Union Government And Administration

Answer : The constitutional amendment 42nd and 44th brought wide changes in the executive power of president. These powers more or less restrained president’s power, where president cannot afford to be more assertive.

Prior to 1976, there was no express provision in the constitution that the president was bound to act in accordance with the advice tendered by the Council of Ministers, though it was judicially established that the president of India was not a real executive but a constitutional head, who was bound to act according to the advice of Ministers, so long as they commanded the confidence of the majority in the House of the People. The 42nd Amendment Act 1976, amended Art. 74(1) to clarify this position.

Again, the Janta govt. retained the foregoing text of Art. 74(1) as amended by 42nd Amendment act. But by the 44th Amendment Act, a proviso was added to Art. 74(1), as president may require the Council of Minister to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the president shall act in accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration. Thus, it can said that, the powers of president prior to these amendments was at his will, but after amendments, these powers more or less became powers of his Ministers.

Through these amendments, president lost its assertiveness, which they used to enjoy before these amendments.

Answer : The Indian Prime Minister occupies a position of exceptional and overwhelming authority and is for all purposes, the real chief executive. The powers listed are, by far, a modest appreciation of the PM’s position. As the working head of the state, he is endowed with such a plentitude of power as no other constitutional ruler in the world possesses.

In India, all the special powers will belong to the Prime Minister in as much as the conventions relating to cabinet government are, in general, applicable. But some of these have been codified in the constitution itself. The power of advising the president as regards the appointment of the other Ministers is, thus, embodied in Art 75(1). As to the function of acting as the channel of communication between the president and the council of Ministers, Article 78 provides it shall be the duty of the Prime Minister – (a) 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, (b) to furnish such information relating to administration of the affairs of the union and proposals for legislation as the president may call for; and (c) if the president so requires to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a minister but which has not considered by the council.

Thus even though any particular Minister has tendered any advice to the president without placing it before the Council of Ministers, the president has the power to refer the matter to be considered by Council of Minister. Thus, the power of the Prime Minister is not Absolute or unchecked.

Answer : The central secretariat, occupies a key position in Indian Administration. The secretariat refers to the conglomeration of various ministries/departments of the central government. The secretariat works as a single unit with collective responsibility as in the case of the council of ministers.

The central secretariat assists the ministers in the formulation of governmental policies. The secretariat makes these available to the minister, thus enabling him to formulate policies. Secondly, the secretariat assists the ministers in their legislative work too.

Other than this, secretariat looks for securing administrative and financial approval to operational programmes and their subsequent modifications, supervision and control over the execution of policies and programems by the executive departments, initiating steps to develop greater personnel and organisational competence both in the ministry/department and its executive agencies, assisting in increasing coordination at the central level, thus it function as the main channel of communication between the government and other concerned agencies like the planning commission. Apart from above, under the secretariat there are a network of agencies which are responsible for the execution of government policies. With the steady expansion in, and increasing complexity of, the government functions the executive agencies have been variously organized to suit the requirement of the job. There are also instances of executive agencies functioning as an integral part of the ministry itself. These are however exceptions.

Answer : Under the parliamentary system of government adopted in India, though formally all the executive powers of the Union Government are vested in the President, in reality, these powers are exercised by the Council of Ministers under the leadership of the Prime Minister as outlined in Article 74(1) of the Constitution. As the Prime Minister chooses the ministers (Article 75) in Indian constitution, he is the virtual ruler of the country as long as he has the parliamentary support. It can be even said that the parliamentary form of government is really a Prime Ministerial form of Government.

The Prime Minister as the Chief Advisor of the President and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers enjoys very extensive powers. He enjoys tremendous power and influence both in the executive and the legislative spheres. All the powers vested in the President by the Constitution are exercised by the Prime Minister. He is the leader of the cabinet, leader of the government and leader of the nation. He enjoys tremendous power and patronage as the holder of the office of the Prime Minister.

Answer : The Central Social Welfare Board was set up in 1953 with the objective of promoting social welfare activities and implementing welfare programmes for women, children and the handicapped through voluntary organizations. It was first organization in post-independence era to achieve people’s participation for implementation of welfare programmes for women and children through non-governmental organization.

