#salary and perks of Indian prime minister

[alwaysfirst]

Know Your President : Time Of Ram Nath Kovind

All Indian Presidents have a fixed tenure of only five years. Shri Ram Nath Kovind‘s tenure ends on 24 July 2022 ,therefore he cannot continue as a president of India. Every citizen of India is liable to pay income tax. Even the President of India is subjected to tax. Payment of tax paid by the President of India is based on the status of the president whether he or she is a senior citizen or not ,whether the president receives income as a salary from other source ,also it has to be mentioned whether he or she makes an investment to save on tax liabilities. President’s do pay tax but not under the head income from salary. The charging section of the Income Tax Act requires the payer  and receiver to have an employer relationship. But the President,Prime Minister, MPs and MLAs don’t have an employer- employee relationship with the government ,since  they are elected by the public rather than employed by the government , so the income is  taxed  under the head income from other sources. However other perks that President gets as a part of being in office is fully furnished residence without payment or rent, an automobiles usage for free, communications like mobiles and broadband ,a secretariat including secretaries, personal assistant and peons , free medical treatment and attendants are provided and also pan India travel  via air, railways or ship.   As far as president Ram Nath Kovind is concerned he was a President, who was a great thinker, philosopher and had a social and legal sense .Based on his education and experience he fitted in the picture very well. Many have accused his nomination (by BJP )as a card  played to woo the Dalits for further gains ,but Shri Kovind proved it  wrong. On the contrary he has influenced the citizens of India to fight for justice for the poor and helped the overall development of the society. Shri Kovind is full of political knowledge and always made wiser judgments .He  has maintained the dignity of the office with honesty and sincerity. Read the full article

[juudgeblog]

Powers of The Prime Minister and The Cabinet

In this article, Sofia Agrawal of KIIT School Of Law, Bhubaneshwar discusses the powers of Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

Introduction

Our Indian system comprises three organs of the Government:

Legislative: These are those bodies who have the power to make laws.

Executive: Those bodies who execute the laws and conduct of public and national affair.

Judiciary: Those bodies who are responsible for dealing with all legal cases.

The Executive system is the most powerful organ of the Government. It is that organ which implements the laws passed by the legislature and who head the Government Departments. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and leads the executive organ of the Government. The Cabinet Ministers are the senior ministers of the Council Of Ministers and they exercise the executive authority in the Republic Of India. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and the Council Ministers and Cabinet Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

India follows a Parliamentary system of Government in which the Prime Minister is the leader of the executive system of Government Of India and also the head of the Council Of Ministers. Prime Minister is the real custodian of all the executive authority.

Tenure

The full term of the office of Prime Minister is  5 years but they can hold their office only if they enjoy the majority in the Parliament and the term can end sooner if loses the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. Once they lose their majority, the period of holding their office also comes to an end.

The Indian Parliamentary system does not follow the democratic system of US where if the President holds his office twice and has completed his office, he/she cannot again hold their position. In India this system is not followed, here the President, Prime Minister can hold their office many times till they attain their discharge period.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, The 13th Prime Minister of India. His first tenure as a Prime Minister was from 16th May 1996-1st June 1996, he held the office for 13 days but due to loss of support from the other parties to obtain the majority, he resigned. Then again he was chosen as a Prime Minister with a full majority from 19th March 1998- 22nd May 2004.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru held the office in a row as a Prime Minister for 4 times from 15th August 1947-27th May 1964.

Thus in India, the Ministers can hold their office for many times till they enjoy their vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.

Salary

Particulars Amount (in rupees) Basic Pay 50,000 Sumptuary Grant 3000 Daily Allowance 62000(@2000 per day) Constituency Grant 45000 Gross Salary per month 160000

Qualifications

Must be a citizen of India.

Must be the member of either of the Houses of the Parliament i.e The Lok Sabha and The Rajya Sabha.

Should complete 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok Sabha and 30 years of age if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Disqualifications

Following are the disqualifications of Prime Minister:

Office Of Profit

Article 102(1)(a) of The Indian Constitution which bars the Prime Minister to hold the office of profit. Office of profit is defined as the financial amount which is given to the occupant to gain a financial advantage in the form of salaries, perks and other benefits. The office of profit has not been defined in the Constitution of India or under the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.

In Jaya Bachchan v. Union Of India[1]

The Office Of Profit is defined as follows:

Office of Profit is an office which is capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain.

Holding an office under the Central or State Government to which the salaries, remuneration, allowances are paid amounts to hold the office of profit.

Unsound Mind

The Prime Minister and other members disqualify if he/she is of unsound mind and stands so declared by the competent Court.

Not a citizen of India

The Prime Minister disqualifies if he/she is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of the foreign state.

Other Disqualification

If he is an undischarged insolvent.

Disqualified under any law made by Parliament.

Disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament.

