Q.4 With reference to Union Executive, explain the following:
a. Explain position & power of Prime Minister.
'b. Explain power & function of Cabinet.
c. Distinction between Council of Minister & Cabinet.
Answers
Answer:
a.There is no direct election to the post of the Prime Minister. The President appoints the Prime Minister. But the President cannot appoint anyone he likes. He appoints the leader of the majority party or the coalition of parties that commands a majority in the Lok Sabha, as Prime Minister. In case no single party or alliance gets a majority, the President appoints the person most likely to secure a majority support. The Prime Minister does not have a fixed tenure. He continues in power so long as he remains the leader of the majority party or coalition.
Since the Prime Minister is the head of the government, he enjoys wide-ranging powers :
(i) He chairs Cabinet meetings and coordinates the work of different Departments. His decisions are final in case disagreements arise between Departments.
(ii) He exercises general supervision of different ministries. All ministers work under his leadership.
(iii) The Prime Minister distributes and redistributes work to the ministers.
(iv) He also has the power to dismiss ministers. When the Prime Minister quits, the entire ministry quits.
Thus, the Prime Minister is the most powerful person within the Cabinet.
b.A Cabinet minister, or top-level minister, has many important functions as part of their role.
Along with the Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers form the main decision-making group within executive government – the Cabinet.
A Cabinet minister's role includes:
directing government policy and making decisions about national issues
spending a lot of time discussing current national problems and how these can be solved
presenting bills (proposed laws) from their government departments.
c.Cabinet Minister:
They head the important ministries of the Central government like home, defence, finance, etc. They are members of the cabinet and attend its meetings and play an important role in deciding policies.
Council of Ministers:
It is a wider body consisting of 60-70 ministers. It includes all three categories of ministers- Cabinet ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers.