Ministry of Home Affairs

History

During British rule, internal security, law enforcement, and public order were managed by the Home Department of the British Indian Government. This department was formally established in 1861 following the Indian Councils Act, tasked with maintaining law and order, overseeing the police forces, and administering the criminal justice system across British India. It played a crucial role in maintaining colonial control, often focused on suppressing dissent and political movements against the British Raj.

The first home minister Vallabhbhai Patel had a decisive role in integrating 562 princely states into the India, which was done with V. P. Menon, a senior civil servant who served as Secretary to the Ministry of the States.

After India gained independence in 1947, the Home Department was reorganized into the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of India. The new ministry was entrusted with crucial responsibilities for internal security, law and order, integration of princely states, border management, and the rehabilitation of refugees in the aftermath of Partition. Additionally, the ministry began the process of reorganizing states on linguistic lines, an endeavor that culminated in the States Reorganisation Act of 1956.

The ministry also assumed responsibility for the administration of Union Territories, citizenship laws, and the regulation of foreign nationals. With growing challenges of insurgency, terrorism, and communal violence, the ministry's role expanded to include counter-terrorism policies and coordination among various security agencies. In February 2026, the ministry released PRAHAAR, India's national counter-terrorism policy and strategy.

Senior officials

Home Secretary and other senior officials

The home secretary (IAST: Gṛiha Sachiva) is the bureaucratic head of the Ministry of Home Affairs. This post is held by a very senior IAS officer of the rank of secretary to Government of India. The current Home Secretary is Govind Mohan, IAS. The Secretary acts as advisor to the Minister on all matters related to policy formulation, implementation, internal security, etc. The pay scale of the Secretary is equivalent to other senior IAS officers in the state or on deputation. The Secretary draws salary at the pay level 17 of the 7th Central Pay Commission i.e. rupees 2,25,000 plus other allowances applicable as per Central Govt rules. All Central Armed Police Forces such as the CRPF, CISF, BSF, etc., and Union territory police forces are under administrative control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Chief of CAPFs, NIA and IB have relative operational independence.This is subject to terms and conditions of the central civil services. DGs of CAPFs may also report to the Special Secretary (internal security) and Special Secretary/additional secretary (border management).

Organisation

The Ministry of Home Affairs has the following constituent departments:

Department of Home

Attached/Subordinate Offices

Andaman and Nicobar Police

Directorate General–Fire Services, Civil Defense and Home Guards

Directorate of Forensic Science Services

Delhi Police

Central Armed Police Forces

Assam Rifles

Border Security Force

Central Industrial Security Force

Central Reserve Police Force

Indo-Tibetan Border Police

Sashastra Seema Bal

National Security Guard

Intelligence Bureau

National Investigation Agency

National Disaster Management Authority

National Disaster Response Force

Jammu and Kashmir Police

Commissions/Committees

Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner

National Human Rights Commission

Statutory Bodies

Bureau of Immigration

Department of Border Management

Department of Border Management, dealing with the management of borders, including coastal borders.

Department of Official Language

Attached/Subordinated Offices

Central Translation Bureau

Commissions/Committees

Committee of Parliament on Official Language

Town Official Language Implementation Committee

Statutory Bodies

Central Hindi Training Institute

Divisions

These are organizational divisions of the ministry itself, without the splitting into specialised departments.

Handling all administrative and vigilance matters, allocation of work among various Divisions of the ministry and monitoring compliance in furnishing information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, matters relating to the Order of Precedence, Padma Awards, Gallantry Awards, Jeevan Raksha Padak Awards, National Flag, National Anthem, State Emblem of India and Secretariat Security Organisation.

Matters relating to coordination by administrative, diplomatic, security, intelligence, legal, regulatory, and economic agencies of the country for the management of international borders, the creation of infrastructure like roads/fencing and floodlighting of borders, border areas development program pilot project on Multi-purpose National Identity Card and Coastal Security.

The division deals with Centre-State relations, including working on the constitutional provisions governing such relations, the appointment of governors, creation of new states, nominations to Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha, Inter-State boundary disputes, over-seeing the crime situation in States, imposition of President's Rule and work relating to Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), etc.

Intra-ministry coordination work, parliamentary matters, public grievances (PGs), publication of annual report of the ministry, record retention schedule, annual action plan of the ministry, custody of classified and unclassified records of the ministry, internal work study, furnishing of various reports of scheduled castes/scheduled tribes and persons with disabilities, etc.

Responsible for the response, relief, and preparedness for natural calamities and human-made disasters (except drought and epidemics). The division is also responsible for legislation, policy, capacity building, prevention, mitigation, and long-term rehabilitation.

The division is responsible for formulating, operating, and controlling the budget of the ministry under the Integrated Finance Scheme.