Cabinet Ministers

Cabinet Ministers are the Senior Ministers of the Union Council of Ministers. These Ministers are led by the Prime Minister. They play the role as a supreme decision- making the body in India. Since these Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are the Member Of Parliament so their tenure of work, qualifications and disqualifications are same. The Cabinet Ministers have the powers to sit in the both Houses Of Parliament, The Rajya Sabha and The Lok Sabha. The current Cabinet is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tenure

The full term of the office of the Cabinet Ministers is 5 years but these ministers can be changed upon the discretion of The Prime Minister.

Examples Illustrating Prime Minister’s Discretionary Power:

Minister of Human Resource Development

Earlier this Ministry was in the hand of Smriti Irani and now replaced by Prakash Javadekar on the discretion of the Prime Minister.

Minister of Minority Affairs

Earlier this Ministry was in the hand of Najma A. Heptulla and now replaced by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Qualifications

Must be a citizen of India.

Must be the member of either of the Houses of Parliament The Rajya Sabha and The Lok Sabha.

Should complete 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok Sabha and 30 years of age if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Hierarchy of The Council Of Ministers

  Disqualifications

Should not hold the office of profit during the time of the election.

If he is an undischarged insolvent.

Disqualified under any law made by Parliament.

Disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament.

Not a Citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of Foreign State.

Removal Of The Cabinet Ministers

Upon self-resignation.

Upon direction from the Judicial authorities for committing any violation of the law.

Upon dismissal by the President for any minister’s unconstitutional acts.

Upon ceasing eligibility to be a member of Parliament.

Is Prime Minister Part Of A Cabinet?

Prime Minister is the Chairman and part of the Cabinet.

Prime Minister has the following functions in the Cabinet:

The resignation of the Prime Minister implies the resignation of the Cabinet.

Prime Minister allocates posts to the Cabinet Ministers within the government.

Prime Minister has the power to select and dismiss the Cabinet Ministers.

He allocates portfolios or department to the Cabinet Ministers.

As quoted by, Dr B.R.Ambedkar,”The Prime Minister is the keystone of the arch of the of cabinet and until we endow that office with the statutory authority to nominate and dismiss Ministers there can be no collective responsibility“.

Powers Of The Prime Minister And The Cabinet

Prime Minister

Power to appoint the Authorities

Prime Minister has the right to give advice to the President in relation to the appointment of the Government Authorities.

Such authorities include The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Attorney General Of India, Solicitor General Of India, Election Commissioners, Chairman and Members Of The Finance Commission.

Prime Minister also has the right to give advice to the President on the appointment of The Council Of Ministers and The Cabinet Ministers.

Power as the Leader of the House Of Parliament

Prime Minister is the Leader of the Lower House Of Parliament i.e The Lok Sabha.

He advises President with regard to the summoning of the sessions of The Parliament.

The Prime Minister can recommend the President for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister in consultation with the Speaker of the lower house decides the Agenda of the House.

Aid and Advice the President

Prime Minister is the Chief Advisor of The President.

The Prime Minister advises The President in all the matters of the state.

Prime Minister Informs The President regarding all the decisions taken in the Cabinet Meeting.

The Prime Minister advises and gives all the information to The President regarding the emergency situation or any changes in the foreign policy.

Prime Minister advises the President to take necessary steps in the economic, financial, political and developmental situations of the country.

Power as the Chairman of The Cabinet                                  

The Prime Minister is the Leader of The Cabinet.

The Prime Minister presides over the meetings and decides the agenda of the meetings.

All the decisions of the Cabinet meetings are decided by the approval and consent of The Prime Minister.

The reject or accept of the proposal of the Cabinet discussions is in the hand of The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister guides, directs, controls and coordinates all the activities of the Minister.

The Prime Minister allocates various portfolios and ministries among the Ministers.

In case of any wrongdoing and difference in the opinion, the Prime Minister can ask a Minister to resign or advise The President to dismiss the Power of the Minister.

Is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog National Development Council, National Integration Council, Inter-State Council, National Water Resources Council.

Power to Remove The Minister

The Minister remains in the office according to the pleasure of The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister can demand resignation from any Ministers at any time and the Minister is duty bound to accept it.

In April 2010 when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, Shashi Tharoor, the Minister of State for External Affairs had to resign from his office under the allegation of the corruption in the IPL case. (see here)

Emergency Powers

The President declares the emergency only under the advice of the Prime Minister.

Under Article 352 of The Indian Constitution, The President can declare an emergency on the basis of the written request by the Prime Minister.

In the year 1975-1977, the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed with the written request and consent from the Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed emergency. The reason behind this was Threat to National Security and bad economic conditions.

Thus, the Prime Minister has the power to impose an emergency when the situation is as such.

Coordinating Power

The Prime Minister is the chief coordinator between the President and the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister communicates the President all the decisions of the Cabinet and puts before the Cabinet the decisions of the President, thus acting as the medium of the communication.

