Prime Minister of India

Prime Minister

Article 74 (1) says: There shall be a council of ministers with the Prime Minster as the head to aid and advice the President.

The post of Prime Minister of India has adopted the Westminster (England) model of constitutional democracy. The parliment of England is situated in Westminister so it's called Westminister parliament.

The leader of the majority party in Lok Sabha is appointed by the President as the Prime Minister. The other ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. If no party commands absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, the President can summon the leader of any party who, in his opinion, can manage to form a ministry. The President administers to the ministers the oath of office and of secrecy. A person who is not a member of the Parliament can be appointed as a minister but he has to get himself elected to the Parliament within six months. Ministers are individually as well as collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

Duties and functions of Prime Minister

Article 78 mentioned the duties of the Prime Minister:

• The Prime Minister decides the rank of his ministers and distributes various departments.

• The Prime Minister decides the dates and the agenda of the meeting of the Cabinet which he presides.

• The Prime Minister informally consults two or three of his senior colleagues when he does not convene a Cabinet meeting.

• The Prime Minister supervises the work of various ministers.

• To converse to the President all decisions of the Council of Ministers connecting to the government of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation.

• The Prime Minister act as the link between the President and the Council of Ministers.

• The Prime Minister is the leader of the nation and chief spokesperson of the country.

• As the leader of the nation, the Prime Minister represents our nation at all international conferences like the commonwealth, summit of the non aligned nations and SAARC nations.

Council of Ministers

After the elections, the President of India, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appoints the council of ministers. The Constitution of India restricts the number of the Council of Ministers including the Prime Minister to 15% of the total members of the Lok Sabha.

Categories of the Ministers

The ministers are classified under three ranks

(i) Cabinet Ministers

(ii) Ministers of State

(iii) Deputy Ministers.

Cabinet Ministers

The Cabinet is an informal body of senior ministers who form the nucleus of administration. Important decisions of the government are taken by the Cabinet, such as defense, finance, external affairs and home.

Ministers of State

These ministers belong to the second category of ministers in the council. They are also in charge of ministries or departments but they do not participate in the meetings of the cabinet unless invited to do so.

Deputy Ministers

They are the lowest ranked ministers in the cabinet. They assist either the Ministers of Cabinet or State in the performance of the duties entrusted to them.