The institution has been different from the normal pattern of administration in the Central government. Normally all activities of the government including welfare are carried out through departments, directorates and field offices. Here even the constitution of the Board was on a different basis.

The Programmes implemented by the Board include–socio-economic programmes for needy destitute women, condensed courses of education and vocational training courses on women and girls, awareness generation projects for rural and poor women, family counselling centres/voluntary action bureau, holiday camps the children, welfare extension projects in border areas and balwadis, crèches and hostels for working women, etc. Presently more than 18,000 NGOs are receiving financial assistance and guidance from the Board.

So far the Board has succeeded in promoting more than 10,000 voluntary agencies. Though this is a phenomenal achievement, quality-wise the Board’s work is not commendable. Its emphasis on giving grants mainly for the programme activities has mainly left on voluntary agencies have failed to establish high standard of services in the absence of professional workers. The continuity of the work has also suffered. Their survival is dependent on the Board thereby losing their conceptual role of voluntary sector in a democracy specially action as ‘watch dog’ to the interest of people. They have lost the spirit of self-reliance. Assisting marginal families and that too in a disjointed way and giving unplanned and uneven grants to the same agencies has resulted in competition among voluntary organizations.

If the administration is serious about strengthening voluntary sector in the country for promoting social development and welfare of the people especially those living below the level of poverty, it should be reconsider its commitment to voluntarism. CSWB should have an integrated approach to grant-in-aid. It should be an autonomous Board with democratic decentralization in administration. Voluntary organizations need to be strengthened in the field of development and welfare in particular family and community development. CSWB should be organized for field workers and supervisors. CSWB should undertake studies, research, monitoring and evaluation.

As the constitution declared India a welfare state, the planners were confronted with problem of creating suitable machinery for welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Pandit Nehru, India’s First Prime Minister and Chairman, Planning Commission, assisted by a pioneering voluntary social worker, Dingabhai Deshmukh, decided to provide social welfare in the voluntary sector and the state responsibility was to be in the nature of giving financial and technical assistance.

Beginning was made with giving grants to the existing voluntary organizations, helping new voluntary groups to come up and receiving assistance in areas where these did not exist. This was a right decision but steps should be taken further to improve the effectiveness of the voluntary organizations and make them more accountable.

As in other agencies, there are certain deficiencies in the functioning of the voluntary agencies. Paucity of funds and lack of proper governmental support and cooperation are largely responsible for the fast decline of voluntarism in the social welfare sector in general. They also suffer from acute shortage of devoted volunteers and they have become more self-centred. The chief reasons for the decline of the number of voluntary agencies mere mainly the change in the traditional pattern of living and progressive decline of moral standards with modernization and city living. In addition, internal groupism, bureaucratic attitude of senior members of the agency staff and lack of technical and skilled volunteers. These problems have to be resolved suitably and voluntary agencies should be motivated to ensure a higher quality of service.

Answer : The secretariat is the nerve centre of the government. Policies and decisions of government are articulated through it. The Secretariat refers to the complex of departments whose administrative heads are Secretaries and political heads are ministers. The actions of the Secretariat are treated as those of the government. The Secretariat may be regarded as the extended personality of the council of ministers. In this respect, it assists and advises the latter in the formulation of government policies and programmes. Secondly, as policies are necessarily to be based on the body of data, the Secretariat is engaged in collecting the necessary information, analyzing it, delineating the various alternatives and even recommending a definite course of action on plan. Thirdly it gives direction and guidance to the directorates and other field organizations for the efficient implementation of the government policies and decisions. Fourthly, it monitors the progress regarding implementation of various programmes, evaluates the performance and suggests corrective actions. Fifthly, it acts as the state government’s spokesman.

Below the Secretariat comes the Directorate. The Directorate functions as a link between the Secretariat and the field administration, its head being the rank of Commissioner, Director, Chief Engineer, etc.

The Directorate performs the following functions:

1. It administers the department.
2. It advisers the governmenton policy matters.
3. It frames detailed schemes on approved policies in consultation with the other departments.
4. It carries and approves schemes, watches their progress from time to time, makes or suggests modifications wherever and generally ensures that the schemes fulfill their objectives.

