TRAINING PROGRAMME

On

Noting & Drafting Skills

 ENJOY THE STORY OF FOUR PEOPLE
• THIS IS A STORY ABOUT FOUR PEOPLE
NAMED EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY, ANYBODY
& NOBODY. THERE WAS AN IMPORTANT
WORK TO BE DONE & EVERYBODY WAS SURE
THAT SOMEBODY WOULD DO IT. ANYBODY
COULD HAVE DONE IT, BUT NOBODY DID IT.
SOMEBODY GOT ANGRY ABOUT THAT
BECAUSE IT WAS EVERYBODY’S JOB.
EVERYBODY THOUGHT THAT ANYBODY
COULD DO IT, BUT NOBODY REALISED THAT
EVERYBODY WOULD NOT DO IT. IT ENDED UP
THAT EVERYBODY BLAMED SOMEBODY,
WHEN ACTUALLY NOBODY ACCUSED
ANYBODY.
WHAT IS AN OFFICE?
Office is:
• A work place where teams of people
work together in a hierarchy.
• A kind of control tower where:
• information is processed
• to facilitate competent authority to
take decisions
• to achieve organizational goals
 COMMON OFFICE FUNCTIONS
Collecting
Storing Informatio
Classifyi
Informati n
ng
on Informati
on
Monitoring Processi
Implement ng
ation Informat
ion
Communica
ting Taking
Decision Decision
 The Tottenham System of Office Procedures, as
prescribed in the District Office Mannual mainly
deals with the procedure to be followed for
conducting routine work in Govt. Offices.

General Discipline :-
➢ Discipline is the essential pre-requisite for the
efficient functioning of any office.

➢ The basic needs of Discipline are

Punctuality
Promptness
Regular Attendance
Obedience
➢ Cleanliness and Orderliness, Quite and Dignified
Behaviour, Observance of silence during working
hours and mutually courtesy among the members
of the staff will be conductive to the smooth
functioning of the office.

➢ Honesty is the most essential code of conduct

without which all other qualities are useless.
 Attendance :-
➢ An attendance register should be maintained and all
establishment members should initial it as soon as
they come to office.
➢ A grace time of 10 minutes is allowed after which
the attendance register should be closed.
➢ Permission to attend late by one hour or leave office
one hour earlier, not exceeding 3 times in each case
in a month can be allowed with prior sanction.
➢ Any member who attends late should sign after
entering the hour of arrival. If he attends office
before 2.00 P.M. with or without permission it
would be treated as half day Casual Leave and
attendance after 2.00 P.M. will be treated as a full
day’s Casual Leave.
➢ A member of the staff be permitted to attend
office late for valid reasons 3 times in a month
provided the period of absence does not exceed
one hour including the grace time of 10 minutes.
For every 3 subsequent occasions of late
attendance or less during the month one day’s
Casual Leave will be deducted from the Casual
Leave account. The deductions shall be made
from time to time during the calendar year for
late attendance without permission.

➢ Casual Leave not exceeding 15 days can be

allowed with prior sanction. It can be clubbed
with any public holiday or optional holiday.
However such a spell of leave should not exceed
10 days.
Compensatory Leave :-
➢ If a Govt. Servant is directed to attend the office on
a public holiday, he will be permitted by prior
sanction to avail leave for a working day in its place.

➢ Not more than 10 days of Compensatory Leave may

be granted in a Calendar Year and no such leave can
be avail after expiry of 6 months from the public
holiday for which it is sanctioned.

➢ Not more than 7 such Compensatory Leave days

may be accumulated.

➢ This concession is available for Ministerial Staff.

Organization :-
➢ For convenient and smooth transaction of official
business office has to be divided into sections
comprising of 3 or 4 or more assistants according to
the work load, ensuring equitable distribution of
work among the assistance.
➢ Each section will be denoted by an alphabetical letter
and each assistant by a figure suffixed to the letter by
which by section is denoted.
➢ The work of each assistant has to be specified by an
office order.
➢ The Section Head should exercise the control and
supervision over the assistants in his section and
ensure that the correspondence is promptly attended
to. He will also be responsible for promptness in fair
copying and dispatch of Tappals.
 Office System :-
➢ The purpose of public service is to meet the
needs of the people as effectively and as
quickly as possible. To help us in this regard,
the Tottenham system provides in built
monitoring for effective functioning of the
office through maintenance of various
registers. These registers will help not only to
watch the progress but also arrest the delays
and cut downs the arrears.
Opening and Registration of Tappals :-
➢ There should be an Office Order regarding
distribution of Tappals.
➢ Soon after the Tappal is received, the Tappal should
be opened preferably in the presence of the head of
the office or any authorized officer.
➢ Important communications received from Govt.,
heads of offices, DO letters and Confidential letters
must necessarily be opened in the presence of the
head of the office and seen by him before
distribution to assistance.
➢ The officer in whose presence the Tappal is opened
must peruse the Tappal and give appropriate
instructions indicating the action to be taken.
➢ The Tappal assistant will be there after sort out
the Tappal Sectionwise and give them numbers
from the new case register / distribution register.

➢ Cash and other valuables must be entered in the

Security Register.

