.
The order states that a decision cannot subsequently be challenged in a representation, inquiry or court merely on the ground that the file did not receive approval from the authority prescribed under the delegation framework.
This provision is intended to establish clarity over the authority exercised by officers under the delegation order and avoid disputes merely over the level at which a decision was taken.
New Order Supersedes Earlier Delegation Orders
The latest order also makes it clear that it supersedes all previous orders issued by the department from time to time regarding delegation of powers.
This means the new framework is intended to serve as the operative reference for determining which authority is empowered to decide different categories of matters within the School Education Department.
By replacing earlier delegation arrangements, the government appears to have sought to consolidate the powers into one comprehensive framework.
Why Has the Order Been Issued?
An official of the School Education Department said the main purpose of the order is to remove confusion regarding the authority competent to decide different types of cases.
According to the official, every category of matter has now been assigned to a clearly identified level of the bureaucracy.
The idea is that officials dealing with a particular file should be able to determine immediately who is empowered to take the decision, thereby reducing unnecessary movement of files and delays.
The detailed delegation also establishes a clear chain of accountability because the authority responsible for a particular decision is specifically identified.
A Detailed Administrative Framework
The Haryana government’s latest delegation order provides a comprehensive map of decision-making within the School Education Department.
While the Chief Minister retains responsibility for major policy and senior Group A service matters, the Education Minister handles important transfers, institutional decisions and approvals.
The Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary/Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Secretary/Special Secretaryand Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary are assigned progressively more specific administrative, financial and service-related responsibilities.
The result is a five-tier framework intended to ensure that decisions — whether concerning a senior bureaucrat, a government school, an overseas visit or even a missing government store — have a clearly designated authority.
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