It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to coordinate the activities of all the department and to secure the cooperation among the ministers.  

Other Powers

Prime Minister is the Leader of the Nation. The general elections of the country are fought in his name.

Plays a key role in determining Indian Foreign Policy and relations with other countries.

Power to allocate and change the department of the Ministers.

Cabinet Ministers

Power to formulate the policies

The Cabinet Ministers formulates both external and domestic policies and are considered as the policy-making organ of the government.

The Cabinet takes decisions on the various matters such as defence, economic policy, industrial policy, formulation of new states and the President’s rule in the state.

The decisions made by the Cabinet are communicated to the Deputy Minister and Minister of the state which helps the cabinet ministers in managing the business of the government jointly.

The members of the Planning Commission are appointed by the Cabinet.

Power over the Executive

The Cabinet Ministers have the supreme control over the Executives.

The real functionaries in the executive authority are the Cabinet Ministers.

The Cabinet Ministers presides over the Ministries of the Government and carries out the policies and gets approved by the Parliament.

Power as the Coordinator

The Cabinet Ministers act as the coordinator of the various department of the government.

Various Ministries of the government are coordinated by the cabinet ministers.

Financial Powers

It is the responsibility of the Cabinet Ministers to look after the expenditure of the Government.

The Finance Minister of the Cabinet prepares the annual budget which contains the estimated incomes for the ensuing year and also has the power to introduce the money bill with the consent of the President.

It is the responsibility of each cabinet ministers to see that the proposals of his ministry are approved in the house.

The Cabinet and the administrative departments take the initiative of preparing, defending and presenting the bill in the Parliament.

Power of Making Appointments

The President appoints the high power authorities on the recommendation of the Cabinet Ministers.

Such important authorities include Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Attorney General of India, Governors of the States, Supreme Court and High Court Judges and the members of the Union Public Service Commission.

Other Powers

Cabinet Ministers provide information to the public by answering questions put to them by the members of the Lok Sabha.

The special address of the President to the Parliament is prepared by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet Ministers is responsible for planning and implementing of Amendments to the Constitution.

Constituent Assembly Debates on Powers Of Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers

Certain Constituent Assembly Debates on the Powers of Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are-

Pros

This is a logical consequence of the general principle of this Draft Constitution, namely, that the Government is to be upon the collective responsibility of the entire Cabinet to the Legislature. [2]

At the same time, in the Cabinet, the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister or by whatever title he is described would be the Principal Adviser and I would like to fix the responsibility definitely by the Constitution on the Chief Minister, the individual Ministers not being in the same position.[3]

Whatever may be the procedure or convention within the Cabinet itself, however, the decisions of the Cabinet may be taken, so far as the Governor is concerned, I take it that the responsibility would be of the Chief Minister who will advise also about the appointment of his colleagues or their removal if it should be necessary.[4]

It is but in the fitness of things that he should be made directly responsible for any advice tendered to the Constitutional head of the State, namely, the Governor.[5]

  Cons

So far as the consideration of this Article 144 is concerned, I would make the following suggestion, if that will be acceptable to those who are responsible for this draft: “The Governor’s ministers shall be appointed by him and shall hold office during his pleasure.”[6] 

This is pleased by Article 143 and in that Article, a provision has been made that “there shall be a Council of Ministers”.[7]

Naturally, therefore, we must mention as to who is to appoint this Council of Ministers. [8]

I think the better form would have been merely to mention that “the Council of Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor.���[9]

At the same time to make a further provision that “they shall hold office during his pleasure” is undesirable.[10]

My opinion is it is not necessary and is derogatory to the position which we are going to give to the Prime Minister of the State and the Council of Ministers. [11]

Probably this provision is a remnant of the old idea that the Ministers hold office during the king’s pleasure. [12]

Things have changed since then and it is not necessary that we should incorporate the same language, namely, “they shall hold office during his pleasure”.[13]

I admit that if the Governor is the appointing authority, naturally he should have the power in certain circumstances for which provision may be made, in this section that the Council of Ministers may be dissolved or some new ministers shall be appointed, we need not say that “they shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.[14]

“That “Governor” we have decided will be nominated by the President and I do not think it will be proper to say that the minister shall hold office during his pleasure, but so far as Article 144 reads now, I do not think it is proper that we should lay down that in the case of a Governor of the type which we have already decided upon the Council of Ministers shall be appointed by him and they shall hold office during his pleasure. [15]

The wording of the Article is not happy and proper and, therefore, I would appeal that this part of Article 144 is taken out of the Constitution. [16]

Conclusion

India follows the Quasi Federal democracy where the Prime Ministers are elected for the people, of the people and by the people. It is the duty of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister to work for the welfare of the people and work for the Nation. So, the responsibility of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister is that they should carry out their powers and responsibilities very sincerely and honestly.

