Q.What are the different types of secretary? Explain briefly.

The title 'secretary' is used across very different kinds of organisations, so Secretarial Practice classifies the office into five recognised types.

They differ mainly in who appoints the secretary and how much statutory responsibility the post carries, with the company secretary carrying the most.

Why classification is needed

Because 'secretary' is applied to positions with very different appointing authorities and legal responsibilities, Std 11 Secretarial Practice organises secretarial offices into five broad types.

The five types

1. Private secretary — engaged by an individual employer purely in a personal capacity; authority and duties exist only through the employer's own delegation.
2. Secretary of a club, association or non-profit body — an office-bearer appointed or elected by the managing committee of a social, cultural, sports, or charitable body, accountable to that committee and the general membership.
3. Secretary of a co-operative society — appointed under the applicable state Co-operative Societies Act (in Gujarat, the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act) to administer the society under its managing committee, corresponding with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.
4. Secretary of a local body or government department — a government or semi-government employee holding a statutory administrative post under local self-government or service law.
5. Company secretary — the office attached to a registered company, defined by Section 2(24) of the Companies Act, 2013, requiring membership of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and functioning as Key Managerial Personnel under Section 2(51).

What distinguishes them

The types differ chiefly along two lines — who appoints the secretary (an individual, a committee, a state law, or a Board of Directors) and what statutory framework, if any, governs the post. The company secretary sits at the far end of this spectrum, carrying direct statutory duties and personal liability that none of the other four types carry.

A common error is treating 'government secretary' and 'company secretary' as the same type, or omitting the co-operative society secretary entirely even though it is a distinct, separately governed office under state co-operative law.