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Government of India

India is a "Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic" with a parliamentary system of government. India is a country that firmly believes that the government is ‘by the people, for the people, of the people’. On 26th January, 1950, India was declared as a Republic and on this day the Constitution of India came into force. Today India is a federation of 28 states and 8 union territories with Delhi as the capital. Formally this federation is known as a Union.

The President is the head of the country in whom all executive powers are vested, but the real administrator of the country is the Prime Minister. After every 5 years, the government of India is elected in a democratic manner by the citizens of the country.

Constitution of India

The Constitution of India was passed in the Constituent Assembly of India on November 26, 1949, and came into effect on January 26, 1950.

The members of the first provincial assembly were elected by the people of India. Some important figures in the constituent assembly were Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Dr. Sachidanand Sinha was the first president of the Constituent Assembly. Later, Dr.Rajendra Prasad became the president of the Constituent Assembly while B.R. Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. The Constituent Assembly met for 166 days, spread over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.

The Constitution of India is one of the longest written constitutions in the world, containing 395 articles and 12 schedules, as well as numerous amendments, for a total of 117,369 words in the English language version.

The Constitution of India helps in running the Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with certain unitary features. The President of India is the constitutional head of the Union. According to the Article 79 of the Constitution of India, the council of the Parliament of the Union consists of the President and two Houses known as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).

Constitution of India
(Source: https://parliamentmuseum.org/)

Fundamental Duties of Indian Citizen

A set of Ten Fundamental Duties of citizens were described in 42nd Amendment of Constitution of India, passed in 1976. Fundamental duties should be followed by every citizen to help in the development of his/her country.

These Duties are:
  1. To abide by the Constitution and respect the ideals and Institutions, National Flag and National Anthem.

  2. To realize and follow the essential ideals of Non-violence, Democracy and Secularism.

  3. It is the duty of every citizen to preserve the rich heritage of our Culture.

  4. To protect the Sovereignty, Unity and Integrity of our Nation.

  5. To safeguard public property and to give up violence.

  6. To defend our Country even at the cost of our life.

  7. To protect Natural Resources including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life.

  8. To avoid Dowry, Gambling and other Social evils.

  9. To strive towards excellence in their respective spheres of activity so that the nation furthers towards higher accomplishments.

Fundamental Rights of Indian Citizen

Constitution of India
(Source: https://dbuster.com/)

The Fundamental Rights are essential for the development of the personality of an individual and to preserve dignity of a human. Any person can move to court if anyone challenges his fundamental right.

These Fundamental Rights not only protects individuals from any arbitrary state actions but also prevents violation of human rights. Some Fundamental Rights apply for both the Indian citizen as well as persons of other nationality whereas others are available only to Indian citizens.

The Right to Equality (Articles 14 to 18) says that all men are born equal and therefore they should be treated equally. All Citizens are equal before law. No citizen can be denied to access shops, public hotels, and places of entertainment etc. on the basis of caste, religion, sex or place of birth. Equality of opportunity is given in employment. Government has implied many laws to safeguard the interests of weaker sections of the society. For example, Reservation is given to the socially and economically backward Classes, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in employment, School and College admissions, etc. Untouchability is abolished in Article 17 of the constitution. Untouchability is a punishable offense.

Right to Freedom is the essence of Democracy. According to Right to Freedom every citizen can freely express his thoughts and no one can stop him for doing so. They can move freely to any part of India and relocate to any part of India. They have the freedom to practice any trade or occupation. No body can be punished until he violates law. The constitution framed certain rules for the protection of an individual’s life and personal liberty. The right of freedom of an individual should not affect the freedom of the others.

Right against Exploitation says no individual can be forced or compelled to do work without wages. The rights of women and children are also protected. Articles 23 and 24 of Indian constitution prohibit trafficking in human beings and forced labor that abolished the employment of children below the age of 14 years in factories and mines. Begar, or forced labor is a crime and is a punishable offense. Trafficking in humans for slavery or prostitution is also prohibited by law.

Right to Freedom of Religion guarantees the religious freedom to all citizens of India.Articles 25, 26, 27 and 28, provide religious freedom to all citizens of India.  Being a secular country all the religions are treated alike. All the religions are respected equally. Everyone has an equal right to practice and spread his own religion. All religious bodies are free to manage their affairs. The Government does not interfere in the religious practice of the people until proper public order is maintained.