The organization of the directorate on executive departments differs from the organization of the departments in the Secretariat. There is no common nomenclature for the heads of executive departments which differs from department to department and from office to office. Similarly, the status of the heads of executive departments also differs from one another. Hence, the relationship between the Secretariat and the executive department varies as between different types. The executive departments or directorates are autonomous so far as their internal day-to-day work is concerned.

Officers in the Secretariat departments and those in the directorates are expected to maintain close personal contact between them in order to ensure that programmes are formulated after joint consultation and discussion at the appropriate level. There is no inherent conflict between these two counterparts of the machinery of public administration provided that both play the game properly. Attempts of the Secretariat steadily encroaching on the sphere of directorates would seriously affect the cordial relations of both the departments.

Answer : Cabinet is a small body of ministers, which are political heads of very important Ministries, like Defence, External affairs, Finance and Home affairs. Now, these small body or which is called cabinet is very powerful in the sense that, all every functions and important decisions of government are taken by these cabinet ministers.

Cabinet meets normally once in a week and prepare agenda and draft of meeting related to bills to be introduce in parliament. It is cabinet, which coordinates the activities of various ministries. Cabinet is prime policy maker of the country. Cabinet is also move legislative matter in the parliament; it acts as an advisory body to the president of India on important matters.

A glance at the above functions of cabinet makes, it clear that it is cabinet which actually prime mover of political action and the core of Indian political system. In such a set up in normal times, the parliament seems to have little will or initiative of its own. It is simply an instrument in the hands of the cabinet which endorser the decisions of the latter. It is also alleged that the parliament is controlled by the body.

With above discussion it can be easily said that cabinet is functioning as a dictator but it does not mean that it is omnipotent because cabinet is bound by the principle of collective responsibility to parliament and it acts like dictator for too long and unconscious of public interest they have to face central mechanism like question hour to a no confidence motion.

Answer : The cabinet secretariat functions under the leadership of the prime minister who is its minister- in charge at political level. Its administrative head is the cabinet secretary. The cabinet secretary is drawn from the senior most officers of the Indian Administrative Service. A few words may be said of the qualifications required for this most important civil servant of the country. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar had this to say on the subject:

He [the cabinet secretary] should be an administrative officer of the highest rank, selected for the office for his special- qualities of tact, energy, initiative, and efficiency and he should be entrusted as head of the cabinet secretariat with positive function of securing coordination as well as timely and effective action by all departments of the government of India in all matters in which the cabinet as a whole or the prime minister is interested. He should be a person commending the respect and confidence of all ranks of the permanent services.

Although the chief function of the cabinet secretary is to provide assistance to the council of ministers, in fact, he deals primarily with cabinet affairs. For this purpose, though he keeps contact with various ministers, he keeps a close touch with secretaries in charge of different ministries/departments.

In a rather general and loose way, he keeps eye up on the smooth working of the system of communication and consolation amongst the ministries and departments of the central government. He does not have a supervisory function over any of the ministries or departments.

The cabinet secretary, in other words, does not and should not interfere in the working of the departments. Neither does he have any administrative authority in relation to them as each department has a secretary of its own. But, what happens is that, because he is the senior most civil servant, he has to look up to provide guidance and consultation of officials.

From account of his relationship with permanent officials, it would appear that he is a sort of advisor and conscience keeper to all the permanent officials. They come to him for advice and guidance whenever there are interdepartmental difficulties. He seems to be a man in whom all permanent officials have great confidence.

As the head of civil service the cabinet secretary ensures that the morale of the civil servants remains high. He has to act as butter between the politicians and civil servants and protect the interests of the latter in situations of conflict between the two.

The cabinet secretary attends every meeting of the cabinet and also of all the cabinet committees, though in rare cases another senior official of the cabinet secretariat may attend the meeting of a cabinet committee. In the meetings of the cabinet, the cabinet secretary draws up the minutes, which contain the decision taken in that meeting. After the P.M.’s Approval, these are circulated by him to the ministers and the secretaries concerned. The cabinet secretary has to fellow the code of maintaining secrecy. The proceedings of the cabinet shrouded in complete secrecy.

