Introduction

Legislature, executive and judiciary are the three organs of

government. Together, they perform the functions of the government, maintain
law and order and look after the welfare of the people. The Constitution
ensures that they work in coordination with each other and maintain a
balance among themselves. In a parliamentary system, executive and the
legislature are interdependent: the legislature controls the executive, and, in
turn, is controlled by the executive.
In this chapter we shall discuss the composition, structure and function of the
executive organ of the government.
What is an Executive?
The word executive means a body of persons that looks after the
implementation of rules and regulations in actual practice.

Who is in charge of the administration of your school? Who takes

important decisions in a school or a university? In any organisation, some
office holder has to take decisions and implement those decisions. We call this
activity administration or management. But administration requires a body at
the top that will take policy decisions or the big decisions and supervise and
coordinate the routine administrative functioning.
Some office holders decide the policies and rules and regulations and then
some office holders implement those decisions in actual day-to-day
functioning of the organisation.
In the case of government also, one body may take policy decisions and decide
about rules and regulations, while the other one would be in charge of
implementing those rules. The organ of government that primarily looks after the
function of implementation and administration is called the executive.

What are the principal functions of the executive? Executive is the branch of
government responsible for the implementation of laws and policies adopted by
the legislature. The executive is often involved in framing of policy. The official
designations of the executive vary from country to country. Some countries have
presidents, while others have chancellors. The executive branch is not just about
presidents, prime ministers and ministers. It also extends to the administrative
machinery (civil servants). While the heads of government and their ministers,
saddled with the overall responsibility of government policy, are together known
as the political executive, those responsible for day to day administration are
called the permanent executive.
What are the different types of Executive?
Semi-Presidential Executive in Sri Lanka
In 1978 the constitution of Sri Lanka was amended and the system of Executive
Presidency was introduced. Under the system of Executive Presidency, people
directly elect the President. It may happen that both the President and the Prime
Minister belong to the same political party or to different political parties. The
President has vast powers under the constitution. The President chooses the Prime
Minister from the party that has a majority in the Parliament. Though ministers
must be members of the Parliament, the President has the power to remove the
Prime Minister, or ministers. Apart from being the elected Head of State and the
Commander-inChief of the Armed Forces, the President is also the Head of the
Government.
Parliamentary Executive in India

When the Constitution of India was written, India already had some experience
of running the parliamentary system under the Acts of 1919 and 1935. This
experience had shown that in the parliamentary system, the executive can be
effectively controlled by the representatives of the people. The makers of the
Indian Constitution wanted to ensure that the government would be sensitive to
public expectations and would be responsible and accountable. The other
alternative to the parliamentary executive was the presidential form of
government. But the presidential executive puts much emphasis on the president
as the chief executive and as source of all executive power. There is always the
danger of personality cult in presidential executive. The makers of the Indian
Constitution wanted a government that would have a strong executive branch,
but at the same time, enough safeguards should be there to check against the
personality cult. In the parliamentary form there are many mechanisms that
ensure that the executive will be answerable to and controlled by the legislature
or people’s representatives. So the Constitution adopted the parliamentary
system of executive for the governments both at the national and State levels.
According to this system, there is a President who is the formal Head of the
state of India and the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, which run the
government at the national level. At the State level, the executive comprises the
Governor and the Chief Minister and Council of Ministers.

The Constitution of India vests the executive power of the Union formally in the
President. In reality, the President exercises these powers through the Council of
Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President is elected for a period of
five years. But there is no direct election by the people for the office of
President. The President is elected indirectly. This means that the president is
elected not by the ordinary citizens but by the elected MLAs and MPs. This
election takes place in accordance with the principle of proportional
representation with single transferable vote.
The President can be removed from office only by Parliament by following the
procedure for impeachment. This procedure requires a special majority as
explained in the last chapter. The only ground for impeachment is violation of
the Constitution.
Power and position of President
• Article 74 (1): There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and
advise the President who shall in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice.
Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice….., and the
President shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration.
Discretionary Powers of the President

• On the basis of the above discussion can we infer that the President has no discretionary power under
any circumstances? This will be an incorrect assessment. Constitutionally, the President has a right to be
informed of all important matters and deliberations of the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister is
obliged to furnish all the information that the President may call for. The President often writes to the
Prime Minister and expresses his views on matters confronting the country.

