Company : Sol Infotech Pvt. Ltd. Website : www.courtkutchehry.com CENTRAL SECRETARIAT OFFICE PROCEDURE RECEIPT, REGISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF DAK CONTENTS 1. Central Registry 2. Receipt of dak during office hours 3. Receipt of immediate communications outside office hours on working days and on Sunday and holidays 4. Opening of dak 5. Stamping, marking and sorting of receipts 6. Registration of dak in the Central Registry 7. Distribution of dak to sections 8. Perusal of dak by Section Officer 9. Diarising of receipts 10. Submission or distribution of dak by Diarist 11. Perusal of dak by Branch Officers 12. Perusal of dak by Deputy Secretary 13. Unofficial references 14. Instructions by officers for line of action 15. Priority in movement of dak 16. Classification of receipts 17. Instructions by Section Officer for dealing difficult cases 18. Note-book for important receipts 19. Inter-sectional references 20. Scrutiny of the Diary and Inter-Sectional Movement Register 21. Initial examination of receipts by Assistant 22. Collection of relevant material 23. Bringing a receipt on a file 24. Notes 25. Scope and purpose of noting by office 26. Action by Section Officer 27. Noting by Branch Officer 28. Notes and Orders by Deputy Secretary 29. Summary for the Minister 30. Interchange of notes between officers in the same Ministry 31. Record of verbal discussions, orders and instructions 3 2 . Weekly statement of cases disposed of without reference to the Minister 33. Channel for submission of cases 34. Noting on unofficial references 35. General instructions regarding noting 36. Assistants Diary 37. Monthly Summary for the Cabinet 38. Monthly note for the Indian Missions abroad 39. Examination and progressing of cases in which State Governments or other Ministries, etc. are consulted 40. Acknowledgements or interim replies 41. Communications to Members of Parliament 42. Communications to State Governments 43. Draft-When to be prepared 44. Wording of a draft 45. Authentication of Government orders 46. General Instructions 47. Standard skeleton drafts 48. Priority marking on drafts 49. Issue 50. Marking of files for "issue" 51. Issue Diary 52. Distribution of work among typists 53. General instructions regarding typing 54. Comparison 55. Submission of fair copies for signature 56. Despatch 57. General Instructions 58. Return of drafts after issue 59. Issue of unofficial cases 60. Peon books 61. Service postage stamps 62. Ordinary postage stamps 63. Verification of stamp accounts 64. Action after issue 65. Forms of correspondence 66. Letter 67. Office Memorandum 68. Memorandum 69. Demi-official letter 70. Unofficial references 71. Endorsement 72. Notification 73. Resolution 74. Publication of the "Gazette of India" 75. Press Communique or Press Note 76. Telegrams 77. Express letter 78. Savingrams 79. Constituents of a file 80. Numbering of pages 81. Punching of papers 82. Serial numbers 83. Docketing 84. Opening and numbering of a new file 85. Separate file for each distinct subject 86. Part files 87. File Register 88. Movement 89. Routine notes or papers 90. Filing of official, demi-official and unofficial commu- nications 91. Referencing and use of slips 92. Linking of files 93. Priority marking on files 94. Arrangement of papers on a case 95. Index-Its object 96. Constituents of an index slip 97. Standard "heads" and "sub-heads" 98. Wording and articulation 99. Examples of titles 100. Preparation and custody of index slips 101. Two or more titles, when necessary 102. Indexing of questions, bills, resolutions, etc. in the Parliament 103. Printing of annual index 104. Sectional Note Book 105. Recording 106. Destruction of ephemeral files 107. Preservation of records of historical value 108. Preparing a file for record 109. Editing and printing of files recorded under Class "A" 110. Record Room of the Ministry 111. Central Secretariat Record Room (National Archives) 112. Requisition for recorded files 113. Weeding of records 114. Preservation of records and registers maintained in a section 115. Maintenance and destruction of spare copies 116. Statistical Control Chart 117. Weekly arrear statement 118. Monthly statement of cases pending disposal for over a month 119. Monthly arrear statement in respect of work relating to indexing and recording 120. Quarterly business statement 121. Suspense and Reminder Diary 122. Register of periodical returns 123. Responsibility of Section and Branch Officers 124. Written reference 125. Simultaneous consultation 126. Oral consultation 127. Officers authorised to refer files to another Ministry 128. Unofficial references by attached and other offices 129. References to the Attorney General for India 130. Confidential character of notes 131. Inter-departmental meetings 1 3 2 . Correspondence between Government of India and foreign Governments and International Organisations 133. Procedure and conduct of business in Parliament 134. Questions-Types and conditions of admissibility 135. Advance copies of questions 136. Preliminary action on advance copies of questions 137. Draft replies to questions 138. Degree of priority 139. Legislation 140. Resolutions 141. Adjournment and other 142. Scrutiny of record of proceedings in Parliament 143. Register of Promises and Undertakings 144. Communication of information to the Press 145. Functions of Information Officers 146. Press releases-General Instructions 147. Forms of Press releases 148. Press Conferences 149. General provisions with regard to security of Government documents and information 150. Official reports, pamphlets, compilations, etc 151. Communication of information to the Press 152. Responsibility of the Branch Officers and Section Officers and other officers 153. Instructions regarding TOP SECRET and SECRET information and documents 154. Access to Ministries CENTRAL SECRETARIAT OFFICE PROCEDURE RECEIPT, REGISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF DAK CENTRAL SECRETARIAT OFFICE PROCEDURE RECEIPT, REGISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF DAK 1. Central Registry :- The Central Registry in each Ministry will receive all communications (called "receipts" in official parlance) addressed to the Ministry and distribute them to the various sections. The Registry should, as far as possible, be centrally situated so that it may serve all sections with equal speed and efficiency. 2. Receipt of dak during office hours :- All dak, local and postal including registered and insured articles, addressed to a Ministry will be received during office hours by the Receipt Clerk and acknowledged by him, where necessary. Communications addressed to an officer by name and brought by hand will. however, be received by the officer concerned direct or by his Personal Assistant or Stenographer on his behalf. Correspondence of any kind addressed to the Minister will be received by his Private Secretary, Personal Assistant or by his Personal Section if one exists. 3. Receipt of immediate communications outside office hours on working days and on Sunday and holidays :- On Saturday afternoons and on Sundays and holidays, immediate communications not addressed to any officer by name will be received during normal office hours by a clerk on duty in the Centra] Registry and outside office hours on all days including Sundays and holidays by the Residents Clerk. Where arrangements to receive dak at the premises of a Ministry do not exist, such communications will be received at the residence of the officer designated for the purpose. Receipts of an immediate nature received by the clerk on duty or the Resident Clerk will be sent without delay to the section concerned if there is staff on duty; otherwise to the officer concerned at his residence. Other receipts will be kept in the Central Registry and distributed to the sections on the next working day. Papers sent to officers at their residences should be sent in closed covers and an acknowledgment obtained in a peon-book. When an officer returns a file or sends it direct to another officer through the same peon, he should make an appropriate entry in the peon book. 4. Opening of dak :- Covers received in ordinary postal dak and addressed to an officer by name will be sent to him unopened forthwith. If the officer concerned is absent on tour or on leave, such covers should be sent to the officer who is looking after his work. Covers marked "Secret" or "Top Secret", which arc not addressed to an officer by name, will be sent to the officer authorised to receive and open such communications. These will be dealt with by him in accordance with the security instructions. All other covers will be opened by the Receipt Clerk who will also check, as far as practicable, the enclosures and make a note on the receipt of papers, if any, found missing. 5. Stamping, marking and sorting of receipts :- Each receipt will be Ministry of..................... stamped with a date stamp (vide facsimile in the margin). Reed. on ........................ Receipts will then be sorted out sectopmwose. To help in the G.R. No......................... allocation of receipts, a statement showing the subjects dealt Sec. Dy. No.................... with in each section will he supplied to Receipt Clerk and Classification .................. kept up to date by the Administration Section of the Ministry. He should consult his Section Officer when in difficulty or doubt, about the proper allocation of a receipt. Receipts will thereafter be passed on to the Registering Clerk or Clerks for registration and distribution (vide paragraph 6 below). Telegrams and other receipts marked "Immediate" and "Priority" will be separated from other dak and dealt with first. 6. Registration of dak in the Central Registry :- Every receipt will be registered by the Registering Clerk in a Receipt Register which will contain the following columns: (i) Serial No. (This will be referred to hereafter as C.R. No.) (ii) Number and date of receipt (i.e. as given by the sender). (iii) Designation and/or name of the sender. (iv) Section to which marked. A specimen of the form is given on p. 48. The C.R. No. will also be entered simultaneously on the receipt in the space provided in the stamp affixed (vide paragraph 5 above). The date of receipt of communications in the Ministry will be entered across the page of the register in red ink at the beginning of each day. The number of receipt registers to be maintained should be determined according to the convenience and volume of work in each Ministry. It should ordinarily correspond to the number of registering clerks, that is to say, then should he one register for every registering clerk, each being allotted a certain number of sections. Covers marked "Secret" or "Top Secret" which are sent to the officer authorised to open such covers will be stamped by him with a date stamp and registered in a separate Receipt Register. 7. Distribution of dak to sections :- The Registering Clerk will then prepare, in duplicate, an invoice of receipts, separately for each section, in the prescribed form (page 49) and send the receipts along with both copies of the invoice to the section concerned, where they will be received by the Diarist. The latter will check the receipts with the C.R.Nos. shown in the invoice and return its duplicate, duly signed. The duplicate copies of invoices will be checked and filed date-wise in the Central Registry and bound together at the end of each month. Receipt will be distributed to sections at regular intervals twice or thrice during the day, say at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Telegrams and other receipts marked "Immediate" or "Priority" will however be sent to sections as and when received. Ordinary receipts received after 4 p.m., may be held over for distribution on the next working day, 8. Perusal of dak by Section Officer :- The Diarist will place all the receipts in the "dak" tray on Section Officer's table as and when they are received from the Central Registry. The Section Officer will- (a) go through the receipts and classify them according to the instructions contained in paragraph 16 below: (b) select receipts which should be seen by the Branch Officer or higher officers at the dak stage and indicate the designation of the officers to whom they should be submitted for perusal: Note.-Receipts which disclose existing or likely audit objections and draft audit paragraphs will invariably be shown to the Secretary/Joint Secretary in dak]. (c) mark other receipts to the dealing Assistants (which term in the Manual will, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include Upper Division Clerks and such of the Lower Division Clerks as are entrusted case-work); and (d) make over the entire dak to the Diarist. 9. Diarising of receipts :- (1) The Diarist will then "diarise", i.e. enter up in the Section Diary (page 50), receipts other than those specified in sub-paragraph (4) below. He will, at this stage, complete only columns I-7 of the Diary and enter the Diary No. in the space provided for the purpose in the stamp referred to in paragraph 5 above. The date of entry of communications would be written in red ink across the page of the Diary at the beginning of the day. (2) Unofficial references should be diarised in red ink to distinguish them from other communications. (3) A file referred to or received back from another Ministry unofficially (u/o) should be diarised each time it is received. Previous and later references should, however, be linked by indicating the earlier and later Diary Nos. against each entry. (4) The following types of receipts should not be diarised : (i) Unsigned communications on which no instructions have been recorded by officers and on which no action is to be taken: (ii) identical representations from individuals or groups of individuals; it would be sufficient to diarise only one copy, viz. that received first: (iii) tour programmes; (iv) miscellaneous routine circulars, e.g. those relating to closure of offices: telephone lists, changes in addresses of officers, notices of holidays, etc. (v) copies of office memoranda, etc. containing general orders circulated by the Administration (or General or Co-ordination) Section for information; (vi) post copies of telegrams and routine acknowledgments; and (vii) any other types of receipts which, by a specific office order issued by the Ministry, need not be diarised. (5) Receipts mis-sent to a section should be returned promptly to the Central Registry for retransmission to the section concerned and not transferred to it direct. Where possible, an indication of the section actually concerned should also be given. In no case should such receipts be diarised in the section to which they are mis-sent. Necessary entries regarding transfer of a receipt should be made in the invoice (both copies). 10. Submission or distribution of dak by Diarist :- Receipts intended for submission to the Branch Officer and higher officers will be sent to them by the Diarist in batches, as soon as diarised, in special pads bearing a distinguishable label "Dak for Perusal". Those marked to the dealing Assistants will be distributed to them simultaneously. 11. Perusal of dak by Branch Officers :- The Branch Officer will.- (a) go through the dak sent to him, (b) remove receipts which he himself can dispose of without the assistance of the office, and those which in his opinion are important enough to be seen by higher officers at the dak stage or on which he desires their instructions, (c) return the rest to the Section Officer who will then mark them to the Assistant concerned 12. Perusal of dak by Deputy Secretary :- The Deputy Secretary may, at his discretion, submit to higher officers any receipts which he thinks should be brought to their notice and/or on which he desires their instructions at that stage. He will aiso take action on as many of the receipts which are submitted to him in dak as can be deals with by him without the assistance of office. 13. Unofficial references :- A file which is referred unofficially to another Ministry will on its return be submitted in dak to the officer who last noted upon it and he will ordinarily deal with it himself. 14. Instructions by officers for line of action :- Branch Officer, Deputy Secretary or any other higher officer to whom receipts are submitted in dak should give directions, wherever necessary, as to the line of action which he would like office to take When he proposes to deal with a receipt himself, he should ask for the file to he put up to him with relevant papers without any noting. Receipts on which no special instructions are given will be installed by him in token of his having seen them. 15. Priority in movement of dak :- all officers must give the perusal of dak highest priority. Personal Assistants and Stenographers should treat the receipts moving up and down as "Immediate". Every Section Officer should keep a careful watch on any hold-up in its movement. The Diarist will bring to his notice any papers which are not received back from officers within 24 hours. 16. Classification of receipts :- All receipts will be classified in two categories, namely "Primary" and "Subsidiary". Subsidiary receipts are those which a received in the course of consultation with other Departments, State Governments, All other receipts, i.e. original items of work will be classified as "Primary" receipt Primary receipts will be further distinguished into two groups from the point of time normally needed for their disposal, namely (a) those requiring elaborate examination prolonged consultations and not expected to the disposed of within a month, and (b) others. Section Officer will, when going through the dak and allotting it to Assistants mark each receipt as "PX", "P" or "S", according as it is- (a) a primary receipt requiring elaborate examination, etc.; (b) a primary receipt other than (a): or (c) a subsidiary receipt. 17. Instructions by Section Officer for dealing difficult cases :- The Section Officer will see whether any of the receipts arc of a difficult nature or present any special features which require his personal attention. He will deal with such receipts himself or give special instructions to the dealing Assistant as necessary. 18. Note-book for important receipts :- A Section Officer will keep a note in his personal note-hook or desk calendar of important receipts requiring prompt action or on which action is required to be completed by a specified date with a view to keeping a watch on progress ol action. 