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).
(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:
- To abide by the Constitution and respect the ideals and Institutions, National Flag and National Anthem.
- To realize and follow the essential ideals of Non-violence, Democracy and Secularism.
- It is the duty of every citizen to preserve the rich heritage of our Culture.
- To protect the Sovereignty, Unity and Integrity of our Nation.
- To safeguard public property and to give up violence.
- To defend our Country even at the cost of our life.
- To protect Natural Resources including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life.
- To avoid Dowry, Gambling and other Social evils.
- To strive towards excellence in their respective spheres of activity so that the nation furthers towards higher accomplishments.
Fundamental Rights of Indian Citizen
(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
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 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
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 BhawanShri Ram Nath KovindPresident 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 ModiPrime 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
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 SecretaryCabinet 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.
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
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
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 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 IndiaNirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
Phone: 011 2371 7391
Chief Election Commissioner of IndiaMr. 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)
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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