As the President of India is a constitutional executive head, the real executive authority of the Union is exercised by the Prime Minister and his council of ministers.
The Prime Minister
Article 75: The office of the Prime Minister has been created by the Constitution. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
The Prime Minister theoretically holds office during the pleasure of the President.
But the Prime Minister actually stays in office as long as he enjoys the confidence of the Parliament especially the Lok Sabha. The normal term is five years but it is automatically reduced if the Lok Sabha is dissolved earlier.
The Prime Minister gets the same salary and allowances which are paid to the members of Parliament.
He also receives a constituency allowance like other MPs.
In addition, he is also entitled to a sumptuary allowance, free official residence, free travel, medical facilities, etc.

Powers: The Prime Minister enjoys extensive powers.
1. The President convenes and prorogues all sessions of the Parliament in consultation with him.
2. He can recommend the dissolution of Lok Sabha to the President before expiry of its normal term.
3. All the members of the council of ministers are appointed by the President on the recommendations of the Prime Minister.
4. He allocates portfolios among the various ministers and reshuffles them. He can ask a minister to resign and can even get him dismissed by the President.
5. He presides over the meetings of the council of ministers and exercises a strong influence on its decisions.

6. He exercises general supervision over the working of other ministers and ensures that they work as a team.
7. The Prime Minister can bring about the fall of the council of ministers if he resigns. He is the pivot around which the council of ministers revolves.
8. The Prime Minister is the chief channel of communication between the President and the council of ministers and keeps the former informed about all the decisions of the council.
9. He assists the President in the appointment of all high officials.
10. He can recommend to the President, with the concurrence of other cabinet ministers, to proclaim a state of emergency on grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion.
11.He advises the President about imposition of presidential rule in the states on grounds of breakdown of constitutional machinery or imposition of an emergency due to financial instability.

The Prime Minister occupies a position of tremendous influence and prestige.
But the position of the Prime Minister depends to a large extent, on his personality and the position of his political party in the Parliament.

The post of Deputy Prime Minister is not known to the Constitution, although seven persons have occupied this post since the inauguration of the Constitution.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in Nehru's ministry.
Morarji Desai, was Deputy Prime Minister under Indira Gandhi. He was imposed on her by the Syndicate Congress.
Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram were given this position in Morarji Desai's ministry to defuse the crisis in the Janata Party
Y.B. Chavan served as Deputy Prime Minister during the brief tenure of Charan Singh.
Devi Lal became Deputy Prime Minister in V.P. Singh's Janata Dal government of 1989. Lal Krishan Advani was designated as Deputy Prime Minister by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 29 June 2002. L.K. Advani, as Deputy Prime Minister. also continued to look after the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Deputy Prime Minister occupies position next to the Prime Minister.
He assists the Prime Minister and discharges his duties when he is not available. It may be observed that the Administrative Reforms Commission of India (1966-70) in its Report on the Machinery of Government and its Procedure of Work recommended the creation of the past of Deputy Prime Minister to ensure effective functioning of the governmental machinery.
It suggested that the Prime Minister could allot to the Deputy Prime Minister such tasks and ad hoc assignments as he considers appropriate in order to reduce his workload.

The Constitution provides for a council of ministers under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
Under the original Constitution the council of ministers was expected to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions.
There was nothing in the Constitution to suggest that the President was bound by the advice of the council of ministers.
In 1976, the Constitution was amended and it was stipulated that the President in the exercise of his functions shall act in accordance with the advice of the council of ministers (Article 74).

The council of ministers consists of three types of ministers-
ministers of cabinet rank
ministers of state
and deputy ministers.
The ministers of cabinet rank usually hold independent charge of a department and are considered as superior to ministers of other ranks.
The ministers of state can either hold independent charge of a department or be attached to a minister of cabinet rank.
The deputy ministers generally do not hold separate charge of a department and are attached to cabinet or state ministers.
The formation of this council starts with the appointment of the Prime Minister. The President then appoints other members of the council of ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The terms Council of Ministers and Cabinet are often used for each other. However, they differ from each other in following respects.
1. In comparison with the Cabinet the Council of Ministers is a bigger body consisting of 60 to 70 members. On the other hand the Cabinet has only 15 to 20 members.
2. All policy decisions are taken by the Cabinet and the Council of Ministers merely implements those decisions.
3. The Council of Ministers comprises of three types of ministers viz. Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers and Deputy Ministers. The Cabinet on the other hand consists of only Cabinet Ministers.
4. The Constitution vests all the powers in the Council of Ministers, but actually these powers are exercised by the Cabinet.
5. The Cabinet determines the functions to be performed by the various ministers.
6. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha and the Cabinet enforces this responsibility.
The Council of Ministers as a body seldom meets to discharge its responsibilities. On the other hand the Cabinet holds weekly meetings to discharge the government work.
Throughout the Constitution the term Council of Ministers has been used only the article 352 the term Cabinet has been used, and that too was added by the 44th Amendment.
This Article stipulates that the President can make a declaration of National Emergency only on the written recommendation of the Cabinet.

Generally, the Prime Minister includes all prominent leaders of his party in the council. The members must be members of either house of the Parliament. However, if a person who is not a member of either house is appointed, he must become a member of either house within six months.
Failing this, he ceases to be a member of the council of ministers. The council is collectively responsible to the Parliament and a vote of no-confidence against any minister automatically leads to the resignation of the entire council.

In September 2006 the salary and allowances of the members of Council of Ministers were revised.
At present they draw a monthly salary of Rs 16,000;
Constituency Allowance of Rs 20,000 per month; allowance for attending sessions of parliament and Panel meetings at the rate of Rs 1000; pension of Rs 6000 per month; road travel within the constituency at Rs 12 per km; 34 free air tickets per year;
unlimited train travel;
free accommodation with 50,000 units of electricity and 4000 kilo litres of water; medical expenses; office expenses of 1,68,000 per annum.
In addition the Cabinet, State and Deputy Ministers are entitle to sumptuary allowance at various rates.

Collective Responsibility: The council of ministers is collectively responsible ( Article 75) to the Lok Sabha and has to resign as soon as it loses the confidence of Lok Sabha.
Even a vote of no confidence against a single minister by the Lok Sabha is taken as a vote of no confidence against the entire council of ministers and entails its resignation.
The principle of collective responsibility also implies that the ministers are expected not to air their differences in public.
If a member of the council of ministers does not agree with its decision, he should tender his resignation.
In addition to the collective responsibility, each minister is also individually responsible for his department and can be removed from his office by the President (on the advice of Prime Minister) even if he enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha.

Powers:
The council of ministers enjoys the following powers:
1. It formulates the policies of the country on the basis of which the administration is carried on.
2. It introduces all important bills and resolutions in the Parliament and pilots them through.
It presents the budget of the country before the Parliament through the Lok Sabha.
Though Parliament can modify the budget, it is generally passed in the form in which it is presented.
It determines the foreign policy of the country and the kind of relations it should have with other powers. All diplomatic appointments are made by the President on the recommendation of the council of ministers. The council also approves the international agreements and treaties.
Cabinet members of the council of ministers render advice to the President regarding the proclamation of emergency on grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion.

This quiz has been prepared with questions related to Indian Polity-Prime minister and deputy Prime minister. These question were asked in various competitive exams across India. You can practice these questions to gain more knowledge.

Start Quiz Next Slide