19. Inter-sectional references :- Files and paper:s received in one section from another for information, comments, etc. will be registered in a separate Inter-Sectional Movement Register (page 51 ) and not in the Section Diary. A record of the movement and return of such references, where necessary, will be kept in column 7 of the same register. Where, however, a file referred by one section to another is sent by the latter to an outside office, the file should on receipt be diarised in the Section Diary of the latter section and a cross reference given against the relevant entry in the Inter-Sectional Register. 20. Scrutiny of the Diary and Inter-Sectional Movement Register :- The Diarist will be responsible for the over-all maintenance of the Diary and the inter- Sectional Movement Register. The Section Officer should scrutinize them once a week to see that they are being properly maintained. 21. Initial examination of receipts by Assistant :- Soon after the receipts are made over to him, the Assistant will read them one by one and scort them out according to priority. "Immediate" and "Priority" receipts will be taken up first, care being taken at the same time thal ordinary receipts are not left unattended to for an unduly long period. The Assistant will check the enclosures and if any is found short or missing, he will bring the fact to the notice of the Section Officer and also suggest suitable action for obtaining the missing papers. If any other section or sections arc concerned with any part or aspect of a receipt, the Assistant will .send relevant extracts through the Section Officer to the section or sections concerned for remarks or necessary action. 22. Collection of relevant material :- The next stage of action by office is lo collect the material required for taking action on a receipt. This will ordinarily consist of (a) the file on the subject, if one already exists, (b) other files or papers, if any, referred lo in the receipt, and (c) any other material of the nature described in items (iii) and (iv) of paragraph 25 below. For this purpose the Assistant will consult the indexes, file registers, sectional note-book of important decisions rnaintnined in the section and other elevant books. Acts. rules, regulations, etc. 23. Bringing a receipt on a file :- A receipt will he brought on to a current He if it relates to a subject on which a file already exists. If not. it will he necessary to open a new file for initialing action on the receipt. The receipt will then be docketed and referenced in the manner described on page 25- 24. Notes :- "Notes" are the written remarks recorded on a paper under consideration to facilitate its disposal. They may consist of a precis of previous papers, a statement or an analysis of the question or questions requiring decision, suggestions as to the course of action and orders passed thereon. A note recorded by a Minister, the Prime Minister or the President may be referred to as a "Minute". 25. Scope and purpose of noting by office :- When the line of action on a receipt is obvious or is based on a clear precedent or practice or has been indicated by the Branch Officer or Deputy Secretary in the directions given by him on a receipt, a draft reply, where necessary, should be put up for approval without much noting. In other cases office will put up a note. It will be the duty of the office- (i) to see whether all the facts so far as they are open to check, are correct: (ii) to point out any mistakes or mis-statements of facts; (iii) to draw attention, where necessary, to the statutory or customary procedure and to point out the law and rules and where they are to be found: (iv) to supply other relevant facts and figures available in the Ministry and to put up precedents or papers containing previous decisions of policy: (v) to state the question or questoins for consideration and to bring out clearly the points requiring decision; and (vi) to suggest a course of action, wherever possible. 26. Action by Section Officer :- (i) Section Officer will scrutinise the note of Assistant, add his own remarks or suggestions where necessary and submit the case to the Branch Officer or higher officer. (ii) Section Officers are authorised and expected independently to lake action of the following type: (a) Intermediate routine action on all cases, e.g. issuing reminders. acknowledgments, etc.; (b) final disposal of rountine cases, e.g. those in which factual information of a non-confidential nature has to be called for from, or to be supplied to, a Ministry; and (c) any other action which by a general or specific office order a Section Officer is authorised to take independently. (iii) The delegations under Cl. (c) above should be made in terms of specific items of work done in each section and should be reviewed from time to lime after taking into account the nature of work and the individual capabilities of the Section Officer concerned. Due regard should also be paid to the statutory and other limitations. For instance, before a Section Officer is allowed to attest entries in Service Books, it would be necessary to make a formal delegation. Similarly, communications which operate as an order of Government issued in the name of the President must always be signed by an officer authorised to authenticate such orders. 27. Noting by Branch Officer :- (i) A Branch Officer will dispose of as many cases as possible on his own responsibility but will take the orders of Deputy Secretary or higher officers on cases of an important nature or those involving questions of policy. He should endeavour to reduce the number of cases to be submitted formally to the Deputy Secretary by taking his verbal directions. (ii) Where he has to pass orders or to make recommendations for the consideration of higher officers, he will confine his note to the actual points that should he dealt with hy him without attempting to reiterate the ground already covered in the previous notes. When he agrees with the recommendations made in the preceding note. he will merely append his signature. 28. Notes and Orders by Deputy Secretary :- A Deputy Secretary should, ordinarily, dispose of majority of cases coming up to him on his own responsibility. He should use his discretion in taking orders of the Joint Secretary/Secretary on the more important cases, whether orally or by submission of papers. The oral method should be adopted as far as possible. 29. Summary for the Minister :- When a case is submitted to the Minister, a self-contained summary should he put up unless the last note on the file will itself serve that purpose. The summary shall give all facts relevant to the case including the views expressed on the subject by other Ministry or Ministries, if any, consulted in the matter and shall specify the point or points on which the orders of the Minister are required. 30. Interchange of notes between officers in the same Ministry :- Interchange of notes between officers within the same Ministry should be avoided as far as possible. The purpose can be secured by personal discussion between the officers concerned. 31. Record of verbal discussions, orders and instructions :- All points emerging from discussions between two or more officers and the conclusions reached should he recorded on the relevant file by the officer authorising action. Similarly, all verbal orders or instructions given by any officers and, where necessary, the circumstances leading to such orders/instructions, should be recorded on the file. 32. Weekly statement of cases disposed of without reference to the Minister :- A statement of cases, other than those of a routine nature, disposed of without reference to the Minister-in-charge should be submitted to him every Monday or if Monday he a holiday, on the next working day. It will be the responsibility of the Section Officer to indicate cases which should be included in this statement. 33. Channel for submission of cases :- (i) The channel for submission of cases will ordinarily be : Section Officer- Branch Officer-Deputy Secretary-Joint Secretary/Secretary-Minister, cases moving up to the stage necessary. (ii) Selected Assistants may he authorised to submit cases direct to Branch Officers. (iii) Section Officer may be permitted to submit certain types of cases direct to Deputy Secretary and the Branch Officer to the Joint Secretary or Secretary. Similarly, Deputy Secretary may, in specified cases, deal direct with the Minister. (iv) After orders have been passed by a competent officer, the file should go hack to (he section through all officers at intermediate stages to keep them informed of the decision taken. 34. Noting on unofficial references :- (1) Inter-departmental references broadly fall under two categories, namely- (i) cases where reference is merely for ascertaining factual information; and (ii) cases in which the reference seeks concurrence, opinion or a ruling from the Ministry referred to. (2) In cases falling under (i) the Assistant in the receiving Ministry may note lhe required information on the file itself. In cases falling under (ii), it is necessary frequently that the points involved should be examined in the receiving Ministry. The genera] rule to be followed in all such cases is that any examination and noting should take place off the file and only the final result should be recorded on the file by the officer responsible for commenting upon the reference. All notes off the file will be treated as "routine" notes and the officer to whom such notes arc submitted will consider these "routine" notes and will either (a) accept the routine note. or (b) record a note of his own. In case of (a) he may direct that the notes in question or a portion thereof should he reproduced on the main file for communication to the Ministry concerned. In case of (b), if the final note is written by hand. it should be written on the file itself and a copy thereof kept as a record of the final disposal. If the last note is typewritten, it should be typed on the file, a carbon copy being made on the routine sheet. The main file should thereafter be returned to the referring Ministry; the routine notes which are retained in the Ministry to which the reference is made, will serve as a record of the view taken in the Ministry lor future reference. (3) In cases where a note on file is recorded by an officer after obtaining the orders of higher officers the fact that the views expressed therein have the approval of such officer should be specifically mentioned. 35. General instructions regarding noting :- (i) All notes should be concise and to the point. Excessive noting is an evil which should be avoided. It is to he assumed that the "Paper Under Consideration" and the previous notes, if any, will be read by the officer to whom a case is submitted. The reproduction verbatim of extracts from or paraphrasing of the P.U.C. or of notes of other Ministries on the same file should. therefore, be avoided. (ii) If apparent errors in the note of another Ministry have to be pointed out or if the opinion expressed therein has to be criticised, care should be taken that the observations are couched in courteous and temperate language free from personal remarks. (iii) If the Branch Officer or higher officer has made any remarks on a receipt these should first be copied out and then the note should follow. No note should be written on the receipt ilself except in very routine matters. (iv) When arising out of a single case there are several points requiring orders, each point should be noted upon and submitted to Branch Officer and/or higher officers separately. Such notes will be called "Sectional Notes" and at the time of recording will be placed after the main notes in the file. 36. Assistants Diary :- Every Assistant will maintain a running record of papers received and dealt with by him in the form given on page 149. Besides receipts marked to him, cases going back to him for re-examination or further action such as putting up a draft, etc. will be included in this Diary. Proper maintenance of the Diary should help the Assistant in completing the weekly arrear statement (paragraph 1 17). Entries made in columns 3 and 5 of the Assistant's Diary will enable the Diarist to complete columns 8 and 9 of the Section Diary with comparative case and will also facilitate the compilation of Statistical Control Chart (paragraph 116). 37. Monthly Summary for the Cabinet :- The Rules of Business prescribe that each Ministry shall submit to the Cabinet a monthly summary of its principal activities and such other periodical returns as the Cabinet may require from time to time. It will he the responsibility of each Branch Officer to indicate cases which shouid be included in the monthly summary and other periodical returns. Reports will be made to the Administration or Co-ordination Section who will consolidate them for submission to the Cabinet by the prescribed date. 38. Monthly note for the Indian Missions abroad :- Each Ministry will forward to the Ministry of External Affairs every month, by the date fixed for the submission of its monthly summary to the Cabinet a note describing such of its activities as are likely to be of interest to the Indian Missions abroad. The notes will be consolidated and forwarded to the Missions by the Ministry of External Affairs. A copy will also be sent to the Cabinet Secretariat. 39. Examination and progressing of cases in which State Governments or other Ministries, etc. are consulted :- Where State Governments or other Ministries, etc. are consulted in any matter, the preliminary examination and, where necessary, tabular consolidation of the replies should be started as soon as replies begin to arrive and not held over till the receipt of all the replies or the expiry of the target date. The relevant file together with the consolidated statement of replies should be submitted to the appropriate senior officers for information at regular intervals and, where necessary, to the Minister. On the expiry of the target date, orders should be obtained whether the State Governments, etc. whose replies have not been received may be allowed an extension of time or whether the matter may be proceeded with without waiting for the outstanding replies. 40. Acknowledgements or interim replies :- (i) (a) Acknowledgments.- All communications from Members of Parliament, recognised associations, public bodies and responsible members of the public, which cannot be answered promptly, should ordinarily be acknowledged suitably. (b) When a communication is wrongly addressed to a Ministry, the receiving Ministry will. while transferring it to the Ministry concerned, indicate whether or not its receipt has been acknowledged. When a communication is acknowledged by the first Ministry, the sender will also be informed of the fact of transfer. (ii) Interim replies.- (a) If delay is anticipated in sending out a final answer, an interim reply may be sent to the party concerned. (b) A suitable interim regly should immediately be sent to all demi-official letters which cannot be answered promptly. (c) When a demi-official letter addressed to the Minister by name in sent into the office and if the matter under reference cannot be immediately disposed of, a draft interim reply should be put up forthwith. 41. Communications to Members of Parliament :- All replies to communications from Members of Parliament should ordinarily be issued with the approval of the Secretary or Joint Secretary concerned. 42. Communications to State Governments :- All communications to Slate Governments except those of a purely routine nature should ordinarily issue under the orders of an officer not lower in rank than a Deputy Secretary. 43. Draft-When to be prepared :- Except when the line of action on a case is obvious, a draft of the communication proposed to be sent out will be prepared after orders have been passed by the competent officer indicating the terms of the reply to be sent. A Branch Officer or a higher officer who has formulated his ideas on a case may himself prepare a draft and authorise its issue or submit it to the next higher officer for approval, as the case may be. In other cases a draft will be prepared by office. 44. Wording of a draft :- A draft should convey the exact intention of the orders passed. The language used should be clear, concise and incapable of misconstruction. Lengthy sentences, abruptness, redundancy, circumlocution, superlatives and repetitions, whether of words, expressions or ideas, should be avoided. Communications of some length or complexity should generally conclude with a summary. The various forms of communications and the circumstances in which they should be made use of are described in paragraph 65. 45. Authentication of Government orders :- (i) All orders and other instruments made, and executed in the name of the President should be signed by an officer authorised to authenticate such orders under the rule issued by the President under Cl. (2) of Art. 77 of the Constitution. (ii) Where the power to make orders, notifications, etc. is conferred by a statute on the Central Government., such orders and notifications will be expressed to he made in the name of the Central Government. 46. General Instructions :- (i) A draft will be prepared on Form No. S. 55 (and draft continuation sheet, when necessary) and written or typed in half margin and on both sides of the paper. Sufficient space should be left between successive lines so as to admit of a word or phrase being inserted, if necessary. (ii) A slip hearing the words "Draft for Approval" should be attached to the draft. If two or more drafts are put up on a file. the drafts as well as the D.F.A. slips will he numbered "D.F.A.1.", "D.F.A. II", "D.F.A. III" and so on. (iii) The number and date of the communication replied to or of the last communication in a series of correspondence on the same subject should always be referred to. Where it is necessary to refer to more than one communication or a series of communications, this should be done in the margin of the draft. The subject should be mentioned invariably in all communications including reminders. (iv) A draft should show clearly the enclosures which are to accompany the fair copy. To draw the attention of the typist, the comparers and the despatcher, a diagonal stroke should be made in the margin. The number of enclosures should also be indicated at the end of the draft on the left bottom of the page thus "Ends.