After cabinet decisions are taken, the next duty of the cabinet secretary is to ensure that the decisions are implemented properly. Therefore, what happens is that after a decision is communicated to the ministry, provided it requires further action, he contacts the ministry concerned and asks them what they have done about it and if they not done anything about it, why they have not done anything about it.

Looking at the above varied functions of a cabinet secretary, it is clear, that is, he has to coordinate the activities of various ministries and departments; he has to communicate cabinet decisions to various authorities and departments, a leader of civil services he has to protect the interest of civil servants.

It provides special assistance to Prime Minister in his official work related to cabinet, he has to resolve the conflict between various ministries and above all he attends the all meetings of cabinet and prepares agenda and provides required information to take important decisions. As cabinet secretary is entrusted with such a variety of function, his leadership quality is put to test during his tenure as the cabinet secretary which is a dream post for every bureaucrat.

Answer : The president of India can make too nominations of the Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha, if the community has failed to get adequate representation. Besides, he nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from amongst persons who have made valuable contribution in the field of science, arts or social service.

The president summons the sessions of the parliament. He ensures that a period of not more than six months have elapsed between two sessions. He is also authorized to convene a joint session of parliament and he can also refuse to call joint session, thereby killing the bill, joint session cannot, however he convened for money bills.

After the general elections, the president addresses the inaugural session of the Lok Sabha as well as the budget session. He can address the houses separately or jointly.

The president is also given right to pass ordinances by Article 123. These can be passed only when circumstances compelling such urgent actions and both houses of parliament are not in session. Later on when both Houses meet, it must be notified within six weeks, presidents also have veto power.

A glance at above functions or legislative powers of president makes it clear that Indian constitution confers vast legislative powers on the president.

Answer : The Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat in India have common but dissimilar staff functions.

The PM’s Secretariat came into being on August 15, 1947. Since 1977, it is known as Prime Minister Office (PMO). The PMO is not a very significant part of the governmental machinery, like the Cabinet Secretariat or an important Ministry, but over the years, PMO, starting as a small Secretariat unit attached to the first Prime Minister, has grown into a high profile body. Many a time it usurped the powers of Cabinet Secretariat and actively interfered with the working of various Ministries and Departments.

For instance, during Shastri’s premiership, the PM’s Secretariat emerged as a regular department under a full-fledged Secretary and its influence in top level policy making increased.

Similarly during Indira’s regime too, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat emerged as kingpin of the Indian Political System.

The principal functions of PM’s Secretariat, like to deal with all references which under the rules of business, have to come to PM, to help him discharge his over responsibilities as the chief executive etc. has made the PM’s Secretariat important centre of decision-making thus enhancing PM’s position.

Similarly the Cabinet Secretariat functions under the leadership of the Prime Minister who is its minister-incharge at the political level.

The Cabinet Secretary is the principal staff adviser of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and the Cabinet Committees on important policy matters.

It is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary to assist in coordinating principal administrative activities and policies of the Government of India, to watch the progress of important administrative measures of the Government of India and State Governments. The role which Cabinet Secretariat plays is pivoted to Prime Ministers position.

Answer : Central Secretariat is a collection of various ministries and departments. It is through this body that Union government operates. It is the nodal agency for administering the union subjects and establishing coordination among the various activities of the government.

The tendency of the central secretariat to involve itself in functions which falls within the jurisdiction of the states. Nevertheless, there is a legitimate role for the union government in relation to states’ subject. This role can be stated as under the following:

1. Providing initiative and leadership to the states and, in particular, serving as a clearing house information, intimating details and data about good programmes and methods adopted in one part of the country to the rest of the country.
2. Undertaking research at the national level, confining attention to matters which are beyond the research resources of the states.
3. Undertaking training programmes of a foundational nature, e.g., training of planners and administrators and training of trainers.
4. Attending to functions of the nature of coordination which can only be handled at the centre.
5. Maintaining relations with foreign and international organizations.

In fact the whole issue of centre-relations affects the functioning of the Central Secretariat and, as the respective roles of the two become classified, the ambiguity about the Secretariat’s role is also bound to be mitigated.

