Article 74 provides that there
would be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and
advise the President.
Article 75 provides Prime Minister is
appointed by the President. President also, appoints other ministers on the
advice of the Prime Minister.
On Prime Minister recommendation the President
can dismiss any minister from the Council of Minister.
Prime Minister:
1. Appointment-The leader of the
majority party in the Lok Sabha is appointed as the Prime Minister by the
President.
2. Functions-
· He is the real executive.
· He advices the President
to appoint other Ministers.
· He can advice the
President to appoint an outsider, not a Member of Parliament, a minister.
However such a person has to be elected to either House of Parliament within
six months from the date of his appointment.
· He can recommend the
President to dismiss any minister from the Council of Minister.
· He advises the President
to appoint important officials like the Attorney-General of India, the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Chairman and the members of the
UPSC, the Election Commissioner, the Chairman and the Members of the Finance
Commission.
· He presides over cabinet
meetings.
· He is the link between
the President and the Cabinet.
· Prime Minister keeps the
President informed about the decisions of the Council of Ministers.
· He guides the ministers
and coordinates the policies of various departments and ministries.
· He is the leader of the
Lok Sabha in Parliament.
· He is the ex-officio
Chairman of the Planning Commission, National Development Council, National
Integration Council and Inter-state Council.
3. Term of the office- The term does not exceed
five years.
4. Resignation- If the government is
defeated in the Lok Sabha, the Cabinet and the Prime Minister both have to
resign as they are responsible to the Lok Sabha.
Council of Ministers :
- Council of Ministers is a constitutional body but, its size and classification is not mentioned in the constitution.
- The number of the Ministers in the Council has been fixed to 15% of the number of the MPs in the Lower House.
- No qualification or age limit is laid down for these different categories of ministers.
The
Council of Ministers comprises of :
1.
Cabinet Ministers-
- Each member of the cabinet handles an independent charge of a department.
- It is the highest policy making body.
- Only the cabinet ministers attend the cabinet meetings
- The word Cabinet Ministers was inserted into the Constitution through the 44th Amendment Act in Article 352.
2.
Ministers of State-
- These are also the ministers of the cabinet rank and help in discharging the duties of cabinet ministers.
- Sometimes the Ministers of state are given independent charge of the ministries also.
- Attend the cabinet meetings only on invitation.
3.
Deputy Ministers-
- They are the ministers of the lower rank.
- They cannot hold independent charge and always assist the Cabinet or State Minister or both.
- They never attend the Cabinet meetings.
- All members of the cabinet are members of the council of minister while all members of the council of ministers are not members of the cabinet.
Principle of Collectively Responsibility - The Prime Minister along with his council of ministers is
directly responsible to the Lok Sabha for all acts of commission and omission.
A note of no confidence against even one member can bring down the whole
government. The Prime Minister and his council of minister thus sink and swim
together.
Parliament: It consists of the President and two houses
known as the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the
people).
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