-Nos..............."' (v) If copies of an enclosure referred to in the draft are available and have not therefore to be typed, the fact should be clearly stated in the margin of the draft for the guidance of the typist. (vi) All drafts put up on a file should bear the number of the file. When two or more letters, notifications, etc. are to issue from the same file on the same date to the same addressee, the serial number should also be given in addition in order to avoid confusion in reference, thus 8/5 (1) 54-Bsts., 8/5 (II)/ 54-Ests. (vii) Where State Governments or Ministries, etc. are consulted on any matter, a time-limit for replies should ordinarily be specified. (viii) The officer over whose signature the communication is to issue will initial on the draft in token of his approval. His designation should invariably be indicated on the draft for the guidance of the Central Registry. 47. Standard skeleton drafts :- For communications of repetitive nature, approved standard skeleton forms should be drawn up, and cyclostyled or printed. These may be submitted to the officer concerned with a fair copy for signature. 48. Priority marking on drafts :- The drafts of all letters which are to issue as "Immediate" or "Priority" will be so marked under the orders of an officer not lower in rank than a Section Officer. 49. Issue :- The term "issue" is used to signify the various stages of action after approval of a draft, namely typing of fair copy, the examination of the typed material. submission of the fair copy for signature and finally the despatch of the communication to the addressee. This, in fact, constitutes the major pan of the functions of the Central Registry. [The procedure detailed hcreunder relates only to the issue of files and papers other than those classified as "Top Secret" or "Secret".] 50. Marking of files for "issue" :- (a) After a draft has been approved, if will be marked for "issue" by the Section Officer. Except when it is necessary to send the whole file for preparing copies of the enclosures, etc., the draft will be removed and sen to the Central Registry without the file, but secured in a file board or a flap, the file itsel remaining in the custody of the Diarist till the return of the draft from Central Registry after issue. An appropriate entry (e.g. "Draft to C.R. on .................") will be made by the Diarist in the File Register (paragraph 87). When a file also is to be sent to the. Central Registry, the Section Officer will write the words "with file" on the draft. (b) If there are more than one draft for issue on the same file, the Section Officer with indicate in brackets on each of them the total number of drafts sent for issue, e.g. "Issue (3 drafts)". (c) Before marking a draft for "issue", the Section Officer will see that it is letter perfect, i.e. all corrections, etc. have been properly carried out. Where a draft has bee expensively altered and it is necessary to have a clean copy made for use as an office copy the Section Officer will give clear direction to that effect on the draft. He will also indicate the number of spare copies required, if any. (d) If any papers are to be despatched by special messenger or issued under registered post or under Postal Certificate or as Express Delivery, necessary instructions should be given on the draft while marking it for issue. Cheques, bills, agreements, service books, notices or any other valuable documents should always be sent under registered post, acknowledgment due, and where necessary, under an insured cover. 51. Issue Diary :- (a) The Central Registry will maintain Issue Diary page 150) in which all files received will be entered serially. The date of receipt will be written across the page at the beginning of each day. (b) Telegrams and drafts marked "Immediate" should be entered in red ink to distinguish them from the rest for immediate action. (c) Every draft will be stamped with a rubber stamp as per facsimile given in the Received on ..................... margin. The first two entries in the stamp will be made by issue Dy. No ................... the Clerk maintaining the Issue Diary Typed by ......................... Checked by ....................... (d) At the end of the day, the Diarist will submit the Issue Diary to the Section Officer who will inspect it with a view to finding out the extent of arrears in his section. He will then arrange to expedite action on the outstanding cases. 52. Distribution of work among typists :- The Section Officer will distribute work among typists as evenly as possible. He will maintain a work-sheet in the form given on page 54. A page of stencil will be reckoned as one and a half page of plain typing. Each typist will return to the Section Officer the work remaining unfinished at the end of each day. 53. General instructions regarding typing :- (i) Drafts marked "Immediate" or "Priority" will be taken up first. The attention of the examiners will be drawn to the priority marking when such drafts are passed on to them. (ii) Fair copies of all communications will be typed in the appropriate prescribed form of suitable size. Printed forms should be used as far as available. (iii) A margin should be left on the left hand side of the front page and on the right on the reverse. (iv) Marginal entries, unless they are very small, should be inserted in an indenture which should be demarcated by a line ruled or typed on the top, bottom and the side of the indenture facing the body of the communication. (v) Fair copies should generally be typed with single spacing. (vi) The name of the officer who is to sign the fair copy should be typed in brackets above his designation. In demi-official letters, however, the designation will not be given. (vii) Enclosures to accompany a communication, should be indicated by drawing an oblique line (thus) in the margin against the paragraph in which the enclosures are referred to. The number of enclosures should be typed at the bottom on the left side of the fair copy thus "Enclosures- Nos................" (viii) When more than 16 copies are required, a stencil should be cut. (ix) The typist should type his initials with date at the left hand bottom corner of the fair copy, e.g. NCK/13-5-54. (x) Further detailed instructions regarding typing, carbon manifolding, stencil cutting, etc. which should be borne in mind by the typing staff are given on page 78. 54. Comparison :- As soon as he has finished typing, the typist should initial the draft in the space provided in the rubber stamp mark [vide paragraph 51 (c) above] and pass it on to the examiners, who will compare and check the fair copies with the draft. The examiner will initial (with date) the draft in token of his having checked the fair copies in the space provided in the rubber stamp mark referred to above. He will then attach enclosures, if any, and write the worked "attached" below the oblique line on the draft. 55. Submission of fair copies for signature :- The examiner will send the fair copies complete with enclosures and the duplicate office copy, if any, together with the approved draft in a signature pad to the officer concerned for his signature. On return of the pad the examiner will see that corrections, if any, made by the officer while signing, are carried out in the other copies. Officers will give the signature pads the highest priority. Private Secretaries, Personal Assistants and Stenographers should treat the pads moving up and down as "Immediate". 56. Despatch :- (a) The examiner will pass on the signed fair copies together with the draft and the relevant file, if any, to the Despatcher. The latter will separate communications to be sent by post from those to be delivered by hand and will enter them in separate despatch registers in the forms described on pages 55 and 56 respectively. Communications in each group intended for the same addressee will be entered at one place as far as possible. (b) Telegrams should be entered in red ink and time of despatch noted against each entry. (c) Every fair copy received will be sent out by the Despatcher on the same day as far as possible. As a rule, no communication shall be detained by him for more than twenty- four hours. (d) The expenditure incurred each day on service postage stamps will be totalled up at the end of the day, checked by the Section Officer and brought on to the Stamp Account Register, vide paragraph 61 (ii). (e) The Despatcher will see before despatch that the fair copies have been duly signed. ISSUED He will give the date of issue on the fair signed copy and also on .................. on the draft or the office copy. He will stamp the draft with a by ................... rubber stamp as per facsimile given in the margin and will initial (with date) in the space provided on the stamp in token of his having issued the fair copy. 57. General Instructions :- (i) All communications will bear the date on which they are actually issued. They will not be double-dated. (ii) Ordinarily on covers should be used for communications which arc intended to be delivered locally by hand, unless they are addressed to officer by name or are marked "secret". (iii) All communication intended for the same addressee should be placed in a single cover as far as possible. Covers of suitable size should be used. (iv) "Economy Slips" (S. 87) must be used for all covers containing ordinary (i.e. non-secret) communications except when the contents are bulky or when it is proposed to send the cover insured. These slips are not to be used for covers addressed to foreign countries. (v) The number and date of a communication should be given on the cover. The words "with enclosures" should be added where necessary. (vi) The Despatcher will write the word "sent" against each oblique line on the margin of the draft in token of despatch of enclosures. When, for any unavoidable reasons, an enclosure is sent separately, a note to that effect should be made on the communication itself and the enclosure should be accompanied by a slip indicating the number and date of the communication to which it relates. (vii) The daftry attached to the Central Registry will close the envelopes and packets and, in the case of covers to be sent by post, also weigh them and affix stamps of the required value. (viii) All covers sent by post under service postage stamps will be franked with a rubber stamp bearing the facsimile impression of the signature of the officer-in-charge of the Central Registry, failing which the article is liable to be over-charged or withheld by the postal authorities. (ix) Receipts for telegrams and registered and insured letters, etc. should be checked carefully by the Despatcher, filed properly and preserved for atleast three months. 58. Return of drafts after issue :- After issue of a fair communication the Despatcher will make over the office copy together with the relevant file, if any, to the clerk maintaining the Issue Diary. The latter will return the papers to the section concerned after making an entry in the Diary. The Diarist of the section will report to the Section Officer every evening the number of drafts not received back within two days from the date they were sent to the Central Registry. 59. Issue of unofficial cases :- Unofficial files will be issued and entered in a Despatch Register (page 56) to be maintained by sections themselves. The Diarist will before despatch of an unofficial file prepare, in duplicate, a challan in Form No. S. 15 of papers to be sent. One copy of the challan will be placed on the bottom of case and the other made over to the dealing Assistant. The unofficial file will then be entered in a peon book and sent to the Despatcher in the Central Registry who will arrange to have it delivered to the addressee and return the peon book to the section concerned. 60. Peon books :- Papers to be sent by hand should be entered in peon books which should be checked by the Despatcher on return. While sending "Immediate" letters, the time of despatch should be noted in the peon book. 61. Service postage stamps :- (i) Receipt and custody of stamps.-The Section Officer-in-charge of the Central Registry will obtain its requirements of service postage stamps from the Cashier against requisitions to be made in the form given on page 57. The stamps actually issued by the Cashier will be detailed by him on the reverse of the form and acknowledged by Section Officer. (ii) Stump Account Register.-The Despatcher will maintain an account of the service postage stamps received and expended, in the form given on page 58. Stamps received from the Cashier will be brought on to this register as soon as they are received. The total value of service postage stamps expended every day as shown in col. 4 of the Despatch Register for postal dak will be brought on to this register and the balance struck every day. The Section Officer will check the entries made in the register every day and append his dated signatures in token of his having done so. (iii) The Section Officer will, during the course of the day, make surprise checks of any envelopes ready for despatch by post and verify that the stamps affixed thereon tally with the entries in the Despatch Register. 62. Ordinary postage stamps :- Ordinary postage stamps and not service postage stamps should be used for telegrams, letters, packets, etc. intended for despatch to foreign countries. A separate issue register will be maintained for keeping a record of such issues and an account of the expenditure incurred thereon. The Section Officer-in-charge of Central Registry should inspect this register and also exercise a physical check on the balance of stamps available with reference to the entries made in the register. 63. Verification of stamp accounts :- The Stamp Account Registers referred to in paragraphs 61 and 62 above will be inspected once a month by the Under Secretary in-charge of the Central Registry, who will verify the balance of stamps by physical count and note on the registers the result of his inspection. He will also carry out surprise checks to satisfy himself that the registers are properly maintained. 64. Action after issue :- (i) Central Registry will send the drafts after issue to the Section Officer concerned. The latter will pass them on to the Diarist who will place the drafts on the top of the files already with him {vide paragraph 50 (a) above] and make them over to the dealing Assistant after making an entry of the movement in the File Register (paragraph 87). (ii) If the communication issued constitutes final disposal of the "Paper Under Consideration", the file will be marked for record through the Section Officer in accordance with the procedure laid down under the heading "Indexing and Recording" on page 30. Care must be taken to see that final disposal has indeed taken place before a file is so marked. The best guidance will be found in answers to two questions, namely, (i) is any further action pending on the paper or papers under consideration on the file and (ii) has a complete reply been sent to the source from which the paper under consideration emanated ? (iii) If a reply to the communication issued is to be awaited or further action on the file is to be resumed at a later date, the Assistant will mark the file for "reminder" or "suspense", as the case may be, through the Section Officer. A note of such files will be kept by the Diarist in the Suspense or Reminder Diary (vide paragraph 121). 65. Forms of correspondence :- Written communications issuing from a Ministry/Office shall be in one or the other of the following forms : (i) Letter (ii) Office Memorandum (iii) Memorandum (iv) Demi-official Letter (v) Unofficial Memorandum/Note (vi) Endorsement (vii) Notification (viii) Resolution (ix) Press Communique/Note (x) Telegram (xi) Express Letter (xii) Savingram. Each one of the above forms has a use and in some instances a phraseology of its own. Specimen of the above forms of communications are given on page 185. 66. Letter :- (i) Letter is the most common form used for all formal communications to foreign Governments, State Governments, attached and subordinate offices, and other offices such as the Union Public Service Commission, and associations-Public or of Governments servants, public bodies and also individuals. It is not used for correspondence between different Ministries of the Government of India. (ii) A letter is composed of the following parts : (a) letter head bearing the name of the Government of India and that of the Ministry; (b) number and date of communication; (c) name and/or designation of the sender; (d) name and/or designation of the addressee; (e) subject; (f) salutation; (g) main text of the letter; (h) subscription; and (i) signature and designation of the sender. (iii) Official letters emanating from a Ministry and purporting to convey the views or orders of the Government of India must specifically be expressed to have been written under the direction of Government. (iv) Letters addressed to official authorities should begin with the salutation "Sir" and those addressed to non-official individuals or groups of individuals with "Dear Sir/Sirs". Those addressed to firms should begin with the salvation "Dear Sirs" or "Gentlemen". All official letters terminate with the subscription "Yours faithfully" followed by the signature and designation of the person signing the letter. (v) In official letters from heads of individual offices (such as Director- General of Archaeology) or from individual officers who do not write by direction of Government but on their own authority the form "I am directed to" is replaced by "I have the honour to". 67. Office Memorandum :- This form is used for correspondence between the Ministries of the Government of India. It is written in the third person and hears no salvation or subscription except the signature and designation of the officer signing it. The name of the Ministry to which the communication is addressed is shown below the signature on the extreme left of the page. The use of this form in correspondence with attached and subordinate offices should be avoided. 