“We did not give him any real power but we have made his
position one of authority and dignity. The constitution wants to
create neither a real executive nor a mere figurehead, but a
head that neither reigns nor governs; it wants to create a great
figurehead...”

Jawaharlal Nehru CAD, Vol. VI, p. 734

Besides this, there are at least three situations where the President can
exercise the powers using his or her own discretion. In the first place, we
have already noted that the President can send back the advice given by
the Council of Ministers and ask the Council to reconsider the decision.
Secondly, the President also has veto power by which he can
withhold or refuse to give assent to Bills (other than Money Bill)
passed by the Parliament.
Then, the third kind of discretion arises more out of political circumstances –
appointment of the Prime Minister.
The Vice President of India

The Vice President is elected for five years. His election method is
similar to that of the President, the only difference is that members of
State legislatures are not part of the electoral college. The Vice
President may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Rajya
Sabha passed by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. The Vice
President acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and
takes over the office of the President when there is a vacancy by
reasons of death, resignation, removal by impeachment or otherwise.
The Vice President acts as the President only until a new President is
elected.
 Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

No discussion of government or politics in India, would normally take

place without mentioning one office: the Prime Minister of India. Can you
imagine why this is so? We have already seen earlier in this chapter that
the President exercises his powers only on the advice of the Council of
Ministers. The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister.
Therefore, as head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister
becomes the most important functionary of the government in our
country.
The Prime Minister then decides who will be the ministers in
the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister allocates ranks
and portfolios to the ministers. Depending upon the seniority
and political importance, the ministers are given the ranks of
cabinet minister, minister of State or deputy minister. In the
same manner, Chief Ministers of the States choose ministers
from their own party or coalition. The Prime Minister and all
the ministers have to be members of the Parliament. If
someone becomes a minister or Prime Minister without being
an MP, such a person has to get elected to the Parliament
within six months
Size of the Council of Ministers

• Before the 91st Amendment Act (2003), the size of the Council of
Ministers was determined according to exigencies of time and
requirements of the situation. But this led to very large size of the
Council of Ministers. Besides, when no party had a clear majority,
there was a temptation to win over the support of the members of
the Parliament by giving them ministerial positions as there was no
restriction on the number of the members of the Council of
Ministers. This was happening in many States also. Therefore, an
amendment was made that the Council of Ministers shall not
exceed 15 percent of total number of members of the House of the
People (or Assembly, in the case of the States).
Collective responsibility is based on the principle of the solidarity of the
cabinet. It implies that a vote of no confidence even against a single
minister leads to the resignation of the entire Council of Ministers. It also
indicates that if a minister does not agree with a policy or decision of the
cabinet, he or she must either accept the decision or resign. It is binding
on all ministers to pursue or agree to a policy for which there is collective
responsibility.
In India, the Prime Minister enjoys a pre-eminent place in the
government. The Council of Ministers cannot exist without the Prime
Minister. The Council comes into existence only after the Prime Minister
has taken the oath of office. The death or resignation of the Prime
Minister automatically brings about the dissolution of the Council of
Ministers but the demise, dismissal or resignation of a minister only
creates a ministerial vacancy. The Prime Minister acts as a link between
the Council of Ministers on the one hand and the President as well as
the Parliament on the other. It is this role of the Prime Minister which led
Pt. Nehru to describe him as ‘the linchpin of Government’. It is also the
constitutional obligation of the Prime Minister to communicate to the
President all decisions of the Council of Ministers relating to the
administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation.
The Prime Minister is involved in all crucial decisions of the government
and decides on the policies of the government.
• Thus, the power wielded by the Prime Minister
flows from various sources: control over the
Council of Ministers, leadership of the Lok
Sabha, command over the bureaucratic
machine, access to media, projection of
personalities during elections, projection as
national leader during international summitry
as well as foreign visits.
However, the power which the Prime Minister wields and
actually puts into use depends upon the prevailing
political conditions.
Permanent Executive: Bureaucracy

Who implements the decisions of the ministers?