➢ When the Tappals is received in the Section, the

Section head should go through them, note the
instructions of the officers if any on them and then
mark them concerned assistant.
 Registration :-

➢ Tappals received by the Clerk should be registered in

the Personal Register without delay. New cases have to
be registered as fresh currents and old cases have to be
clubbed with the pending currents duly noting their
particulars in the personal registers.
➢ A current which orginates in the office is also registered
in the Personal Register like any other new case.
➢ While opening a new personal register at the beginning
of the Calendar Year, sufficient no. of blank pages
should be left to bring forward the currents of the
previous year which could not be closed by 31st March.
➢ Not more than 3 currents have to be entered on the
page and they have to be divided by red lines.
➢ The main head has to be underlined in Red Ink.
 FILE MANAGEMENT
– A file is made up of:
– Current file
– Note file
– Current file consists of :
– Communications received
– Communications sent
 Current File
Papers in the current file are arranged:
In Chronological order
Previous paper on the top
Neatly tagged together
Both sides of the page of C.F.
In Red Ink starting with one
 Note File
• 1/3rd Margin
• Page No and C.No on top
• Subject/ title
• Reference
• Broken into short paragraphs dealing with
single point
 LINKING FILES

• If some matter in any pending file needs to be referred to

in note put up in a file under consideration
• Put up file under the file under consideration
• Strings of upper file pad tie to back of the pad

Strings of lower file tied around upper file

Slips indicating TOP FILE FOR ORDERS/ L.F. FOR
REFERENCE
& L.F. for REFERENCE to be pinned to flaps of upper and
lower pads, respectively
 Types of Communication
• Memo
• Letter
• DO letter
• Proceedings
• UO Note
• Office order
• Notices
• Circular, Telegram/telex /Email/ Tel.Message/Fax
Message
 Memo
Memo No.A /1670/97 Dt
Sub
Ref

(in third person)

Sd/-
Designation
To
Address
 Letter
TM/Lr.No.A/1670/97 Dt
To
Official Address
Sir/Madam

Sub
Ref
(in first person)
Yours faithfully
Sd
Designation
 DO Letter
DO Letter No.A/1670/97 dt
Sir(Respected Sir)
Dear Sri / My Dear
Sub
Ref
(in first person)
With regards
Yours Sincerely
Sd/
By Name

Name
Official Designation
 Proceedings
• Proc.No.A/1670/97 dt
Present
Sri
Sub
Read
ORDER
Sanction is hereby accorded……..

Sd
Designation
Address
 NOTE
Remarks recorded on a case under consideration to
facilitate its disposal
• REASONS FOR:
• Facilitates/ensures comprehensive examination
• Provides written record of decision taken and
justification thereof
• Constitutes proof of approval/orders by the
competent authority
• Ensures consistency of approach
• Provides historical and evidential material
Content of a note
• Statement of the case of problem
• Relevant facts and figures
• Procedure prescribed and precedents
• Law /rules etc on the subject and their application
• Views/advice of others if any consulted
• Possible course of action
• Implications(legal, social administrative,financial )
of the various options available
• Suggested course of action
How to Write a note
• Simply worded (logically sequenced and with good
readership appeal)
• Factually correct(fact based)
• Non repetitive (by drawing attention through references on
the margin or in the body of the Note esp. for those which
can be referred by Nos. and dates)
• Referenced(to achieve economy of words and
comprehensiveness)
• In short, numbered paragraphs of a few sentences(of about
10 words) each
• Signed in full and dated by the dealing hand (on the left
hand bottom) and by the officers on the right hand bottom
without wasting much space in between
Avoid while writing a note
• Verbosity
• Long and complicated sentences
• Reproduction of rules/regulations
Intemperate language
• Bias
 Noting
• How it should be?
• Recorded on a note sheet(even at least one word should be
carried over to the next page, instead of ending the note at
the extreme bottom of the page at least extra black
courtesy sheet should be added for further noting)
• Concise (comprehensive)
• Precise( businesslike and to the point)
• Objective and unbiased( 3rd person passive voice and
double negative without being too prolix/clumsy)
• Polite (temperate language, even when pointing out
obvious mistakes statements)
 Drafting
• A draft is a rough sketch of a communication to be issued after
approval by the officer concerned
• Points to be noted:
• Draft should :
• Should carry the exact messages sought to be conveyed
• Should be clear , concise and incapable of misconstruction
• Should result in the desired response from the received
• Should be divided into proper paragraphs, according to the logical
sequence or order of ideas expressed in the draft
• Should contain references to previous correspondence, if any
• Avoid: Lengthy sentences, abruptness
• Repetition of words, observations or ideas
• Offending, discourteous language
 DRAFTING-CHECK LIST
• A draft should indicate the following:
• File Number
• The names and complete postal address of the sender
organization
• The name/designation of the addressee with complete
postal address
• Subject of the communication
• Number and date of the last communication in the series
(from the addressee or from the sender)
• The enclosures which are to accompany the fair copy
• Subscription
• Urgency grading (By registered post/Spl. Messenger)
• Name and Designation, signature of the sender
form applicable should be carefully chosen
Referencing :-
➢ Referencing is one of the important elements of
Noting or Drafting for quick disposal of papers.
➢ Facts of a case previously noted or reported,
relevant previous decisions or orders, precedents,
authorities and provisions of law should be aptly
referred to in the notes.
➢ Referencing should be in pencil in the margin of the
Note File or draft put up.
➢ Where disposal are put up for reference, they should
be flagged. The flag of each disposal put up should
be denoted by an alphabetical letter.
➢ Flags should not be attached to any page of the
current file or note file or to any page of the book or
stock file put up.
Tools for Effective Functioning
 Tools for Effective Functioning
• Personal Register
• Reminder Diary
• Periodical Register
• Call Book
• Arrear List
• Index Slip
• Annual List of Records Published
• Stock File
 Personal Register
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Sl.No Current No Date of receipt Title
By the Asst. From whom
Outside Number &
Date.
1 2 3 4
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 Personal Register
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted Returned Reference Reply/ dt of Nature
By Asst.. to Asst issued current re- & dt.
to whom received ceipt of
& dt. From by Disposal
whom Asst
No &
Date
5 6 7 8 9 10

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Reminder Diary
• Date of reminder if no report/
reply received
• Maintained date wise
• To ensure prompt action
 PDL Register
• To watch prompt receipt and submission of
Periodicals (PDL)
• Superintendent to maintain monthly check
list
• Issue advance reminders on quarterly, half
yearly and annually etc PDLs
 Periodical Register Format
S.No. Name of Periodical Incoming due
date and from
whom due
1 2 3
Date of Out going date due Periodical date
Receipt &to whom due of despatch
4 5 6
Remarks (Reminders & Replies)
7
 Call Book
• Maintained for calendar year
• Only If no action beyond 6 months needed in a file
• Orders obtained for transfer to CB and date of
revival
• When received CF and NF separated
• Given new current number
• Timely revival to be checked
• Maintained for the entire office year wise
 Call Book FORMAT
• Sl.No. Personal or date of Subject
current Regr entry in
No. The regr
1 2 3 4
Details of Fresh new case No.
Order to lie assigned and date of
Over revival in the IR
5 6
 Arrear List
Abstract list only
Maintained monthly
To know progress of work
For Knowing pendency of Files
indicating No. Pending over one year,
6 months and 3 months
 Arrear List Format
Sections& No. previously No.Recd Total
Clerks pending during
the month
1 2 3 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No.Disposed of Balance % of Disposal
5 6 7

Remarks (Pending over one year,

6 months and 3 months)
8
 Index Slip
D Dis A1 1564/99 dt.20..6.2002
Sub:
No.of pages C/F
No.of pages of N/F

(Prepared in duplicate for D.Dis and R.Dis only)

• One copy retained by the Assistant and one sent
to Record Assistant
• Based on the Index slips Record Asst. will publish the
Annual List of Records
 Stock file
• Maintained subject wise
• All important orders of Government and
dept kept in chronological order
• All pages numbered
• Index
• Weeding of repealed orders
Disposal :-
➢ The nature of disposal depends on the importance of each file.
➢ The various kinds of disposals are
R. Dis. to be retained permanently (It requires
scrutiny after 50 years about necessity to retain)
D. Dis. to be retained 10 years normally.
L. Dis. to be retained for one year.
N. Dis. to be returned in original
F. Dis. to be filed.
X. L. Dis. to be filed without numbering.
X. N. Dis. to be returned without numbering.
Disposal Jackets :-
➢ R and D disposals should be covered with brown paper jackets
and the entries should be made on the jackets.
Fair Copying and Despatch :-

➢ Fair copying and Despatch should be done without

any delay.

➢ The Superintendent, Fair Copying Section should see

that there is no delay at the Fair Copying and
Despatching.

Arrear List :-
➢ Arrear List showing the pendency of currents should be
put up with the personal register.
➢ Long pending files should receive special attention of the
Section head.
 Records - Maintenance and
Precautions

• Before the receipt of any disposal by the record keeper,

the record keeper should verify whether all the pages in
the disposal have been numbered, securely stitched and
are in tact, whether the disposal no. has been correctly
noted and the disposal has been properly docketed, if it
is a R or D. Disposal and whether duplicate of index
slip has been accompanied it.
•
• Disposals have to be arranged in the record room
basing on the year of disposal and not according to the
year of the current as is obtaining hitherto.
➢ Model arrangements of records in bundle of
D.Dis 1974 (all disposed in the year 1974)
D. Dis 200/73, dt. 10.05.1974.
D. Dis 206/72, dt. 15.06.1974.
D. Dis 210/71, dt. 10.10.1974.
D. Dis 210/70, dt. 20.11.1974.
D. Dis 212/72, dt. 10.12.1974.
➢ Required fire fighting equipment should be
kept and it should be maintained in good
condition.
➢ Office staff should be given practical drill. The
head of the office should nominate an officer
for conducting the drill.
• It takes Vision to perceive Opportunities
• Ex: Eagle
• It takes Momentum to reach Targets
• Ex: Cheeta
• It takes Teamwork to achieve Goals
• Ex: Ants