Cultural and Educational Rights say India is a land of many languages, religions and cultures. There are many minority groups. Articles 29 and 30 gives them right to conserve their culture. They have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. The cultural and educational rights of all groups of people irrespective of their origin are safeguarded by the constitution.

Anybody can set up their own educational institutions to protect and develop their culture. State cannot discriminate against any institution on the basis of its administering community. A judgment by Supreme Court held in 1980, said “the State can certainly take regulatory measures to promote the efficiency and excellence of educational standards.

It can also issue guidelines for ensuring the security of the services of the teachers or other employees of the institution.” According to another judgment on 31 October 2002, the Supreme Court ruled the procedure for admission to any professional course should remain the same for all.

Right to Constitutional Remedies say The Right to Constitutional Remedies empowers every citizen to move Supreme Court directly in case if someone denies or challenges his Fundamental Rights. For instance, in case of imprisonment, a citizen has the right to question his imprisonment to see if it is according to the provisions of the law of the country. A court can issue various writs like habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto or certiorari to safeguard the citizens' fundamental rights.

Directive Principles of State Policy

As per Part IV of Indian constitution the Directive Principles of State Policy are the guidelines to the central and state governments for instituting laws of society. Constitution directs the government to keep them in mind while framing laws. The Directive Principles are measure to gauge the performance of the government.

The concept of having directive principles is adopted from Irish Constitution. They follow Gandhian principles to provide social justice, economic welfare, foreign policy, and legal and administrative matters.

The state continuously fights and always tries to fill the gaps present in the society like inequality in pay structure of men and women for same amount of work, imbalances in working conditions, fear of being exploited and reduction of wealth, concentration of means of production in the hands of a few and provides adequate means of livelihood to all citizens.

The State commits to work for the welfare of the people by affirming social, economic and political justice and by also combating against odds of the society under these Directive Principles.

The Directive Principles have been amended regularly to meet changing needs and objectives.

According to Article 45 of 86th Amendment Act, 2002 added the Provision for free and compulsory education for children.

Article 48-A, which ensures Protection of the environment and wildlife, was added by the 42nd Amendment Act, 1976.

Article 51 ensures the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security to maintain a healthy relation between nations, respect for international law and settlement of obligations and negotiation on international disputes.

The principles guide the state to protect monuments, places and objects of historical and artistic importance from any damage, and separation of judiciary from other administrative officers of public services.

The State direct its economic policy such that it secures distribution of ownership and control of material resources of community to serve the community better, and ensure that operation of economic system does not concentrate wealth.

Features Adopted by the Indian Constitution

The Constitution of India has drawn extensively from the western legal traditions in its enunciation of the principles of liberal democracy. It has adopted following features from other constitutions.

British Constitution
  • Parliamentary form of government
  • The idea of single citizenship
  • The idea of the Rule of law
  • Institution of Speaker and his role
  • Lawmaking procedure
  • Procedure established by Law u/a 13
United States Constitution
  • Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the United States Bill of Rights
  • Federal structure of government
  • Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary
  • President as supreme commander of armed forces u/a 52
  • Due process of law u/a 13
Irish Constitution
  • Constitutional enunciation of the directive principles of state policy
French Constitution
  • Ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity
Canadian Constitution
  • A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government)
  • The idea of Residual Powers
Australian Constitution
  • Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the states
  • Power of the national legislature to make laws for implementing treaties, even on matters outside normal Federal jurisdiction
Malaysian Constitution
  • The idea of the Concurrent list
Japanese Constitution
  • Fundamental Duties u/a 51-A
Weimar Constitution
  • Emergency Provision u/a 356

Indian Parliament

Administration of India

According to the Constitution, elections are held once in every five years, unless the parliament dissolves earlier or on the other hand, emergency is declared. Parliament consists of two houses viz. The Lower House or the Lok Sabha and the Upper House or the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha consists of up to 250 members, out of which 230 members are elected by state legislatures and about 15 are nominated by the President.

Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha

The Rajya Sabha is the upper house of the parliament and the Lok Sabha is the lower house. Article 74(1) states that there shall be a Council of Ministers with a Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President, who shall exercise his functions in accordance to the advice. Hence the real executive head of the government is the Prime Minister, vested with all the executive powers. The President is like a rubber stamp.

The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Every State has a Legislative Assembly. Certain States have an upper House called State Legislative Council. Governor is the Head of a State. There shall be a Governor for each State and the executive power of the State shall be vested in him. The council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive functions. The Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.

Most of the parliamentary activities like passing the laws, no-confidence votes, budget bills, etc. takes place in the Lower House and hence the Upper House together with the Lower House amends the Constitution. These two Houses together with the state legislatures also elect the President.

In the federal relations between the state and central government, the central government has more authority on state matters than the state government.

Flow Chart of Administrative Structure of Government of India

Administrative Structure of India

Administrative set up in India is perfectly planned into different administrative divisions at central and state level. These administrative units comprises of a nested hierarchy of country sub divisions. Administrative set up can broadly be classified into union and state level.

Union Executive

The Union executive includes the President, the Vice-President, and the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head to aid and advice the President.

President of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan

Executive power of the Union is vested in the President, and is exercised by him or her either directly or through officers subordinates to him in accordance with the Constitution.

The President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states in accordance with the system of proportional representation, by means of single transferable vote.

The President must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age, and qualified for election as member of the Lok Sabha.

He works for the tenure of five years and also eligible for reelection. His removal from office is to be in accordance with procedure prescribed in Article 61 of the Constitution. He may, by writing under his hand addressed to the Vice-President, resign his office.

Supreme command of defense forces of the Union also vests in him. The President summons, prorogues, addresses, sends messages to Parliament and dissolves the Lok Sabha, promulgates Ordinances at any time, except when both Houses of Parliament are in session, makes recommendations for introducing financial and money bills and gives assent to bills, grants pardons, reprieves, respites or remission of punishment or suspends, and remits or commutes sentences in certain cases.

The President can proclaim emergency in the country if he is satisfied that a grave emergency exists, whereby security of India or any part of its territory is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or armed rebellion.

Also Read: Rashtrapati Bhawan

Shri Ram Nath Kovind
President of India

Ram Nath Kovind was sworn in as the 14th President of India on 25th July, 2017. A lawyer, Ram Nath Kovind served as the Governor of Bihar from August 16, 2015 to June 20, 2017.  For more information, click here

Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India is the chief head of the government. He is the prime adviser to the President of India and is the head of the Council of Ministers.

Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India

List of Past Presidents of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad
January 30, 1950 to May 13, 1962

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
May 13, 1962 to May 13, 1967

Zakir Hussain
May 13, 1967 to May 3, 1969

Varahagiri Venkata Giri
May 3, 1969 to July 20, 1969

Muhammad Hidayatullah
July 20, 1969 to August 24, 1969

Varahagiri Venkata Giri
August 24, 1969 to August 24, 1974

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
August 24, 1974 to February 11, 1977

Basappa Danappa Jatti
February 11, 1977 to July 25, 1977

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
July 25, 1977 to July 25, 1982

Giani Zail Singh
July 25, 1982 to July 25, 1987

Ramaswamy Venkataraman
July 25, 1987 to July 25, 1992

Shankar Dayal Sharma
July 25, 1992 to July 25, 1997

Kocheril Raman Narayanan
July 25, 1997 to July 25, 2002

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007

Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
July 25, 2007 to July 25, 2012

Shri Pranab Mukherjee
July 25, 2012 to July 25, 2017

Prime Minister of India

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and all important policy issues; and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

Narendra Modi was born into a family of grocers and helped his father run a tea stall near a bus terminus. He was a good debater in school and took part in theatrical performances.

He began his political career very early in life by joining the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the tender age of 17 years. While training at the RSS, he met  Bharatiya Jana Sangh leaders, Vasant Gajendragadkar and Nathalal Jaghda who were founding members of the BJP's Gujarat unit in 1980. He displayed skills of good governance with 13 year long stint as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

In 2014 General Assembly Elections, Modi fought from two constituencies namely, Vadodara and Varanasi. After having a thumping victory from both the constituencies he was appointed as the Prime Minister of India. Shri Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of India on 26th May 2014.

In 2019 general election Bharatiya Janata Party under his able leadership won 303 seats. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 353 seats. He got absolute majority and formed government at the center again. Modi was sworn in for his second term as prime minister on 30th May 2019.