The Executive organ of the government includes the
Prime Minister, the ministers and a large organisation called
the bureaucracy or the administrative machinery. To
underline the difference between this machinery and the
military service, it is described as civil service. Trained and
skilled officers who work as permanent employees of the
government are assigned the task of assisting the ministers
in formulating policies and implementing these policies.
In a democracy, the elected representatives and the ministers are in
charge of government and the administration is under their control and
supervision. In the parliamentary system, the legislature also exercises
control over the administration. The administrative officers cannot act in
violation of the policies adopted by the legislature. It is the responsibility
of the ministers to retain political control over the administration. India
has established professional administrative machinery. At the same
time, this machinery is made politically accountable. The bureaucracy is
also expected to be politically neutral. This means that the bureaucracy
will not take any political position on policy matters. In a democracy, it is
always possible that a party is defeated in elections and the new
government wants to opt for new policies in the place of policies of the
previous government. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the
administrative machinery to faithfully and efficiently participate in
drafting the policy and in its implementation
The Indian bureaucracy today is an enormously complex system. It consists of the
All-India services, State services, employees of the local governments, and technical
and managerial staff running public sector undertakings. Makers of our Constitution
were aware of the importance of the non-partisan and professional bureaucracy.
They also wanted the members of the civil services or bureaucracy to be impartially
selected on the basis of merit. So, the Union Public Service Commission has been
entrusted with the task of conducting the process of recruitment of the civil servants
for the government of India. Similar public service commissions are provided for the
States also. Members of the Public Service Commissions are appointed for a fixed
term. Their removal or suspension is subject to a thorough enquiry made by a judge
of the Supreme Court.

While efficiency and merit are the norms for recruitment, the Constitution also
ensures that all sections of the society including the weaker sections have an
opportunity to be part of the public bureaucracy.
Persons selected by the UPSC for Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service constitute the
backbone of the higher level bureaucracy in the States. You may know that the collector of a district is the
most important officer of the government at the district level. Do you know that the collector is normally an
IAS officer and that the officer is governed by the service conditions laid down by the central government? An
IAS or IPS officer is assigned to a particular State, where he or she works under the supervision of the State
government. However, the IAS or IPS officers are appointed by the central government, they can go back into
the service of the central government and most importantly, only the central government can take disciplinary
action against them. This means that the key administrative officers of the States are under the supervision
and control of the central government. Apart from the IAS and the IPS officers appointed by the UPSC, the
administration of the State is looked after by officers appointed through the State Public Service Commissions.

Classification of Civil Services

All India Services : Central Services : State Services :

Indian Administrative Indian Foreign Service Provincial Civil Service
Service Indian Custom Service
Indian Police Service
The bureaucracy is an instrument through which welfare policies of the
government must reach the people. But most often, it is so powerful that
people are afraid of approaching a government officer. It is a common
experience of the people that bureaucracy is insensitive to the demands
and expectations of the ordinary citizen. Only if the democratically
elected government controls the bureaucracy, some of these problems
can be effectively handled. On the other hand, too much political
interference turns the bureaucracy into an instrument in the hands of
the politician. Though the Constitution has created independent
machinery for recruitment, many people think that there is no provision
for protecting the civil servants from political interference in the
performance of their duties. It is also felt that enough provisions are not
there to ensure the accountability of the bureaucracy to the citizen.
There is an expectation that measures like the Right to Information may
make the bureaucracy a little more responsive and accountable.
Conclusion

• The modern executive is a very powerful institution of

government. The executive enjoys greater powers compared to
other organs of the government. This generates a greater need
to have democratic control over the executive. The makers of
our Constitution thought with foresight that the executive must
be put firmly under regular supervision and control. Thus, a
parliamentary executive was chosen. Periodic elections,
constitutional limits over the exercise of powers and democratic
politics have ensured that executive organ cannot become
unresponsive.