Council of Ministers and Parliament

Council of Ministers

* The formation of the Council of Ministers begins with: (2) (Telangana Constables Prelims-2016)

Issuance of orders for conducting general elections
Appointment of the Prime Minister
Formal announcement by the President
Conduct of Parliament sessions

Answer: 2) Appointment of the Prime Minister

Details regarding the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers are included in Articles 74, 75, 78 in Part V of the Indian Constitution.

In the parliamentary system we follow, the Union Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, exercises real powers (De-facto).

Article 74:

There shall be a Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions.

42nd Constitutional Amendment:

The President shall act in accordance with the advice of the Union Council of Ministers in the exercise of his functions.

Note: There is no provision in the Constitution that explicitly states that the President must compulsorily follow the advice of the Council of Ministers. This point was expressed by the first President Rajendra Prasad in his speeches.

In the 1955 Ram Jawaya Vs State of Punjab case, the Supreme Court ruled that the President should perform his duties in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers. Subsequently, the above point was added through the 42nd Constitutional Amendment.

44th Constitutional Amendment:

The President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.

Article 75:

The President appoints the ministers in the Council of Ministers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

91st Constitutional Amendment (2003)

Articles 75 (1A), 75 (1B) were added through this constitutional amendment.
75 (1A): The total number of ministers in the Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha.
Similarly, in the states, it shall not exceed 15% of the members of the Legislative Assembly. It should not be less than 12 (in small states).

The maximum strength of Lok Sabha is 552. 15% of this means the maximum number of ministers should not exceed 83.

Union Ministers are individually responsible to the President.
Ministers continue in office as long as the President has confidence in them.
Union Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
Union Ministers are administered the oath of office by the President.
A Union Minister must submit his resignation to the President.
A Union Minister, as mentioned in the IIIrd Schedule, swears to uphold the Constitution and not to disclose government secrets.
A person who is not a member of either House can also be appointed as a Union Minister.

Note: A Union Minister who is appointed must get elected or nominated as a member of either House of Parliament within 6 months. A person who is not a member of either House cannot continue as a Union Minister for more than 6 months.

The salaries and allowances of ministers are determined by Parliament by law.
A Union Minister can speak in either House of Parliament and introduce bills.

Note: A minister who is not a member of the House does not have the right to vote on the bill in that House.

If a motion of no-confidence is passed against the Union Council of Ministers in Lok Sabha, the entire Council of Ministers must resign.

Note: Ministers appointed from Rajya Sabha must also resign.

The Union Council of Ministers takes decisions collectively.
No minister should oppose the decisions of the Council of Ministers. Ministers who oppose the decision of the Council of Ministers resign.

Ex 1: In the matter of the Hindu Code Bill, B.R. Ambedkar, the then Law Minister, resigned opposing the decision taken by the Council of Ministers.

Ex 2: C.D. Deshmukh, the then Union Minister, resigned due to differences with the Council of Ministers on the States Reorganisation Bill.

Ex 3: Arif Mohammad Khan, the then Union Minister, resigned opposing the decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

* Reason (A): Cabinet collective responsibility principle indicates unity and harmony in the Council of Ministers.

Cause (R): Appointment and removal of a Cabinet member is at the discretion of the Prime Minister.

Correct answer: 1) Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation for (A)

Council of Ministers - Classification

The classification of the Council of Ministers is not mentioned in the Constitution.

N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar Committee recommended to classify ministers into three categories.

The three-tier Council of Ministers system continues even today.

Cabinet Ministers
Ministers of State
Deputy Ministers

Cabinet Ministers:

Cabinet Ministers have the freedom to take decisions regarding their departments.
Policy decisions on behalf of the Union Cabinet are taken only by the Cabinet.
Cabinet usually meets once a week (Friday).
Cabinet meetings can be held anytime, anywhere in emergency situations.
The word 'Cabinet' is not in the original Constitution.
The word 'Cabinet' was added to Article 352 through the 44th Constitutional Amendment in 1978.

Inner Cabinet (Cabinet Committee):

A group of very important Cabinet Ministers often meet to resolve critical issues. This is also called Super Cabinet, Kitchen Cabinet.

Ministers of State:

These ministers independently manage some departments.
There is no Cabinet supervision.
May attend Cabinet meetings on special invitation.
They have no role in policy making.

Deputy Ministers:

Assist Cabinet Ministers.
Cannot take independent decisions.
Do not attend Cabinet meetings.

Note:

The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet meetings.
Cabinet means only Cabinet Ministers, while Council of Ministers means all Cabinet, State, Deputy Ministers together.

