Rajasthan Board RBSE Class 8 Social Science Notes Chapter 14 Union Government
The national government is called Union government or Central government. Regional government is called State government or Provincial government like our Rajasthan government. In the Union Administrative System Union government powers are divided by the constitutions between the Central government and States governments. In present there are 29 States and 7 Union territories in India.
Generally when all administrative powers in a nation are vested on one level only then it is called Unitary administrative system, opposite to it when in any nation power of administration are clearly divided between the center and states, then it is called Union Administrative System.
Features of the Union Administrative system are:
- Supremacy of Constitution
- Bi-cameral legislature
- Written Constitution
- Division of administrative powers between the center and the states
- Dual Administrative set up
- Independent and Impartial Judiciary
Administrative system of our nation is a union administrative system, because all above mentioned characteristics of union system are present in our administrative system also. The functions of union and state are clearly divided between them by the constitution through union, state and concurrent list. In the case of powers, union government has more powers than state government but though India has federal system there is provision of single citizenship.
Parliamentary Administrative System:
Under union administrative system, parliamentary administrative system is adopted in our country because in the matter of accountability administrative systems. Executive is responsible to the Parliament. In this system President is the constitutional head but real powers are exercised by the executive and the council of ministers. This maintains the co-ordination between executive and legislature.
According to above chart it is clear that President is included in both the organs i.e. executive and legislature because bills passed in the Parliament become law after the assent of the President. To the post of the President the constitution has given the power of legislature. The President only presides over the session of the Parliament and addresses the first session of the Parliament. Hence He is the part of both legislature and executive.
Parliament is our union legislature, which forms the laws on the subjects of union and concurrent list, the laws formed by the parliament are enforced by the union executive. In Union Executive, President, Prime-Minister and Council or Ministers are included.
The Indian Parliament:
The name of our union legislature is Parliament. Though on the subjects of concurrent list state legislature can also form laws but if on the same subject State Legislature and Parliament both have made law then the law made by the Parliament will be prevailed. In this way in the matter of making law Parliament has more power. Organisation of the Parliament is done including President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Our Parliament is bicameral or our Parliament comprised two houses-Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Lok Sabha:
Lok sabha is the house of people’s representatives of the parliament, which is called as lower house. The members of the Lok Sabha are elected by the people on the basis of adult franchise. It’s maximum number of members could be 552. At present there are 545 members in the Lok Sabha, out of them 530 from the states, 13 from union territories and 2 members are nominated by the President. It’s tenure is of 5 years, but Council of Ministers can demand or request to President for its dismissal or dissolve before this time period. Hence, it is also called as temporary house.
Eligibility to become the member of the Lok Sabha:
- Should be an Indian citizen.
- Minimum 25 years of age.
- Should not be working at government post of profit.
- Should not be declared bankrupt and mentally sick.
- Members of Lok Sabha elect one member as Speaker and one as deputy speaker amongst themselves. The meetings of the Lok Sabha are presided over by the Speaker (President of the Lok Sabha).
Rajya Sabha:
The second house of the Parliament represents the states. The members of this house are elected by the elected members of the states legislative assemblies and legislative assemblies of the union territories. The maximum number of the members of the Rajya Sabha could be 250. Amongst them 238 are elected and 12 are nominated by the President. The nominated members are eminent and experienced persons from the field of art, literature, science and social service. Rajya Sabha is called the Permanent house of the Parliament because it cannot be dissolved like Lok Sabha.
The tenure of it’s members is 6 years but after every 2 years one third of members become retire and again one third members in their place are elected.
Eligibility to become member of the Rajya Sabha:
- He/she must be a citizen of India.
- At least minimum of 30 years of age.
- Should not work on government post of profit.
- Should not mentally disturbed and declared bankrupt.
- The meeting of Rajya Sabha are presided over by the Vice – President. He is also the chairman of Rajya Sabha. Members of the Rajya Sabha elects one member amongst themselves as Deputy Chairman. Member of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are called M.P.s (members of the Parliament). Represents the states and the union territories.