68. Memorandum :- This is used (a) in replying to petitions, applications for appointments, etc.; (b) in acknowledging the receipt of communications; and (c) for conveying information not amounting to an order of Government to subordinate authorities. This is also written in the third person and does not contain a salutation or a subscription except the signature and designation of the officer who signs it. The name and/Or designation of the addressee is indicated below the signature on the left side of the page. 69. Demi-official letter :- This form is used in correspondence between Government officers for an interchange or communication of opinion or information without the formality of the prescribed procedure and also when it is desired that a matter should receive the personal attention of the individual addressed or when it is intended to bring to the persona] notice of an officer a case on which action has been delayed and official reminders have failed to elicit a suitable reply. Communications to non-officials may be in the form of demi-official letters, but should not be referred to as such. A demi- official communication is addressed personally to an officer by name. It is written in the first person singular in the personal and friendly tone with the salutation "My clear ................." or "Dear ......................." and terminating with "Yours sincerely". It is signed by the officer generally without mentioning his. designation. 70. Unofficial references :- Unofficial references can he made in two different ways, namely: (i) by sending the file itself to a Ministry/Office with a note recorded thereon: or; (ii) by sending a self-contained note or memorandum. This method is generally employed in Ministries (or between a Ministry and its attached offices) for obtaining the views, comments, etc. of other Ministries on a proposal, obtaining a clarification, etc. of the existing instructions, or requisitioning papers or information, etc. No salutation or complimentary closing words are used in this form. 71. Endorsement :- This form is made use of when a paper is returned in original to the sender or is referred to another Ministry or to an attached or subordinate office (either in original or by sending a copy thereof) for information, remarks or disposal, or where a copy of a communication is to be forwarded to others in addition to the original addressee. In the last case the endorsement may take one or other of the following form : "A copy (with a copy of the letter to which it is reply) is forwarded to .................. .................................................................... for information/for information and guidance/for necessary action/ for favour of a reply/for early compliance". Copies of financial sanctions issued by administrative Ministries where required to he communicated to the audit authorities through the Ministry of Finance arc also sent by means of an endorsement. This form should not, however, be used in communicating copies to State Governments which should generally be done in the form of a letter. 72. Notification :- This form is used for notifying by publication in the Gawne of India the promulgation of rules and orders, delegation of powers, appointments, leave and transfers of gazetted officers, etc. (See also paragraph 74). 73. Resolution :- This form of communication is used for making public announcements of decisions of Government on important matters of policy, appointment of committees or commissions of enquiry and of the results of the review of important reports of such bodies. Resolutions are also usually published in the Gazette of India. 74. Publication of the "Gazette of India" :- The Gazette of India is published in four parts, each part comprising a number of sections. While sending any matter for publication in the Gazeffee of India, clear instructions should he given to the press as to the part and section in which the matter is to be published. All Gazettes Extraordinary should be approved by an officer not lower in rank than a Joint Secretary. 75. Press Communique or Press Note :- A Press Communique or Press Note is issued when it is sought to give wide publicity to a decision of Government. Press Communique is more formal in character than Press Note and will be reproduced intact by the press. Press Note on the other hand is intended to serve as ahand-out to the press which they may edit, compress or enlarge, as they may choose. 76. Telegrams :- (i) When to be sent.-A telegram should he issued only on occasions of urgency. As fast air-mail services exist, no telegram should be sent if a letter superscribed with the appropriate priority marking or an express letter can serve the purpose. The text of a telegram should be brief and clear but clarity should not be sacrificed for brevity. (ii) Kinds of telegrams.-Telegrams are of two kinds : (a) En Clair telegrams which are worded in plain language and are sent direct to telegraph offices. These are issued by the Ministries concerned through their Central Registry. (b) Cypher and Code telegrams relate to matters of secret and confidential nature and arc therefore sent in code or cypher. These are transmitted through and cleared by the Central Cypher Bureau of the Ministry of External Affairs. ' Detailed instructions in regard to the editing, numbering and treatment of these telegrams have been issued by the Ministry of External Affairs and should be strictly complied with. (iii) Priority Indications.- (a) There are five priority indications authorised for use in Slate telegrams, viz. SVH (i.e. telegrams relating to the safety of human life in maritime or aerial navigation, inland and overseas), "Most Immediate", "Operation Immediate", "Immediate" and "Important". Their use is regulated by rules issued by the Director-General, Posts and Telegraphs, which also specify the officers authorised to use these priority gradings. (b) The power to use priority gradings shall not be delegated to any other officer and a priority telegram signed. "BY ORDER" will not he accepted save in cases specified below: (1) an indication authorised for use by any particular officer may be exercised by that officer's immediate deputy (and no one else when the authorised officer is away from the headquarters: (2) in exceptional circumstances any officer may use any degree of priority he considers necessary but he will report his action to his superior staling the circumstances and will be held personally responsible for justifying his action. (c) The above priority indications and the procedure to be followed in making use of them also apply to Telephone Trunk Callp. (iv) All telegrams issued other than cypher and code telegrams should be followed by post copies. 77. Express letter :- An Express letter should be worded like a telegram and should be given the same priority by the recipient. This form should as far as possible be made use of in the place of telegrams except in cases of utmost urgency. 78. Savingrams :- Urgent overseas communications which were previously sent in the form of a foreign telegram but which, with the introduction of air services, can he sent by air-mail should be superscribed as Savingrams. A Savingram is worded exactly like a telegram but is despatched as an air-mail letter or by a diplomatic bag. 79. Constituents of a file :- (i) Notes and Correspondence.-Two main parts of a file are (a) "Notes", and (b) "Correspondence" each one of which is placed in a separate cover. The former contains notes recorded on a "Paper Under Consideration" or a "Fresh Receipt". The "Correspondence" contains all communications received and office copies of out-going communications. (ii) Appendix to Notes or Correspondence.-If the inclusion or any detailed information in the "Notes" is likely to obscure the main point at issue or make the note unnecessarily lengthy, such information or details will be incorporated in a separate and self-contained summary or a statement which will be placed in a separate cover called "Appendix to Notes". Similarly, if enclosures to a communication received or issued consist of a large mass of material they should be placed in a separate cover called "Appendix to Correspondence". 80. Numbering of pages :- Every page in each part of the file should be consecutively numbered in separate series. Blank intervening pages, if any, should not he numbered. 81. Punching of papers :- Every paper shall be punched at the left-hand top corner to the correct gauge (3/4 of an inch from either side) before it is tagged to the correspondence or notes. 82. Serial numbers :- Every communication, whether receipt or issue, together with its enclosures kept in the "Correspondence", will be given a serial number in red ink on its first page, preferably on the right top corner. The first communication will he marked. "Serial No. I" and the subsequent ones will bear consecutive serial numbers in a single series. 83. Docketing :- Docketing is the process of making entries in the "Notes" portion of a file about each Serial No. (Receipt or Issue) in the "Correspondence" for its identification. A receipt will be docketed by writing in red ink. across the page, the Serial No. of the communication followed by its number and date and the designation name of sender [e.g. Serial No. 4 (Receipt)-No. 32/14/52-Admn., dated 28th August. 1954. from the Secretary. Planning Commission]. An "Issue" will he docketed by entering the Serial No. given to it, followed by the date of its issue and the name and designation of the addressee [e.g. Serial No. 5 (Issue)-Dated 30th August. 1954 to the Secretary, Planning Commission]. The name of the Ministry and section and the subject of the file will be given on the top of the first page of the "Notes" before docketing the first serial. 84. Opening and numbering of a new file :- (i) Each section will maintain an approved list of main subjects (known as "standard heads") bearing consecutive serial numbers. The list will he scrutinised and brought up to date at the beginning of every calendar year. As far as possible "standard heads" will be allotted the same numbers, year after year. A new head may be added to the list with the approval of the Section Officer during the course of the year, if found necessary. (ii) When it is necessary to open a new file (vide paragraph 23) (he Assistant will first ascertain the "standard head" under which it should he opened. He will then prepare a suitable title (vide paragraphs 96 and 98), and allot it a serial number under the standard head after consulting the File Register (paragraph 87). (iii) The number given to the file will consist of-(i) the number allotted to the standard head: (ii) the Serial No. of the file under the standard head: (iii) the year in which opened: and (iv) the initials or letters used for identifying the section. Thus. files opened in the Public Section of the Ministry of Home Affairs during the year 1955 under the standard head 3 will be numbered 3/1/55-Pub., 3/2/55-Pub., and so on. 85. Separate file for each distinct subject :- There should be a separate file for each distinct subject, if the subject of a file is too wide or too general, there will be a tendency to place in it receipts dealing with different aspects of the matter which apart from making the file unwieldy will impede business. If the issues raised in a receipt or in the notes or in the orders passed thereon go beyond the original subject, relevant extracts should be taken and dealt with separately on new files. 86. Part files :- (i) A part file may be opened only when the main file is not likely to he available for some time or when it is desired to consult simultaneously other sections or officers and it is necessary for them to see the "Paper Under Consideration" and oilier connected papers. (ii) A part file will normally consist of- (a) the original "Paper Under Consideration" or its copy and other essential papers on the "Correspondence" side; and (b) the note or notes recorded or to be recorded on the "Paper Under Consideration" or a copy thereof on the "Notes" side. (iii) A part file should be incorporated with the main file as soon as the latter becomes available. (iv) When more than one part file is opened, each one of them should be given a distinct number, thus, 3/1/54-Pub. (Part File 1), 3/1/54-Pub. (Part File II). 87. File Register :- A record of file opened during a calendar year will be kept in a File Register, a specimen form of which is given on page 59. As soon as a new file is opened, the Assistant will inform the clerk maintaining the register (generally the Diarist) of the number and subject allotted to it for making an entry in the register. 88. Movement :- (i) All movements of a file will be routed through the clerk, in charge of the File. Register who will keep a record thereof in the relevant columns of the register. (ii) Movement of files and papers of other Ministries received unofficially which will ultimately go back to the originating Ministry will be noted in the "Remarks" column of the Section Diary. (iii) Files passed by a Deputy Secretary or a higher officer will he sent direct by his Stenographer or Personal Assistant to the officer to whom marked after keeping a note of the movement in the form given on page 60. (iv) The movement of inter-sectional references will be recorded in column 7 of the Inter-Sectional Movement Register (page 51). 89. Routine notes or papers :- Notes of casual discussions on points of secondary importance, routine correspondence like reminders, acknowledgments, etc. and notes intended to elucidate minor points of detail which are of an ephemeral nature should not be allowed to clutter up the main file. They should be treated as "routine" papers and placed below the file in a separate cover and destroyed when they have served their purpose. 90. Filing of official, demi-official and unofficial commu- nications :- (i) Official and demi-official communications.-All official and demi- official communications will be included in the "correspondence" portion of a file. (ii) Unofficial communications.-Self-contained unofficial notes or memoranda, which are not to he returned, should be placed on the "Notes" side and will be followed by notes in the receiving Ministry and then by the reply when communicated unofficially. Unofficial references which are to be returned in original will be noted upon in the manner described in paragraph 34 without their being brought on to a file. A copy or a summary of the unofficial reference, together with a copy of the note recorded on the file of the originating Ministry in reply, should be retained, when necessary, and placed in the "Notes" part of the file. 91. Referencing and use of slips :- (i) Referencing is the process of putting up and referring to connected records, precedents, rules, regulations, books or any other paper having a bearing on a case. Such papers will be flagged with alphabetical slips to facilitate their identification. (ii) The slip will be pinned neatly on the inside of the page. When a number of files or papers on the same case are to be flagged, the slips should be spread over the whole width of the file so that every slip is easily visible. (iii) The slip "P.U.C." should be attached to the paper-normally a "primary" receipt-the consideration of which is the subject-matter of the file. The latest communication or a "subsidiary" receipt which is to be considered in relation to the subject should be flagged "Fresh Receipt". (iv) No slip other than "P.U.C." or "F.R." will he attached to any paper on a current file. Reference to them will be made by quoting the number of the page in the margin in pencil (e.g. page 6/notes, page 20/cor.). (v) Not more than one alphabetical slip should be attached to a recorded file or paper put up for reference. (vi) It should be remembered that the slips arc merely a temporary convenience for the quick identification of papers and should be removed as soon as they have served their purpose. To facilitate the identification of references after the removal of slips, it is necessary that the number of the file referred to should be quoted in the body of the note and the number of the relevant page together with the letter of the slip attached there to indicated in the margin, thus : In the body of notes In the margin of note (F. No. 9/1/37-Ests.) Flag GO/p. 3, Notes. Similarly a description of the rules, regulations, Acts, etc.. together with the number of the relevant paragraph or clause referred to will always be quoted in the body of the note while in the margin will be indicated the alphabetical letters of the slip and the page number. (vii) Books or rules, etc. referred to need not be put up on a file if copies thereof are available with the officer to whom a case is submitted. This should, however, be indicated in the margin of the notes in pencil. 92. Linking of files :- Linking of files on which action is in progress will, as far as possible, be avoided. As a general rule this will he resorted to only when the files are inter-connected and orders have to be passed on them simultaneously. If any papers on a current file are required for reference only in connection with the disposal of another current case, relevant extracts should be taken from the former and placed on the latter. When files are linked, strings ofthe file hoard ofthe lower file hut not its flaps will he tied round the upper file. The strings of the file board or flap of the upper file will be tied underneath it in a bow out of the way. Each file will thus be intact with all its papers properly arranged on its file-board. 93. Priority marking on files :- (i) The two prescribed priority markings lo be used on files and papers are "IMMEDIATE" and "PRIORITY". (ii) The label "IMMEDIATE" should be used only in case of extraordinary urgency requiring instant attention and not merely to attract the attention of an officer to a paper which it is desired should not be over- looked. (iii) The label " PRIORITY" should be used on papers which should be given precedence over others of'ordinary nature to which no priority labels have been attached. (iv) The priority marking given within a Ministry to a file which is being referred unofficially to another Ministry should be examined by the Section Officer at the time of issue and removed or revised if necessary. (v) The priority markings should be used discriminatingly. Officers through whom files pass, should keep an eye on the propriety of the priority marking affixed to them and revise or remove them if necessary. (vi) Out-going files or letters marked "Immediate", should issue at once. but in no case should they he sent to the residence of an officer except under specific directions of a Section Officer. 