Endnotes

[1] AIR 2006 SC 2119, Para 6 [2]CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES, Book No. 8, session 96, Page No. 28 speech by K.T.SHAH, available at https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constitution_assembly_debates/volume/8/1949-06-01 (Last visited on July 16, 2018) [3] Ibid [4] Ibid [5] Ibid [6] CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES, Book No. 8, session 96, Page No. 167 speech by H.V PATASKAR, available at        https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constitution_assembly_debates/volume/8/1949-06-01(Last visited on 16th July)

[7] Ibid [8] Ibid [9] Ibid [10] Ibid [11] Ibid [12] Ibid [13] Ibid [14] Ibid [15] Ibid [16] Ibid

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[loyallogic]

Powers of The Prime Minister and The Cabinet

In this article, Sofia Agrawal of KIIT School Of Law, Bhubaneshwar discusses the powers of Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

Introduction

Our Indian system comprises three organs of the Government:

Legislative: These are those bodies who have the power to make laws.

Executive: Those bodies who execute the laws and conduct of public and national affair.

Judiciary: Those bodies who are responsible for dealing with all legal cases.

The Executive system is the most powerful organ of the Government. It is that organ which implements the laws passed by the legislature and who head the Government Departments. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and leads the executive organ of the Government. The Cabinet Ministers are the senior ministers of the Council Of Ministers and they exercise the executive authority in the Republic Of India. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and the Council Ministers and Cabinet Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister

India follows a Parliamentary system of Government in which the Prime Minister is the leader of the executive system of Government Of India and also the head of the Council Of Ministers. Prime Minister is the real custodian of all the executive authority.

Tenure

The full term of the office of Prime Minister is  5 years but they can hold their office only if they enjoy the majority in the Parliament and the term can end sooner if loses the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. Once they lose their majority, the period of holding their office also comes to an end.

The Indian Parliamentary system does not follow the democratic system of US where if the President holds his office twice and has completed his office, he/she cannot again hold their position. In India this system is not followed, here the President, Prime Minister can hold their office many times till they attain their discharge period.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, The 13th Prime Minister of India. His first tenure as a Prime Minister was from 16th May 1996-1st June 1996, he held the office for 13 days but due to loss of support from the other parties to obtain the majority, he resigned. Then again he was chosen as a Prime Minister with a full majority from 19th March 1998- 22nd May 2004.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru held the office in a row as a Prime Minister for 4 times from 15th August 1947-27th May 1964.

Thus in India, the Ministers can hold their office for many times till they enjoy their vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.

Salary

Particulars Amount (in rupees) Basic Pay 50,000 Sumptuary Grant 3000 Daily Allowance 62000(@2000 per day) Constituency Grant 45000 Gross Salary per month 160000

Qualifications

Must be a citizen of India.

Must be the member of either of the Houses of the Parliament i.e The Lok Sabha and The Rajya Sabha.

Should complete 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok Sabha and 30 years of age if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Disqualifications

Following are the disqualifications of Prime Minister:

Office Of Profit

Article 102(1)(a) of The Indian Constitution which bars the Prime Minister to hold the office of profit. Office of profit is defined as the financial amount which is given to the occupant to gain a financial advantage in the form of salaries, perks and other benefits. The office of profit has not been defined in the Constitution of India or under the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.

In Jaya Bachchan v. Union Of India[1]

The Office Of Profit is defined as follows:

Office of Profit is an office which is capable of yielding a profit or pecuniary gain.

Holding an office under the Central or State Government to which the salaries, remuneration, allowances are paid amounts to hold the office of profit.

Unsound Mind

The Prime Minister and other members disqualify if he/she is of unsound mind and stands so declared by the competent Court.

Not a citizen of India

The Prime Minister disqualifies if he/she is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of the foreign state.

Other Disqualification

If he is an undischarged insolvent.

Disqualified under any law made by Parliament.

Disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament.

Cabinet Ministers

Cabinet Ministers are the Senior Ministers of the Union Council of Ministers. These Ministers are led by the Prime Minister. They play the role as a supreme decision- making the body in India. Since these Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are the Member Of Parliament so their tenure of work, qualifications and disqualifications are same. The Cabinet Ministers have the powers to sit in the both Houses Of Parliament, The Rajya Sabha and The Lok Sabha. The current Cabinet is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Tenure

The full term of the office of the Cabinet Ministers is 5 years but these ministers can be changed upon the discretion of The Prime Minister.

Examples Illustrating Prime Minister’s Discretionary Power:

Minister of Human Resource Development

Earlier this Ministry was in the hand of Smriti Irani and now replaced by Prakash Javadekar on the discretion of the Prime Minister.

Minister of Minority Affairs

Earlier this Ministry was in the hand of Najma A. Heptulla and now replaced by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Qualifications

Must be a citizen of India.

Must be the member of either of the Houses of Parliament The Rajya Sabha and The Lok Sabha.

