IX Chapter- 4 WORKING OF INSTITUTIONS

 

IX Chapter- 4

WORKING OF INSTITUTIONS

Need for Political Institutions

*A government has to perform various duties, formulate policies and implement them.

*Some have to formulate schemes, some have to take decisions, some have to implement the decisions.

*Hence the need for institutions to do all the above.

*The Constitution of a country lays down basic rules on powers and functions of each institution.

*The institutions are the Legislative (Parliament), the Executive (the Government) and the Judiciary.

Parliament

(i) It is needed as final authority to make laws in the country.

(ii) To exercise control over the workings of the government.

 (iii) To control the expenditure of the government, and control public money.

(iv) As the highest forum of discussion and debate it decides public issues and national policies.

*Two Houses of Parliament – Difference

Lok Sabha

1.It  is  the  House  of  the  People.

2. It  has  543  Elected members  and  2 nominated members

3. The members are directly  elected  by  people  as  representatives  through  elections.

4. It  is  addressed  by  the  speaker.

5. The term of members is 5  years

Rajya Sabha

1.It  is  the  Council  of  States.

2. It  has  233  members  (and  12  nominated  by President)

3. The  members  are  indirectly elected.

4. It  is  addressed  by  the Vice  President    of  India.

5. 1\3  members   retire  after every 2 years. So  the  term  of  each  member is 6 years .

Comparison of powers

On most matters, Lok Sabha exercises supreme power and is  more powerful than Rajya Sabha.

1.  Any ordinary bill needs for to be passed by both the houses. But if  there is a difference between the two,   final decision is taken in  a joint session  in  which  members  of  both  Houses  sit.  Because  of  the  larger  number of members, the view of the Lok Sabha is likely to prevail.

2.  Lok Sabha exercises more power on money matters. Rajya Sabha  can only delay these by 14 days or suggest changes.

3.  Lok  Sabha  controls  the  council  of  Ministers.  Only  a  person  who   enjoys the support of majority of members of  LS is appointed the PM.  If the majority of Lok Sabha members have no confidence in Council  of Ministers, all ministers  with the PM, have to quit.  The Rajya Sabha does not have this power.

Executive

Executive is the  in  charge  of  the  execution and implementation   of  the  policies  of  the  government.

The two kinds of executive are:

1.  Political executive

It  is   elected  by  the  people  for  a  specific  period.  Political  leaders  who  take  big  decisions .

2.   Permanent executive

The  Civil  servants  are  appointed  for  a  long  turn  basis.  They  remain  in  office  even  when  the  ruling party changes

Comparison between Executives

In a democracy the will of the people is Supreme. The minister is  elected by the people and thus empowered to exercise the will of  the people on their behalf. He or she is finally answerable to the people  for  all  the  consequence  s  of  its  decisions.  That  is  way  political executive has more powers than non- political executive

Cabinet – Sectratariat

Every  ministers   has  Sectraries  who  are  civil  servants.  The  secretaries provide the necessary background information to the  ministers to take decisions. The Cabinet as a team is assisted by

the Cabinet Secretariat. This includes  many senior civil servants  who try to Co-ordinate the working of different ministers.

Office  Memorandum 

Office  Memorandum  is  a  communication  issued  by  an  appropriate  authority  stating  the  policy  or  decision  of  the  government.

President  : A nominal Head

The President is  the head of the State who exercises only nominal  powers.  The  President  of  India  is  like  the  queen  of  Britain  whose  functions  are  to  a  large  extent  ceremonial . The  President  supervises  the  overall functioning of all  the  political  institutions  in  the country  so that  they  operate  in  harmony  to  achieve   the  objectives  of  the  State.  

 The  President  can  never  claim  the  kind  of  direct  popular  mandate  that  the  Prime Minister  enjoys. This ensures that he  remains a nominal executive  only.  All  government  activities take place in  the name  of the  President.  All laws and major policy decisions of the government are issued in her  name. All major appointments are made in the President’s  name. But the  President exercises all these powers only on the advice of the Council of  Minister and the Prime Minister.

Declaration of Emergency

A state of emergency can be declared under the following conditions:

(i) Increase of external aggression or armed rebellion;

(ii) It the government machinery of a state breaks down;

(iii) If there is a threat to the financial stability of the country. Under these circumstances the President can impose a state of emergency and this is called President rule.

