Cabinet Secretariat revises timelines to curb delays in note clearance

The Cabinet Secretariat has also circulated revised timelines for finalisation of these notes

After its analysis found delays in the finalisation of Cabinet and Cabinet Committee notes by ministries, the Cabinet Secretariat has laid down revised timelines for the clearance of such notes to ensure faster decision-making.

 

In an office memorandum dated May 14 and sent to all Union ministries and departments, the Cabinet Secretariat said that it undertook “an analysis of the time-cycle of notes at various stages”, which “revealed delays at every stage of preparation and finalisation of notes”.

 

The Cabinet Secretariat’s missive observed that a committee of secretaries deliberated on the issue of delays at its meetings held on November 16, 2024, and May 6, 2025. It said the new timelines have been introduced to help achieve “faster decision-making of important policies, programmes, and schemes of the government” and are based on the committee’s recommendations. The Cabinet Secretariat said it has “reviewed and reassessed” the timelines for various stages in the finalisation of notes and also considered “remedial actions for checking delays”.

 

The latest instructions of the Cabinet Secretariat will supersede the relevant guidelines in its ‘Handbook on Writing Cabinet Notes’, last updated in 2021, and the ‘Time Frame for Appraisal and Approval of Schemes and Projects’ contained in a Department of Expenditure memorandum of August 2016, which also relates to timelines for various stages of appraisal and approval processes. 

 

Firstly, the Cabinet Secretariat has instructed ministries sponsoring a Cabinet note to refer it to only those ministries whose business is impacted, as stipulated under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961. “Careful scrutiny and judicious selection of ministries for consultations will help in reducing unnecessary delays,” the Cabinet Secretariat said.

 

Secondly, the sponsoring ministries should ensure that a hard copy of the note reaches stakeholder ministries on the same day as the date mentioned in the forwarding memo. The ministry sponsoring the note should “flag” the specific points, paragraphs, or issues on which comments are solicited; the forwarding memo should clearly delineate these points. Financial implications should be, “at least roughly”, flagged by the sponsoring ministry to enable the Department of Expenditure to give its comments expeditiously on the draft note. 

 

The Cabinet Secretariat suggested that, in instances where the proposal is complex, it is “advisable” that a preliminary physical or online inter-ministerial meeting be convened immediately after the sponsoring ministry has circulated the note. It has introduced a new module, ‘Inter-ministerial Consultations’, on the government’s eSamikSha portal to enable ministries concerned and the Cabinet Secretariat to monitor and review delays and pendency occurring at various stages of finalisation.

 

The Cabinet Secretariat has also circulated revised timelines for the finalisation of these notes. For example, consulted ministries would need to furnish their comments on the draft Cabinet note circulated by the sponsoring ministry — within 21 days for legislative and policy proposals; within seven days for projects and schemes that have been appraised and where there is a disagreement; and within 14 days for other proposals. For itself, the Cabinet Secretariat has set a deadline of seven days for furnishing comments to the sponsoring ministry.