The government has constituted a group led by the cabinet secretary to filter out frivolous complaints against secretaries of Union ministries and take appropriate action based on their "gravity, seriousness and nature of the allegations".

The group will also comprise secretaries to Prime Minister, coordination wing in the cabinet secretariat, department of personnel and training (DOPT) and central vigilance commission (CVC). The move is an attempt to lower the burden of DOPT which recieves all the complaints against secretaries in Central government, some of them "frivolous or vague" are also given importance meant for grave complaints, the DOPT said in an official statement.

"It has been observed that under the system presently prevalent, complaints against secretaries to the government of India are sent to the DOPT or the administrative ministries concerned for examination and necessary action," it said.

The cabinet secretary led group would scrutinise complaints received against the secretaries and if it is frivolous in nature, the group would close the file after informing the department. If there is substance in the complaint, the group would take a view regarding the nature of the investigation called for and an appropriate recommendation made in this regard, the statement said.

"It is considered appropriate that complaints against secretaries to the government of India are scrutinised carefully and appropriate action taken based on their gravity, seriousness and the nature of the allegations," it said.

The group will also be looking into the complaints received by the cabinet secretary from CVC under the CVC Act or the public interest disclosure resolution. "The CVC shall be kept informed at regular intervals about the status of the scrutiny/review undertaken by the group into complaints forwarded by the CVC", it said.