Q.Who is a private secretary? State the duties of a private secretary.

A private secretary is engaged by an individual, not by a committee, Board or statute.

Meaning

A private secretary is engaged by an individual employer — a businessperson, professional, minister, or senior executive — purely in a personal capacity, unlike the other types of secretary who serve a committee, a statutory body, or a company.

Nature of the office

Because the relationship is a simple contract of personal service, a private secretary has no independent legal standing of their own; every duty and every power exercised exists only because the employer has delegated it, and it can be withdrawn or altered by the employer at will.

Duties of a private secretary

1. Correspondence — drafting, typing, and dispatching the employer's personal and professional letters, and screening incoming mail.
2. Appointments and diary management — scheduling meetings, appointments, and travel, and reminding the employer of commitments.
3. Filing and record-keeping — maintaining the employer's personal files, papers and confidential documents in good order.
4. Receiving visitors and calls — acting as the first point of contact for people wishing to reach the employer. …

Students sometimes confuse a private secretary's role with that of a company secretary's personal assistant; the private secretary here is engaged by an indivi …