Though the Government of India has generally welcomed proposals for ‘level-jumping’ and the desk-officer system in the decisional process, in practice, however the conventional system of cases being handled at almost all levels to have taken deep roots. The need is to exercise greater rigour in applying the norms of efficiency in official systems.

Regarding the desk-officer system, it may be noted that the invincibility of ‘babu bureaucracy’ has not been questioned in any emphatic manner so far. The babus continue to initiate noting on files. The maxims of rationality, simplicity, efficiency and economy have perennial significance and, therefore, there is constant need to strengthen these values in the working of the Central Secretariat of the Government of India.

Answer : Ministries of Home Affairs is one of the most important ministries of the Government of India. It is responsible for providing internal security and maintaining law and order in the country. The ministry has some attached and subordinate offices and also advisory bodies attached to it.

Structure: The Ministry is headed by Home Minister, who is one very senior minister of the cabinet. He is also a very active party member. He is assisted by Secretary who is also a very Senior Civil Servant. In the Ministry there are many divisions. Some such important divisions are dealing with (a) Foreigners (b) Services (c) Judicial Affairs (d) Administrative Vigilance (e) Establishment (f) Accounts (g) UTs (h) All India Services (i) Planning (j) Police (k) Foreign Affairs (l) Staff Welfare (m) Propagation of Hindi (n) Kashmir Affairs (o) Police and Political Affairs etc.

The Ministry has following important departments and bureaus:

1. Department of Home
2. Department of Official Languages, Inter State Council Secretariat
3. Department of J & K Affairs
4. Bureau of Police Research and Development
5. Central Industrial Security Force
6. Directorate General of Security Force
7. National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences
8. National Crimes Records Bureau
9. Department of States
10. Department of Internal Security

Down below the Secretary is the Joint Secretary. The work of divisions has been divided among the joint secretaries and each joint secretary supervises the work of two and three divisions. Then comes the Deputy Secretaries. After this come Under Secretaries and Section Officers and their other staffs. For Kashmir Affairs there is also an Additional Secretary.

Along with above, the Ministry has many attached offices and subordinate offices.

Functions: The Ministry of Home Affairs discharges certain vitally important responsibilities that are becoming increasingly onerous and complex. The major functions of the Home Ministry are:

1. Law and Order: Police and Public Order are the responsibility of the state governments. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs monitors trends and developments in the law and order situation and matter relating to communal harmony and internal security of the country. It provides guidance and assistance to the states as and when necessary. It also keeps watch on the administration in the states, to see that it is carried on in accordance with the provision of the constitution.
2. Indian Police Service: IPS is administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is the cadre controlling authority for the Indian Police Service. It looks after service matters for IPS like appointment, deputation to the centre, training fixation of seniority and pay, etc.
3. Central Para-Military Forces: The States and Union Territory administrations are responsible for the maintenance of public order. However, the Central Government assists them by providing Central Para-Military Forces as and when needed, the CRPF being the primary force meant for this purpose.
   • The Ministry of Home Affairs also administers the National Security Guard (NSG) which is a specialized force counter terrorism and anti-hijacking operations and CISF, meant for providing security and protection to the public sector undertakings.
4. Centre-State Relations: The matters related with Centre-State relations are the responsibility of this ministry. The council in its eight meetings held so far has completed considerations of at the 247 recommendations on Centre-State relations.
5. Modernisation of State Police Forces: The Ministry of Home Affairs has been implementing a scheme for modernization of police forces since 1969-70 to supplement the efforts of the state governments to modernize their police forces. The schemes provides assistance to state governments for procuring vehicles as well as equipment for communication, training, forensic science, laboratories, light weaponry and aids to investigation etc.
6. UTs: The administration of union territories is guided, controlled and coordinated by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
7. Rehabilitation: The Rehabilitation Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs is concerned with the formulation of policies and drawing up of programmes and schemes for relief and rehabilitation of Indian origin displaced from other countries.

There are few major challenges faced by Ministry of Home Affairs:

1. The growing internal security in the various parts of the country is the major problem in front of Home Ministry – north-east infiltration, naxal-violence and other such critical issues.

Kashmir issue is another challenge which the country is facing since independence. Instability of the region has become major socio-economic menace for the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs needs to tackle in more efficient manner.

Answer : The president has a right to obtain information from the Prime Minister. Art. 78 of the constitution states that it is the duty of the PM 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 and to furnish information to the president as called for by latter.

Under Art. 78, it shall be the duty of the Prime Minister if the president so requires, to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered by the council. As president is the formal head of administration, and as such, all executive action of the Union must be expressed to be taken in the name of the president.

Art. 78 of the constitution provide Prime Minister as to function of acting as the channel of communication between the president and the Council of Ministers.

Thus even though any particular Minister has tendered any advice to the president without placing it before the Council of Minister, the president has (through the Prime Minister) the power to refer the matter to be considered by the Council of Ministers. The unity of the cabinet system will thus be enforced in India through the provisions of written constitution.

Answer : The cabinet secretariat is a staff body, which has premier coordinating role in process of policy making at the highest level and operates under PM’s direction. The cabinet secretariat in India as an innovation in the central administration has been emulated from the British experience.

The cabinet secretariat ensures that the president, the vice-president and ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all the ministries/ departments by means of monthly summary of their activities.

The cabinet secretariat as per as its organisation is concerned is organized in three wings: (i) the Civil wing (ii) the Military wing and (iii) the Intelligence wing.

As per we have the secretariat for the various Ministries and Departments headed by the various Secretaries the cabinet also has a separate Secretariat. It effectively coordinates the working of the cabinet and its committees and sub-committees, to provide secretarial support for transacting the business of the cabinet. It facilitates the smooth working of the cabinet committees and sub-committees. It keeps the president, while discussing the problem of making a choice between U. S. presidential model and the British parliamentary model, both of which were democratic. Dr. Ambedakar, had said in the Constituent Assembly:

“A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions-(i) It must be a stable executive and (ii) It must be a responsible executive. Unfortunately it has no been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both in equal degree. You can have a system which can give you more stability but less responsibility or you can have a system which gives you more responsibly but less stability. The American and the Swiss systems gives more stability but less responsibility. The British system on other hand gives you more responsibility but less stability. The Draft Constitution in recommending the parliamentary system of executive has preferred more responsibility to more stability”.

Lastly, we should not forget that during the last hundred years, Indian public life has largely drawn upon the traditions of British Constitutional Law. For the last 60 years, some kind of responsibility has been introduced in the governance of this country. Our constitutional tradition has become parliamentary.

Vice-president and all other Ministries informed about the activities of the Government, conducted in several Ministries. Again it helps in coordinating various conferences convened by the different ministries. Further it looks on the implementation of the cabinet decisions by the ministries concerned. The head of the cabinet secretariat is the cabinet secretary. He is an administrative officer of the highest rank, selected for the office for his special qualities of tack, energy, initiative and efficiency. He commands the confidence and respect of all Heads of Departments.

The secretariat assists the committees of secretaries, which meet occasionally under head of the cabinet secretary to consider problems, which require consultation among ministers. It lays down the rules of business and distributes work as directed by the Prime Minister.

Thus, cabinet secretariat brings to a large extent efficiency to the cabinet.

Answer : The Prime Minister of India is the most important personality in the country. He is the real head of the state and the keystone of the cabinet arch. However, the classical doctrine that PM is the first among the equals, now stands discredited.

By far the most significant man in the Indian political system is the Prime Minister, its leader. He is the heart of cabinet, focal point of the political system. He is the real executive of country. A phrase traditionally applied to the PM has been ‘primus inter pares’ – first among equals. If he is like Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, he will imprint his stamp on the cabinet. If he does not possess the qualities of leadership like V.P. Singh, Narsimha Rao or H.D. Deve Gowda, the entire cabinet will lack decisiveness.

But the power or positions of PM is more visible through office of the Prime Ministers than phrases. To quote Nehru, “I am also something, after all I am the PM of India and PM is PM. He can lay down the policies of government and that in the constitution, the PM is the linchpin of government. To say that the PM cannot make a statement is a monstrous statement in itself.”

