Government of India

Government of India

Politics and Government of India

Minister of India" Prime Minister

The Cabinet

Law" Judiciary

Supreme Court of IndiaChief Justice of IndiaHigh CourtsDistrict Courts

GovernorState LegislatureVidhan Sabha

Parishad" Vidhan Parishad

Panchayat

panchayat" Gram panchayat

Panchayat samiti

Parishad" Zilla Parishad

Other countries PoliticsPortalGovernment of India Portalview talk edit

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the

Government" Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the

India" Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India.

The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the

of India" President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him.[1] The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the president. The

of India" Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21

Courts of India" High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level.

The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the

penal code" Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalised for local governance.

Contents

[hide] 1 Parliamentary government

1.1 Individual responsibility 1.2 Collective responsibility 2 Executive Branch

2.1 President 2.2 Cabinet Secretary 3 Judicial branch

3.1 National judiciary 4 Reform

4.1 Corruption 4.2 Inefficiency 4.3 Spending priorities 4.4 Deficits 5 Finance

5.1 Taxation 5.2 General budget 6 See also 7 Further reading 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Parliamentary government

Bhavan" Sansad Bhavan

India has a parliamentary system of government based largely on that of the

Kingdom" United Kingdom (Westminster system). However, eminent scholars including the first President Dr Rajendra Prasad have raised the question "how far we are entitled to invoke and incorporate into our written Constitution by interpretation the conventions of the British Constitution".[2]The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the

election" directly-elected 552-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member

election" indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy.

All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.

[edit] Individual responsibilityEvery individual minister is in charge of a specific ministry or ministries (or specific other portfolio). He is responsible for any act of failure in all the policies relating to his department. In case of any lapse, he is individually responsible to the Parliament. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the individual minister, he has to resign. Individual responsibility can amount to collective responsibility. Therefore, the Prime Minister, in order to save his government, can ask for the resignation of such a minister and the people have a say.

[edit] Collective responsibilityThe Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the council are jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all the ministers headed by the Prime Minister have to resign.

[edit] Executive BranchExecutive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.

[edit] President

The Rashtrapati Bhawan, residence of the President Of India.

The executive power is vested on mainly the

of India" President of India by Article 53(1) of the constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advise tendered by the

government" head of government (

Minister of India" Prime Minister of India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 (Constitution of India).

The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to command the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha.

The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:

Governors of States

The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India.

The Attorney General The President's Officer

The Comptroller and Auditor General

The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary

The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service CommissionCabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretariat of India.

The head of executive officers is

Secretary" Cabinet Secretary after

of India" President of India.The Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the

Secretariat" Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board, and thus the head of the Indian Administrative Service.

As a matter of convention the senior most civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent has a fixed tenure of 4 years.

The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all of the All India civil services under the constitution. Thus, he is the head of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS),

Foreign Service" Indian Foreign Service (IFS),

Revenue Service" Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and the

Forest Service" Indian Forest Service (IFS). He ranks eleventh in the Indian order of precedence.

The current Cabinet Secretary is A. K. Seth.

The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary:

Provide assistance to the Council of Ministers Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the civil services Handle senior appointments Prepare of the agenda of the Cabinet Attend the meetings of the Cabinet Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented Advise the Prime Minister Act as the Chairman of the Committee of Secretaries on Administration Act as the Chairman of the Chief Secretaries Committee Provide an element of continuity and stability to administration during crises In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 "Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business.

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/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted.

The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advise and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs Committee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of

Minister of India" Prime Minister of India.

[edit] Judicial branch

Supreme Court of India.

India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 30 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the

Justice of India" Chief Justice of India. The jury trials were abolished in India in early 1960s, after the famous case KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra, for reasons of being vulnerable to media and public pressure, as well as to being misled

Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India,

Courts of India" High Courts of India at the state level, and District Courts and

Court" Sessions Courts at the district level.

[edit] National judiciaryMain article: Supreme Court of IndiaThe Supreme Court of India has original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.

In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court, or from a court subordinate to another State High Court.

Public Interest Litigation (PIL): Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

[edit] Reform[edit] CorruptionMain article: Corruption in India

Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2007

In 2009, nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of parliament had been charged with crimes, including rape or murder.[3]There are many institutional efforts such as the Right to Information Act, computerization/e-Governance, the establishment of Lokayukta who can be Cabinet Secretary to check corruption.

