Government of India

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Government of India
Bhārat Sarkār
Union Government ministries of India
Judicial branch
CourtSupreme Court of India
Chief JusticeChief Justice of India

The Government of India (

Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia
, consisting of 28 union states and eight union territories.

The government, seated in New Delhi, has three primary branches: the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, whose powers are vested in a bicameral Parliament, a prime minister, and the Supreme Court respectively, with a president as head of state. Through judicial evolution, the Parliament has lost its sovereignty as its amendments to the Constitution are subject to judicial intervention. Judicial appointments are made with negligible say from the executive or legislature.

Etymology and history

The

act of law with the epithet "Government of India".[1]

Basic structure

The Government of India is modelled after the

district courts, all inferior to the supreme court.[4]

The basic

metonym for the Union government,[8] as the seat of the central government is in New Delhi
.

Legislature

Building of the Parliament of India

The powers of the legislature in India are exercised by the Parliament, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Of the two houses of parliament, the Rajya Sabha (or the 'Council of States') is considered to be the upper house and consists of members appointed by the president and elected by the state and territorial legislatures. The Lok Sabha (or the 'House of the People') is considered the lower house.[9]

The parliament does not have complete control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court.[10] However, it does exercise some control over the executive. The members of the Council of Ministers, including the prime minister, are either chosen from parliament or elected there within six months of assuming office.[11] The council as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha.[12] The Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can be dissolved only when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and can never be dissolved. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a six-year term.[13]

Executive

The

executive of government is the one 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.[14]

President

The executive power is vested mainly in the

Article 74 of the Constitution
.

The council of ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the president. However, in practice, the council of ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a president were to dismiss the council of ministers on his or her initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The President is responsible for appointing many high officials in India. These high officials include the

attorney general; the comptroller and auditor general; the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners; the chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission; the officers of the All India Services (IAS, IFoS and IPS) and Central Civil Services in group 'A'; and the ambassadors and high commissioners to other countries on the recommendations of the Council of Ministers.[15][16]

The President, as the head of state, also receives the credentials of ambassadors from other countries, while the prime minister, as head of government, receives credentials of high commissioners from other members of the Commonwealth, in line with historical tradition.

The President is the de jure commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.[17]

The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person once, particularly in cases involving the 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.[18] Presently, the President of India is Droupadi Murmu.

Vice president

The vice president is the second-highest constitutional position in India after the president. The vice president represents the nation in the absence of the president and takes charge as acting president in the incident of resignation impeachment or removal of the president. The vice president also has the legislative function of acting as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.[19] The vice president is elected indirectly by members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both the houses of the parliament following the system of proportional representation employing the single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot conducted by the election commission.

Prime minister

Cabinet Secretariat, Ministry of Defence
, and others.

The Prime Minister of India, as addressed in the Constitution of India, is the chief executive of the government and the leader of the majority party that holds a majority in the Lok Sabha. The prime minister leads the executive of the Government of India.

The prime minister is the senior member of the cabinet in the executive government in a parliamentary system. The prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet; allocates posts to members within the Government; is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet and is responsible for bringing a proposal of legislation. The resignation or death of the prime minister dissolves the cabinet.

The prime minister is appointed by the president to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive.

Cabinet, ministries and agencies

The organizational structure of a department of the Government of India.

The

cabinet secretary, who also acts as the head of the Indian Administrative Service
and other civil services. Other members of the council are either union cabinet ministers, who are heads of various ministries; or ministers of state, who are junior members who report directly to one of the cabinet ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; or ministers of state (independent charges), who do not report to a cabinet minister. As per article 88 of the constitution, every minister shall have the right to speak in, and to take part in the proceedings of, either house, any joint sitting of the houses, and any committee of parliament of which he may be named a member, but shall not be entitled to a vote in the house where he is not a member.

Secretaries

A

joint secretaries.[26] At the middle they are assisted by directors/deputy secretaries and under secretaries.[26] At the lower level, there are section officers, assistant section officers, upper division clerks, lower division clerks and other secretarial staff.[26]