94. Arrangement of papers on a case :- A case consists of a current file and any other files and papers, books, etc. out lip for reference. The papers on a current case will be placed in the following order from top downwards : (i) "Notes" ending with the note for consideration. (ii) Draft or drafts for approval. (iii) "Correspondence" containing the "P.U.C." and/or "F.R." (iv) Other papers referred to (e.g. extracts from notes or correspondence of other files, resolutions, gazettes, etc.) arranged in chronological order, the latest being placed on top. (v) Recorded files arranged in chronological order, the latest being placed on the top. (vi) Routine notes or papers placed in a cover in chronological order. 95. Index-Its object :- An index of the records of a Ministry provides a means of tracing previous papers on a particular subject. 96. Constituents of an index slip :- (1) An index slip is composed of two parts namely (i) Title, and (ii) File No. (2) Title of file.-The subject given to a file is called its "title". It should be as brief as possible but should give at a glance sufficient indication of the contents of the file so us to serve as an aid to its identification. The "title" should he divided into (a) "Head", (b) "Sub-head" or "Sub-heads", and (c) "Content", in the following manner : (a) Head.-The important word that is placed first in the title, by which its alphabetical position in the index is determined and on which primarily depends the possibility of finding the title in the index, is called the "head". The "head" must be a word or words that will naturally occur to anyone who wants the paper. It must not be too wide. (b) Sub-head.-The "head" will be followed by a "sub-head", or "sub- heads", which should be more indicative of the precise subject of the file than the "head". In selecting "sub-heads" the consideration to be borne in mind will be the same as in selecting the "head", viz. that the word or words selected should be such as arc likely to strike anyone in need of the papers contained in the file. Where it is necessary to have more than one sub-head in a title, the wider and more abstract should generally come before the narrower and more concrete. (c) Content.-After the "head" and "sub-head" will come the "content". This must be as brief as is compatible with expressing clearly the exact subject of the file. If a content shows at a glance, like a newspaper head- line, the exact subject of the paper, it is a good content. A content worded in general terms is of little practical use, for, if it does not distinguish a file from others relating to closely similar hut not identical subjects, lime may be wasted in taking out and examining several files before what is wanted is found. (3) File No.-The "title" on an index slip will be followed by a reference to the file number. The procedure for allotting a number to a new file has been outlined in paragraph 84. 97. Standard "heads" and "sub-heads" :- Consistency is essential in the selection of both heads and sub-heads. For example, files dealing with questions of pay should be indexed always under the head "Pay" and not sometimes under "Pay" and sometimes under "Salary" or "Emoluments". This.can be secured by maintaining a list of standard heads and sub-heads for recurring subjects and then adhering to them. 98. Wording and articulation :- The whole title-"Head", "Sub-head" and "Content" should consist mainly of substantives, adjectives (where necessary) and participles. Minor parts of speech should be excluded as far as possible to make a strict alphabetical arrangement practicable, the title should be articulated, or broken up into members each consisting of as few words as possible, and each expressing an element in the subject-matter. Each will begin with a capital letter and separated from the preceding one by a bold dash. 99. Examples of titles :- A few examples of "titles" are given below : 100. Preparation and custody of index slips :- When a new file is opened (vide paragraph 84), the Assistant will propose a suitable title for the approval of the section Officer. The file will then be shown to the index clerk who will type out, in duplicate, as many index slips as there are "heads" and "sub-heads" in the title on the top of the slips the "head" and "Sub-heads" will be typed, one below the other, followed by the complete title and number of the file. He will then allot a slip to each "head" and "sub-head" (by scoring out entries relating to the others) and arrange the slips in alphabetical order in two sets-one for use in the section and the other for the compiler of the annual index. He will also write the word "Indexed" on the file cover. 101. Two or more titles, when necessary :- If two aspects of a question are very much inter-connecled and are dealt with in the same file, two or more complete titles may be necessary, e.g. the creation of a post and the appointment of a particular officer to it. Such cases would require two independent index slips, e.g.- 1. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA- Deputy Director- Additional Post- Sanctioned for two years. 2. X, Y, Z, Shri, Deputy Director Geological Survey of India-Appointed. 102. Indexing of questions, bills, resolutions, etc. in the Parliament :- I n indexing questions, bills, resolutions, etc. in the Parliament, the following form of titles should be adopted to facilitate consolidation for purposes of printing: "LOK SABHA/RAJYA SABHA- QUESTIONS/RESOLUTIONS ......................." When a case relating to a question, resolution, etc. in the Parliament results in the issue of a general order, two independent index slips should he prepared in the manner indicated in paragraph 101 above, i.e. one under the "head" Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha and the other under the subject-matter of the order. 103. Printing of annual index :- An annual index will be compiled for the Ministry as a whole and printed up at the end of each year. The compiler of the annual index will arrange the index slips of all the sections in an alphabetical order in one series. In editing the index slips for printing, the full "title" will appear only on the index slip bearing the "head". It will not be necessary to repeat the whole title on the subsidiary index slips bearing the "sub-heads". Instead only a cross reference will be made, e.g.- 104. Sectional Note Book :- Every section will maintain a sectional note book in the prescribed form (page 61) for keeping a note of important rulings and decisions for ready .reference. Section Officer will ensure that an entry in this note book is made under appropriate alphabetical letters at the earliest opportunity and in any case at the time when the file is prepared for record {of. paragraph 108 below]. 105. Recording :- (a) Recording is the process of closing a file after action on all the issues under consideration thereon has been completed. (b) When the Assistant is satisfied that no further action is required to he taken on a file. he will put it up to the Section Officer for his approval to the file being recorded under one of the following classes : (i) Class "A"-meaning "Keep and Print".-This class will be allotted to a file in which important questions have been discussed or which contains orders establishing important precedents or general instructions or rulings of a permanent importance and which are likely to be required frequently for reference in future in the Ministry concerned or in other Ministries, No files will be included in this class without the approval of the Branch Officer. (ii) Class "B"-meaning "Keep but do not Print".-This class will also cover files which contain orders and instructions, etc. of permanent importance but which are not likely to be required very frequently for reference. (iii) Class "C"-meaning "Destroy after a specified number of years".-This class will consist of files of secondary importance which it is desired to preserve for a limited period of 3, 5 or 10 years but which need not be retained thereafter. (c) Every file which is to be recorded will be stamped on the outer cover with the words "For/Not for Note Book" and the Section Officer while approving the classification of the file for record, will indicate whether or not a note of the file should be kept in the sectional note book by cutting out "For" or "Not for", as the case may be, and attest his action by putting his initials. 106. Destruction of ephemeral files :- Files which arc of a purely ephemeral nature will not be recorded hut will be destroyed as soon as they are one year old. 107. Preservation of records of historical value :- Care should be taken to see that files containing papers which arc important or arc likely to become important in future, however indirectly its sources of information on any aspect of history whether political, military, social, economic, etc.. or which arc, or may in future prove to be, of biographical or antiquarian interest are not destroyed. A few instances of records of this nature arc given below : (i) Originals of despatches from and to the former Secretaries of State. (ii) Holograph and autograph letters and originals of the notes of the former Viceroys and Governors-General, former members of Viceroy's Executive Council, the President, the Prime Minister, the Ministers, the Commanders-in- Chief and other eminent personages on important matters. (iii) Papers containing discussions of important principles and questions of policy. (iv) Papers relating to legislation enacted by the Centre. 108. Preparing a file for record :- Alter a file has been marked for record (vide paragraph 105), it should be arranged properly for recording. This would involve the following action: (i) Amendment or revision of the title of the file, where necessitated by the development of the subject-matter of the case since its start. (ii) Completing references, that is, removing alphabetical slips and giving permanent identification marks to the references quoted in notes and correspondence (where this has not already been done) and marking numbers of previous or later files on the subject on the cover of the file. (iii) Preparation of revised index slips when the title of a file is revised vide (i) above. (iv) Preparing a fresh cover for the file with the revised title and details of previous and later references, etc.. where necessary. (v) Noting the classification and date of recording in the File Register. Items (i) and (ii) above will be completed by the dealing Assistant himself. The file will then be passed on to the Index Clerk who will attend to the remaining items of work. He will also mark on the cover the classification of the file as approved by the Section Officer within the file. In the case of files classified "C", the year in which it will be due for destruction, should also be written on the cover thus "Destroy in................. ...........". The Indexing Clerk will then submit the file to the Section Officer who will initial the outer cover, below the "classification" in taken of his approval. The file will thereafter be made over to the Section Daftry who after stitching it neatly will keep it in the bundle of recorded files. 109. Editing and printing of files recorded under Class "A" :- F iles classified "A" will be edited for printing by the Assistant in accordance with the Rules of Printing and Binding. The Section Officer will check whether the editing has been done properly before a file is sent to the press. The number of copies to be printed should be determined in each case according to the requirements of the Ministry itself and of other Ministries or offices who may need copies. 110. Record Room of the Ministry :- Recorded files will be kepi serially arranged in the sections concerned for not more than three calendar years. Thereafter they will be transferred to the Record Room of the Ministry. 111. Central Secretariat Record Room (National Archives) :- After a storage for a period of not more than five years in the Record Room of the Ministry, the files will he sent to the Central Secretariat Record Room in the National Archives, 112. Requisition for recorded files :- (i) A recorded file should be obtained against a requisition in the prescribed form (S. 21) which should invariably indicate the file number or the diary number of the paper for which it is required. When a recorded file is to be obtained from the Central Secretariat Record Room, the requisition slip should be signed by the Section Officer. (ii) When the file requisitioned pertains to a year for which records are held in the section itself, the slip will be handed over to the daftry who will take out the required file and keep the slip in its place. If the file is in the custody of the Record Room of the Ministry or the Central Secretariat Record Room, the slip will be sent to it for compliance. (iii) If a recorded file initially obtained for a file/paper is later put up with another, a revised requisition slip with the words "Change Slip" noted on the top should be made over to the Section Daftry or sent to the Record Room of the Ministry or the Central Secretariat Record Room, as the case may be, for replacing the original slip. 113. Weeding of records :- (i) In January every year, the record-keeper of the Ministry or the National Archives will send to the sections concerned the files marked for destruction in that year. These will then be examined by the Section Officers. Files which appear still to be of use will be kept for a further period. The remaining files will be separated from the file bundles and after being marked for destruction in the File Register or the list of files (page 62) shall be sent to the Record Room of the Ministry for destruction. No papers marked for destruction should be sent back to the Central Secretariat Record Room in the National Archives. (ii) Files classified as "A" and "B" should be reviewed every ten years and their classification revised if necessary. 114. Preservation of records and registers maintained in a section :- (i) The destruction of records (including correspondence) connected with accounts is governed by the instructions contained in Appendix 17 to the General Financial Rules, Volume I. (ii) The following registers should normally be destroyed after the periods mentioned against each under the orders of the Section Officer: Name of the Register Period for which it should be preserved Section Diary ... 8 years. File Register ... 8 years. Receipt Register (maintained by Central Registry) ... 2 years. Despatch Register ... 2 years. Issue Diary ... 1 year. Peon Book ... 1 year. Before a File Register is actually destroyed a list of files for the year to which the Register relates will be prepared in the form given on page 159 and maintained in the section for future reference. (iii) To ensure that files are not prematurely destroyed nor kept for longer periods than necessary, every Ministry should issue detailed departmental office orders prescribing periods for which files treating of specified subjects should be preserved. 115. Maintenance and destruction of spare copies :- Each section will keep in separate bundles spare copies of important communications issued by it. A register indicating the number and dates of the communication in respect of which spare copies have been kept will also be maintained in each section. These bundles should be examined every year and all spare copies which arc not likely to he required any longer should be destroyed under the orders of the Section Officer. Any papers which arc still of use should be marked for retention till the next annual examination. 116. Statistical Control Chart :- (i) Every section will maintain a control chart in the form given on page 63 to keep a watch over the speed of disposal of "primary" receipts. (ii) The chart will be maintained by the Diarist who will enter in it the Diary numbers of primary receipts received every day against the relevant date. (iii) As and when a "primary" receipt is finally disposed of, the dealing Assistant will enter the date of its final disposal in column 9 of the Section Diary. He will also indicate under the date, the time taken in disposal by making one. two. three or four diagonal strokes or a horizontal dash according as the disposal took place in one, two. three, four or over four weeks. [The Assistant's Diary (paragraph 36) should help him in completing this column with ease.]. Primary receipts which are marked as disposed of in the Diary by Assistants will be scored off neatly in the control chart by the Diarist in the same manner. (iv) The entries in the control chart will be totalled up at the end of each month in the form given on page 63. A copy of this statement will be sent to the O. and M. Officer of the Ministry. The totals reported by the sections will be consolidated in the form given on page 65 to give a statistical picture of the speed of disposal and the extent of arrears at the end of each month for the Ministry as a whole. A copy of the statistical abstract will he forwarded to the Organisation and Methods Division, Cabinet Secretariat, by the seventh of every month. 117. Weekly arrear statement :- (i) The weekly arrear statement is intended to give a statistical picture of the number of receipts and cases received and dealt with by each Assistant during a week together with a detailed analysis of the number left over with him. This will enable the Section Officer, Branch Officer and the Deputy Secretary incharge to keep a watch on the progress of work of each Assistant and to take suitable steps to expedite action on delayed cases. (ii) The statement will be prepared on the last working day of every week in the form given on page 68. The Diarist will initiate action by completing the headings and columns 1. 