Should complete 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok Sabha and 30 years of age if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Hierarchy of The Council Of Ministers

  Disqualifications

Should not hold the office of profit during the time of the election.

If he is an undischarged insolvent.

Disqualified under any law made by Parliament.

Disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament.

Not a Citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of Foreign State.

Removal Of The Cabinet Ministers

Upon self-resignation.

Upon direction from the Judicial authorities for committing any violation of the law.

Upon dismissal by the President for any minister’s unconstitutional acts.

Upon ceasing eligibility to be a member of Parliament.

Is Prime Minister Part Of A Cabinet?

Prime Minister is the Chairman and part of the Cabinet.

Prime Minister has the following functions in the Cabinet:

The resignation of the Prime Minister implies the resignation of the Cabinet.

Prime Minister allocates posts to the Cabinet Ministers within the government.

Prime Minister has the power to select and dismiss the Cabinet Ministers.

He allocates portfolios or department to the Cabinet Ministers.

As quoted by, Dr B.R.Ambedkar,”The Prime Minister is the keystone of the arch of the of cabinet and until we endow that office with the statutory authority to nominate and dismiss Ministers there can be no collective responsibility“.

Powers Of The Prime Minister And The Cabinet

Prime Minister

Power to appoint the Authorities

Prime Minister has the right to give advice to the President in relation to the appointment of the Government Authorities.

Such authorities include The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Attorney General Of India, Solicitor General Of India, Election Commissioners, Chairman and Members Of The Finance Commission.

Prime Minister also has the right to give advice to the President on the appointment of The Council Of Ministers and The Cabinet Ministers.

Power as the Leader of the House Of Parliament

Prime Minister is the Leader of the Lower House Of Parliament i.e The Lok Sabha.

He advises President with regard to the summoning of the sessions of The Parliament.

The Prime Minister can recommend the President for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister in consultation with the Speaker of the lower house decides the Agenda of the House.

Aid and Advice the President

Prime Minister is the Chief Advisor of The President.

The Prime Minister advises The President in all the matters of the state.

Prime Minister Informs The President regarding all the decisions taken in the Cabinet Meeting.

The Prime Minister advises and gives all the information to The President regarding the emergency situation or any changes in the foreign policy.

Prime Minister advises the President to take necessary steps in the economic, financial, political and developmental situations of the country.

Power as the Chairman of The Cabinet                                  

The Prime Minister is the Leader of The Cabinet.

The Prime Minister presides over the meetings and decides the agenda of the meetings.

All the decisions of the Cabinet meetings are decided by the approval and consent of The Prime Minister.

The reject or accept of the proposal of the Cabinet discussions is in the hand of The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister guides, directs, controls and coordinates all the activities of the Minister.

The Prime Minister allocates various portfolios and ministries among the Ministers.

In case of any wrongdoing and difference in the opinion, the Prime Minister can ask a Minister to resign or advise The President to dismiss the Power of the Minister.

Is the Chairman of the NITI Aayog National Development Council, National Integration Council, Inter-State Council, National Water Resources Council.

Power to Remove The Minister

The Minister remains in the office according to the pleasure of The Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister can demand resignation from any Ministers at any time and the Minister is duty bound to accept it.

In April 2010 when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, Shashi Tharoor, the Minister of State for External Affairs had to resign from his office under the allegation of the corruption in the IPL case. (see here)

Emergency Powers

The President declares the emergency only under the advice of the Prime Minister.

Under Article 352 of The Indian Constitution, The President can declare an emergency on the basis of the written request by the Prime Minister.

In the year 1975-1977, the then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed with the written request and consent from the Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed emergency. The reason behind this was Threat to National Security and bad economic conditions.

Thus, the Prime Minister has the power to impose an emergency when the situation is as such.

Coordinating Power

The Prime Minister is the chief coordinator between the President and the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister communicates the President all the decisions of the Cabinet and puts before the Cabinet the decisions of the President, thus acting as the medium of the communication.

It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister to coordinate the activities of all the department and to secure the cooperation among the ministers.  

Other Powers

Prime Minister is the Leader of the Nation. The general elections of the country are fought in his name.

Plays a key role in determining Indian Foreign Policy and relations with other countries.

Power to allocate and change the department of the Ministers.

Cabinet Ministers

Power to formulate the policies

The Cabinet Ministers formulates both external and domestic policies and are considered as the policy-making organ of the government.

The Cabinet takes decisions on the various matters such as defence, economic policy, industrial policy, formulation of new states and the President’s rule in the state.

The decisions made by the Cabinet are communicated to the Deputy Minister and Minister of the state which helps the cabinet ministers in managing the business of the government jointly.

The members of the Planning Commission are appointed by the Cabinet.

Power over the Executive

The Cabinet Ministers have the supreme control over the Executives.

The real functionaries in the executive authority are the Cabinet Ministers.

