Government of India
The Government of India is the national authority of the Republic of India. The government is led by the president of India who as head of state holds formal executive power, and thus appoints, as head of government, the prime minister, as well as other ministers. The government has been formed by The prime minister and ministers are members of parliament; they also belong to the Union Council of Ministers, the peak decision-making committee of which is the Indian cabinet.
The government's formal seat is at Parliament House in New Delhi. It has three primary branches: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The Constitution of India vests legislative power in the bicameral Parliament of India, executive power in the Union Council of Ministers, and judicial power in the Supreme Court of India, with the president as head of state. It is a derivation of the British Westminster system, and has a federal structure.
The Union Council of Ministers is responsible to the lower house of parliament, as is the Cabinet in accordance with the principles of responsible government. As is the case in most parliamentary systems, the government is dependent on Parliament to legislate, and general elections are held every five years to elect a new Lok Sabha. The most recent election was in 2024.
After an election, the president generally selects as Prime Minister the leader of the party or alliance most likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Lok Sabha. In the event that the prime minister is not a member of either house of parliament upon appointment, they are given six months to be elected or appointed to parliament.
History
British colonial rule: (1857–1947)
The first seeds of elected responsible government were sown during British colonial rule in India in particular by the Indian Councils Act 1909, commonly known as the Morley-Minto reforms. The Act introduced elections to the Imperial Legislative Council. Before that, governance was carried by an all-European Legislative Council and Viceroy's Executive Council. As such, no Indians were represented in high levels of government before 1909.India's current bicameral Parliament has its roots in the Government of India Act 1919, commonly known as the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms, which introduced a greatly expanded Imperial Legislative Council. It comprised a lower house, the Central Legislative Assembly, with 145 members ; and an upper house, the Council of State, with 60 members.
The next structural modification to the governance of British India, the Government of India Act 1935 was aimed at subsidiarity and devolution of powers away from London: it sought to do this by establishing provincial governments and the creation of civil service institutions. However, it was unpopular amongst Indians and is considered a failure as it did not give Indians self-rule and permanent dominion status as was previously promised.
Dominion: (1947–1950)
Between midnight on 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950, India was an independent, self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations, a constitutional monarchy with a Prime Minister and a Governor-General as the viceregal representative of the head of state, George VI. Its unicameral legislature, the Constituent Assembly, was tasked with drafting the country's constitution.Republic: (1950–present)
The Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950, making India a republic with a president as head of state, replacing the monarch and his viceregal representative, the governor-general. It was based in large part on the Government of India Act 1935, which was itself based on the uncodified constitution of the United Kingdom. It also drew notable inspirations from the constitutions of several other Commonwealth dominions and the French, Soviet, Japanese, German and American constitutions.India today prides itself in being the world's largest democracy, and the 4th largest economy in the world. Even though much remains to be done, especially in regard to eradicating poverty and securing effective structures of governance, India's achievements since independence in sustaining freedom and democracy have been singular among the world's new nations.
Nomenclature
The full name of the country is the Republic of India. India and Bharat are equally official short names for the Republic of India in the Constitution, and both names appears on legal banknotes, in treaties and in legal cases. The terms "Union government", "central government" and "" are often used officially and unofficially to refer to the government of India. The term New Delhi is commonly used as a metonym for the Union government, as the seat of the central government is in New Delhi.Basic structure
The Government of India is modelled after the Westminster system. The Union government is mainly composed of the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary, and powers are vested by the constitution in the council of ministers, parliament, and the supreme court, respectively. The president of India is the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces, while the elected prime minister acts as the head of the executive and is responsible for running the Union government. Parliament is bicameral in nature, with the Lok Sabha being the lower house, and the Rajya Sabha the upper house. The judiciary systematically contains an apex supreme court, 25 high courts, and hundreds of district courts, all subordinate 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 penal code, and the criminal procedure code. Similar to the Union government, individual state governments each consist of executive, legislative and judiciary branches. The legal system as applicable to the Union and individual state governments is based on the English common law and Statutory Law.
Legislature
The powers of the legislature in India are exercised by the Parliament, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Of the two houses of parliament, the Rajya Sabha is considered to be the upper house and consists of members appointed by the president and elected by the state and territorial legislatures. The Lok Sabha is considered the lower house.The parliament does not have complete control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court. However, it does exercise some control over the executive. The members of the Council of Ministers, including the prime minister, are either chosen from parliament or elected there within six months of assuming office. The council as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can be dissolved only when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and can never be dissolved. The members of the Rajya Sabha are elected for a six-year term.
Executive
The executive of government has authority and responsibility to implement laws enacted by the legislature, and for the daily administration of the state through the civil service. The separation of various types of government power, its constraint and its sharing among the separate branches of government is central to the democratic idea of the separation of powers.President
The executive power is vested mainly in the president of India, as per Article 53 of the constitution. The president has all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through subordinate officers as per the aforesaid Article 53. The president is to act following aid and advice tendered by the prime minister, who leads the Council of Ministers as described in Article 74 of the Constitution.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 her or his 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 formally responsible for appointing many high level government officials in India. These high officials include the governors of the 28 states; the chief justice of India; other judges of the supreme court and high courts ; the attorney general; the comptroller and auditor general; the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners; the chairperson and members of the Union Public Service Commission; the officers of the All India Services and Central Civil Services in group 'A'; officers of the Indian Armed Forces; and ambassadors and high commissioners to other countries; among many others. Such appointments are made 'on advice': that is, on the recommendation of ministers
The president, as the head of state, also receives the credentials of ambassadors from other countries, while 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 the de jure commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces.
The president can pardon or reduce the sentence of a convicted person once, particularly in cases involving the punishment of death. Decisions involving pardons and certain other matters are made independently of the advice of the prime minister or the opinion of the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the president exercises any executive power only on the advice of the prime minister.