However, the study of evolution of the office of the Prime Minister shows what the PM will be depends on his personality. The personality of Nehru was such that he was loved and respected throughout the country. His decisions were accepted without much hesitation. Shastri became a hero and an embodiment of courage after Indo-Pak war. Indira Gandhi glorified that great office and became the undisputed leader of India.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat came into being on August 15, 1947 when India achieved independence. Since 1977, it is known as Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

In normal scheme of things, the Prime Minister’s Office is not a very significant part of the governmental machinery, like the cabinet secretariat or an important Ministry/Department, but over the years, the PMO, starting as a small secretariat unit attached to the first PM Nehru, has grown into a high profile body. Many a time, it has usurped the powers of the Cabinet Secretariat and actively interfered with the working of the various Ministries.

Nehru established a very healthy precedent for functioning of the PMO. During Lal Bahadur Shastri’s premiership, the PM’s Secretariat emerged as a regular department under a full-fledged secretary and its influence in top-level policy making increased. Shastri for all his apparent lack of skill in the art of administrations, thus created an instrument on which he could rely completely.

During Indira Gandhi’s tenure of office as Prime Minister, PMO emerged as kingpin of the political system. The real change at the PMO came in 1967, when P.N. Haskar took over, the PMO then became the main centre of governmental activities, controlling directly and indirectly the whole of government. The planning and execution of the Bangladesh war was the visible sign of PMO’s supremacy in coordinating government activities.

During the Janata regime of 1977-79, efforts were made to reduce its excessive importance, the number of personnel was reduced and it was designated as the PMO.

Thus, the role of the PMO has evolved and varied from PM to PM. As the thing stand today, a PM has to have a strong PMO. Yet it should only be a highly professional body, rendering free and fair advice to the PM.

Answer : The constitution provides that there shall be a council of Ministers with the PM at the head to aid and advise the President who shall act with such advice as tendered. The council of ministers does not hold frequent meetings. The real business is transacted by the cabinet presided over by the PM.

Cabinet Committees are basically an organizational device for increasing the output of any busy and overloaded agency.

Cabinet Committees save the time of cabinet because the issues are discussed in these committees in detail and only key issues are brought out for the decisions of the cabinet. Thus it makes the task of the cabinet much easier.

Secondly, the committee system safeguards the principal of collective responsibility, which is the basic feature of the Cabinet System. Those ministers who are not able to involve into cabinet meetings, but as they are collectively responsible for such decisions. Such ministers can be included in the cabinet committees.

Thirdly, these committees can also act as a collective check on individual ministers and on the PM, too.

Lastly, these committees focus supra-ministry attention on particular sector of administration, short of cabinet level consideration and the PM’s intervention. These committees facilitate the inter-departmental co-ordination by enabling the ministers to bargain and compromise with each other and reducing the pressure of work on the cabinet.

Thus it can concluded by saying that it is the Cabinet Committees that have saved the cabinet system of government which would otherwise have crumbled under pressure of work.

Answer : Human resources development plays a crucial role in the socio-economic development of a country. Although development brings economic gains to society, in general, specific measures become necessary to ensure that they reach the weaker sections of society such as women, children, the disabled and the destitute. The creation of Central Social Welfare Board in 1953 was such measure. It was established to promote and assist voluntary organizations in the field of women welfare, child welfare and welfare of handicapped.

The Central Social Welfare Board was constituted through a resolution of Government of India in 1953. Later it was registered as a charitable company under the Indian Companies Act 1956 with effect from April 1, 1959.

The administration of the affairs of the Board rests with the “Executive Committee” which comprises 15 members nominated by the Government of India from amongst the members of the Board. It meets once in two months. The chairman of the Board is its chief executive. The Executive Director functions directly under him. He is responsible for all aspects of the working of the Board and performs many managing and advisory functions.

The work of the board is divided into five divisions each headed by a “Joint Director” responsible to the Executive Director. These divisions are: (i) Industrial Programme Administrative Division (ii) Welfare Programme Administrative Division (iii) Administrative Division (iv) Finance and Accounts Division (v) Planning, Monitoring and Coordination Division.

