Question

How the chief minister and her/his are ministers accoutable to the people ?

Answer 1

Instead of the function of governing, for which it is radically unfit, the proper office of a representative assembly is to watch and control the government: to throw the light of publicity on its acts; to compel a full exposition and justification of all of them which any one considers questionable; to censure them if found condemnable, and, if the men who compose the government abuse their trust, or fulfil it in a manner which conflicts with the deliberate sense of the nation, to expel them from office, and either expressly or virtually appoint their successors.

John Stuart Mill [1] 

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in his address to the Constituent Assembly, comparing the presidential form of democracy to that of parliamentary said “you can have a system which can give you more stability but less responsibility. The British system on the other hand gives you more responsibility but less stability." He argued that there is daily and period assessment in a parliamentary system whereas there is only periodic assessment in presidential system such as USA. We adopted for a more responsible government over a stable one. [2] A responsible government means that the government is responsible to Parliament and more precisely to House of People i.e. government’s authority depends upon its having the confidence of the elected House. [3] 

Part I lays down the theoretical framework for accountability and for assessing an institution. Part II analyses various parliamentary instrumentalities available to enforce accountability and outlines Constitutional provisions on such accountability. Part III ponders on the question of limits on accountability of the Council of ministers to the Parliament.

Theoretical Framework

Answer 2

Accountability means obligations to account for all actions or omissions one does. The word accountability in the context of political institutions has over the years moved beyond the traditional definition of keeping accounts. Accountability entails following components: [4] 

Transparency

Representativeness

Responsiveness and

Power to sanction misdeeds

The concept of Accountability in Political institutions is an essential component to the ideology establishing a responsible government. [5] 

Accountability entails two kinds of obligations:

Explanatory accountability: obligation to give account i.e. to answer, disclose, explain or justify. [6] 

Remedial Accountability: obligation to account for action or inaction i.e. to be “answerable" for the misgovernment and subsequent and appropriate changes. This is retrospective or a posteriori. [7] 

Does Accountability mean Control?

“Accountability" and “control" are complementary [8] in the sense that both have a character of relativity i.e. degree of accountability. It contemplates either a legal obligation to account or a established convention. [9]