Responsibility Of Central Council Of Ministers
The ministers are the members of Parliament and as such responsible to the people through the parliament. Mainly there are two aspects to their responsibility.
a) Responsibility To Legislature
The ministry as a body is collectively responsible to the House of People. It is under the constitutional obligation to resign as soon as it loses the confidence of the popular house of the legislature. The collective response House of the People even though some of the ministers may belong to the council of states. The council of ministers usually belong to a political party. As such, the ministers carry on their functions on the basis of collective responsibility. Collective responsibility means owning responsibility by every minister to the Parliament for his or her decisions and programmes. They assume their power, continue in office under the leadership of the Prime Minister.
Every minister must defend the matters not only of his ministry but also those of other ministries. He must not hesitate to support the policies of his colleagues. This collective responsibility brings co-operation and coordination among the ministers. It promotes understanding and adjustments among the ministers.
Ministers are responsible to Parliament for whatever is done in their respective departments. The members of Parliament can put questions and supplementary questions to them. They can move and pass votes of no confidence or censure. They can reject the budget or any other legislation put before the House by the Ministers.
They can move token cuts in the salaries and allowances of the Ministers and thereby indicate that the Ministers do not enjoy the confidence of the House. By all these methods, the Ministers can be made responsible to the legislature. Article 75 clearly provides that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People and not to the Council of States.
If one Minister is defeated, all Ministers are bound to resign because it shows a lack of faith in the Cabinet as a whole. But this does not mean that the whole Cabinet can be made responsible for an error of judgement or maladministration of a single Minister. Similarly, if any Minister is found guilty of corrupt practices, it is only that Minister and not the cabinet as a whole, which is called upon to resign, No Minister is to make any public statement which in any way conflicts with the declared policy of the government Like-wise, no Minister is to make any statement without consulting his colleagues that may commit the Government in any way.
b) Responsibility to President
The principle of individual responsibility of the Minister is embodied in article 75. The ministers are appointed by the President and shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. They shall be individually responsible to the executive head and shall be liable to be dismissed even when they may have the confidence of the legislature. The President can withdraw his pleasure on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Powers and Functions of the Council of Ministers
- The Union Council of Ministers serves as the main agency for the formation and supervision of governmental policies.
- It acts as the symbol of a nation’s unity, integrity and solidarity. It has the following powers and functions.
- Formulation and implementation of various policies and programmes of the Union Government.
- Introduction and piloting of public bills in Parliament.
- Preparation of annual budget and its presentation to the Parliament.
- Offering valuable advice to the President on the appointment of various officers of the Union Government.
- Issue of ordinances in the name of the President.
- Control over the administration of various departments. Safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of a nation by formulating military and foreign policies.
- Participation in the meetings of Parliament.
- Making of Five Year Plans for promoting the welfare of the people.
- Promotion of the interests of the minorities.
- Promotion of the interests of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
- Rescuing the people during natural calamities. Achieving coordination among various departments.
These are the notes for the union legislature.