NCERT Summary Executive - 1 - Indian Polity for UPSC CSE

The Executive

What is an Executive?

The executive is the organ of government primarily responsible for implementation, administration and day-to-day governance. It gives effect to laws and policies adopted by the legislature and runs the machinery of the state.

Principal functions of the Executive

• Implement laws and policies formulated by the legislature.
• Frame and propose policy initiatives and programmes for consideration by the legislature.
• Administer government departments and public services through the civil service and other agencies.
• Represent the state in external and internal affairs, including defence, diplomacy and public order.

Different Types of Executive

Political systems distribute executive power differently. The main models are:

• Presidential system: The President is both Head of State and Head of Government; the office is powerful in theory and practice. Examples: United States, Brazil and many Latin American countries.
• Semi-presidential system: Both a President and a Prime Minister share executive responsibilities. The President is directly elected and may share power with a PM who is responsible to the legislature. Examples: France, Russia, Sri Lanka.
• Parliamentary system: The Prime Minister is the Head of Government and is responsible to the legislature; a President or monarch is usually a nominal Head of State with mainly ceremonial functions. Examples: United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal.

Parliamentary Executive in India

India follows the parliamentary form of government, influenced by earlier experience under the Government of India Acts (1919 and 1935). The parliamentary system was chosen because it makes the executive responsible and accountable to the representatives of the people and thereby more sensitive to public expectations.

• The Constitution provides for a formal Head of State (the President) and a real executive in the form of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, who are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• The parliamentary form reduces the concentration of power in a single individual and offers better legislative control over the executive than a presidential system.

Structure at Union and State levels

• At Union level the executive comprises the President, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.
• At State level the executive comprises the Governor, the Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers.
• While the Governor is appointed by the President, the Chief Minister is the leader of the majority party in the State Assembly; the Governor has certain discretionary powers not exercised by the Chief Minister.

The President

• The President is the highest executive authority of the Union and is the Head of State, representing the Republic of India.
• The Constitution vests in the President all executive powers of the Union; however, most powers are exercised on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
• The President is described as the first citizen of India.

Qualifications and election

• Article 58 deals with the qualifications for election as President.
• Essential qualifications: must be a citizen of India; must have completed the age of 35 years; must be qualified to become a member of the Lok Sabha; must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State.
• The President is elected indirectly by an Electoral College consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. (Nominated members of Parliament and State Legislatures do not participate in the Presidential election.)

Powers and functions

The President's powers and functions are exercised in normal times and during emergencies. They are conventionally classified as executive, legislative and judicial powers.

• Executive powers: Appointment powers include the Prime Minister and other Ministers, the Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, the Chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Attorney General of India, the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, and other constitutional office-holders and heads of statutory bodies.
• Legislative powers: The President summons, prorogues and dissolves the Parliament; addresses both Houses after every general election and at the beginning of the first session each year; recommends money bills; and can promulgate ordinances when Parliament is not in session.
• Judicial powers: Under Article 72 the President has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, remissions of punishment, or commute sentences in certain cases under central law; the President's clemency power applies to offences under central law, court-martial sentences and cases involving death sentences.
• The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Pardoning powers of the President

When the President acts in respect of punishment or sentence of a convicted person, the action is exercised as a part of clemency or pardoning powers. These take several forms:

• Pardon - complete forgiveness of the offence and removal of punishment.
• Reprieve - temporary suspension of punishment, often to allow time for appeal or mercy petition.
• Remission - reduction of the period of the sentence without changing its nature.
• Respite - reduction of the sentence to mitigate the pain of punishment on grounds such as pregnancy or youth.
• Commutation - substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter one (for example, death sentence commuted to life imprisonment).

Emergency powers

The President may proclaim three distinct types of emergency, under specific constitutional provisions:

• National Emergency (Article 352): Proclaimed on grounds of war, external aggression or armed rebellion; it alters the federal distribution of powers and can suspend many fundamental rights.
• State Emergency / President's Rule (Article 356): Proclaimed when there is a failure of constitutional machinery in a State; the President can assume to himself the functions of the State Government or direct the Governor on administration.
• Financial Emergency (Article 360): Proclaimed when the financial stability or credit of India is threatened; it permits the Centre to direct States on financial matters and to alter allocations.