Cabinet Committee System:

Cabinet Committees and Cabinet Subcommittees are formed to coordinate government activities and divide work among Cabinet members.
The Prime Minister chairs some Cabinet Committees.
Cabinet Committees are of two types:

Standing Committees
Ad-hoc Committees

Standing Committees:

Formed subject-wise.
Maximum number of members - 8.
If the Prime Minister is a member of this committee, the Prime Minister chairs the committee.

Ad-hoc Committees:

Ad-hoc committees are constituted to resolve problems arising in special circumstances.

Note: Cabinet Committees are not mentioned in the Constitution. They are formed for administrative convenience.

Cabinet Committees are constituted by the Prime Minister. Currently there are 6 Cabinet Committees.

Political Affairs Committee
Economic Affairs Committee
Appointments Committee
Defence Affairs Committee
Parliamentary Affairs Committee
Committee on Accommodation

Cabinet Subcommittees:

Cabinet Subcommittees are formed to advise the Cabinet on ways to solve certain specific problems.

Ex: Cabinet Subcommittee (GOM) was formed on the special Telangana issue.

Note: Narendra Modi government has announced that it is abolishing Cabinet Subcommittees.

Shadow Cabinet:

Shadow Cabinet is formed with members of the opposition party in Britain. It controls the mistakes made by the Cabinet.

Shadow Prime Minister:

In Britain, the leader of the opposition party is called Shadow Prime Minister.

Note:

The highest of the Cabinet Committees - Political Affairs Committee.
Cabinet Secretaries are appointed by the Prime Minister to provide cooperation to the members of the Council of Ministers. The oath of office is administered to the Cabinet Secretaries by the Prime Minister.

Cabinet Ministers who resigned with personal responsibility in various circumstances:

1962 Indo-China War - V.K. Krishna Menon, then Defence Minister, resigned taking responsibility for India's defeat.
Hindu Code Bill - Ambedkar, then Law Minister, resigned opposing the Hindu Code Bill.
Karnataka Train Accident - Lal Bahadur Shastri, then Railway Minister, resigned taking responsibility for the train accident in Karnataka.
1966 Tashkent Agreement - Mahavir Tyagi resigned protesting against the Tashkent Agreement.
Failure to implement Three-Language Formula - M.C. Chagla resigned protesting against the failure to implement the Three-Language Formula.
Formation of Planning Commission - V.V. Giri resigned protesting against the formation of the Planning Commission.
Mundra Scam Case (1958) - T.T. Krishnamachari resigned.
Income Tax Matter - Shanmukham Chetty, Finance Minister, was asked to resign by Nehru in 1948.
1966 Cow Slaughter Issue - Gulzarilal Nanda, Home Minister, resigned when agitations took place in Delhi over the cow slaughter issue.
1968 Bribery Case - K.D. Malaviya, Union Minister for Mines and Oil, resigned in a bribery case in 1968.
Iraq Oil Scam - Natwar Singh, Minister for External Affairs, resigned in 2005 amid allegations in the Iraq oil scam.
Formation of Bombay State - C.D. Deshmukh resigned protesting against the formation of Bombay State.
Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act - Arif Mohammad Khan resigned opposing the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act.

Note: Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, resigned taking moral responsibility as the Lokpal Bill was defeated in the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

"Cabinet is the magnetic needle around which the central political system revolves" - John Marriott

"Cabinet is the driving wheel for the ship of state" - Ramsay Muir

"Cabinet is a magnet of policies" - Barker

Current Number of Ministers including PM

- 58 (25 Cabinet + 9 MoS Independent Charge + 24 MoS)

As per the 91st Constitutional Amendment, the number of ministers should not exceed 15% of the Lok Sabha members. Accordingly, the maximum number of ministers that can be there is 83.

Portfolio Allocation of Current Ministers:

Name	Portfolio	Constituency
1. Narendra Modi	Prime Minister, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy, Space Departments, and other portfolios not allocated to any Minister	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
2. Rajnath Singh	Defence	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
3. Amit Shah	Home Affairs	Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat
4. Nitin Gadkari	Road Transport, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises	Nagpur, Maharashtra
5. D.V. Sadananda Gowda	Chemicals and Fertilizers	Bangalore North, Karnataka
6. Nirmala Sitharaman	Finance, Corporate Affairs	Rajya Sabha (Karnataka)
7. Ram Vilas Paswan	Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	Did not contest elections (Passed away on Oct 8, 2020)
8. Narendra Singh Tomar	Agriculture, Farmers Welfare, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj	Morena, Madhya Pradesh
9. Ravi Shankar Prasad	Law and Justice, Information and Technology, Communications	Patna Sahib, Bihar
10. Harsimrat Kaur Badal	Food Processing Industries	Bathinda, Punjab
11. Thaawar Chand Gehlot	Social Justice and Empowerment	Rajya Sabha (Madhya Pradesh)
12. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar	External Affairs	Rajya Sabha (Gujarat)
13. Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'	Human Resource Development	Haridwar, Uttarakhand
14. Arjun Munda	Tribal Affairs	Khunti, Jharkhand
15. Smriti Irani	Women and Child Development, Textiles	Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
16. Dr. Harsh Vardhan	Health and Family Welfare, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences	Chandni Chowk, Delhi
17. Prakash Javadekar	Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Information and Broadcasting	Rajya Sabha (Maharashtra)
18. Piyush Goyal	Railways, Commerce and Industry	Rajya Sabha (Maharashtra)
19. Dharmendra Pradhan	Petroleum and Natural Gas, Steel Industry	Rajya Sabha (Madhya Pradesh)
20. Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi	Minority Affairs	Rajya Sabha (Jharkhand)
21. Prahlad Joshi	Parliamentary Affairs, Coal, Mines	Dharwad, Karnataka
22. Dr. Mahendranath Pandey	Skill Development and Entrepreneurship	Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh
23. Arvind Ganpat Sawant	Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises	Mumbai South, Maharashtra
24. Giriraj Singh	Dairy, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries	Begusarai, Bihar
25. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat	Jal Shakti	Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Smallest Council of Ministers formed by Prime Minister - Nehru
Largest Council of Ministers formed by - Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister who reorganized the Council of Ministers most number of times - Rajiv Gandhi.

Parliament

India has a parliamentary system based on the British Westminster model.
Part V of the Constitution describes the structure, some powers, and responsibilities of Parliament.
Articles 79 to 123 describe about Parliament.
According to Article 79, Parliament means President, Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha.
According to this article, India follows a bicameral system at the central level.
Parliament is not a sovereign legislature. Because Parliament can function only within the framework of constitutional provisions.
First session of Parliament was held on May 13, 1952.
In 1954, G.V. Mavalankar renamed the Council of States as Rajya Sabha and the House of the People as Lok Sabha.
Parliament House in Delhi was designed by Edward Lutyens and Herbert Baker.
M.V. Pylee stated that although the President is not a member of Parliament, he has to be recognized as an integral part of Parliament due to his important legislative powers.

New Parliament Building:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the New Parliament Building on December 10, 2020. The Prime Minister declared that the new building will be a testament to the spirit of self-reliant India.
Key components in the Central Vista Redevelopment Project - New Parliament Building, New Secretariat Building, development of Rajpath Road.
Architecture of this building is provided by - HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd. (Gujarat).
Construction contract for this building is won by - Tata Projects Limited.
Estimated cost ₹971 crore. Target to complete by 2022. Area - 64,500 sq.m.
This building will be constructed to accommodate 888 members in Lok Sabha and 384 members in Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha

Article 80 describes about Rajya Sabha.
The Central Upper House (Council of States) was established for the first time in the country through the Government of India Act 1919.
It is called the House of Elders, Council of States, Permanent House, Upper House, Council of States, State Council.
Rajya Sabha Formation Day - April 3, 1952.
First meeting of Rajya Sabha was held on May 13, 1952.
The number of Rajya Sabha members depends on the population of the states.

Note: Uttar Pradesh has 31 Rajya Sabha seats due to high population. North Eastern states have only one Rajya Sabha seat each due to low population.

That is, there is unequal representation for states in Rajya Sabha. This is against the federal feature.

Note: In the US, the Upper House gives equal representation to the states.

Parliament decides the number of Rajya Sabha members.
Schedule 4 of the Constitution describes about the number of Rajya Sabha members.
The Central Upper House was established as per the 1919 Act.
This House came into force from 1921.
On August 23, 1954, the Upper House was renamed as Rajya Sabha. (G.V. Mavalankar)
First Chairman of Rajya Sabha - Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
Article 80 of the Constitution describes about Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha Structure - Elections:

Maximum strength of Rajya Sabha - 250.
Current strength of Rajya Sabha - 245.
Maximum number of elected members to Rajya Sabha from states and union territories - 238 (234 for states, 4 for union territories).
The President nominates persons with expertise in various fields to Rajya Sabha. Number of nominated members - 12.

238 + 12 = 250

Number of elected members from states - 229 (excluding Jammu and Kashmir, 229-4 = 225)
Number of elected members from union territories - 4 (3 + 1) (including Jammu and Kashmir, 4 + 4 = 8)

Note: 3 from Delhi, 1 from Pondicherry

Number of nominated members - 12.

229 + 4 + 12 = 245

Currently, the number of elected members from states and union territories in Rajya Sabha = 233 (229 + 4)

= 233 + 12 = 245

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

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