VIII.Civics.Chapter19.The Union Goverment the Executive

Chapter 19

The Union Government: 
The Executive 15 Every government has three organs.  They are legislature, executive and judiciary.  You have read out the Union Legislature in the previous chapter.  Now, we shall study about the Union Executive.  vecutive is that organization of the government which enforces laws made by the legislature, executes hem and runs the administration of the country, the Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary form of government.  So, there are two ypes of offices - the nominal executive and the real executive.  Since India is a republic, the Head of the Indian State is an elected President.  She / He is vested with all the executive powers.  But hey are all exercised by the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.  Therefore, the real executive is the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, whereas the President is the nominal executive because she / he is bound o act on the advice of the Council of Ministers.  i the President does not wish to accept any Do You Know?  advice, she / he may send it back to the Council of Ministers for reconsideration.  But if the same The President of India is called Head of the State, whereas the Prime Minister is called advice is sent back again, the President is bound head of the Government to accept it.  You have read in the previous class that the executive at the state level comprises of the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers.  Like, the Union Executive at the National or Central level comprises of the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.  In this chapter, we will study about the Union Executive.  The Presidential Qualifications for the Office A candidate for the office of the President of India must be a citizen of India who has completed 35 years of age.  She / He should be qualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha and should not hold any office of profit under the government at any level.  Tenure the President of India holds the office for a five year term and can be re - elected.  Dr.  Rajendra Prasad, the first President of free India was the only President to have been re-elected for a second term.  So, he continued to be in office from 1950 to 1962 Dr.  Rajendra Prasad First President of India 2191

Election of the President The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College consisting of only the elected members of (a) Lok Sabha (b) Rajya Sabha and (c) Legislative Assemblies of the States.  Nominated members of any House do not participate in the election of the President.  The election is held in accordance with the Single Transferable Vote System of Proportional Representation.  Under this system, it is essential to secure the fixed quota of votes to get elected, i.e more than 50%.  Do you know?  The Election Commission of India held 5th presidential elections of India on August 1969. Varahagiri Venkata Giri with 420,077 votes won in a run off elections over his rival Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy who got 405,427 votes.  It was for the first time in India that a Presidential candidate, i.e.  V. V. Giri won the election on the basis of second preference votes.  V. V. Giri Impeachment The process to remove the President is called impeachment.  If a President violates the Constitution, she / he can be removed from office by a resolution of impeachment, which is passed by both the Houses of Parliament by not less than two - third majority of the total membership success to Presidency in case the office of  The President falls vacant due to his / his resignation, death or impeachment, the Vice President of India takes over the responsibility to officiate as President till the new President is elected.  Election must be held within six months to fill up the office of the President.  Smt.  Pratibha Devi Singh Pati First Woman President of India Do You Know?  If the office of the Vice President also falls vacant, when there is a vacancy already existing at the President's office, then the Chief Justice of India takes over as officiating President of India till a new President is elected.  2201

life.  Besides, she / he gets a free residence, establishment charges, free medical treatment, a mobile after retirement, the President is entitled to a pension of 1.5 lakh per month throughout Do You Know?  PROCEDURE OF ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA The President of India is indirectly elected by an Electoral College consisting of all the elected members of (1) Lok Sabha (ii) Rajya Sabha and (iii) Legislative Assemblies of all the States.  The method of election of the President is unique and novel.  The number of votes of the members of Parliament are equal to the number of votes of all the MLAs of States put together.  Value of votes each MLA of a state assembly has: total population of the state + 1000 number of elected members of a state assembly now, the value of votes of every elected MP: total number of votes of all the elected MLAs of the state assemblies  Number of elected MPs of both the Houses The election of the President is held in accordance with the system of Proportional Representation by means of the Single Transferable Vote System.  Each voter is expected to hope her / his preferences on the ballot paper.  If the candidate of voter's first choice is not getting elected, his / her votes may be transferred to the candidate of his / her second choice and so on till a candidate is declared elected.  A candidate in order to be elected as President, has to secure a Quota, i.e.  An absolute majority of votes cast according to the following formula: Total number of valid votes Quota = +1 2 of all the presidential elections held so far, the second preferences votes were taken into consideration only once and that was in the case of the election  of Mr.  V. V. Giri in 1969.  The MPs can cast their votes either in Delhi or in the state capitals, whereas the MLAS cast their votes in their state capitals only, emoluments and immunities The President of India draws a monthly salary of 25,00,000 and some allowances.  She / He is entitled to a free furnished residence.  Her / His official residence is the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.  phone, internet, etc.  221

Ambusto Pauloman Anerkenab lege love agar b.y.  Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan Mughal Garden, Rashtrapati Bhawan POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT The President of India has executive, legislative, judicial, financial and emergency powers.  Executive Powers Being Head of the Union Executive, all the administrative decisions are taken in her / his name.  She / He makes all the important appointments including those of the Prime Minister, Council of Ministers, governors, Chief Justice and judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Attorney General of India.  The President also appoints the members of Election Commission, Finance Commission, etc.  She / He is the Supreme Commander of India's defense forces.  She / He has the right to be kept informed about all the decisions of the Council of Ministers through the Prime Minister.  Legislative Powers The President (Rashtrapati) is an integral part of Indian Parliament.  The President can summon, prorogue and address the two Houses of the Parliament.  Every year, the first session of the Parliament begins with her / his address.  She / He can dissolve the Lok Sabha before the expiry of its normal termif she / he is advised to do so by the Prime Minster.  No bill passed by both the Houses of the Parliament, becomes a law without her / his consent.  Prior approval of the President is essential before a Money Bill is introduced in Lok Sabha.  Twelve members of Rajya Sabha are nominated by the President from amongst the distinguished persons in the fields of art, science, literature, social service, sports etc.  She / He can also nominate two Anglo - Indians to the Lok Sabha if the community is not adequately represented.  Financial Powers The annual budget of the country is presented in the Parliament in the name of the President.  Like, all Money Bills also require her / his approval before they are introduced in Lok Sabha.  222

