Union Council of Ministers

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The Union Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Government of India, which functions as the senior decision-making body of the executive branch.^[1] It is chaired by the prime minister and consists of the heads of each of the executive government ministries. Currently, the council is headed by prime minister Narendra Modi and consists of 71 fellow members. The council is answerable to the Parliament of India.

A smaller executive body called the Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India; it is a subset of the Union Council of Ministers who hold important portfolios and ministries of the government.^[2]

Pursuant to Article 75(3), the Council of Ministers is responsible collectively to the lower house of the Indian parliament, called the Lok Sabha (House of the People).^[3] When a bill introduced by a minister in the Lok Sabha is not approved by it, the entire council of ministers is responsible and not the minister. The council of ministers upon losing the confidence of Lok Sabha shall resign to facilitate the formation of a new government.

A minister shall take any decision without being considered by the council of ministers per Article 78(c). All union cabinet members shall submit in writing to the President to propose a proclamation of emergency by the president in accordance with Article 352.

According to the Constitution of India, the total number of ministers in the council of ministers must not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha. Ministers must be members of parliament. Any minister who is not a member of either of the houses of the parliament for six consecutive months is automatically stripped off his or her ministerial post.^[3]

There are five categories of the council of ministers as given below, in descending order of

• Prime Minister: Leader of the Union Council of Ministers.
• Deputy Prime Minister (if any): Presides as prime minister in his absence or as the senior most cabinet minister.^[4]
• Cabinet Minister: A member of the Union cabinet; leads a ministry.
• Minister of State (Independent charge): Junior minister not reporting to a Cabinet Minister.
• Minister of State (MoS): Deputy Minister reporting to a Cabinet Minister, usually tasked with a specific responsibility in that ministry.

Pursuant to Article 75, a minister who works at the pleasure of the president, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Since at least the turn of the millennia, evidence indicates that an MP's electoral performance enhances the likelihood of being granted a ministerial portfolio.^[5]

• Upon death
• Upon self resignation, or resignation or death of the prime minister
• Upon dismissal by the President for minister's unconstitutional acts per Article 75(2)
• Upon direction from the Judiciary for committing violation of law
• Upon ceasing eligibility to be a member of Parliament
• Under the provision of "Collective Responsibility" under Article 75, the Prime Minister and the entire Council of Ministers resign if a Vote of No Confidence is passed in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) of the Indian Parliament

Every state in India is governed by its council of ministers with rules and procedures similar to the union council of ministers per Articles 163, 164 and 167(c).

In March 2020, the Supreme Court of India used its powers for the first time to do "complete justice" under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution to remove a minister functioning in the state of Manipur.

Council portfolios are as follows:^[6]

Portfolio	Minister	Took office	Left office	Party		Remarks
Prime Minister Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space All important policy issues; and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.	Narendra Modi	9 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Defence	Rajnath Singh	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Co-operation	Amit Shah	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Road Transport and Highways	Nitin Gadkari	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Jagat Prakash Nadda	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Rural Development	Shivraj Singh Chouhan	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Corporate Affairs	Nirmala Sitharaman	9 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of External Affairs	S. Jaishankar	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Power & Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs	Manohar Lal Khattar	9 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Steel	H. D. Kumaraswamy	10 June 2024	Incumbent		JD(S)
Minister of Commerce and Industry	Piyush Goyal	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Education	Dharmendra Pradhan	9 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises	Jitan Ram Manjhi	10 June 2024	Incumbent		HAM(S)
Minister of Panchayati Raj	Lalan Singh	10 June 2024	Incumbent		JD(U)
Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways	Sarbananda Sonowal	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment	Virendra Kumar Khatik	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Civil Aviation	Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu[9]	10 June 2024	Incumbent		TDP
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Prahlad Joshi	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Tribal Affairs	Jual Oram	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Textiles	Giriraj Singh	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Minister of Railways	Ashwini Vaishnaw	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Minister of Communications	Jyotiraditya Scindia	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change	Bhupender Yadav	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Culture Minister of Tourism	Gajendra Singh Shekhawat	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Women and Child Development	Annpurna Devi	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs	Kiren Rijiju	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas	Hardeep Singh Puri	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Mansukh L. Mandaviya	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Coal Minister of Mines	G. Kishan Reddy	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP
Minister of Food Processing Industries	Chirag Paswan	10 June 2024	Incumbent		LJP(RV)
Minister of Jal Shakti	C. R. Patil	10 June 2024	Incumbent		BJP

• List of longest-serving members of the Union Council of Ministers of India
• National Democratic Alliance
• Council of Ministers of Narendra Modi
• Union government ministries of India

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Union Council of Ministers of India.

• Union Council of Ministers at the National Portal of India