Prime Minister

Article 75 of the Indian Constitution mentions that a Prime Minister is one who is appointed
by the President. There is no specific procedure for his election or appointment. Article
74(1) states that there shall be a Council of Ministers with a Prime Minister at the head to
aid and advise the President

What is article 75?

Ans:-
1. The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall
be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
2. They along with the Prime Minister of India form 15% of the total strength of the
lower house i.e. Lok Sabha.
3. The Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.
4. The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People.
5. Before a Minister enters upon his office, the President shall administer to him the
oaths of office and of secrecy according to the forms set out for the purpose in the
Third Schedule
6. A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of either
House of Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.
7. The salaries and allowances of Ministers shall be such as Parliament may from time
to time by law determine and, until Parliament so determines, shall be as specified in
the Second Schedule.

To become an Indian prime minister one has to be

• A citizen of India.
• A member of either Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha
• He should have completed his 30 years if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha or can
be 25 years of age if he is a member of the Lok Sabha

OATH:-

The Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers take the oaths of office and secrecy. The
oath is administered to them by the President of India.

In his oath of office, the Prime Minister swears;

1. To bear faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India
2. To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India,
3. To faithfully and conscientiously discharge the duties of his office, and
4. To do so right to all manner of people in accordance with the constitution and the law,
without fear or favour, affection or ill will.
 • The basic summary of the Prime Minister's oath is that he swears in the name of
God/Constitution that he will deliver his duties without any fear and favour and
protect the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
• In his oath the Prime Minister also swear that he will not directly or indirectly
communicate or reveal any information to any person on any matter that is bought
under his consideration or becomes known to him as a Union Minister except as may
be required for the due discharge of his duties as such minister.
• Hence the Prime Minister is authorised to share any information of the national
interest with his cabinet colleagues, President and National Security Advisor etc.
only.

Relation between PM AND COM

What is Council of Minister?
Ans:- These Council of Minister like the PM also takes oath before the President. Three
types of COM:-

1. CABINET MINISTER:- The Cabinet Ministers heads the important portfolios of the
Central Government such as the Home Ministry, Finance Ministry, Defence Ministry,
External Affairs Ministry etc. Generally the Cabinet Ministers consist of 18 to
25 ministers.
2. MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE):- The Minister of State performs the
same functions and exercises the same powers as Cabinet Ministers do with their
dept. and ministries. They are not members of the cabinet. Hence, not entitled to
attend the cabinet meetings until they are not invited. MINISTER OF STATE:-
Ministers of State are given the charge of the departments of the ministries headed
by the Cabinet Ministers or allotted specific items of work related to the ministries
headed by the Cabinet Ministers. By and large these ministers work under the
supervision and guidance of the Cabinet Ministers.
3. DEPUTY MINISTERS:- Deputy Ministers are lowest in the rank. They are not given
independent charge of the ministries/departments. They are generally attached to
the Cabinet Ministers or Ministers of State to help them in their administrative,
political and parliamentary duties.

What is Cabinet?
Ans:- Cabinet is basically constitution of Cabinet Minister.
• The Cabinet is the core of the Council of Ministers. It consists of 15-18 members,
who are the senior most and in fact most effective ministers of the council.
• The cabinet ministers hold the key portfolios such as Home, Defence, External
Affairs, Atomic Energy, Petroleum inter alia.
• It is not mentioned in original text of the constitution, but was inserted by 44 th CAA,
in Article 352 of the constitution. Art. 352 only defines the cabinet saying that it is
 ‘the council consisting of the Prime Minister and other ministers of cabinet rank
appointed under Art. 75. However article 352 does not define the power of Cabinet.

Function of Cabinet:-
• Cabinet is the highest decision-making authority in Indian politico- administrative
system.
• Cabinet envisages as chief policy formulating body of the Central government.
• It is an advisory body to the president and its advice is binding on him (president can
return advice for reconsideration only at once.
• It deals with all major legislative and financial matters.
• Cabinet exercises control over higher appointments like constitutional authorities
and senior secretariat administrators.
• Cabinet deals with all foreign policies and foreign affairs.

What is Cabinet Committee?

Ans:-
Cabinet committee are the group of small cabinet minister too look into specific sector. The
constitution is silent about cabinet committee, but Rules of Business 1961 provides for this.
They are of two types:- Standing and Adhoc. Standing cabinet committees are permanent
whereas ad-hoc cabinet committees are temporary and deals with special issues.

Why Cabinet Committee?

Ans:-
The executive works under the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961.
These Rules emerge out of Article 77(3) of the Constitution, which states: “The President
shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of
India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.” The Rules mandate the
minister-in-charge of a department (ministry) to dispose of “all business allotted to a
department under” him or her.
However, “when the subject of a case concerns more than one department”, no decision
can be taken “until all such departments have concurred, or, failing such concurrence, a
decision thereon has been taken by or under the authority of the Cabinet”

The Prime Minister constitutes Standing Committees of the Cabinet and sets out the specific
functions assigned to them. He can add or reduce the number of committees.