The main objectives of the Central Social Welfare Board are:

1. To study the needs and requirements of social welfare organizations from time to time through surveys, research and evaluation in such a manner as may be considered necessary.
2. To evaluate the programmes and projects of the aided agencies.
3. To promote the setting up of voluntary social welfare organizations.
4. To promote social welfare activities.
5. To organize/promote programmes of training in social work.
6. To organize emergency relief in cases of calamity.

The Central Social Welfare Board is a unique and pioneering organization outside the governmental framework, integrating the governmental and non-governmental resources to deliver welfare services to women, children and other socially and physically handicapped sections of the society. It functions as the focal and apex agency in the voluntary sector.

A social service organization should have flexibility to enable it to function with greater efficiency. The justification for creation of board lays in the nature of welfare work, which cannot be easily administered within the procedural framework of a government department. However, it follows government procedures of work and lays more emphasis on observance of the prescribed rules and regulations. It thereby creates rigidity in administration and centralization of authority which defeats the spirit behind a social welfare institution which should have flexibility in its organization and economy in its functioning.

For a satisfactory implementation of welfare programmes, it is essential that the relationship of the voluntary and government sector should be complementary. Voluntary organizations’ basic assets are flexibility, greater capacity for experimentation, nearness to the people and sensitivity to new problems. Thus, they should be included in decision-making process and not be reduced as more grant receiving agencies. Centralised and rigid administration is a great handicap in Central Social Welfare Board’s functioning effectively. Flexibility and decentralization empowering the field organizations would help effective coordination with local voluntary organizations.

Answer : Our constitution has provided for a Parliamentary form of government. The President here is the constitutional head of the country. He is not the head of Executive. He represents the nation but does not rule the nation. He is the symbol of the nation.

Nehru while presenting the principles of the union constitution wanted to emphasise the ministerial character of the government that power really resides in the ministry and in the legislature and not in the President as such. At the same time the constitution framers did not want to make the president just a mere figurehead like the French President. Instead without giving any real power, the constitution wanted his position to be one of authority and dignity as the German President.

The French President was elected as per the constitution of the Fourth Republic by the Parliament. He was given a large number of powers but there was not much substance in them. The result was that he became absolutely a figurehead. The German President was far from the usual sort of titular executive. Fitted into the cabinet system and endowed with powers, which in the main he was not expected to exercise as personal prerogatives, he was regarded as “a definite centre, an immovable pole”.

To give a position of dignity and authority, the Indian president was elected on a broad based electoral college, given executive powers. Our constitution provides that it is the duty of Prime Minister to communicate to the President all decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of affairs of the union and proposals for legislation. The president has powers to require the Council of Ministers to reconsider the advice given by council of ministers before acting on any advice. These provisions, add on to the dignity of the office of the President of India.

Answer : The secretariat system is a collection of various ministries and departments. It is through this body that the government operates. It is the nodal agency for administering governmental subjects at union as well as state level. Its work is continuous in nature as unlike political representative it is permanent in nature. It means the political head may be changed and the party in governance may be changed after elections but the secretariat always keeps working. In this way it provides continuity and consistency in working.

The secretariat is the conglomeration of difference departments of government headed by their own secretary. The political head of that department is assisted by the respective secretary in the transactions of business. This advice that these political executive gets from the secretariat is of immense value.

The secretariat serves as a nucleus for the machinery of a ministry because it performs many vital functions which provides basic inputs for the ministry’s work. These includes makingand modifying policies, drafting bills, rules and regulations, undertaking sectoral planning and programme formulation, budgeting and controlling expenditure. Exercising supervision and control over the execution of policies, co-ordinating and interpretingpolicies, initiating measures to develop greater organizational competence etc. Together with these functions the secretariat also functions as a think tank and virtual treasure-house of vital information. Before taking any action the secretariat carries out a comprehensive and detailed scrutiny of issues and it can also take the help and coordinate with other ministries. It also functions as main channel of communication and information between different states and between states and union. It also searches for feedback of any policy.

In this way it do not only perform as the basic instrument to the government machinery but also its competence, hard work gives the governmental policies a realistic outlook.