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7/28/2019 Structure of Indian Government
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THE STRUCTURE OF INDIAN GOVERNMENT
SCRIBED
BY
S. MOHAMED HAJA JAFFER ALI
M.A. CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE
M.A. POPULATION STUDIES
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Government of India
Republic of India
This article is part of the series:
Politics and Government of India
Union Government[show]
Constitution of India
Fundamental Rights
Executive
President
Vice President
Prime Minister
The Cabinet
Parliament
Rajya Sabha
The Chairman
Lok Sabha
The Speaker
Judiciary
Supreme Court of India
Chief Justice of India
High Courts
District Courts
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Elections[show]
Election Commission
Chief Election Commissioner
Political Parties[show]
National Parties
State Parties
National Coalitions
United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Local & State Govt.[show]
Governor
State Legislature
Vidhan Sabha
Vidhan Parishad
Panchayat
Gram panchayat
Panchayat samiti
Zilla Parishad
Other countries Politics Portal
Government of India Portal
view talk edit
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the
Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing
authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic
of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India.
The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.
The executive branch headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or
her power directly or through officers subordinate to him. The Legislative branch or the
Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha,
as well as the president. The Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High
Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level.
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The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major
parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the
Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive,
legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individualstate governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts
International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th
amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalized for
local governance.
Contents
y 1 Parliamentary government
o 1.1 Individual responsibility
o 1.2 Collective responsibility
y 2 Executive Branch
o 2.1 President
o 2.2 Cabinet Secretary
y 3 Judicial branch
o 3.1 National judiciary
y 4 Reform
o 4.1 Corruption
o 4.2 Inefficiency
o 4.3 Spending priorities
o 4.4 Deficitsy 5 Finance
o 5.1 Taxation
o 5.2 General budget
y 6 References
y 7 External links
y 8 Further reading
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Parliamentary government
Sansad Bhavan
India has a parliamentary system of government based largely on that of the United Kingdom
(Westminster system). However, eminent scholars including the first President Dr Rajendra
Prasad have raised the question "how far we are entitled to invoke and incorporate into our
written Constitution by interpretation the conventions of the British Constitution".[2]
The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly-elected
545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member
indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The
parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy.
All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of
Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time
they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are
responsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.
Individual responsibility
Every individual minister is in charge of a specific ministry or ministries (or specific other
portfolio). He is responsible for any act of failure in all the policies relating to his department.
In case of any lapse, he is individually responsible to the Parliament. If a vote of no
confidence is passed against the individual minister, he has to resign. Individual responsibility
can amount to collective responsibility. Therefore, the Prime Minister, in order to save his
government, can ask for the resignation of such a minister and the people have a say.
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Collective responsibilityThe Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If
there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the councilare jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all
the ministers headed by the Prime Minister have to resign.
Executive Branch
Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and
responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy.The division of power into
separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of
powers. In many countries, the term "government" connotes only the executive branch.
However, this branch fails to differentiate between despotic and democratic forms ofgovernment. In authoritarian systems, such as a dictatorship or absolute monarchy, where
the different powers of government are assumed by one person, the executive branch ceases
to exist since there is no other branch with which to share separate but equal governmental
powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the
executive branch - an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical
leadership throughout history.
President
The Rashtrapati Bhawan where President, Vice President, Cabinet Secretary and other
Secretaries meet
The executive power is vested on mainly the President of India by Article 53(1) of the
constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or
through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act
in accordance with aid and advise tendered by the head of government (Prime Minister of
India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 (Constitution
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of India).The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the
Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to
command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority
party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of
Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council of
Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, theCouncil of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss
the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis.
Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the
support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety
of appointments. These include:
y Governors of States
y The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High
Courts of India.y The Attorney General
y The Comptroller and Auditor General
y The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary
y The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service
Commission
Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries. The President also receives the
credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is
the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can granta pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases
involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the
president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In
most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice
of the Prime Minister.
Cabinet Secretary
The head of executive officers is Cabinet Secretary after India. The Cabinet Secretary is under
the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat is
the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board, and thus
the head of the Indian Administrative Service. As a matter of convention the senior most civil
servants is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service.
The incumbent generally has tenure of 2 to 3 years. Though there is no fixed tenure, the
average tenure of the Cabinet Secretary in India has been less than 3 years. His tenure
however, can be extended. The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all the civil services under the
constitution like IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, PCS, PPS etc. Thus, he is the head of all the All India services
including the Indian Police Service(IPS),Indian Administrative Service(IAS),Indian Foreign
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Service(IFS),Indian Revenue Service(IRS) and the Indian Forest Service(IFS). He ranks tenth in
the Table of Precedence of India.
The Cabinet Secretariat is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative
head of the Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of
the Civil Services Board, and thus the head of the Indian Administrative Service.
As a matter of convention the senior most civil servants is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary.
He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent generally has tenure of 2 to 3
years. Though there is no fixed tenure, the average tenure of the Cabinet Secretary in India
has been less than 3 years. His tenure however, can be extended.
The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all the civil services under the constitution. Thus, he is
the head of all the All India services including the Indian Police Service IPS and the Indian
Forest Service IFS. The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary:
Provide assistance to the Council of Ministers Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the
civil services Handle senior appointments Prepare of the agenda of the Cabinet Attend the
meetings of the Cabinet Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented Advise the Prime
Minister Act as the Chairman of the Committee of Secretaries on Administration Act as the
Chairman of the Chief Secretaries Committee Provide an element of continuity and stability
to administration during crises In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961
"Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to
this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and
secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business.
The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of IndiaTransaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules
1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the
Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making
in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst
Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the
standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are
also promoted.
The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers
are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary
of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating
activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the
Cabinet Secretariat.
The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main
wing and provides aid, advice and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides
secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs
Committee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence
matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence
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Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also
officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the
Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat.
Judicial branch
Bombay High Court.
India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures
resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief
Justice and 30 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief
Justice of India. In the 1960s, India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them
to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges.
Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state
and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts at the
state level, and District and Session Courts at the district level.
National judiciary
The Supreme Court of India has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive
original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or
more states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one
or more states on the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute
involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal
right depends.
In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the
Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue
directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature ofhabeas corpus, mandamus,
prohibition, quo warranto and certiorarito enforce them. The Supreme Court has been
conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court
to another State High Court, or from a court subordinate to another State High Court.
Public Interest Litigation(PIL) : Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of
the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has
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started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the Court
may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the
Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India
highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.
Source: Wikipedia.