The Cabinet Ministers presides over the Ministries of the Government and carries out the policies and gets approved by the Parliament.

Power as the Coordinator

The Cabinet Ministers act as the coordinator of the various department of the government.

Various Ministries of the government are coordinated by the cabinet ministers.

Financial Powers

It is the responsibility of the Cabinet Ministers to look after the expenditure of the Government.

The Finance Minister of the Cabinet prepares the annual budget which contains the estimated incomes for the ensuing year and also has the power to introduce the money bill with the consent of the President.

It is the responsibility of each cabinet ministers to see that the proposals of his ministry are approved in the house.

The Cabinet and the administrative departments take the initiative of preparing, defending and presenting the bill in the Parliament.

Power of Making Appointments

The President appoints the high power authorities on the recommendation of the Cabinet Ministers.

Such important authorities include Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Attorney General of India, Governors of the States, Supreme Court and High Court Judges and the members of the Union Public Service Commission.

Other Powers

Cabinet Ministers provide information to the public by answering questions put to them by the members of the Lok Sabha.

The special address of the President to the Parliament is prepared by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet Ministers is responsible for planning and implementing of Amendments to the Constitution.

Constituent Assembly Debates on Powers Of Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers

Certain Constituent Assembly Debates on the Powers of Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are-

Pros

This is a logical consequence of the general principle of this Draft Constitution, namely, that the Government is to be upon the collective responsibility of the entire Cabinet to the Legislature. [2]

At the same time, in the Cabinet, the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister or by whatever title he is described would be the Principal Adviser and I would like to fix the responsibility definitely by the Constitution on the Chief Minister, the individual Ministers not being in the same position.[3]

Whatever may be the procedure or convention within the Cabinet itself, however, the decisions of the Cabinet may be taken, so far as the Governor is concerned, I take it that the responsibility would be of the Chief Minister who will advise also about the appointment of his colleagues or their removal if it should be necessary.[4]

It is but in the fitness of things that he should be made directly responsible for any advice tendered to the Constitutional head of the State, namely, the Governor.[5]

  Cons

So far as the consideration of this Article 144 is concerned, I would make the following suggestion, if that will be acceptable to those who are responsible for this draft: “The Governor’s ministers shall be appointed by him and shall hold office during his pleasure.”[6] 

This is pleased by Article 143 and in that Article, a provision has been made that “there shall be a Council of Ministers”.[7]

Naturally, therefore, we must mention as to who is to appoint this Council of Ministers. [8]

I think the better form would have been merely to mention that “the Council of Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor.”[9]

At the same time to make a further provision that “they shall hold office during his pleasure” is undesirable.[10]

My opinion is it is not necessary and is derogatory to the position which we are going to give to the Prime Minister of the State and the Council of Ministers. [11]

Probably this provision is a remnant of the old idea that the Ministers hold office during the king’s pleasure. [12]

Things have changed since then and it is not necessary that we should incorporate the same language, namely, “they shall hold office during his pleasure”.[13]

I admit that if the Governor is the appointing authority, naturally he should have the power in certain circumstances for which provision may be made, in this section that the Council of Ministers may be dissolved or some new ministers shall be appointed, we need not say that “they shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.[14]

“That “Governor” we have decided will be nominated by the President and I do not think it will be proper to say that the minister shall hold office during his pleasure, but so far as Article 144 reads now, I do not think it is proper that we should lay down that in the case of a Governor of the type which we have already decided upon the Council of Ministers shall be appointed by him and they shall hold office during his pleasure. [15]

The wording of the Article is not happy and proper and, therefore, I would appeal that this part of Article 144 is taken out of the Constitution. [16]

Conclusion

India follows the Quasi Federal democracy where the Prime Ministers are elected for the people, of the people and by the people. It is the duty of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister to work for the welfare of the people and work for the Nation. So, the responsibility of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Minister is that they should carry out their powers and responsibilities very sincerely and honestly.

Endnotes

[1] AIR 2006 SC 2119, Para 6 [2]CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES, Book No. 8, session 96, Page No. 28 speech by K.T.SHAH, available at https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constitution_assembly_debates/volume/8/1949-06-01 (Last visited on July 16, 2018) [3] Ibid [4] Ibid [5] Ibid [6] CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY DEBATES, Book No. 8, session 96, Page No. 167 speech by H.V PATASKAR, available at        https://cadindia.clpr.org.in/constitution_assembly_debates/volume/8/1949-06-01(Last visited on 16th July)

[7] Ibid [8] Ibid [9] Ibid [10] Ibid [11] Ibid [12] Ibid [13] Ibid [14] Ibid [15] Ibid [16] Ibid

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[newstfionline]

New Delhi’s pollution problem is so bad that some diplomats are packing their bags

By Vidhi Doshi, Washington Post, November 16, 2017

NEW DELHI--It’s a life that many envy: plush salaries, international schools for the children and wine-soaked parties on weekends. But for New Delhi’s diplomatic corps, the sweet life is missing one key ingredient: clean, breathable air.