Article 74 and aid & advice

• Article 74(1) provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President in the exercise of his functions; the President normally acts in accordance with such advice.
• The President may, in certain situations, ask the Council of Ministers to reconsider their advice once; after reconsideration the President will act in accordance with the advice tendered.

Discretionary powers of the President

Although most powers of the President are exercised on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, the Constitution and conventions recognise a few situations where the President may exercise judgment. Examples are:

• Requiring the Council of Ministers to reconsider advice once.
• Withholding assent to certain bills or returning them to Parliament for reconsideration (suspensive veto); in limited circumstances a bill may remain pending (often termed a pocket veto).
• Appointment of a Prime Minister when no party has a clear majority in the Lok Sabha; the President must use judgement to find a person who is likely to command majority support.

Vice President

• The Vice President is elected for a term of five years by an Electoral College consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament (elected and nominated members both participate in the Vice-Presidential election).
• The Vice President is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• Removal from office is by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha; the Vice President acts as President in the event of a vacancy caused by death, resignation, removal or otherwise, until a new President is elected.

Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers

• The Prime Minister is the head of the government and the leader of the Council of Ministers; in practice the Prime Minister is the most important government functionary.
• The Prime Minister must command the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister advises the President on the appointment of other ministers and allocates portfolios and ranks (Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers).
• All ministers must be members of Parliament; a person may be appointed minister for up to six months without being a member, but must get elected to either House within six months.
• The Prime Minister acts as the principal link between the President, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament, and exercises leadership in policy-making and administration.

Size of the Council of Ministers

• An amendment limits the size of the Council of Ministers at the Union and State levels: it shall not exceed 15 per cent of the total number of members of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) or the Legislative Assembly (in case of States). This prevents overly large ministries and encourages efficient government.
• The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha; if the Council loses a vote of confidence it must resign.

Collective responsibility

• Collective responsibility is based on cabinet solidarity: the entire Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha for government policy and actions.
• A no-confidence motion against the Council as a whole requires the resignation of the entire Council if it is passed.
• If a minister disagrees with cabinet policy, convention requires that he or she either accept the collective decision or resign.

The State level

• States follow a similar parliamentary executive model: the Governor is the constitutional Head of State at the State level, while the Chief Minister and the State Council of Ministers exercise executive power and are responsible to the State Legislative Assembly.
• The Governor has certain discretionary powers not enjoyed by the Chief Minister; in practice the central government's advice influences the Governor's exercise of power.

Permanent Executive (Bureaucracy)

• The permanent executive consists of the bureaucracy or administrative machinery that implements government policy. It operates continuously, irrespective of changes in political leadership.
• India's administration comprises All-India Services (for example, Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service), State services, local government officials, technical and managerial staff and public sector enterprise managers.
• The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts recruitment for many central services; State Public Service Commissions recruit for State services. Members of these commissions serve for fixed terms and enjoy security of tenure, with removal or suspension subject to constitutional safeguards involving judicial inquiry.
• The bureaucracy is the primary vehicle through which welfare policies and public services reach citizens.

Problems and accountability

• Concerns about the bureaucracy include political interference, lack of responsiveness to ordinary citizens, corruption, delay and insensitivity to local needs.
• Democratic control requires that elected governments keep bureaucracies accountable while avoiding excessive politicisation that undermines professionalism.
• Measures to increase bureaucratic accountability include legislative oversight, audit institutions (for example, the CAG), independent recruitment and disciplinary procedures, and transparency provisions such as the Right to Information Act.

Conclusion

The executive is central to the functioning of the state: it gives practical effect to laws and policies, administers public services, and represents the state nationally and internationally. In India's parliamentary system, the President is the formal Head of State while the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers exercise real executive authority, operating within constitutional provisions that balance political accountability and administrative continuity. The bureaucracy forms the permanent executive and must be both professionally competent and democratically accountable to serve citizens effectively.