2 and 3 of the form. In column 3 will he repeated the figures shown in column 9 of the statement of the preceding week. The statement will then he circulated by the Diarist to the dealing Assistants for completion of columns 4 to 10. Cases coming back to an Assistant for re-examination or further action, such as putting up a draft, etc. will also he included. Detailed information in respect of receipts or cases in hand for over seven days will be given by Assistants in columns 1-5 of the annexure to the form. (iii) The Diarist will submit the completed statement to the Section Officer on the morning of the first working day of the following week. The Section Officer will scrutinise the statement, give his remarks, where necessary, in column 5 of the annexure and submit it to the Branch Officer and Deputy Secretary on the same day. 118. Monthly statement of cases pending disposal for over a month :- (i) This statement is intended to bring to the notice of officers what cases have been pending disposal for over a month and where and why. It will be prepared in the form given on page 70 and will show particulars of all live cases pending disposal for over a month in each section in the last day of each calendar month. A case will be treated as a live case until it has been "finally disposed of'. What constitutes ''final disposal" has been explained in detail in paragraph 64 (ii). (ii) Columns 1 to 5 of the statement will be completed by the Diarist from the File Register. As a general rule he will include all cases opened up to the end of the month preceding that to which the return relates which have not been closed and marked for record. Receipts like u.o. files belonging to other Ministries on which action is usually taken without their being brought on to a file will be included in the statement under their Diary Nos. (iii) Cases will be entered in the statement in order of the date of their commencement, the oldest being on the top. The statement will be brought up to date every month by making additional entries at the end and scoring out neatly entries of cases which have since been finally disposed of. The statement will not be recopied until it is found necessary to do so. (iv) The statement will he submitted by the Diarist to the Section Officer by the 3rd of every month. Entries will be scrutinised by the Assistants concerned and the Section Officer to ensure that column 5 shows the latest position of each case as known to them. The Section Officer will also give his remarks where necessary, in column 6, and submit the statement to the Branch Officer by the 5th of every month with a covering note. (v) The statement will go up to the Secretary through the Branch Officer and Deputy Secretary/Joint Secretary each of whom may give such remarks in column 6 as they may have to make regarding the latest position of a case or causes of delay including directions or suggestions for expediting action. The Secretary may bring to the notice of the Minister any cases included in the statement or submit the statement itself to him as deemed fit. 119. Monthly arrear statement in respect of work relating to indexing and recording :- Experience has shown that the work relating to indexing and recording of' Files tends to fall in arrears. To keep a watch on the progress of the works, every section will prepare a monthly statement (page 71) showing the position as on the last working day ol' each month and submit it to the Branch Offocer by the 7th ol' the following month. A copy of the return will also be sent to the 0. and M. unit of the Ministry. 120. Quarterly business statement :- At the end of each quarter, i.e. on the last day of March. June, September and December, a statistical abstract of total business transacted during the quarter and the balance remaining in arrears, will be prepared hy each section in the form given in on page 72. The statement will be submitted to the Branch Officer and through him to the Deputy Secretary and Secretary. A copy of the statement will be submilted by each section to the 0. and M. Officer of the Ministry hy lhc 5th of the month following the quarter. The latter will consolidate the statement for the Ministry as a whole and send a copy of the consolidated abstract to the O. and M. Division. Cabinet Secretariat, by the 10th of the month. 121. Suspense and Reminder Diary :- The Diarist will maintain a Suspense and Reminder Diary in which he will enter date-wise- (i) all cases placed in suspense and which have been marked for resubmission on a particular date: (ii) cases on which reminders are to be issued on specified dates; and (iii) cases which have been referred unofficially to other Ministries and the return of which is awaited. An ordinary calendar diary may be used, entries being made under the relevant date. The Diarist will examine the Suspense and Remainder Diary every morning. He will lake out files (or copies of challans in respect of files referred to other Ministries, etc.) marked for that date and hand them over to the Assistants concerned for necessary action after marking their movements in the File Register. If a file is not available, the Diarist will hand over to lhc Assistant a reminder (page 170). The entries in the diary will be scored off by the Diarist simultaneously. 122. Register of periodical returns :- (i) To ensure the punctual receipt. preparation and despatch of periodical reports, returns summaries, etc., each section will maintain a register in the form described on page 74. (ii) Recurring items on which action has to he completed hy a particular date (hut which may not involve lhc sending of a return or report, to any authority outside the Ministry) should also be included in this register. (iii) The register will be maintained in two parts-one lor incoming and the other for outgoing returns. A page (or a number of pages) will be allotted to each month and all returns due will be entered up chronologically (i.e. in the order ol the date ol receipt/submission). Thus a quarterly return will be entered under each of the four months of the year in which it falls due while a fortnightly return will be entered twice under each month. Whenever a decision on a case involves the receipt or preparation of a periodical report or return, an entry will be made in the register under the appropriate month. The register will be checked and re-written, if necessary, at the beginning of each calendar year. (iv) The Section Officer will go through the register on the first working day of every week and take suitable action on items requiring attention during the week. The register will be submitted to the Branch Officer for his perusal at the end of every month with column 6 duly completed. (v) Where a return or report is to be prepared from information received from State Governments or other authorities, the task of compilation should be taken up as soon as information starts coming in and should in no case be held over till the receipt of all the repiles. (vi) Each section should also keep a list of periodical returns and reports and hang it in a prominent place on the wall (page 75). 123. Responsibility of Section and Branch Officers :- The primary responsibility for the expeditious disposal of work and the timely submission of arrear or disposal statement, etc. rests with the Section Officer. The Branch Officer should keep a watch to sec that the statements are submitted punctually and regularly. No paper or case will he kept pending action in a section beyond 10 days without the knowledge and permission of the Branch Officer. The Section Officer may occasionally inspect the racks and tables of Assistants and Clerks and satisfy himself that no paper or file has been overlooked. 124. Written reference :- When it is necessary to consult another Ministry before issue of orders on a case, a reference may be made either by sending the file unofficially or a self-contained unofficial note or unofficial memorandum as may be found convenient. When the file itself is sent, the point or points on which opinion of the other Ministry is sought or which it is desired to bring to its notice, should he clearly stated in a single note. Where possible, the drafts of the orders proposed to he issued may also be put up on the file. All routine notes and other papers, except those which should be retained on the file, shall be removed before the file is sent. 125. Simultaneous consultation :- When it is necessary to consult more than one Ministry on a case, such consultation will ordinarily take place simultaneously by self-contained unofficial notes or unofficial memoranda. This will not, however, be done in cases involving multiplication of documents to be sent or where -the occasion for consulting the second Ministry will not arise until the view of the first Ministry are known. Also. if necessary, a file may be sent to one Ministry while other Ministries arc consulted simultaneously by a self- contained unofficial note or unofficial memorandum. 126. Oral consultation :- Consultation should take place orally- (i) when a preliminary discussion between the officers of the Ministries concerned will be of help in the disposal of a case and it is necessary that a preliminary agreement should be reached before proceeding further in the matter: (ii) when a difference of opinion has been disclosed between the referring Ministry and the Ministry or Ministries referred to; and (iii) when it is proposed to seek only information or advice of the Ministry lo be consulted. The result of such oral consultations should be recorded in a single note on the file by the officer of the Ministry to which the case belongs The note shall state clearly the conclusions reached and the reasons therefor. A copy of the note shall be sent to the Ministry or Ministries consulted in order that they may have a record of the conclusions reached. 127. Officers authorised to refer files to another Ministry :- No files other than those which a Section Officer is competent himself to dispose of {vide paragraph 26 (ii)] should he referred by one Ministry to another except by the direction of an officer not below the rank of Under Secretary. It will. however, be open to Deputy Secretaries and higher officers to specify cases or classes of cases on which their orders should be obtained before they are referred to another Ministry. 128. Unofficial references by attached and other offices :- Attached offices and subordinate offices directly under the Ministries may make unofficial references to any Ministry in matters of a purely technical or routine nature. In cases involving questions of importance or of policy, no such unofficial reference will be made except through the administrative Ministry. 129. References to the Attorney General for India :- As the highest legal authority whose advice is available to the Government of India, the Attorney General is asked to give his opinion only in cases of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted. All such references are made by the Ministry of Law themselves who prepare the necessary statement of the case on the basis of instructions received from the administrative Ministry concerned. 130. Confidential character of notes :- (i) Notes written in one Ministry and sent to another shall be treated as confidential and shall not he referred to any authority outside the Secretariat and the attached offices without the general or specific consent of the Ministry to which they belong. (ii) Where the general consent has been given under sub-paragraph (i) above, such consent shall not be construed to apply to cases in which papers are marked "Secret" or to cases in which the officer to whom the notes are referred is personally affected or in which his official conduct is under consideration. 131. Inter-departmental meetings :- Inter-departmental meetings may be held where it is necessary to elicit the opinion of other Ministries on important case and arrive at a decision within a limited time. Such meetings should he convened and attended hy officers of the level appropriate to the subject under discussion. An agenda setting out clearly the points for discussion should normally be prepared and sent along with the proposals for holding the meeting, allowing reasonably sufficient time for the representative of other Ministries to prepare themselves for the meeting. The representatives attending the meeting should be officers who can take decision on behalf of their Ministries, A record of the discussion should be prepared immediately after the meeting and circulated to the Ministries concerned setting out the conclusions reached and indicating the Ministry or Ministries responsible for taking further action on each conclusion. 132. Correspondence between Government of India and foreign Governments and International Organisations :- Correspondence between the Ministries of the Government of India and State Governments on the one hand and foreign Governments and International Organisations on the other should generally be canalised through the Ministry of External Affairs. In certain cases and subject to certain conditions, however Ministries are authorised to communicate direct with the foreign Governments and International Organisations. Detailed instructions in this regard arc contained on page 96. 133. Procedure and conduct of business in Parliament :- The procedure and conduct of business in the Houses of Parliament is regulated by rules framed under Art. 118 of the Constitution and, in relation to certain financial business, by law made by the Parliament under Art. 119 of the Constitution. The procedure to he followed in Ministries in regard to questions and resolutions and other motions is described in the following paragraphs. 134. Questions-Types and conditions of admissibility :- Questions are of three types, viz. (i) Questions for oral answers of "Starred" questions, (ii) Questions for written answers or "Unstarred" questions, and (Hi) "Short Notice" questions. The distinction among these three kinds of questions and the conditions of their admissibility, etc. are described in the "Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha" and of the corresponding rules relating to the Rajya Sabha. 135. Advance copies of questions :- Unless otherwise directed by the Speaker/Chairman, five days' notice of the admission of a question is required to be given to the Minister to whom it is addressed. In practice, however, in order to give the Ministry as much time as possible for the preparation of an answer, an advance copy of a question is forwarded informally to the Ministry concerned soon after its receipt by the Secretariat of the House concerned. 136. Preliminary action on advance copies of questions :- (a) If a question is wrongly addressed to a Minister, the Ministry to which the advance copy has been sent should immediately contact the Ministry concerned and obtain its concurrence to the transfer to it of the question. The former should then immediately inform the Secretariat of the House concerned that the question has been transferred to the other Ministry with its concurrence. A copy of this communication should invariably be endarsed to the Ministry accepting the transfer. (b) The advance-copy of the question should immediately on receipt, be submitted to the Secretary of the' Ministry for information and such instructions as he may wish to give. (c) Advance copies of questions should then be examined in the Ministry from the following points of view : (i) Whether the question or any of its parts repeats in substance questions already answered or questions to which an answer has been refused: (ii) whether the information asked for has been supplied previously to the House concerned either in the form of statements placed on its table or otherwise in the course of debates; (iii) whether the preparation of an answer to a question will involve too much time and labour: (iv) whether it would be against the public interest to disclose the information asked for; (v) whether it asks for information on a matter which is under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India: and (vi) whether the information asked for could be obtained from accessible documents or ordinary works of reference. (d) If intimation of the disallowance or withdrawal of a question is received in the Ministry, it should immediately be communicated to the Minister and the officers concerned for information. 137. Draft replies to questions :- (a) Unless otherwise directed by the Deputy Secretary or higher officers, necessary action to collect material required for replying to a question should be initiated immediately on receipt of the advance copy of the question. The preparation of a tentative draft reply should also be undertaken in such cases in anticipation of the admission of the question. (b) In preparing a draft reply, parts of the question should he reproduced and draft replies set out in parallel column for easy reference. In regard to a "Starred" question, a "Note for Supplementaries" should be added furnishing such further information as may be required for answering supplementary questions likely to be asked. (c) Where a "Starred" question calls for an elaborate reply or detailed figures.'a statement giving the information required should be prepared for being placed on the Table of the House. The draft reply itself should contain a reference to the statement to be so placed. In the case of an "Unstarred" question, such a statement should he attached to the reply. (d) Where a question calls for factual or statistical information which it is not possible to collect in time, the advisability of requesting the Secretariat of the House concerned to put down the question for reply on a later date during the session than originally intimated, may be considered in order to have more time for preparing the reply. Where this is not feasible, an interim reply may be given slating that information is being collected and will be placed on the Table of the House as early as possible. All such interim replies will be treated as assurances and entered up in the "Register of Promises and Undertakings", vide paragraph 143. (e) The draft reply together with the file should be submitted so as to reach the Minister whose approval is required at least 48 hours before the question is due for answer. Seventy-five fair copies of the answer with two extra copies of the statements (if any) to be placed on the Table of the. House in reply to a question as also of copies of replies to previous starred, unstarred or short notice questions referred to in the answer to starred questions should be sent to the Secretariat of the House concerned in time. 138. Degree of priority :- "Short Notice" questions should be treated as "Immediate" and all other questions as "Priority" receipts and dealt with accordingly. The special label prescribed for this purpose, viz. "Questions for Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha' should invariably be placed on the relevant file together with a clear indication of the date on which the question is due for answer. 139. Legislation :- The procedure to be followed in the two Houses of Parliament in regard to legislation is prescribed in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business framed by the respective House. The procedure to befollowed in Ministries in this regard is described on page 105. 