Till 1970s, the Chief Minister’s staff consisted of only one Secretary to Chief Minister and the Chief Minister use to interact directly with the respective secretaries and officers at the provincial level. After the elections of 1985, which were held on Non Party basis, it became imperative for the Chief Minister to expand his staff to take care of variety of public representatives and their requests, lacking a party organization. This culminated in the appointment of deputy secretaries to Chief Minister, and their subordinate staff.

When the practice of initiating summaries started in the 1980s, the work of the Chief Minister’s staff grew for their right disposal and other paperwork. With time and in view of changing political affiliations in Punjab, the Secretariat and its purview have grown and it has become a formidable institution for monitoring of administration on behalf of the Chief Minister, through out the province. Through this system, the Chief Minister is able to get the pulse of the districts as well as local notables and is able to make his own presence felt across Punjab.