POLITICAL SYSTEM IN

INDIA

Political System in IndiaIndia is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a

Parliamentary form of Government. The Constitution was adopted by the

Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force

on 26th November 1950. The Constitution advocated the trinity of justice, liberty and equality for all the

citizens. The Constitution was framed keeping in mind the

socioeconomic progress of the country. India follows a parliamentary

form of democracy and the government is federal in structure.

Political System in India

In Indian political system, the President is the constitutional head of the executive of

the Union of India. The real executive power is with the Prime Minister and the

Council of Ministers. According to the Article 74(1) of the constitution, the Council

of Ministers under the leadership of the Prime Minister is responsible to aid and

assist the President in exercising the President’s function. The Council of

ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of People. In states the

Governor is the representative of the President, though the real executive power

is with the Chief Minister along with his Council of Ministers.

President of India

The President of India is the constitutional head of India and is the supreme commander of the

nation’s armed forces. The President is elected by members of an Electoral College consisting of

elected members of both the Houses of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies of the states, with suitable weightage given to each

vote. His term of office is for five years. Among other powers, the President can proclaim an

emergency in the country if he is satisfied that the security of the country or of any part of its

territory is threatened.

Council of Ministers

The Council Of Ministers is the supreme governing body in the country and is selected from the elected members of

the Union Government. The Council of Ministers comprises of Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of States and Deputy Ministers. Prime Minister heads the Council of

Ministers and communicates all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to administration of affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation to the President. Generally, each department has an officer designated as secretary

to the Government of India to advise the Ministers on policy matters and general administration. The Cabinet

Secretariat has an important harmonizing role in decision making at the highest level and operates under the

bearing of the Prime Minister.

Parliament

The Parliament is the legislative arm of the Union. It consists of the President, Rajya Sabha or the Upper

House and Lok Sabha or the Lower House. All bills to be made into law require the consent of both the houses of parliament. However, in case of money

bills, the Lok Sabha is the supreme authority.

Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha consists of not more than 250 members. Of these, 233 represent states and union territories and

12 members are nominated by the President. Elections to the Rajya Sabha are indirect. Members to the Rajya Sabha

are elected by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of the concerned states. The members of the

Upper House put forth the interests of their respective state in the Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha is not subject to dissolution in

contrast to the Lok Sabha and one third of its

members retire every second year.

Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of universal adult

franchise. As of today, the Lok Sabha consists of 545

members with two members nominated by the President to

stand for the Anglo-Indian Community. Unless dissolved

under circumstances like failure of the leading party to prove clear majority or a no-

confidence motion, the term of the Lok Sabha is for five years.

State Governments

The system of government in states closely resembles that of the Union. In the states as well there are two major governing bodies -

the legislative assembly and the legislative council. For the Legislative assembly direct elections are held and the political party

receiving the majority votes forms the Government in the state. There are 28 states and seven Union territories in the country. Union Territories are administered by the President through a Governor or

administrator appointed by him. Till 1 February 1992, the Union Territory of Delhi was governed by the Central government through

an Administrator appointed by the President of India. Through a Constitutional amendment in Parliament, the Union Territory of Delhi is called the National Capital Territory of Delhi from 1 February 1992

onwards. General elections to the Legislative assembly of the National Capital Territory were held in November 1993. Since then

after every five years the state underwent general elections maintaining the democratic process in Delhi.

Political System in India

Modeled after the British Westminster System, Politics of India take place in a

framework of a federal parliamentary multi-party representative democratic republic. India is the world's largest democracy. In

India, the Prime Minister is identified as the head of government of the nation, while the

President is said to be the formal head of state and holds substantial reserve powers,

placing him or her in approximately the same position as the British monarch. Executive

power is enforced by the government. It can be noted that federal legislative power is

vested in both the government of India and the two characteristic chambers of the

Parliament of India. Also, it can be said that the judiciary is independent of both the

executive and the legislature.

Judicial Branch

India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of western countries. The constitution designates the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the lower courts as the authority to

resolve disputes among the people as well as the disputes related to the people and the government. The constitution through its articles relating to the judicial system provides a way to question the laws of the government, if the common man finds the laws as unsuitable for any community in India.

Local Governance

On April 24, 1993, the Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. This Act was extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of eight States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan from 24 December 1996.

The Act aims to provide 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having population of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections

regularly every 5 years, to provide reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women, to appoint State Finance Commission to make recommendations as regards the financial

powers of the Panchayats and to constitute District Planning Committee to prepare draft development plan for the district.

Role of political parties

India has a multi-party system, where there are a number of national as well as regional parties. A regional party may gain a majority and rule a particular state. If a party represents more than 4 states then such parties

are considered as national parties.

On 22 May 2004, Manmohan Singh was appointed the Prime Minister of India following the victory of the INC & the left front in the 2004 Lok Sabha election. The UPA now rules India without the support of the left front. Previously, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken office in October 1999 after a general election in which a BJP-led coalition of 13 parties called

the National Democratic Alliance emerged with a majority.

Social IssuesThe lack of homogeneity in the Indian population causes division

between different sections of the people based on religion, region, language, caste and race. This has led to the rise of political parties

with agendas catering to one or a mix of these groups.The narrow focus and vote bank politics of most parties, even in the central government and central legislature, sidelines national issues such as economic welfare and national security. Moreover, internal

security is also threatened as incidences of political parties instigating and leading violence between two opposing groups of

people is a frequent occurrence.

Economic IssuesEconomic issues like poverty,

unemployment, development are main issues that influence politics.

Garibi hatao (eradicate poverty) has been a slogan of the Indian National Congress for long. The well known

Bharatiya Janata Party is looked upon with grace as a political party that is indeed encouraging to free market economy, businesses and others. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) vehemently supports

left-wing politics and has strongly opposed to socio-economic policies such as globalization, capitalism, foreign investments and privatization. The economic policies of most other parties do not go much further than providing populist subsidies and

reservations. As a noteworthy case, the manifesto of the Samajwadi Party, the third largest party in the 15th Lok Sabha, for the 2009 general elections promised to reduce the use of

computers upon being elected.

Law and Order

Just to name a few,terrorism, Naxalism, Religious violence and caste-related violence are important issues that affect the political environment of the

Indian nation. Stringent anti-terror legislations like TADA, POTA and MCOCA have received much political attention, both in favour as well as criticism.

Law and order issues such as action against organized crime are not issues that affect the outcomes of elections. On the other hand, there is a criminal-politician nexus. Many elected legislators have criminal cases against them.

In July 2008 Washington Times reported that nearly a fourth of the 540 Indian Parliament members faced criminal charges, "including human

trafficking, immigration rackets, embezzlement, rape and even murder".

Political Structure at the National Level

Political Structure at the State Level

National, State

and Local

Planning

Taxes Leviable under the Constitution

Government of India State Governments

Income tax, wealth tax, corporate tax, customs duties

and excise tax

State excise, professional tax, sales tax, entertainment

tax and land revenue tax

Urban Local Bodies(as permitted under state acts)

Tax on land & buildings, taxes on vehicles, entry tax on goods (octroi) for use consumption and sale, theatre/show tax and tax on advertisements other than in newspapers

Structure of Environmental Management

Local Urban Financial Set-Up

Local Urban Non-Tax Sources

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