Notes
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Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers is the group of ministers, led by the Prime Minister, that runs the day-to-day work of the Union Government of India.

  • Each minister is given responsibility for a particular area, called a ministry or department—such as education, defence, health, finance, or railways.
  • The Prime Minister chooses the ministers, and the President formally appoints them. Together, they help turn laws passed by Parliament into action.
  • It includes ministers with different levels of responsibility, such as Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and Deputy Ministers. The Cabinet is the smaller, most important group that takes major policy decisions.
  • Collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha means that all ministers must support the government’s major decisions together. If the Lok Sabha passes a no-confidence motion, the entire Council of Ministers must resign.
  • For example, when the government introduces a major education policy or prepares the Union Budget, different ministers work together, while Parliament discusses and checks their decisions.
  • This arrangement ensures that the executive remains answerable to the elected representatives of the people, a key feature of India’s parliamentary democracy.