Ministries and departments of the Government of India
# Ministry Department(s)
1 Prime Minister's Office Department of Atomic Energy
Department of Space
2 Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
Department of Agricultural Research and Education
3 Ministry of Ayush
4 Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals
Department of Fertilizers
Department of Pharmaceuticals
5 Ministry of Civil Aviation
6 Ministry of Co-operation
7 Ministry of Coal
8 Ministry of Commerce and Industry Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Department of Commerce
9 Ministry of Communications Department of Posts
Department of Telecommunications
10 Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs
Department of Food and Public Distribution
11 Ministry of Corporate Affairs
12 Ministry of Culture
13 Ministry of Defence Department of Defence
Department of Defence Production
Department of Defence Research and Development
Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare
Department of Military Affairs
14 Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
15 Ministry of Earth Sciences
16 Ministry of Education Department of Higher Education
Department of School Education and Literacy
17 Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
18 Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
19 Ministry of External Affairs
20 Ministry of Finance Department of Economic Affairs
Department of Expenditure
Department of Financial Services
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
Department of Public Enterprises
Department of Revenue
21 Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries
22 Ministry of Food Processing Industries
23 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Department of Family Welfare
Department of Health
Department of Health Research
24 Ministry of Heavy Industries
25 Ministry of Home Affairs Department of Border Management
Department of Home
Department of Internal Security
Department of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs
Department of Official Language
Department of States
26 Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Central Public Works Department
27 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
28 Ministry of Jal Shakti
29 Ministry of Labour and Employment
30 Ministry of Law and Justice Department of Legal Affairs
Department of Justice
Legislative Department
31 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
32 Ministry of Mines
33 Ministry of Minority Affairs
34 Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
35 Ministry of Panchayati Raj
36 Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
37 Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare
Department of Personnel and Training
38 Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
39 Ministry of Planning
40 Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
41 Ministry of Power
42 Ministry of Railways
43 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
44 Ministry of Rural Development Department of Land Resources
Department of Rural Development
45 Ministry of Science and Technology Department of Biotechnology
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
Department of Science and Technology
46 Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
47 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities
Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
48 Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
49 Ministry of Steel
50 Ministry of Textiles
51 Ministry of Tourism
52 Ministry of Tribal Affairs
53 Ministry of Women and Child Development
54 Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Department of Youth Affairs
Department of Sports

Civil services

The Civil Services of India are the civil services and the permanent bureaucracy of India. The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants.

In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. These ministers are accountable to the legislatures which are also elected by the people based on universal adult suffrage. The ministers are indirectly responsible to the people themselves. But the handful of ministers is not expected to deal personally with the various problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to enforce it.

Cabinet secretary

The cabinet secretary (

Cabinet Secretariat, the Indian Administrative Service
(IAS) and the head of all civil services under the rules of business of the government.

The cabinet secretary is generally the senior-most officer of the

.

Judiciary

India's independent union judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of

KM Nanavati v. the State of Maharashtra
, for reasons of being vulnerable to media and public pressure, as well as to being misled.

Unlike its United States counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and union levels. The judiciary consists of the

district courts and Sessions Courts at the district
level.

Supreme Court

Building of the Supreme Court of India.
Building of the Supreme Court of India.

The Supreme Court of India is situated in New Delhi, the capital region of India.

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the

advisory jurisdictions.[31]

As the

high courts of various states of the Union and other courts and tribunals. It safeguards fundamental rights of citizens and settles disputes between various governments in the country. As an advisory court, it hears matters which may specifically be referred to it under the constitution by the president. It also may take cognisance of matters on its own (or 'suo moto'), without anyone drawing its attention to them. The law declared by the supreme court becomes binding on all courts within India and also by the union and state governments.[32] Per Article 142, it is the duty of the president
to enforce the decrees of the supreme court.

In addition, Article 32 of the constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the supreme court concerning enforcing fundamental rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The supreme court has been conferred with power to direct the 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 and the supreme court. Although the proceedings in the supreme court arise out of the judgment or orders made by the subordinate courts, of late[when?] the supreme court has started entertaining matters in which the interest of the public at large is involved. This may be done 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 the Chief Justice of India, highlighting the question of public importance for redress. These are known as public interest litigations.[33]

Elections and voting

India has a

states, are elected by the members of State legislative assemblies by proportional representation
, except for 12 members who are nominated by the president.

India is currently the largest democracy in the world, with around 900 million eligible voters, as of 2019.[35]

State and local governments

In India, power is divided between the governments of the union and the

unicameral in the rest.[38]
The lower house is elected with a five-year term, while in the upper house one-third of the members in the house gets elected every two years with six-year terms.

Local governments function at the basic level. It is the third level of government apart from union and state governments. It consists of

panchayats in rural areas and municipalities
in urban areas. They are elected directly or indirectly by the people.

Finance

Taxation

Reserve Bank of India's headquarters in Mumbai, India's financial capital

India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the

direct taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues are shared with the state governments.[40]

The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:

The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.[42]

Inter-state share in the union tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the president.

Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a figure of 37–45% in the OECD.

Union budget

The Finance minister of India usually presents the annual

working day of February. However, for the F.Y. 2017–18, this tradition had been changed. Now the budget will be presented on the 1st day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on 1 April, the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year[43]

India's non-development revenue expenditure had increased nearly five-fold in 2003–04 since 1990–91 and more than tenfold from 1985 to 1986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non-development expenditure in the 2003–04 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing to defend from a difficult neighbourhood and external terror threats. In 2020–21, India's defence budget stood at 4.71 trillion (equivalent to 5.5 trillion or US$69 billion in 2023).

Issues

Corruption

In 2009, several ministers are accused of corruption and nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of parliament had been charged with crimes, including murder.

Coal Mining Scam (1.86 trillion (equivalent to 4.2 trillion or US$52 billion in 2023)), the mining scandal in Karnataka and the cash-for-votes scandal
.

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Subrata K. Mitra and V. B. Singh (1999). Democracy and Social Change in India: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the National Electorate. New Delhi: Sage Publications. (US HB).

External links