[edit] InefficiencyCurrently, most spending fails to reach its intended recipients.[4]

Pritchett" Lant Pritchett calls India's public sector "one of the world's top ten biggest problems - of the order of AIDS and climate change".[4]

Economist" The Economist article about Indian civil service (2008) said that Indian central government employs around 3 million people and states another 7 million, including "vast armies of paper-shuffling peons".[4] The Economist states that "India has some of the hardest-working bureaucrats in the world, but its administration has an abysmal record of serving the public".[5]Unannounced visits by government inspectors showed that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace. Teacher absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Despite worse absence rates, public sector teachers enjoy salaries at least five times higher than private sector teachers. India's absence rates are among the worst in the world.[6]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-6" [7]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-KMuralidharan-7" [8]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-8" [9]Many experiments with computerization have failed due to corruption and other factors.[10]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-swatiprasad-10" [11] In 2008, Tanmoy Chakrabarty noted that "There are vested interests everywhere, politicians fear that they will lose control with e-government, and this is coming in the way of successful implementation of e-government projects in India. [...] Out of the 27 projects under the NEGP, only one (the MCA21 program) has been completed. There is tremendous gap between conceptualization and implementation".[11][edit] Spending prioritiesSee also:

in India" Subsidies in India

The government subsidizes everything from gasoline to food.[12][dead link] Loss-making state-owned enterprises are supported by the government.[12][dead link] Farmers are given electricity for free.[12][dead link] Overall, a 2005 article by International Herald Tribune stated that subsidies amounted to 14% of GDP.[12][dead link] As much as 39 percent of subsidized kerosene is stolen.[12][dead link] Moreover, these subsidies cause economic distortions.[12][dead link]On the other hand, India spends relatively little on education, health, or infrastructure. Urgently needed infrastructure investment has been much lower than in China. According to the

Organization" UNESCO, India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student among developing and developed countries.[13][edit] DeficitsAs per the CIA World Factbook, India ranks 23rd in the world, with respect to the Public Debt, with a total of 61.30% of GDP, just before United States, which ranks 24th (2008 estimated).[14][edit] Finance[edit] TaxationMain article:

India" Taxation in India

Regional office of the

Bank of India" State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, in Mumbai. The government of India is the largest shareholder in SBI.

It is headed by the finance ministry of the government of india. India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union government to levy income tax, tax on capital transactions (wealth tax, inheritance tax), sales tax, service tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, tax on entertainment and professions, excise duties on manufacture of

beverage" alcohol, stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The

governments" local governments are empowered by the state government to levy property tax and charge users for

utilities" public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[15]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-angela-15" [16] More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which 3/4th come from direct taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state governments.[17]The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:

Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, customs and making it more progressive

Reducing exemptions and concessions

Simplification of laws and procedures

Introduction of permanent account number (PAN) to track monetary transactions

21 of the 28 states introduced tax" value added tax (VAT) on 1 April 2005 to replace the complex and multiple sales tax system[16]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India" \l "cite_note-VAT-17" [18]The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.[19]Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the

Commission" Finance Commission to the President.

Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a figure of 3745% in the OECD.

[edit] General budgetThe Finance minister of India presents the annual

budget of India" union budget in the Parliament on the last working day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on 1 April, the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year. This economic survey involves all the various NGOs, women organizations, business people, old people associations etc.

The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 2009-10 was 1,020,838 crore (

States dollar" US$227.6 billion), of which 695,689 crore (

States dollar" US$155.1 billion) was towards Non Plan and 325,149 crore (

States dollar" US$72.5 billion) towards Plan expenditure. Total estimated revenue was 619,842 crore (

States dollar" US$138.2 billion), including revenue receipts of 614,497 crore (

States dollar" US$137 billion) and capital receipts of 5,345 crore (

States dollar" US$1.2 billion), excluding borrowings. The resulting fiscal deficit was 400,996 crore (

States dollar" US$89.4 billion) while revenue deficit was 282,735 crore (

States dollar" US$63 billion).The gross tax receipts were budgeted at 641,079 crore (

States dollar" US$143 billion) and

revenue" non-tax revenue receipts at 140,279 crore (

States dollar" US$31.3 billion).

India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly fivefold in 200304 since 199091 and more than tenfold since 19851986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non development expenditure in the 200304 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing due to India's desire to project its military prowess beyond South Asia. In 2007, India's defence spending stood at US$26.5 billion.[20 Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries.

The President also receives the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.