140. Resolutions :- The form of a resolution moved in Parliament, the conditions of its admissibility, the manner in which it is mewed, etc. are set out in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha and of the corresponding rules relating to the Rajya Sabha. The following instructions should be observed by a Ministry in dealing with cases relating to non-official resolutions : (i) The notice lists of non-official resolutions should be examined as soon as received and any relevant facts or other matter, which the Ministry concerned may wish to place before the Speaker/Chairman, should be communicated to the Secretariat of the House concerned as early as possible, at any rate before the resolutions are put to ballot. (ii) As soon as the result of the ballot is known, it should be verified whether the resolution given notice of has secured a priority in the ballot. If so, a brief should be prepared and submitted to the Minister along with the file. It should contain all relevant facts (or references to them when they cannot conveniently be stated in full) with extracts from, or abstracts of, the relevant documents, if any, summarised in a clear and self-contained form. (iii) The draft of the brief for non-official resolutions should he submitted for the approval of the Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Committee of the Cabinet which will decide the attitude of Government on such resolutions. (ii) After discussion has taken place on a resolution, the relevant proceedings of the House of the Parliament should be examined as soon as they are available and such further action taken without delay as may be called for. A copy of the printed proceedings should be incorporated in and recorded with the file. 141. Adjournment and other :- motions.-The procedure to be followed in the Houses of the Parliament in regard to adjournment and other motions is governed by the relevant provision contained in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the House concerned. In respect of these motions, a brief may be prepared or such other action taken as may be directed by the Minister. 142. Scrutiny of record of proceedings in Parliament :- On receipt in the Ministry of the record of the proceedings in Parliament, the Assistant concerned will examine it to see- (a) whether any promises, assurances or undertakings have been given on the floor of the House; and (b) whether there are any points in answers to supplementary questions which require elucidation or amendment and which should be brought to the notice of the Minister. In case of (a), necessary entries will be made in the Register of Promises and Undertakings and further action taken (vide paragraph 143 below). In case of (b), the file will be submitted to senior officers for orders. 143. Register of Promises and Undertakings :- Each section in a Ministry will keep a record of the promises and undertakings given by the Minister-in-charge in respect of subjects dealt with by it in the form given on page 76. The register will be submitted once a month to the Deputy Secretary concerned for information and such instructions as he may consider necessary. The Minister will be kept informed of the progress made in the implementation of promises and undertakings given by him on the Floor of the House of Parliament. Cases in which there is likely to be any delay in the implementation of a promise or an undertaking will be particularly brought to the notice of the Minister. Every month a consolidated statement showing action taken on promises and undertakings given in either House of Parliament should be prepared for the Ministry as a whole in the form mentioned above and forwarded to the Department of Parliamentary Affairs. The statement will continue to be sent to that Department until action on all promises and undertakings given has been completed. The Department of Parliamentary Affairs will prepare a consolidated statement on the basis of information supplied by the various Ministries and place it periodically on the Table of the House concerned. 144. Communication of information to the Press :- Information to the Press should normally be communicated through the Press Information Bureau by an officer authorised to do so [cf. paragraph 151]. 145. Functions of Information Officers :- Information Officers of the Press Information Bureau are attached to every Ministry of the Government of India. It is the duty of an Information Officer, on the one hand, to arrange to give due publicity to the activities of the Ministry to which he is attached and, on the other, to keep the Ministry informed of the popular reactions thereto. In order to discharge his duties properly, the Information officer will maintain a close liaison with the Ministry to which he is attached and the latter will give him the necessary facilities. 146. Press releases-General Instructions :- (i) When it is decided to communicate any information to the Press, the Information Officer attached to the Ministry should be informed. His services may also be utilised in preparing the necessary draft of the Press release. (ii) As soon as the draft of the Press release has been finally approved in a Ministry and is ready for issue, it should be communicated to the Information Officer concerned to enable him to take prompt action for handling it in the Bureau. Unless a Ministry has any special reason for desiring the Press release to be made on a specific date, the choice of the date and the time of the release will be left to be settled by the Principal Information Officer. Press Information Bureau. (iii) If the information received from one Ministry is found to be in conflict with that already released or about to be released by another Ministry, the Press Information Bureau will hold over the release of information to the Press, and immediately consult the Ministry or Ministries concerned with a view to reconciling the discrepancy before giving publicity to the material. (iv) Unless it is based on published documents, no information should be released by the Press Information Bureau without the prior approval or consent of the Ministry concerned. 147. Forms of Press releases :- (i) Press Communique and Press Note.-The distinction between these two types of communications and the occasions for their use have been explained in paragraph 75. A public notice or any other matter which should appropriately issue in the form of an advertisement should not be issued as Press Communique or Press Note. Material of this kind should be advertised and paid for, although in suitable cases there would be no objection to a Press Communique or a Press Note being issued in addition to explain the subject. (ii) Notifications and Resolutions.-Notifications and resolutions are published in the Gazette of India which is available both to the public and the Press. If, however, the subject-matter of a notification/resolution in likely to be of general interest lo the public, such number of printed copies as may be prescribed by the Press Information Bureau should be supplied to the Bureau to enable it to give the matter wide publicity. In certain cases it will be an advantage to issue simultaneously a Press Communique or a Press Note explaining in suitable terms the scope and purpose of the notification/resolution. (iii) Official Publication, Report, White Paper, etc.-Whenever it is considered necessary to give publicity to any official publication, report, etc. the Press Information Bureau should be consulted well in advance about the date and lime of the release of the publication and the number of copies required for distribution to the Press. 148. Press Conferences :- Press conferences are generally held by Ministers and Secretaries to the Government of India. The purpose of such conferences is- (i) to explain to accredited correspondents and selected editors the scope and purpose of an important report or an official statement, etc. which is likely to he of widespread public interest: or (ii) to give the Press a general review of the policy and activities of the Government: or (iii) to explain to the Press any specific important developments. Whenever it is proposed to hold a Press Conference, the Press Information Bureau should be consulted in advance about the purpose, venue, date and time of the conference. 149. General provisions with regard to security of Government documents and information :- Under the Government Servants Conduct Rules, a Government servant should not, unless empowered by a competent authority, communicate to other Government servants or to non-official persons or to the Press, any document or information which has come into his possession in the course of his public duties. Under the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, it is a criminal offence (a) to posses or communicate without proper authority such information or document, (b) to receive any such information or document with the knowledge or with reasonable ground for the belief that it is communicated in contravention of the orders, and (c) to attempt to commit or abet the commission of an offence as aforesaid. In other words, it should be clearly understood ihat all communications received in a department as well as the papers connected there with are to be regarded as confidential so far as the public and Government employees, other than those who are required to handle them in the course of their duties, arc concerned and Government servants are prohibited from communicating or making any reference, direct or indirect to any information acquired by them in the course of their official duties to anyone whosoever unless its communication is authorised by a competent authority. 150. Official reports, pamphlets, compilations, etc :- No restrictive classification shall be assigned to any printed reports, pamphlets, compilations, etc. issued by Ministries or their attached or subordinate offices, except under the orders of an officer not lower in rank than a Deputy Secretary or Head of Department/Office. Experience has shown that Government departments and agencies have fallen into the habit of restricting the circulation of printed reports, pamphlets, compilations, etc. issued by them, by marking them as "FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY". As a rule, such restriction is justified only if the report, etc. contains information which it would not be desirable in the public interest t o disclose. All other printed reports, etc. should, ordinarily, be made available to educational institutions, public bodies or members of the public generally. A useful guide in this matter is furnished by the fact that all information laid before Parliament becomes public property. In doubtful cases, the test can always be applied whether the report, etc. whose circulation it is proposed to restrict is such that the Ministry would be justified in refusing to lay it before Parliament. Where the answer to this question is not clear, the orders of the Secretary/Minister should be sought. 151. Communication of information to the Press :- Only Ministers, Secretaries or other officers specially authorised by the Minister, may give information or be accessible to the representatives of the Press. Any other officer, if approached by a representative of the Press, should refer him to the Principal Information Officer of the Government of India. (For further instructions regarding publicity in the Press see page 44). 152. Responsibility of the Branch Officers and Section Officers and other officers :- It is the duty of all officers to keep themselves acquainted with the morale and conduct of the staff working under them. In addition to this general responsibility, the Branch Officers have a special responsibility for ensuring by frequent surprise checks and visits to office rooms that instructions laid down from time to time for the maintenance of security in the Secretariat are fully understood and complied with by all persons working in the sections in their charge. It will be the duty of the Section Officers to bring immediately to the notice of their superior officers any cases in which members of their sections offend against security regulations or are guilty of misconduct of such a nature as to give rise to doubts regarding their reliability from the security point of view. It is also the duty of all Government servants to bring immediately to the notice of their superior officers any breach of security regulations in general, and, in particular, any disclosure of TOP SECRET or SECRET information, of which they may obtain knowledge. 153. Instructions regarding TOP SECRET and SECRET information and documents :- Detailed instructions for the treatment and safeguarding of "Top Secret" and "Secret" information and papers issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs should be strictly adhered to. The treatment of particular documents as TOP SECRET or SECRET in accordance with these instructions does not imply that the information contained in other documents in public property. The object of these instructions is to show that special care should be taken in respect of information and papers of secret nature and an additional responsibility lies on all persons who handle them. These instructions should accordingly be followed with the strictest care and attention. 154. Access to Ministries :- Entry to Secretariat buildings (except the portion access to which is regulated by the Ministry of Defence) is controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs by the issue of permanent and temporary passes. Members of the public are not allowed to visit sections and see members of staff If they have any business pending in a Ministry they may call on the Under Secretary incharge or other higher officer concerned. Government servants visiting sections in other Ministries on official business should only see the Section Officers incharge and any other member of the staff only when necessary and with the permission of the Section Officer. SPECIMENS OF FORMS (1) Receipt Register (Chapter I, para. 6) Number and date of From whom Section Remarks S. No. document received received to which sent Number Date 1 2 3 4 5 6 (11) Service Postage Stamps Accounts Register [ Chapter V, para 61 (ii)] Value of Value of Total value Value of Balance Signature stamps in stamps, if of stamps stamps used at the close of the Dale hand at the any, received in hand during the day of day Section Officer Remarks commencement from (cols. 2 +3) (vide col. 4 of (col. 45) of the day Cashier the Despatch Register for Postal Dak) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. Rs. P. B (24) Statement of Periodical Returns and Reports [Chapter IX, para. 122(i)] Description of Periodicity of Due date of periodical the returns receipt returns. (annual, submission Reference to Action Sl.No. reports, summaries quarterly, or despatch File No. taken etc. monthly, weekly, etc.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sec. 16 and S.290 of the Indian Merchant Shipping Act, 1923, by the Director-General of Shipping, Bombay: or (9) in the case of orders and other instruments in the Ministry of Education, by the Deputy Educational Adviser or the Assistant Educational Adviser; or (10) in the case of order and other instruments relating to the President's Secretariat, by the Secretary to the President. Deputy Secretary to the President, or Under Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the President; or (11) in the case of orders and other instruments relating to the Secretariat of the Vice-President, by the Private Secretary or Assistant Private Secretary to the Vice-President. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \(Sd.) Rajendra Prasad, \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \President \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \26-1-50" \ \[Ministry of Home Affairs Notification NO. 34/12/49 Public)] \ \ \ \[Chapter V. para 53(x) ] \ \[GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING TYPE WRITING, \ \STENCIL CUTTING, CARBON MANIFOLDING, ETC]. I. Spacing For Punctuation Marks- The following rules of spacing the punctuation marks arc to he uniformly followed in all type written work : \ \ \ \ \ \ \Spaces before Spaces after Period Exclamation mark \- 2 Interrogation mark At the end of sentence - Comma Semi-Colon \ .. - \ 1 \ Colon Hyphen \ .. - - Dash \ .. - \ 1 \ Quotation Marks: \ Beginning 1 \ \ \ - Closing \ \- \ 1 \ Brackets Begining \ \ .. 1 \ - Closing \ \ .. - \ 1 2. The period after abbreviated words like viz., etc.. Mr. is followed by only one space. When an abbreviation consists of groups of letters such as U.S.A.. M.A., I.A.S., no space should be left between the letters of the group, but one space should he left at the end of groups. In the case of initial letters of a personal name, each letter is followed by a period and a space,, thus Shri A.B.Roy, not Shri A. B. Roy. 3. Comma used for punctuating figures is not followed by a space, e.g. 1,00,0(X). II. Margins- 4. Fair copies are typed with the following margins all round the paper : Left margin: 1 on foolscap (8" x 13") or quarto (8" x 10") paper, and on octavo (5" x 8") paper. (1 is equal to 10 spaces of Pica type, 9 spaces of Large Pica type, and 12 spaces of Elite type. ) Right margin: 2 spaces on all kinds of paper. Top margin: 1or 6 single lines deep on foolscap and quarto paper, and 1/2 or 3 single line deep octavo paper. Bottom margin : Same as top margin. 5. Drafts are typed with a left margin of which is necessary for corrections or additions. III. Line Spacing- 6. Fair copies are to be typed in single line spacing with double line space between paragraphs. 7. Double line space is required for drafts, and between paragraphs only double line space is left. There is no need for an extra line space between paragraphs. IV. Continuation Work- 8. When the work is to be continued on the next page, the following points are to be observed: (i) Catchword.- This refers to the official practice of writing at the foot of the page of continued matter the first word appearing on the next page. After typing the last line on the first page the catchword is placed on the right-hand ' side of the bottom margin of the page. An oblique is typed before the catchword. If the first word to be typed on the next page is a word of one or two letters or the article "the", or the number of a new paragraph, the following word should also be included as the catchword. (ii) Pagination.- Pages are to be numbered at the centre of top margin of the page, thus-2-or (2). (iii) Transposition of margins.