Pollution levels in India this month are so bad that diplomats are fretting about whether to stay or leave. Some, like Costa Rica’s ambassador, have already left the city after developing respiratory problems. Others are calling in sick to work or worrying about their children’s health. Some missions, according to the Indian Express, have even moved nonessential staff to nearby countries such as Singapore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has traveled extensively to boost India’s international image and attract foreign investment, including a recent trip to Manila, where he met leaders at the summit for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But his efforts may be getting scuppered on home ground, as diplomats gasping for air report home about the debilitating pollution crisis.

“I’m a living proof that our planet is dying today, coughing as i write with my indian bronchitis,” wrote Mariela Cruz Alvarez, Costa Rican ambassador to India, in a blog post.

Pollution levels in Delhi peaked in November. Levels of carcinogenic PM 2.5 particles in the air were 70 times over the safe limit as prescribed by the World Health Organization, and the air quality index reached 999 micrograms per cubic meter, the highest instruments can measure. A number of factors contributed to the spike, including crop burning in surrounding states, construction and vehicles in the city, and a lack of wind to blow the dust away.

A recent study in the British medical journal Lancet linked 2.5 million deaths in India in 2015 to pollution.

Responsibility for curbing the pollution quickly descended into a finger-pointing match, with state and central government ministers blaming each other for the crisis. Modi’s environment minister, Harsh Vardhan, in a television interview underplayed the impact of pollution, saying that it could not be directly linked to deaths. “No death certificate has the cause of death as pollution,” he said.

In the end, little has been done and the main remedy still appears to be waiting for the wind to blow it away--a response that no doubt has also made it into the diplomatic dispatches home.

By Thursday, the government had already rolled back several measures introduced over the weekend to curb the smog, as the haze lifted and air quality readings slightly improved. Trucks were allowed to reenter the city and construction was allowed to resume.

Many among the diplomatic community remained concerned about their health as readings continued to show unhealthy levels of pollutants in the air.

Although shielded from the smog that most Delhi residents live in by air purifiers and gas masks, diplomats said pollution hampered work. “You cannot sit inside a room and conduct diplomacy… you have to go out and meet people,” an unnamed French official told the Express.

Thai ambassador Chutintorn Gongsakdi formally wrote to Bangkok requesting that Delhi be made a “hardship” posting, usually reserved for conflict zones, which would allow Thai diplomats posted here more perks, including air purifiers and medical checkups as well as trips back home and extra days off as compensation for having to live in smog.

One unnamed diplomat told the Express that the length of postings to Delhi had been shortened by a year. Others said they were considering cutting short their stints. “I fought hard to come to India,” an unnamed European diplomat said. “After a year and a half, I don’t think I’m ready for any more. I will try to go to another place next summer, after I finish two years here.”

In diplomatic schools, air purifiers are whirring at full speed. The Lycée Français reportedly has 65 air purifiers. The American school may introduce covered outdoor play areas for physical activity, the Express reported.

[muzaffar1969]

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The Brahm Prakash Hall at SHAR (Sriharikota High Altitude Range) brims with engineers shuffling their data sheets and reports. They speak excitedly to each other about their subsystems. To a stranger, however technically advanced, their exchanges sound like Greek and Latin, riddled with acronyms and jargon. Only the assembly of 400-odd engineers can understand each other perfectly.

The Mission Readiness Review (MRR) is in session. We are just a few days away from a major launch campaign. Each of the engineers responsible for a particular subsystem is getting ready to go on stage and present details of the tests carried out on it. Problems, solutions, tests, last-minute tweaks—everything is covered.

The group is an amazing mix of veterans and greenhorns and everyone in between. Anyone who is part of the project and has something to say is there. I sit next to the chairman and senior centre directors. Retired pioneers like me who are experienced experts in certain fields form an integral part of the MRR. To the newest recruit attending an MRR for the first time it is a thrilling and challenging experience.

As one of the senior engineers finishes his presentation, a voice from the last row raises an issue. It is a junior engineer. There is absolute silence as everyone in the room gives him a patient hearing. The engineer who is making the presentation takes notes and gives a detailed response. It really does not matter that the questioner is quite junior in the hierarchy, for in that hall there is absolute technical democracy and no voice is stifled. Everyone knows that many an important issue has come to light at an MRR and at times major failures have been averted because someone raised a pertinent question.

The MRR epitomizes the functioning of ISRO, where the work ethics had evolved over the years. Democracy has always been the key word. Every issue raised is analysed and addressed with utmost seriousness. This in turn has yielded results which are unique and unusual in a government-run scientific department.

Homi Bhabha, the innovator who changed the bureaucratic style of running scientific organizations, made sure that scientists determined their own policies. He also insisted that they were the administrative heads of their organizations and were answerable only to the prime minister. ISRO under Sarabhai followed the same path, with more procedural innovations suited to the unforgiving nature of space technology.

Openness has been the hallmark of ISRO in all its activities. The MRR is just one example. Whether it is in the planning process or long-term goals definition, budget formulation or progress reviews, design reviews, quality and reliability assessment, recruitment or promotion of personnel, transparency has always played a vital role.

Because of its strategic nature, space technology is closely guarded by its creators. ISRO therefore had to develop its own technology from scratch with a great deal of trial and error. But our results have always been open for free scrutiny by the public. Failures and successes in our field are splashed across the sky for all to see. Our major missions are conducted in the full glare of live media spotlight and the world can learn in real time of our success or failure.

Today, we are no longer a mere handful of engineers experimenting with sounding rockets. The annual budget of the organization was a few lakhs of rupees in 1963. This has grown to several thousand crores. ISRO has more than 20,000 employees. In fact, we are now seriously trying not to add to the numbers by transferring repetitive work to the industry.

But most importantly, ISRO has built a strong and confident human resource pool ready to take on many more challenges. Advanced countries have recognized that ISRO is on par with many developed countries in the field of space technology. And we achieved this by ourselves, on a shoestring budget. The average Indian is proud of ISRO’s achievements and that means a lot to us.

Our centres are seamlessly filled with fresh technical personnel every decade without any discontinuity of the programmes. Most of the technical manpower is drawn from graduates from all over the country who come from lesser-known institutions. and many of these engineers and scientists have turned out to be outstanding leaders in their own fields.

By the late 1990s, when the IT boom in the country hit our programmes, our young recruits were lured away with fat salaries. But the trend reversed when the government revised its salaries upwards and offered lifelong perks which could never be matched by the IT firms. More importantly, ISRO still had exciting programmes compared to the mindnumbing jobs the software companies had to offer. Slowly the young people began to trickle back.

Around that time I was asked by the then chairman, Kasturirangan, to tour the ISRO centres and talk to the scientists and engineers, particularly the young ones, to find out what they felt about their work environment. I visited all the centres and spoke to them about their joys and frustrations, and asked them what needed to be done to keep them at ISRO.

Two surprising findings came through. one, that they all were quite happy with their assignments and the visibility of the overall goals of the organization vis-à-vis their contributions. Two, the salary differences between ISRO and the private organizations did not bother them as much as we had feared. Their complaints were more mundane ones about the non-availability of high-speed internet connections and access to PCs. We were able to tackle these issues quite easily over the next couple of months.

ISRO today is often held up as an example of a particularly well-run and result-oriented government organization.

[…]

The ISRO family has considerable job satisfaction because we can see for ourselves the application of our contribution to national development. We have even been able to monetize our products even though we are not a commercial organization. For example, today, products and services including satellite launch services are made available to national and international users on a commercial basis through ISRO’s commercial arm, the Antrix Corporation.

By 2015, within a short span of forty-odd years, ISRO had built and launched seventy-two satellites of increasing complexities. Our own remote sensing satellites, communication satellites and science satellites circled the earth in polar and geosynchronous orbits. The Chandrayaan moon mission and the Mars Orbiter Mission caught the imagination of the nation. The capability of ISRO in the satellite-building area rivalled that of the most advanced countries of the world and the data from the satellites were in demand internationally

Side by side, by 2015 more than twenty-five successful launches of PSLV had taken place successively, setting a kind of international record. With regular improvements in performance and optimization, the payload capacity increased from 1000 kg to about 1850 kg, depending on the choice of configuration.

The PSLV vehicle, now internationally recognized as a highly reliable and cost-effective rocket, is much soughtafter by various countries for launching their remote sensing satellites into sun synchronous polar orbits. Variants of PSLV launched the lunar mission, the Mars Orbiter Mission and even a small GSAT synchronous satellite. Our own fleet of remote-sensing satellites is also performing excellently. And so are the large INSAT communication spacecraft orbited aboard Ariane rockets.

By this time so many chairmen have come and gone—Sarabhai, MGK Menon, Dhawan, UR Rao, Kasturirangan, Madhavan Nair and Radhakrishnan—and not once was there a glitch in the programme because the man at the helm had changed. In 2015 at a GSLV launch when an important Indian-made cryostage proved its worth, I realized something exciting. Almost every single person at the helm, right from the ISRO chairman down to the mission director, was new! They had all assumed charge just a few months before.

Excerpted with permission from HarperCollins Publishers India from the book, ISRO: A Personal Story, authored by R Aravamudan, a senior space scientist, and Gita Aravamudan, a journalist. We welcome your comments at ideas.india@qz.com.

May 22, 2017 at 09:29AM http://ift.tt/2qKt5V2 from R. Aravamudan and Geeta Aravamudan http://ift.tt/2qKt5V2