Prime Minister

As we all know, the Government of India or the Union of India is composed of the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive.  The Legislature is a body that formulates the will of the people into laws and gives it a legal character. The judiciary is a body that interprets, defends, and applies the laws proposed by the legislature to the facts of each case. And, the executive is the body that enforces and executes laws proposed by the legislature and administers the nation.  

The Executive 

The executive as mentioned above is responsible for the enforcement of laws and administration in the nation. It consists of individual positions each with different powers and responsibilities as mentioned below:

1. The President:

• The President holds the highest power in the Executive according to Article 53(1) of the Indian constitution and has the constitutional powers to exercise them directly or through his subordinates

• The President is also designated to appoint various high officials of the nation like governors of states, chief justice, election commissioners, etc.

• Currently, Ram Nath Kovind is the President of India

2. The Vice President:

• Holding the next position in terms of power after the President, the Vice president represents the nation in the absence of the president and also has the legislative role of being the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

• Currently, M. Venkaiah Naidu is the Vice President of India

3. The Prime Minister:

• The Prime minister leads the executive of the Government of India and also acts as the main adviser of the President of India and is appointed the President himself

• His role is also being the head of the council of ministers and the leader of the majority party in the parliament

• Currently, Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of India

4. Cabinet, Ministries, and Agencies:

• The Union Council of Ministers includes the Prime minister, Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and Secretaries

• The cabinet is headed by the prime minister and is advised by the cabinet secretary, and also acts as the head of the Indian Administrative Service and other civil services

• There are a total of 58 ministries and 93 departments working under the executive 

The Prime Minister

As mentioned above, the Prime minister leads the executive of the Government of India and also acts as the main adviser of the President of India, and is appointed the President himself. His role is also being the head of the council of ministers and the leader of the majority party in the parliament. He doesn’t have any particular tenure i.e, he can hold his position as long as the President of the nation wants him to.

Timeline Of The Prime Ministers of India

The Prime Ministers of the nation and their tenures along India’s history are as follows-

1. 1947–64: Jawaharlal Nehru: 16 years

2. 1964: Gulzarilal Nanda: 13 days

3. 1964–66: Lal Bahadur Shastri: 1 year

4. 1966: Gulzarilal Nanda: 13 days

5. 1966–77: Indira Gandhi: 11 years

6. 1977–79: Morarji Desai: 2 years

7. 1979–80: Charan Singh: 170 days

8. 1980–84: Indira Gandhi: 4 years

9. 1984–89: Rajiv Gandhi: 5 years

10. 1989–90: V.P. Singh: 343 days

11. 1990–91: Chandra Shekhar: 223 days

12. 1991–96: P.V. Narasimha Rao: 4 years

13. 1996: Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 16 days

14. 1996–97: H.D. Deve Gowda: 324 days

15. 1997–98: Inder K. Gujral: 332 days

16. 1998–2004: Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 6 years

17. 2004–14: Manmohan Singh: 10 years

18. 2014– Present: Narendra Modi: 7 years and going

Ministries/ Departments Allocated To The Prime Minister

1. Prime Minister’s office: 

• Department of Atomic Energy

• Department of Space: ISRO, Antrix

2. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions:

• Department of Personnel and Training

• Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances

• Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare

3. Cabinet Secretariat:

• Research and Analysis Wing

• Special Protection Group

• Joint Intelligence Committee

• National Authority, Chemical Weapons Convention

Executive Powers of the Prime Minister 

The Prime Minister of India holds both executive and legislative powers as directed by the constitution. He acts as the leader of the parliament in a legislature and in the executive he has various duties right from being the chief advisor to the President to administrative and appointment powers. They are as follows-

• Reporting all the works done by the Cabinet Ministers to the President of India

• Proposing the names of the members of his political party to President for appointment as Minister

• Suggesting the President of India about the resignation or removal of any Minister from his Cabinet

• Presiding over the meetings of Cabinet and changing the decisions taken therein

• He also has control over the functioning of Ministers in the Cabinet

• The Prime minister also possesses administrative and appointment powers i.e, he can recommend the appointing of these designations to the President-

• Election Commissioners of India (ECs)

• Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) 

• Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG)

• Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

• Members of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)

• Chief Information Commissioner of India (CIC)

• Information Commissioners of India (IC)

• Chairperson of the finance commission (FC)

• Members of the finance commission

• Attorney General of India (AG) 

• Solicitor General of India (SG)

Conclusion:

Thus we see how the Prime Minister controls and exercises over his powers and duties in the executive, being the chief advisor of the President. Moreover, holding administration powers too, he proves to be an integral part of the executive of the nation.