-Secretarial filing system makes it necessary that the margins of the front page should be transposed when typing on the back page. Thus the broad margin on the left side of the front page will be shifted to the right side of the back page. (iv) Superim position.-Neat appearance of the typescript requires the lines on both sides of the paper to be superimposed, i.e. typed on the same level, so that the while space between lines remains unaffected. V. Numerals- 9. Numbers can be expressed in the following ways : ______________________________________________________________________________ Arabic \Roman \ \Small Roman \ \Alphabetic \ \In Spelling. Figures \Figures \Figures \ \Letters. \ 1 \ \ I \ (i) \ \ (a) \ \ One 2 \ \ II \ \ (ii) \ \ (b) \ \ Two 3 \ \ III \ (iii) \ \ (c) \ \ Three etc. \ \ etc. \ etc. \ \ etc. \ \ etc. _____________________________________________________________________________ 10. Arabic figures are widely used in figures work, besides being useful in numbering pages and the main paragraphs of a work. Roman figures are used for numbering chapters and main sections of a Bill or Act of Parliament. Small Roman figures and alphabetic letters are used in numbering the subsidiary paragraphs; the former are also used for numbering the pages of preface and appendix of a work. Figures should be spelled out when they begin a sentence, and when they can be expressed in one or two words. An indefinite number is also spelled out, e.g. I read five or Six pages at a time. In case several numbers come within a short space, all of them are to be expressed in figures. VI. Paragraphing- 11. Paragraphs can be typed in three ways: (i) Indented paragraph.-The first line of the paragraph is indented five spaces from the left margin, and the other lines begin from the margin. This is the usual style of typing paragraphs. 10 15 ____________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ (ii) Block paragraph.-All the lines of the paragraph are level with the left margin. This style is used for sub-paragraphs or sub-sub-paragraphs. 10 ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ (iii) Hanging paragraph.- The first line begins from the left margin, and all the other lines of the paragraph are indented three spaces. This style also is used for sub-paragraphs or sub- sub-paragraphs. 10 13 _______________________________________________________________ \________________________________________________________ \________________________________________________________ 12. Numbering paragraphs.-There are three styles of numbering the main paragraphs, but only one style should be used uniformly throughout one work, Usually the first main paragraph is not numbered; numbering starts from the second paragraph onwards. The three styles are illustrated below: 10 15 2. ____________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. ________________________________________________________________ \ ________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 13. Subsidiary paragraphs following under main paragraphs may he either indented, block or hanging, but they must be numbered and given a left-hand margin distinct from main paragraphs. The following three styles may be noted, but only one style should be used in one piece of work. 10 15 20 Main Para 2. _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ (i) - Sub-paras - indented, (ii) - (i) - Sub-paras - block, (ii) - (i)- Sub-paras - hanging - (ii) - 14. Sub-sub- paragraphs under any sub-paragraph should have their distinctive appearance, being typed either in indented or block style. But they should not be typed in hanging style, as this would cause slope of typescript too far to the right. 10 15 20 25 Main para. 2. _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ \ \ _____________________________________________________________ Sub-paras (i) ______________________________________________ \ \ \ \ _________________________________________________ Sub-sub-paras (a) ______________________________ indented. ___________________________________________ \ \ \ ____________________________________________ \ \ \ (b)_____________________________________ \ \ \ ___________________________________________ \ \ \ ___________________________________________ \ \ \ Sub-sub-paras block (a) ______________________________________ \ \ \ ____________________________________________ \ \ \ ____________________________________________ \ \ \ (b) __________________________________________ \ \ ________________________________________________ \ \ \ _________________________________________________ \ \ \ VII. Headings.- 15. Headings are of two kinds ; main heading and sub-headings. Main headings should always be typed exactly in the middle of the type area. Triple line space is generally left between the main heading and the first line of the paragraph underneath. No full stop need be written after main heading. 16. There are several ways of typing sub-headings,, as illustrated below: \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \MAIN HEADING \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \Sub-heading One. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \Sub-heading Two \ \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \ \--------------------------- ---------- \ \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \Sub-heading \Three. --------- -------- \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \Sub-heading Four. ------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------------- \ \ \ \ \ \------------------------------------- Sub-heading Five. \ \ \ \ \________________________________ \ \ \ \ \ \______________________________________ \ \ \ \ \ \______________________________________ The above illustration shows the methods of displaying sub-heading; (1) immediately below the main heading, properly centralised; (2) immediately above paragraph in the centre of type area ; (3) at the beginning of the paragraph and forming part of the first line of the paragraph, when it is to be indented five spaces from the left margin; (4) at the beginning of paragraph and not forming part of the first line, when it is level with the margin; (5) in the margin. 17. All these styles of typing sub-headings are recognised, but only one style should be used throughout one piece of work. 18. Main headings or sub-headings should not be typed at the foot of the page unless it is possible to type at least two lines of the matter relating to heading on the same page. VIII. Footnotes- 19. Footnotes in the body of a matter can be indicated by figures slightly raised from the line of writing and immediately following the words to which they refer. Figures typed in this way are better than asterisk (*) or other symbols, except in statistical tables where figures for footnotes might be confusing. 20. Symbols and marks like %, @, + should not be used as reference marks of footnotes, as each of them has a meaning of its own. Other symbols a.s shown below are suitable, and can be got by combination of characters. Asterisk* 1. Small "X" and hyphen, or (if not found on key board can be done in 2. Capital "A" and small "v" slightly two ways) Lowered by using the interliner. Dagger + 1 . Capital "I" and hyphen slightly raised. \ \2. Oblique and hyphen slightly raised, or \ \3. Capital "I" and apostrophe slightly raised. Double 1. Capital "I" and equation sign or two hyphens. Dagger 2. Oblique and and equation sign or two hyphens. \ \3. Capital "I" and two apostrophes. Section mark W One capital "S" or small "s" partly over another. 21. In typescript intended to be printed, the footnote should be typed immediately after the passage to which it refers. A line should be typed above and below the footnote. ' IN work not intened for the printer, footnot should be typed in sing le spacing at thefoot of the page on which the particular reference marks appear. The footnotes are separated from the text by a fine extending from left margin to right, or halfway across. IX. Variety in Typescript- 22. Printers have various sizes of types which they use to best advantage in the display of their matter. It is possible to achieve similar display in typescript by making use of the eight styles of typing as given below, especially for headings : (1) Style One. (5) STYLE FIVE. (2) Style Two. (6) STYLE SIX. (3) Style Three. (7) STYLE SEVEN (4) Style Four. (8) STYLE EIGHT. 23. It is to be noted that when typing words in spaced letters three spaces are to be left between words. Underlining should be done carefully to cover the letters of the word only; the punctuation marks, if any, at the end of the word should not be underlined. X. Syllabification- 24. Syllabification is the practice of breaking up a word at line-end and carrying a part of it to the next line. It is necessary to do this in order to secure a moderately even right hand margin, which gives a neat appearance to typescript. The important rule to be (observed in word- breaking is that the split should not hinder capid reading of the typed matter. 25. Word - breaking is done as follows : (i) Division of words should correspond as nearly as possible to the way in which the words are pronounced: light-ning, statis-tics, resig-nation, cre-ate, fra-grance, pecu-liar. Pronunciation of the first part of the word should not be affected by break. Hence: prop-erty(not pro-perty), chil-dern (not child-ren), pri-mary (not prim-ary). (ii) In words containing prefixes or suffixes the natural point of division is at the junction of the prefix or suffix: con-stant, intro-duce, pro-gramme, accom-plish, field-ing, penti-ful, friend- ship, acquisi-tion, finan-cial. (iii) In words containing doubled consonant medially, division is usually between the two consonants:' regret-ting, excel-lent, drop-ping,,allot- ted, com-mon, posses-sive. (iv) When words contain medially two or three different consonants without intervening vowel division can be made after the First consonant: splen-dour, main-tain, cir-cled, frus-trate, hun-dred. (v) Compound words and hyphenated words are divided only where existing hyphens occur: under-estimate (not under-es- timate)), pre-eminent (not pre-eminent, cross- section (not cross-sec-tion). The following hyphenated words should be typed on the same line for obvious reason: re-mark (mark again), re-cover (cover again). 26. Division should be avoided in the following cases : (i) The last word in a paragraph and the last word in a page. (ii) Abbreviated words, figure items and proper names. (iii) When previous two lines end with hyphens. (iv) Words of one syllable, their plurals or similar inflexions: cause, causes, ploughed, strength. (v) When syllable consists of only one or two letters : afraid (not a-fraid), ready (not read-y), bravely (not brave-ly)), profited (not profit-ed), ancient (not an-cient). (vi) When there is doubt as to correct division. XI. Carbon Manifolding- 27. In order to take good carbon copies the following points are to be noted : (i) The carbon should be clean and crisp. (ii) The paper used for the original and duplicates should be consistent with the number of copies to be taken. Obviously, thinner paper must be used where the number of copies required is large. There are several methods in use for arranging carbons and sheets. A quick technique is to insert first the required number of sheets and turning the cylinder just far enough to hold the sheets securely. Then the carbons are to be inserted-with ink surface facing the typist between the sheets, and the whole collection is to be twirled up to the point where typing is to begin. (iii) The cylinder should be moderately hard, and free from ridges or identations. Some machines are fitted with inter-changeable cylinders, and in this case it is easy to substitute the ordinary medium cylinder with a hard one for carbon copies. (iv) The types of the machine should he in good order. Battered or worn out types cannot give clear prints. Types are to be cleaned before work. (v) The types should be .struck evenly so as to give uniform impressions, as any unevenness is emphasized on the carbon copies. The keys should be struck a little harder, particularly such large types as w, g, m, the capitals, figures and fractions. The more the copies required, the harder should he the stroke. Obviously only a standard machine can stand this hard touch. Sharp characters like comma, period and semi-colon should be struck with a lighter touch. (vi) When placing carbons between plain sheets, the carbons should he allowed to project about half an inch below the bottom of sheets. When the typed matter is withdrawn from the machine, all the carbons can he separated from sheets by griping them where they project. Thus the handling of carbons being reduced to the minimum, fingers do not become dirty. 28. Carbon Economy.- The carbons should be reversed from time to time, so that all the inked surface may be utilised. Carbons should be kept in a special box or drawer. On no account should they be rolled or folded. XII. Stencil Cutting- 29. Quality of stencil.- The stencil sheets used now-a-days are superior to the old wax sheets. They are "indestructible" in the sense that they may be preserved and used again and again until completely worn out. Unlike the old variety they are not liable to crack or break, and are, therefore, very easy to handle. 30. Selection of a Typewriter.-The typewriter to be used for producing the stencil should have good sharp types and a rather hard cylinder. A machine with blunt or worn types and a soft cylinder should not, as far as possible, be used for this purpose. Such a machine can. however, be improved by using an additional hard backing sheet. 31. General Instructions.-The following instructions should be borne in mind: (i) The types should be thoroughly cleaned. (ii) The ribbon should be thrown out of gear by means of the stencil switch that the types may strike directly on the stencil sheet. If the ribbon switch is out of order, ribbon may be removed from the machine. (iii) A carbon paper should be laid smoothly on the hacking sheet of the stencil and the stencil sheet above the carbon, so that the inked side of carbon remains in contact with the back of the stencil sheet. This will make the impressions visible as the stencil is cut. (iv) The stencil should be inserted into the typewriter with the backing sheet next to cylinder. (v) Placement of the copy well within the printed frame of the stencil sheet may now be planned. If there is difficulty about correct placement, a preliminary copy of the matter may be made on a sheet of paper exactly as it is to appear on the duplicated copy. This preliminary copy may be used for reference when cutting the stencil. (vi) The keys should be struck with a definite sharp and even touch so that the stencil may be cut clearly and evenly. The punctuation marks and the letters "o" and "e" require a lighter touch than the other characters: "w" and "m", a heavier touch than usual,. Any centres punched out, such as the centre of "o". should be picked up on the tip of a moistened finger and replaced on the stencil. (vii) A good rate of speed for stencil cutting is about 20 words less than one's normal speed of typing. This will make for accuracy which is so essential. (viii) A stencil is very likely to wrinkle if it is turned back in the machine for the purpose of correction. To avoid this, the lower edges should be held securely as it is rolled back slowly. If the stencil does not roll back without wrinkling, it may be removed from the machine and reinserted. (ix ) Rulings for statistical work on stencil are better done with a ruler and the stylus pen, using a light touch. XIII. Corrections'- 32. All errors in typescript are to be erased and corrected. Over-typing or "x-ing" of errors is not permitted in fair copies. Erasing should be done as neatly and inconspicuously as possible. The following points are to be noted in regard to erasing: (i ) A good quality eraser should be used. (ii ) The carriage should be drawn to the side and the paper moved a few spaces upwards to facilitate erasing, and to prevent the eraser dust from falling into the machine. (iii ) A soft eraser should be used first to remove the fresh ink from the impressions, and then the hard eraser, with very light pressure so as to remove as little of the surface of the paper as possible. If the eraser is moved in different directions it will prevent the rubbing of a hole into the paper. (iv) Dust should he blown away from the machine in the course of erasing. (v) Damping either the eraser or the paper should be avoided. When the eraser becomes dirty, it can be cleaned by rubbing lightly on a piece of fine sand paper. (vi) The correction should be typed lightly so as to have the same impression as the original letters. (vii) If letters arc to be squeezed or spread within a given space back-spacer or spacebar can be used to move the carriage half a space at a time, as is done in the following examples: To change He will do \ \To change \ \I were here will \ \ \ \ \ \ were to \ \ \ \ \ \ to \ would He would do was \ \I was here If correction is to be done after reinsertion of a typed sheet, the writing line should be adjusted to original level with the help of the line scale and letters like "l","i","." on the originally typed line. Adjustment of these characters with reference to the line scale should be noted by the typist. (viii)When correction is to be done during carbon manifolding, soft eraser alone can be used to erase the errors on carbon copies, but care should be taken to prevent smudging of copies under the pressure of eraser. The method is to place a fairly stiff card behind the paper to be erased, and to shift the card behind other papers before erasing. When all copies are erased the card is removed and the correction typed. (ix) Correction on stencil paper : (a) The surface of the stencil paper containing the error should be smoothed over with nail or any round smooth object. This will aid in closing them correct perforations. A very thin coat of correcting fluid should be put over the error. After it is dry the correction may be typed. (b) Where a large correction has to be made it may be necessary to resort to "patching" or "grafting". The part of the stencil which contains the incorrect wording is cut out, and a piece of stencil paper is pasted over the gap with gum and correction fluid over the edges. The required correction is then typed over the patch. Specimen Forms of Communications (Chapter VI, Para, 65)