To know more about the Prime Minister of India, click here

List of Past Prime Ministers of India

Jawaharlal Nehru
August 15, 1947 to May 27, 1964

Gulzarilal Nanda
May 27, 1964 to June 9, 1964

Lal Bahadur Shastri
June 9, 1964 to January 11, 1966

Gulzarilal Nanda
January 11, 1966 to January 24, 1966

Indira Gandhi
January 24, 1966 to March 24, 1977

Morarji Desai
March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979

Choudhary Charan Singh
July 28, 1979 to January 14, 1980

Indira Gandhi
January 14, 1980 to October 31, 1984

Rajiv Gandhi
October 31, 1984 to December 2, 1989

Vishwanath Pratap Singh
December 2, 1989 to November 10, 1990

Chandra Shekhar
November 10, 1990 to June 21, 1991

P. V. Narasimha Rao
June 21, 1991 to May 16, 1996

Atal Behari Vajpayee
May 16, 1996 to June 1, 1996

H. D. Deve Gowda
June 1, 1996 to April 21, 1997

Inder Kumar Gujral
21 April 1997 to 18 March 1998

Atal Behari Vajpayee (B-1926)
19 March 1998 to 13 October 1999

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (B-1926)
13 October 1999 to 22 May 2004

Dr. Manmohan Singh
22 May 2004 - 17 May 2014

Vice-President of India

Shri Venkaih Naidu
Vice President of India
Vice-President's Secretariat,
6, Maulana Azad Road,
New Delhi - 110 011
Telephone - 011-23018684
E-Mail - ddo-vps@nic.in

The Vice-President is elected by members of an electoral college consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.

He must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age, and eligible for election as a member of the Rajya Sabha. His term of office is five years, and he is eligible for re-election. His removal from office is to be in accordance with procedure prescribed in Article 67 b.

The Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and acts as President when the latter is unable to discharge his functions due to absence, illness or any other cause, or till the election of a new President (to be held within six months when a vacancy is caused by death, resignation or removal or otherwise of President). While so acting, he ceases to perform the function of the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

List of Past Vice-Presidents of India

Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
May 13, 1952 to May 12, 1962

Dr. Zakir Hussain
May 13, 1962 to May 12, 1967

Varahagiri Venkata Giri
May 13, 1967 to May 3, 1969
Gopal Swarup Pathak
August 31, 1969 to August 30, 1974

Basappa Danappa Jatti
August 31, 1974 to August 30, 1979

Muhammad Hidayat Ullah
August 31, 1979 to August 30, 1984

Ramaswamy Venkataraman
August 31, 1984 to July 27, 1987

Shankar Dayal Sharma
September 3, 1987 to July 24, 1992

Kocheril Raman Narayanan
August 21, 1992 to July 24, 1997

Krishan Kant
August 21, 1997 to July 27, 2002

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
August 19, 2002 to 21 July 2007

Hamid Ansari
August 19, 2007 to 21 July 2017

Council of Ministers

There is a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President in exercise of his functions. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President and Ministries/Departments of the Government are also created by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Council of Ministers comprises Ministers who are members of Cabinet, Ministers of State (independent charge).

CABINET MINISTERS

Shri Amit Shah - Minister of Home Affairs.

Shri Raj Nath Singh - Minister of Defence.

Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman - Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.

Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari - Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan - Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Steel.

Shri Piyush Goyal - Minister of Railways; and Minister of Commerce and Industry; Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda - Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Shri Narendra Singh Tomar - Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj; Minister of Food Processing Industries

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad - Minister of Law and Justice; Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.

Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot - Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar - Minister of External Affairs

Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' - Union Minister of Education

Shri Arjun Munda - Minister of Tribal Affairs

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani - Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan - Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences.

Shri Prakash Javadekar - Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi - Minister of Minority Affairs

Shri Pralhad Joshi - Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.

Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey - Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant - Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise.

Shri Giriraj Singh - Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat - Minister of Jal Shakti.

Ministers of State

Each of the Ministries is assigned to a Minister by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Each department is generally under the charge of a Secretary to assist the Minister on policy matters and general administration.

Shri Faggansingh Kulaste: Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.

Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey: Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal: Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

General (Retd.) V. K. Singh: Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
   
Shri Krishan Pal: Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
   
Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao: Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Shri G. Kishan Reddy: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Shri Parshottam Rupala: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Shri Ramdas Athawale: Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti: Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.

Shri Babul Supriyo: Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan: Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

Shri Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao: Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development;

Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Shri Anurag Singh Thakur: Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Shri Angadi Suresh Channabasappa: Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.

Shri Nityanand Rai: Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Shri Rattan Lal Kataria: Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Shri V. Muraleedharan: Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta: Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Shri Som Parkash: Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Shri Rameswar Teli: Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi: Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

Shri Kailash Choudhary: Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri: Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Rao Inderjit Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; and

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning.

Shri Shripad Yesso Naik: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); and Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.

Dr. Jitendra Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region;

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office;

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and

Minister of State in the Department of Space.

Shri Kiren Rijiju: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

Shri Prahalad Singh Patel: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism.

Shri Raj Kumar Singh: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
   
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya: Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Shipping; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha

List of Past Speakers

G.V. Mavlankar M.Ananthasayanam Ayyangar
May 15, 1952 to February 27, 1956

M. A. Ayyangar
March 8, 1956 to April 16, 1962

Sardar Hukam Singh
April 17, 1962 to March 16, 1967

N. Sanjiva Reddy
March 17, 1967 to July 19, 1969

G.S. Dhillon
August 8, 1969 to December 1, 1975

Bali Ram Bhagat
January 15, 1976 to March 25, 1977

N. Sanjiva Reddy
March 26, 1977 to July 13, 1977

K.S. Hegde
July 21, 1977 to January 21, 1980

Balram Jakhar
January 22, 1980 to December 18, 1989

Rabi Ray
December 19, 1989 to July 9, 1991

Shivraj Patil
July 10, 1991 to May 22, 1996

P.A. Sangma
May 25, 1996 to March 23, 1998

G.M.C. Balayogi
March 24, 1998 to March 3, 2002

Manohar Joshi
May 10, 2002 to June 2, 2004

Somnath Chatterjee
4 June, 2004 –  31 May, 2009

Smt. Meira Kumar
3 June, 2009 – 4 June, 2014

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha. The speaker is elected in the very first day when the members of the Parliament meet following the general elections. The speaker serves for a period of 5 years. He/she is chosen from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha, and is generally a member of the ruling party or alliance.

The current speaker is Om Birla of the BJP, who is presiding over the 17th Lok Sabha.

The most important function of the Speaker is to maintain the decorum of the House. He/she decides whether the bill is a money bill or not. 

For more details on the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, click here

Cabinet Secretariat

The Cabinet Secretariat is under the direct charge of 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 Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 and the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules.

The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing and ad hoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism, new policy initiatives are also promoted.

The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Ministries/Departments by means of monthly summary of their activities.

Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.

Joint Secretary
Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi - 110 004
India
Phone No : 23016633, 23792281 (Fax)
eMail: cabinet@nic.in
Website: https://cabsec.nic.in/

Administrative System in the States

The executives of the State include- Governor, Council of Ministers and Chief Minister.  Legislative Assembly or Vidhan Sabha of a state consists of not more than 500 and not less than 60 members. These members from different territorial constituencies of the state are elected directly. The full term of an assembly is five years though it may be dissolved earlier.

Administrative Structure of States


The President of India appoints Governor of a State for a term of five years. The eligible candidate for a governor should be an Indian citizen and must have completed 35 years of age or he should be more than 35 years old. Governor has all the executive powers of the State.

Council of Ministers

Chief Minister of the state is the head of Council of Ministers. He aids and advises Governor in working out his functions. Under Article 371 A of the Constitution the Governor of Nagaland, in consultation of Council of Ministers can implement his individual decision as to the action to be taken in matters relating to law and order.The list of chief ministers in the different states of India are:
Andhra Pradesh: Shri. Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy

Arunachal Pradesh: Shri Pema Khandu

Assam: Shri Sarbananda Sonowal

Bihar: Shri Nitish Kumar

Chhattisgarh: Shri. Bhupesh Baghel

Delhi: Shri Arvind Kejriwal

Goa: Shri Pramod Sawant

Gujarat: Shri. Vijay Rupani

Haryana: Shri Manohar Lal Khattar

Himachal Pradesh: Shri Jai Ram Thakur

Jammu and Kashmir: Governor's rule

Jharkhand: Shri Hemant Soren

Karnataka: Shri B S Yediyurappa

Kerala: Shri Pinarayi Vijayan

Madhya Pradesh: Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Maharashtra: Shri Uddhav Thackeray

Manipur:
Shri N Biren Singh

Meghalaya:
Dr. Mukul Sangma

Mizoram:
Shri Lal Thanhawla

Nagaland:
Shri. Neiphiu Rio

Odisha:
Shri Naveen Patnaik

Puducherry (UT):
Shri V Narayanasamy

Punjab:
Captain Amarinder Singh

Rajasthan: Shri. Ashok Gehlot

Sikkim: Shri Prem Singh Tamang

Tamil Nadu: Edappadi K. Palaniswami

Telangana: Shri K Chandrasekhar Rao

Tripura: Shri Biplab Kumar Deb

Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath

Uttarakhand: Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat

West Bengal: Km. Mamata Banerjee

Similarly, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh under Article 371H of the Constitution too holds special responsibility with respect to law and order in addition to his functions. Council of Ministers and Governor together implement the individual judgement on the action to be taken. If President sees on meaning in assigning special responsibility to the Governor with respect to law and order, he may so direct by an order.

Governor has additional discretionary powers in tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and more as specified in para 20 of the Sixth Schedule, to share percentages between district council and state government.

The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and other ministers. The Council of Ministers constitutes legislative assembly of the State.

Read More about Administration in Assam | Arunachal Pradesh | Andhra Pradesh | Bihar | Chandigarh | Chhattisgarh | Delhi | Dadra and Nagar Haveli | Goa | Gujarat | Haryana | Himachal Pradesh | Jammu and Kashmir | Jharkhand | Karnataka | Kerala | Lakshadweep | Madhya Pradesh | Maharashtra | Manipur | Meghalaya | Mizoram | Nagaland | Odisha | Puducherry | Punjab | Rajasthan | Sikkim | Tamil Nadu | Tripura | Uttar Pradesh | Uttarakhand | West Bengal | Telangana

Legislative Council of the State

Legislative Council of a state comprises one-third of total number of members in legislative assembly of the state and not less than 40 members. About one-third of members of the council are elected by members of legislative assembly from amongst persons who are not its members, one-third by electorates consisting of members of municipalities, district boards and other local authorities in the state, one-twelfth by electorate consisting of persons who have been, for at least three years, engaged in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower in standard than secondary school and a further one-twelfth by registered graduates of more than three years standing. The rest of the members who might be distinguished personalities from literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service are nominated by the Governor. Legislative councils can not be dissolved but its one-third members retire every alternate year and are replaced by the new ones.

Elections in India

Elections in India

India is a democratic country which has a well defined electoral system.  The parliamentary system holds elections which gives opportunity to citizens in the country to choose their representatives and thus contribute in the composition of the government.

Elections are regularly conducted in a fair and free manner as per the guidance of the constitutional provisions along with the laws made by Parliament. The major laws are Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951. These laws deal with the preparation, revision of electoral rolls, all aspects of conduct of elections and post election disputes. The Supreme Court of India has formed Election Commission to deal with a situation on which the enacted laws remain silent.

Voting is done by secret ballot still at some places whereas by Electronic Voting Machines at others. To maximize the participation of voters polling stations are set up in public institutions within 2km of every voter.

Election Commission of India

Election Commission of India

Election commission is an independent constitutional authority of India formed in 1950. The body guides and control preparation of electoral rolls for elections to Parliament and State Legislatures, for the offices of the President and the Vice-President of India.

Only Chief Election Commissioner can remove Election Commissioners from office. The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners is appointed for six years from the date he/she assumes office or till the day he/she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

Election Commission of India

Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Phone: 011 2371 7391

Chief Election Commissioner of India
Mr. Sunil Arora
Office No.: 23052323,23052424
Office Fax: 23052525
Residence No.: 23014243
Residence Fax: 23014343

Candidates

Any Indian citizen who is registered as a voter and is over 25 years of age is allowed to contest elections to the Lok Sabha where as it is mandatory that he should attain age of 30 years for contesting in Rajya Sabha elections.

All the 5,435 candidates for 543 Lok Sabha seats and 4,504 candidates for 697 seats in State Legislative Assemblies the candidates were required to declare their assets and liabilities, educational qualifications, Government dues and criminal cases pending against them, if any.

The conditions that a candidate has to fulfill for fighting election are-

In general the candidate should deposit Rs. 10,000/- for standing Lok Sabha election and 5,000/- for Rajya Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections as earnest money. This deposit is refundable only if the candidate gets more than one-sixth of the total number of votes casted in the constituency.

At least one registered elector of the constituency must support the Nomination of a party sponsored candidate.

Electors’ Photo Identity Card (EPIC)

Elections in India

Electors’ photo Identity Card is issued by Election Commission of India to improve the accuracy of the electoral roll and prevent electoral fraud. The photo identity cards are not only made mandatory for all voters of the country from Aug, 1993 but also it is seen as strong identity proof. Almost 450 million identity cards has been circulated so far and the number is increasing.
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