Government of India

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Legislative, executive and judiciary powers of India
The Government of India (GoI) is a federal government established by the Constitution of
India as the constituted governing authority of the union of 29 states and seven union
territories of a proclaimed and established parliamentary democraticrepublic, constitutionally
called the Republic of India. It is located in New Delhi, the capital of India.
Effecting the Westminster system for governing the state, the federal government is mainly
composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, in which all powers are vested by
the Constitution in the Parliament, the Prime Minister and the Supreme Court. The President of
India is the Head of State and the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces while
the people-elected Prime Minister acts as the chief executive (of the executive branch) and is
responsible for running the federal government. There is a bicameral Parliament with the Lok
Sabha as a lower house and the Rajya Sabha as an upper house. The judicial branch
systematically contains an apex Supreme Court, 24 high courts, and several district courts; all
inferior to the Supreme Court.
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 Indian Penal Code, and the
Criminal Procedure Code. Similar to the federal (union) government, individual state governments
each 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.
The full name of the country is the Republic of India. No other name appears in the Constitution,
and this is the name that appears on legal banknotes, in treaties and in legal cases. The Union
Government, Central Government or Government of India are often used in an official and
unofficial capacity to refer to the Government of India. Because the seat of government is in New
Delhi, "New Delhi" is commonly used as a metonym for the Central Government.
Contents

Legislative branchEdit
Legislative branch in India is exercised by the Parliament and a bicameral legislature consisting of
the Rajya Sabha, and the Lok Sabha. Of the two houses of Parliament, the former is considered to
be the upper house or the Council of States and consists of members appointed by the President
and elected by the state and territorial legislatures. The latter is considered the lower house or
the House of the people.

The Parliament of India in the background

The Parliament does not have complete control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial
review by the Supreme Court of India. However, it does exercise some control over the executive
branch. The members of the cabinet, including the prime minister and the Council of Ministers,
are either chosen from parliament or elected there to within six months of assuming office. The
cabinet as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can
only be dissolved when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house.
Whereas the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house which can never be dissolved though the
members of the Rajya Sabha who are elected for a six-year term.
Executive branchEdit
 The Executive Branch of government is the one 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.
PresidentEdit
Main article: President of India

The Rashtrapati Bhawan, residence of the President of India.

South Block building housing the Ministry of Defence. President is the de jure Head and Commander-in-Chief of the Indian
armed forces.

The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India, as per Article 53 (1) of the
constitution. The President has 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 advice tendered by the Prime Minister, who leads the Council of
Ministers as described in Article 74 of the Constitution of India.
The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. However, in
practice, 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 holds the support of a
majority in the Lok Sabha.
The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:[1]
Governors of States
The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India
 The Attorney General
The Comptroller and Auditor General
The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners
The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission
The President's Officer
The Cabinet Secretary, whose position is equivalent to the Ministers in Central
Government. His/Her work is to facilitate smooth transaction of business in Ministries/
Departments of the Government.[2] The Secretariat held by Cabinet Secretary is termed as
Cabinet Secretariat and assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial
co-ordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/ Departments and evolving consensus
through the instrumentality of the standing/ ad hoc Committees of Secretaries.
Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries[3][4]

The President, as Head of State also receives the credentials of Ambassadors from other
countries, whilst the Prime Minister, as Head of Government, receives credentials of High
Commissioners from other members of the Commonwealth, in line with historical tradition.
The President is de jure the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces.[5]
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.
Vice-PresidentEdit
Main article: Vice President of India
The Vice-President of India is the second-highest ranked government official[citation needed] in
the executive branch of the Government of India, following the President. Vice-President
represents the nation in the absence of the President.The Vice-President also has the legislative
function of acting as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.[citation needed]
Prime MinisterEdit

Prime Minister's Office at the South Block.

The Prime Minister of India, as addressed in the Constitution of India, is the chief of government,
chief adviser to the President of India, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the
majority party in the parliament. The prime minister leads the executive branch of the
Government of India.
The Prime minister is the senior member of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a
parliamentary system. The prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet;
allocates posts to members within the Government; is the presiding member and chairman of the
cabinet and is responsible for bringing a proposal of legislation. The resignation or death of the
prime minister dissolves the cabinet.

The Prime minister is appointed by the president to assist the latter in the administration of the
affairs of the executive.
Cabinet, executive departments and agenciesEdit
Main articles: Union Council of Ministers and List of Indian government agencies
The Cabinet of India includes the Prime Minister and his Cabinet Ministers.[6] Each Minister must
be a member of one of the houses of India's Parliament. The Cabinet is headed by the Prime
Minister, and is advised by the Cabinet Secretary, who also acts as the head of the Indian
Administrative Service. Other Ministers are either as Union Cabinet Ministers, who are heads of
the various Ministries; Ministers of State, who are junior members who report directly to one of
the Cabinet Ministers, often overseeing a specific aspect of government; or Junior Ministers of
State (Independent Charges), which do not report to a Cabinet Minister. As per article 88 of the
constitution, every Minister shall have the right to speak in, and to take part in the proceedings
of, either House, any joint sitting of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament of which he
may be named a member, but shall not be entitled to a vote in the house where he is not a
member.
Civil serviceEdit
Main article: Civil Services of India
The Civil Services of India is the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Republic of
India. The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants.
In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the
administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. These
ministers are accountable to the legislatures which are also elected by the people on the basis
of universal adult suffrage. The ministers are indirectly responsible to the people themselves. But
the handful of ministers are not expected to deal personally with the various problems of modern
administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to enforce it.
Cabinet Secretary of IndiaEdit

The Cabinet Secretariat of India

The Cabinet Secretary of India is the senior most civil servant in the country. The Cabinet
Secretary is the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board of the Republic of India; generally
the senior most officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and head of all civil services
under the rules of business of the Government of India. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's
most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India.
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
1971, 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 co-ordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments
and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/ad hoc 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 report
of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and co-ordinating
activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet
Secretariat.

Judicial branchEdit
The Supreme Court of India

India's independent union 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 Chief
Justice of India. The jury trials were abolished in India in the 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 United States 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, High Courts of
India at the state level, and District Courts and Sessions Courts at the district level.
Supreme CourtEdit
Main article: Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is situated in New Delhi, the capital region of India. The Supreme
Court of India has the power original, appellate 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 on.
In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the
Supreme Court in regard to enforcing 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 and supreme court.
Public interest litigation (PIL)Edit
Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgement 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.
Elections and votingEdit
Main articles: Elections in India and Politics of India
India has a federal government, with elected officials at the federal (national), state and local
levels. On a national level, the head of government, the Prime Minister, is appointed by
the President of India amongst the party which won the majority seats in Lok Sabha. All members
of the federal legislature, the Parliament, are directly elected. Elections in India take place every
five years by universal adult suffrage through first-past-the-post voting system .
State and local governmentsEdit
Main articles: State governments of India, Local government India, and Union territory
 State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India and the chief minister
heads the state government. Power is divided between union government and state
governments. State government's legislature is bicameral in 7 states and unicameral in the rest.
Lower house is elected with 5 years term, while in upper house 1/3 of the total members in the
house gets elected every 2 years with 6-year term.
Local government function at the basic level. It is the third level of government apart from union
and state governments. It consists of panchayats in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas.
They are elected directly or indirectly by the people.
FinanceEdit
See Reserve Bank of India
TaxationEdit
Main article: Taxation in India

India's central bank (Reserve Bank of India)'s headquarters at Mumbai, India's financial capital

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 alcohol, stamp
duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local
governments are empowered by the state government to levy property tax and charge users
for public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[7][8] More than half of the revenues of the union
and state governments come from taxes, of which 3/4 come from direct taxes. More than a
quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state governments.[9]
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 29 states introduced value added tax (VAT) on 1 April 2005 to replace the
complex and multiple sales tax system[8][10]
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.
[11]
Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the 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.

General budgetEdit
The Finance minister of India usually was presents the annual union budget in the Parliament on
the last working day of February. However for the F.Y. 2017-18, this tradition had been changed.
Now budget will be presented on the 1st 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.
The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 200910 was10,208
billion (US$152 billion), of which 6,957 billion (US$103 billion) was towards Non Plan and 3,251
billion (US$48 billion) towards Plan expenditure. Total estimated revenue was6,198
billion (US$92 billion), including revenue receipts of 6,145 billion (US$91 billion) and capital
receipts of 53.45 billion (US$794 million), excluding borrowings. The resulting fiscal deficit
was4,009.96 billion (US$60 billion) while revenue deficit was 2,827 billion (US$42 billion).The
gross tax receipts were budgeted at 6,411 billion (US$95 billion) and non-tax revenue receipts
at1,403 billion (US$21 billion).
India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly five-fold 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. Defense expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been
increasing because of India's desire to project its military prowess beyond South Asia. In 2007,
India's defence spending stood at US$26.5 billion.

IssuesEdit
CorruptionEdit
Main article: Corruption in India
Several ministers are accused of corruption and nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of
parliament had been charged with crimes, including murder, in 2009.[12]
Spending PriceEdit
See also: Subsidies in India
The government provides subsidies on consumable rations like kerosene and agricultural
produce as a welfare state. Statutory Corporations like Food Corporation of India are
compensated by the governments for any potential losses.[citation needed] Progressive attempts
since Liberalisation have been made both at the state and the central level to rationalise these
subsidies through commoditisation & through economies of scale with varying results.[citation
needed] Farmers are given electricity at nominal rates, often free of charge as to
stimulate agricultural production .[13]
On the other hand, India spends relatively less on education, health, or infrastructure. According
to UNESCO, India has a very low public expenditure on higher education per student as compared
to other developing and developed countries.[14]
DeficitsEdit
As per the CIA's The World Factbook, in 2010, India ranked 60th in the world, with respect to the
public debt, with a total of 48.50% of GDP. In 2012, India ranked 63rd, however with public debt
increased to 51.70% of GDP.[15]