Appoints the Prime Minister

 

The Prime Minister is appointed by the President. But he cannot appoint anyone he likes.

He appoints the leader of the majority party or the coalition of the parties that commands a majority in the Lok Sabha, as Prime Minister.

In case no single party or alliance gets a majority, the President appoints the person most likely to secure a majority support.

Council of Ministers

 

Cabinet ministers are the top-level leaders of the ruling party or parties, and are in charge of the major ministries.

Ministers of state with independent charge are on the other hand usually in-charge of smaller ministeries.

The decisions are taken in cabinet meetings and the other ministers have to follow these decisions.

 They attend the cabinet meeting only if they are invited.

Coalition politics

The rise of coalition politics has imposed certain constraints on the power of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister of a coalition government cannot take decision as he likes.

He has to accommodate different groups and factions in his party as well as among alliance partners.

He also has to heed to the views and positions of the coalition partners and other parties on whose support the survival of the government depends.

Prime Minister the most powerful Political Figure

 

The Prime Minister has wide-ranging powers as head of the government. He chairs cabinet meetings, coordinates the work of different departments.

His decisions are final. All ministers work under him/his leadership. He distributes and redistributes work to the ministers.

He also has the power to dismiss them and when he quits the entire ministry quits. The Prime Minister controls the cabinet and the Parliament through the party.

Powers of the Prime Minister

As the head of the government the Prime Minister has wide-ranging powers.

(i) He chairs cabinet meetings

(ii) He coordinates the work of different Departments.

(iii) He exercises general supervision of different ministries.

 He can and does dismiss ministers. When the Prime Minister quits the entire ministry quits.

Organization of Indian judicial system

 

An independent and powerful judiciary is considered essential for democracies.

All the courts at different levels in a country put together are called the judiciary.

The Indian judiciary consists of a Supreme Court for the entire nation, High Courts in the states, district courts and the courts at the local level.

 India has an integrated judiciary. It means the Supreme Court controls the judicial administration in the country.

Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the country.

It is the highest court of appeal in civil and criminal cases.

Powers of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court can take up disputes between:

(a)  Citizens of the country

(b)  Citizens and government

(c)  Two or more State Governments

(d)  Governments at the union and state level.

It is the highest court of appeal in civil and criminal cases. It can hear appeals against the decisions of the High Courts.

 The Supreme Court has the power to interpret the Constitution of the country.

It can determine the constitutional validity of any law. This is known as judicial review.

Public interest  litigation

In  recent  years  the  Courts  have  given  several  judgements  and  directives to protect public interest and human rights.

Anyone can  approach  the  court  if  public  interest  is  hurt  by  the  actions  of  the

government.  This  is  called  Public  Interest  Litigation.

 The  courts  intervene to prevent the misuse of the government power to make  decisions.

They check malpractices on the part of public officials.

Therefore,  judiciary  enjoys  a  high  level  of  confidence  among  the  people.

Independent Indian Judiciary

The  judges   do  not  act  on  the  direction  of  the  government  or

according to the wishes of parties in power.

* The  judges  of  SC  and  HC  are  appointed  by  the  President  on  the  advice of  the Prime  Ministers and  in consultation  with  the  Chief  Justice of the Supreme Court.

*In practice it now means that the senior judges of the SC select the

new judges.* There is very little scope for interference by the political executive.

*Once a person is appointed as judge of the Supreme or High Court,  it is nearly impossible to remove him or her from that positions as  difficult as removing the President of India.

*A judge can be removed only by an  impeachment  motion  passed  separately  by  two-third  members  of  the  two  houses  of  the  Parliament.

*The  Supreme  Court   and  the  High  Court  have  the  power  to  interpret the constitution of our country.

Need of Independence of the judiciary

*Independence of the judiciary is essential in a democracy so that it does not act under the control and direction of the legislature or the executive.

*The judges do not act according to the wishes of the government, i.e. the party in power. Indian Judiciary is powerful in the sense that it can declare only law invalid if it is against the constitution.

*Thus Indian judiciary acts as a guardian of the Fundamental Rights which is essential for a democracy.       

Procedure to remove a judges

The procedure to remove a judge is called impeachment. An impeachment motion is passed separately by two thirds members of the two Houses of the Parliament. Thus the judges who are appointed by the President cannot be removed by the President alone.

Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have to pass a resolution by two-thirds majority to remove a judge.

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