Q.State the general duties of a secretary.

Whatever type of secretary is being discussed, a common core of duties recurs across every office.

The common core of duties

Across every type of secretarial office covered in this chapter, six duties recur:

1. Correspondence — drafting, dispatching, receiving and filing letters, notices and communications on behalf of the appointing body.
2. Meetings — preparing and circulating notices and agendas, attending meetings, and recording and maintaining accurate minutes.
3. Record-keeping — maintaining registers, files and documents in good order and readily retrievable, whether a membership register, a minute book, or statutory registers.
4. Implementing decisions — carrying into effect the resolutions of the committee, Board, or employer that appointed the secretary.
5. Liaison and representation — acting as the point of contact between the organisation and its members, the public, government departments, or regulators.
6. Confidentiality — safeguarding information not yet placed before the general membership, shareholders, or public.

Additional duties for specific types

A company secretary adds statutory duties under Section 205 of the Companies Act, 2013 — reporting compliance to the Board, ensuring adherence to Secretarial Standards, and statutory filings; a co-operative society secretary adds correspondence with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies; a government-department secretary works within departmental rules of procedure. These additions sit on top of, not in place of, the common core.

Conclusion …

Answers sometimes merge 'general duties' with the company secretary's statutory duties alone, losing sight of the fact that correspondence, meetings, records, and confide …