Powers and Functions of the Parliament:
- The prime work of parliament is law making
- Parliament keeps complete control over Executive, for doing this it takes the help of means like – question hour, motion of non-confidence, adjournment, motion of contempt etc.
- Without the approval of the Parliament Executive can not impose any kind of tax and can not do any kind of expenses. Budget is kept in front of the Parliament by the executive. Through budget Parliament allows the government for income
- and expenditure.
- Power of amendment in the constitution is vested in the Parliament.
- Parliament has power of electing. It works as electing body. It elects President, Vice President and post holding officers.
- Parliament can take action against President, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts by the means of impeachment.
- Union Executive: It comprised President, Prime Minister and Council of ministers. It implements the laws passed by the Parliament.
- Election of President: President is the head of the union executive. He is the first citizen of India. The election of the president is not done directly by the people but it is done by an electoral college. Comprising the elected members of both the houses of Parliament and those of legislative Assemblies of the states and the Union territories.
A person can become the candidate for the post of President who is:- Citizen of India
- Completed the age of 35 years
- Qualified for the membership of Lok Sabha and not holding any profitable job.
- Tenure: He holds office for five years. Parliament can remove the President from his post only by the process of impeachment before the completion of tenure.
Powers of the President:
Functions and powers practiced by the President can be divided into two parts:
1. Normal Powers and
2. Emergency Powers
- Normal Powers
- The president summons the sessions of the Parliament and addresses the first session.
- He signs the bills passed by the Parliament.
- Issues ordinances if requires, when Parliament is not in the session.
- Appoints Prime minister, members of Council of Ministers, governors, including judges of Supreme Court, High Court and many other important posts.
- All international pacts and treaties are signed in his name.
- Introduces union budget in Parliament.
- He is the highest authority- The chief commander of army. He appoints the chief of infantry, navy and air force and declares war and its end or ceasefire.
- The remits, commutes, prorogues the punishment of the criminals. He is the sole authority to grant mercy in case of death punishment.
- Emergency Power
- He imposes emergency in the situation of war, external attack or armed revolt. (Article 352)
- Imposing emergency if constitutional crisis emerges in any state. (Article 356)
- Declares financial emergency under article 360 in case of financial crisis in the country.
Vice President:
The post of the vice President is the second highest post of the nation.
Eligibility to become Vice President
- He must be the citizen of India.
- He has completed 35 years of age.
- He should be eligible to become member of the Rajya Sabha.
The election of the Vice President is done by the electoral college comprising of the elected members of both the houses of parliament. The tenure of the Vice President is 5 years. He is the chairman of the Rajya Sabha and discharges the functions of the president in case the office falls vacant due to death, resignation or any other reason. He can be removed through impeachment before the expiry of his term.
Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers:
President is merely nominal head of the Parliamentary system of the government which is given by the constitution, and real powers are vested in the Prime Minister. President is only a nominal head. The real powers vest with the Prime Minister. President appoints the leader of the majority party in Lok Sabha or the leader of the coalition, as the Prime-Minister, and with his advice the ministers of the council of ministers which comprises cabinet ministers, state ministers and Deputy Ministers. The Cabinet comprises only the cabinet ministers. Hence cabinet is one of the part of councils of ministers.
Main functions of the Prime Minister:
Council of ministers remain in power till it has the majority in the Lok Sabha in the form of head of the union of council of ministers.
Powers of Prime Minister are:
- He/she advises President in making appointments of ministers.
- He distributes and redistributes work to the ministers.
- He chairs cabinet meetings and controls, directs and coordinates the work of different ministers.
- As a leader of the majority party he works as a leader of the house.
- He communicates to the President on important constitutional matters and executive decisions.
- He acts as a bridge or a link between the President and council of ministers.
In fact he is the head of the council of ministers. His resignation means resignation of the whole council of ministers.