Question

Explain the 3 categories of council of ministers

Answer 1

Council of Ministers are the ministers appointed by the President of India on advice of the Prime Minister. Council of Ministers are categorized into three categories.

1- Cabinet Ministers- They act as head of important ministries of the central government. For e.g- Defense Ministry, Home Ministry, Finance Ministry etc. They are the integral part of Cabinet, as a result of which, they play a very important role in framing policies.

2- Ministers of state- They can be given Independent charge of ministries or can be attached to the cabinet ministers. When attached to the cabinet ministers, they work under the guidance of cabinet ministers. The difference from the cabinet ministers lie in the fact that, they do not attend the cabinet meetings as they are not the part of cabinet (unless specially invited when something related to their ministry is being considered by the cabinet)

3- Deputy Ministers- They are never given independent charge of ministry( unlike ministers of state), and always remain attached to the cabinet ministers or ministers of state. They assist to discharge the political, administrative and parliamentary duties effectively. They are neither part of cabinet nor attend the cabinet meetings.

Answer 2

1. Cabinet Ministers: They are the most important members of the council of ministers. They hold the charge of most important portfolios like defense, finance, home etc. They attend the meetings of the cabinet
2. Ministers of state: They are juniors to the cabinet ministers. They may or may not be given an independent charge. They do not attend the meetings of the cabinet.
3. Deputy Ministers: They do not hold any independent charge. They supervise the work assigned to them by the ministers and submit regarding their work. They do not attend cabinet meetings.