The composition and functions of various cabinet committees are mentioned below:

1. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet:- The committee is headed by the Prime

Minister. The Minister of Home Affairs and Minister in-charge of the concerned
Ministry are the members of this committee. The important functions of the
committee are:
a. To take decision regarding all higher level appointments in the Cabinet
Secretariat, public enterprises, banks and financial institutions.
2. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation:- The committee is composed of cabinet
ministers from various ministries with one of them as the head. The important
functions of the committee are:
a. To determine the guidelines or rules and terms and conditions to govern out-of-
turn allotment of government accommodation and allotment of accommodation
to the members of the parliament.
b. To decide upon the allotment of government accommodation to various
categories of non-eligible persons and organizations and the rate of rent to be
charged from them

3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs:- The Prime Minister is the head of this
committee. Cabinet ministers of various ministries are its members. Its important
functions are:
a. To direct and coordinate the governmental activities in the economic sphere.
b. To review economic trends and evolve consistent and integrated policy
framework in the country.
c. To review progress of activities related to rural development including those
concerning small and marginal farmers
d. To deal with industrial licensing cases involving proposals from the Ministries for
the establishment of Joint Sector Undertakings
e. To consider issues relating to disinvestment

4. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs:- The committee is headed by the Prime

Minister. Cabinet ministers of various ministries are its members. Its important
functions are:
a. To deal with problems relating to centre state relation
b. To consider economic and political issues which have to be judged with a wider
perspective

5. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs:- This committee is composed of

cabinet ministers from various ministers. The Union Home Minister is the head of
the committee. The functions of the committee are:
a. To watch the progress of Government business in parliament and to give
directions necessary to secure smooth and efficient conduct of such business
b. To scrutinize and to consider the attitude of the government on non-official bills
and resolutions to be presented to Parliament

6. Cabinet Committee on Security:- The Prime Minister is the head of this committee.
Cabinet ministers of Finance, Defence, Home Affairs and External Affairs are its
members. The important functions of the committee are:
a. To deal with all Defence related issues
b. To deal with issues relating to law and order, and internal security
c. To deal with policy matters concerning foreign affairs on security related issues
 7. Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure:- The committee is headed by the Prime
Minister with various cabinet ministers as its members. The functions of the
committee are as follows:
a. To consider and take decisions in respect of all infrastructure related proposals
costing more than rupees three hundred crores
b. To consider and decide measures to facilitate private sector investment in
specific projects

What is the role of Cabinet secretariat?

ANS:-
The Cabinet Secretariat functions directly under the Prime Minister. The administrative
head of the Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the
Civil Services Board. The business allocated to Cabinet Secretariat under Government of
India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 includes (i) Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet
and Cabinet Committees; and (ii) Rules of Business.

• The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of

India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and Government of India (Allocation of
Business) Rules, 1961 facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/
Departments.
• The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-
Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments
and evolving consensus

Support to cabinet committee:-

The secretarial assistance, provided by Cabinet Secretariat to the Cabinet and Cabinet
committees, includes:-
1. Convening of the meetings of the Cabinet & its Committees on the orders of the
Prime Minister.
2. Preparation and circulation of the agenda.
3. Circulation of papers related to the cases on the agenda.
4. Preparation of record of discussions.
5. Circulation of the record of discussions after obtaining the approval of the Prime
Minister.
6. Monitoring implementation of decisions taken by the Cabinet and its Committees.
7. The Cabinet Secretariat is the custodian of the papers of the Cabinet meetings.

Relation between PM AND COM

PM allocates Ministry to the Council of Minister and also can ask them to resign anytime.
President will dismiss Council of Minister when PM asks for so. The relation can be
understood from the following Two Article:-

Article 75 and Principle of collective Responsibility :- It states that the Council of

Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. This implies that all the ministers own
joint responsibility to the Lok Sabha for all their acts of omission and commission.
Philosophy is working as a team and swimming or sinking together. When the Lok Sabha
passes a no-confidence motion against the Council of Ministers, all the ministers have to
resign including those ministers who are from the Rajya Sabha.
The principle of collective responsibility also connotes that the Cabinet decisions bind all
cabinet ministers (and other ministers) even if they differ in the cabinet meeting.
It is the duty of every minister to stand by cabinet decisions and support them both within
and outside the Parliament.
If any minister disagrees with a cabinet decision and is not prepared to defend it, he must
resign.
Article 75 also connotes the principle of individual responsibility.
It states that the ministers hold office during the pleasure of the president, which implies
that the President can remove a minister even at a time when the Council of Ministers
enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha. However, the President removes a minister only on
the advice of the Prime Minister. The PM can ask him to resign or advise the President to
dismiss him on account of difference of opinion or dissatisfaction with the performance of a
minister.

Collective responsibility can be achieved only through the instrumentality of the Prime
Minister. Therefore, unless and until we create that office and endow that office with
statutory authority to nominate and dismiss ministers, there can be no collective
responsibility.” – Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Relation between President and PM

The relation can be understood from the provisions mentioned in Article 78 of the
Constitution:-
• To communicate to the President all decisions of the COM relating to the
administration of the affairs of the union and proposals for legislation;
• To furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union
and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and
• If the President so requires, to submit for the consideration of the CoM, any matter
on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered
by the CoM.

Why this relation is established?

Ans:- It is because of the power with the President under article 77 of the constitution.

1. All executive action of the Government of India shall be expressed to be taken in the
name of the President.
2. Orders made and executed in the name of the President shall be authenticated in
such manner as may be specified in rules made by the President.
 3. The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business
of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said
business.
In accordance with this, The executive works under the Government of India Transaction of
Business Rules, 1961.