THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

The provisions in Article 74 under Part V provide for the institution of the Council of Ministers (CoM) headed by the Prime Minister.

APPOINTMENT:

The President appoints the CoM on the recommendations of the Prime Minister. The members of either house of the Parliament can be appointed as ministers. Even a person who is not a member of either house can be appointed as a minister provided that he becomes a member of either house within six months either by election or nomination. The President administers the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers.

PRIMARY DUTY OF COM:

As the President is the executive head of the Union, all the executive actions of the Union are taken under his name. The CoM is instituted to aid and advice the President in discharging his executive functions. The President is bound to act in accordance with the advice provided by the CoM. However, he can ask the council to reconsider it’s advice once and if the same advice is provided after reconsideration, he is bound to act accordingly.

COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

The Council of Ministers consists of three categories of ministers such as

1. The Cabinet Ministers
2. The Ministers of State
3. Independent Charge of Ministries / Departments
4. Attached to Ministries / Departments
5. Deputy Ministers

CABINET MINISTERS:

The ministers holding the important portfolios such as the defence, external affairs, home, etc are Called As Cabinet Ministers. The cabinet is the highest decision-making body consisting of 15 to 20 ministers, including the Prime Minister. The decisions of the cabinet are binding on all other ministers in the council. The constitution does not contain exclusive provisions for enumerating the powers and functions of the cabinet. However, the term cabinet is just defined in Article 352.

MINISTERS OF STATE:

The ministers of state can either be given independent charge of less important ministries or attached to the ministries under cabinet ministers. When they are attached to a ministry, they either head a department under the concerned ministry or look after a specific set of works of the ministry.

DEPUTY MINISTERS:

These ministers are not provided with an independent charge of ministries or departments. They are attached to the cabinet ministers and the ministers of state to aid in the discharge of their functions.

COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY:

Though the CoM is a multi-member body, all the ministers function as a single unit under the directions of the Prime Minister. Article 75 under Part V says that the CoM is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. That is all the ministers, including the ones from the Rajya Sabha  are collectively responsible for the actions of the government to the Lok Sabha.

The principle of Collective Responsibility basically means three things:

1. COLLECTIVE DECISION MAKING: The decisions taken by the Cabinet must be accepted and defended by all the ministers in the council. They must defend the government policies both inside and outside the Parliament.
2. Removal or Resignation from the Council / Individual Responsibility: If a minister does not agree with the decisions of the cabinet, the Prime Minister may ask him to resign from the council or may advice the President to dismiss him from the office.
3. COLLAPSE OF THE GOVERNMENT: When a motion of no-confidence is passed against the government or even against a single minister, the entire council, including the ones from the Rajya Sabha must resign from office. This leads to the collapse of the government.