death, resignation or impeachment, the Vice President takes over as the officiating President till a fresh election is held.  The new President must be elected within six months.  As officiating President, the Vice President is entitled to all the powers, rights and emoluments due to the she / He has the power to appoint members of the Finance Commission.  In case certain extraordinary situations arise, the President can sanction money to the government out of contingency fund to meet the situation.  Judicial Powers All the judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, including their Chief Justices are appointed by the President.  On appeal for mercy, the President has the power to reduce the sentence or grant pardon or amnesty.  She / He can change the death sentence or can postpone it also.  Emergency Powers in case of extraordinary situations in the country or in one or more states, the President has been entrusted with certain emergency powers.  This can happen in three situations: 1. National Emergency: If the security of the country is threatened by war or external aggression or internal armed rebellion, the President can declare a 'state of emergency for the whole country 2. Breakdown of Constitutional Machinery in  a State: If the government of a state is not being run in accordance with the Constitution, the President can declare emergency in that state.  It is also called Imposition of President's rule in a State.  3. Financial Emergency: When the financial stability of the country is threatened, the President can declare a state of financial emergency.  The emergency powers of the President are not absolute.  She / He can declare a state of emergency only on the written advice of the Council of Ministers.  Although the position of the President of India is just nominal, the Constitution recognizes her / his position as one of authority and prestige.  of at ni ht if at, ey THE VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA The Vice President of India (Uprashtrapati) is elected for a period of five years by all the members of both the Houses of Parliament by the Single Transferable Vote System in accordance with the Proportional  Representaion System.  The Vice President is the ex - officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.  She / He performs the same functions in Rajya Sabha as the Speaker of Lok Sabha does.  Since the Vice President is not a member she / he can exercise his casting vote, whenever the office of the President falls vacant due to Rajya Sabha, she / he does not participate in voting in the House.  However, in the case of tie, ed te nt President of India.  a 223)

Do you know?  The Vice President of India is the Chancellor of the Central Universities and the Governor enjoys a similar position in the States.  UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS According to the Constitution of India, there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.  It will aid and advise the President in the exercise of her / his functions.  The Council of Ministers is responsible to the popularly elected Lower House of the Parliament, i.e.  the Lok Sabha.  The Council of Ministers comprises of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers and the Ministers of State.  The composition of the Council of Ministers starts with the appointment of the Prime Minister by the President of India.  Other ministers are appointed subsequently by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.  There is no fixed qualification for becoming a minister except that a minister must be a member of either House of the Parliament.  In case a non - member is made a minister, she / he can continue only for a maximum period of six months or she / he has to secure a seat in either House of the Parliament within this period, failing which she / he shall cease  to be a minister.  While appointing Prime Minister, the President has no choice or discretion.  Normally, the leader of the majority party in the Lok Sabha is appointed as the Prime Minister.  In case, no single party gets a clear majority, the leader of two or more parties combined together or an alliance is called upon to become the Prime Minister and form the government.  The government headed by such a Prime Minister is called the Coalition Government, The Council of Ministers works collectively as a team.  All the ministers become equally responsible to defend their acts and decisions.  So, all the ministers swim or sink together.  This is called collective responsibility Do You Know?  The Cabinet and the Council of Ministers are not the same bodies.  The Council comprises of the Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers, whereas the Cabinet consists of ministers, who are influential and important members of the party / parties in power.  Functions of the Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers is responsible for the formation of internal and external policy of the country, taking decisions at the national and international levels, to run the administration through 224

Comptroller and Auditor General: an authority which audits all receipts and carefully of the contingency: an event which cannot be predicted with certainty, emoluments: a salary, fee or profit from employment or office.  proportional representation: an electoral system in which parties gain seats in proportion to the number succession: a number of people or things sharing a specified characteristic and following one after the office of profit: a position that brings financial gain or benefit to the person holding it  .  various ministeries, like Defense, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Health, etc.  It also performs certain legislative functions like preparing and approving the annual budget and making laws.  Functions of the Prime Minister The Prime Minister is the pivot and the entire administration revolves around her / him.  As Head of the Government, the Prime Minister enjoys real powers.  The main powers of the Prime Minister are: to form Council of Ministers.  to preside over the meetings of the cabinet as well as Council of Ministers.  to coordinate the working of various departments.  to advise the President to summon or prorogue the session or to dissolve the Lok Sabha before its term expires.  S.at POS.  to advise the President about important appointments like that of Chairman of UPSC, Auditor General of India, Ambassadors, etc.  to act as a link between the President and the Cabinet.  As a leader of the party, her / his opinion carries maximum weight in taking all party decisions.  Her / His views on various political and economic issues are valued and respected.  In a parliamentary form of government, the Prime Minister occupies the most important position and weilds a lot of power.  Keywords ambassador: diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country.  Attorney General a legal officer who represents a country or a state in legal proceedings and gives legal advice to the government.  Government of India and the State governments.  officiating an official in - charge.  of votes cast for them.  e gh other: 225