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New Council of Ministers 2021

Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers

In the Indian Parliamentary system, President is nominal head of state and Prime Minister is the real head(de-facto) of state. All the major executive decisions are taken by the Prime Minister and him and council of ministers are the main policy building centre in our union of India. It must be noted that there is no decided procedure for the appointment of the Prime Minister. The leader of the party who attains majority in Elections is usually appointed as the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is sworn in by the President of the Union of India.

Provision in the Indian Constitution related to Council of Ministers:

Article 74

(1) There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advises.

Provided that the President may require the Council of Ministers to reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in accordance with the advises tendered after such reconsideration. (This para is added by the Forty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India in the year 1978)

(2) The question if any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the President shall not be inquired into in any court.

Before the 42nd Amendment the article stated that “there shall be council of minister that shall aid and advice the president in exercise of his functions” 42nd Amendment (1976) expressly mentioned that the President shall, "act in accordance with such advice". The

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amendment went into effect from 3 January 1977. Hence it made the advice of of Council of Ministers binding on the President.

Few Points to note about Prime Minster of India:

• The Prime Minster is appointed by the President, if no party attains majority then the President has discretionary power to appoint the Prime Minister. • A person can be appointed as the Prime Minister of India, even if he has not won the elections. After the appointment, the appointed person must become a member of either house of the parliament. • The qualification to become the Prime Minster is similar as that of a Lok Sabha MP, which means the minimum age to become PM in India is 25 years. • Prime Minister is the head of Council of Ministers and is also the communication channel between the council and the President. • The prime minister has been called “Primus Inter Paris” which means first among equals. Points to note about the Council of Ministers:

• The ministers are appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minster. This means that it is the Prime Minster who has the actual authority to choose his ministers. • Concept of Responsibility of Council of Ministers: ➢ Individual Responsibility: The concept of Individual responsibility is stated in the Indian Constitution in the Article 75 which states: “The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President” ➢ Collective Responsibility: It means that the council of ministers has to act like one body, even with disagreements in the council meetings, the ministers have to present a united front in the public domain. • The ministers just like the Prime Minister are sworn in by the President of India, who also administers the oath of secrecy and office to all the ministers. • 91st Amendment of the Constitution brought a change in the capacity of the Council of Ministers. It restricted the total number of ministers to the 15% of the total capacity of the Lok Sabha. • Like the Prime Minister, any person can be appointed as Minister, but he has to gain the membership of either house of the Parliament within 6 months of the appointment. • Concept of Caretaker Government: According to the supreme court of India, even after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the council of minister does not dissolve, as a council of minister is necessary to aid and advice the President of India. Ranks in Ministers:

Cabinet Ministers: These ministers hold important portfolios like Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Finance, Home Ministry etc. This is an inner body inside the Council of Minister where most important policy decisions are taken. They have independent charge of their ministries and are sometimes assisted by Deputy ministers in the work.

Minister of State: These ministers are sometimes given independent charge of a ministry, they also assist cabinet ministers in their functioning, they attend the Cabinet Meetings when invited.

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Deputy Ministers: They do not have independent charge of any ministry; they assist cabinet ministers and deputy ministers in their work.

List of Ministers and Their Portfolios

Here is a list of all the Ministers and their Portfolios after the reshuffling.

Prime Minister of India and His Portfolios

Minister Name Heading Ministries (Prime - Department of Space Minister) - Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions - Department of Atomic Energy - All Important Policy Issues - All other Portfolios not allocated to any Minister

List of Cabinet Ministers and their Portfolios

Cabinet Ministers Minister Name Heading Ministries Raj Nath Singh - Minister of Defence - Minister of Home Affairs

- Minister of Cooperation - Minister of Corporate Affairs - Minister of Finance Nitin Jairam Gadkari - Minister of Road Transport and Highways Dr. Subrahmanyam - Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar Narendra Singh Tomar - Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Smriti Zubin Irani - Minister of Women and Child Development - Minister of Tribal Affairs Dharmendra Pradhan - Minister of Education

- Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship - Minister of Commerce and Industry

- Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

- Minister of Textiles Narayan Tatu Rane - Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Pralhad Joshi - Minister of Parliamentary Affairs

- Minister of Mines

- Minister of Coal - Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways

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- Minister of AYUSH Giriraj Singh - Minister of Rural Development

- Minister of Panchayati Raj - Minister of Minority Affairs Dr. Virendra Kumar - Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Ashwini Vaishnaw - Minister of Railways

- Minister of Electronics and Information Technology

- Minister of Communication Jyotiraditya M. Schindia - Minister of Civil Aviation Ramchandra - Minister of Steel Gajendra Singh - Minister of Jal Shakti Shekhawat Pashu Pati Kumar Paras - Minister of Food Processing Industries Raj Kumar Singh - Minister of Power

- Minister of New and Renewable Energy Kiren Rijiju - Minister of Law and Justice Mansukh Mandaviya - Minister of Health and Family Welfare

- Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Hardeep Singh Puri - Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas

- Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Mahendra Nath Pandey - Minister of Heavy Industries - Minister of Labour and Employment

- Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change G. Kishan Reddy - Minister of Tourism

- Minister of Culture

- Minister of Development and North Eastern Region Parshottam Rupala - Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Anurag Singh Thakur - Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports

- Minister of Information and Broadcasting

List of Minister of State (Independent Charge) and their Portfolios

Ministers of State (Independent Charge) Minister Name Heading Ministries

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Rao Inderjit Singh - Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statics and Programme Implementation

- Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs Dr. Jitendra Singh - Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences

- Minster of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology

- Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office

- Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions

- Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy

- Minister of State in the Department of Space

Complete List of Ministers of State and their Portfolios

Minister Name Name of Ministeries Shripad Yesso Naik - Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways - Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism Faggansingh Kulaste - Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development Ashwini Kumar Choubey - Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prahalad Singh Patel - Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries General (Retd.) V. K. - Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Singh Highways

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- Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation Arjun Ram Meghwal - Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture Danve Raosaheb - Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways; Minister of State Dadarao in the Ministry of Coal

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines Krishan Pal - Minister of State in the Ministry of Power

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti - Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development Ramdas Athawale - Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Nityanand Rai - Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Dr. Sanjeev Kumar - Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Balyan Husbandry and Dairying Anupriya Singh Patel - Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Pankaj Chaowdhary - Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Shobha Karandlaje - Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Bhanu Pratap Singh - Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Verma Enterprises V. Muraleedharan - Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Som Parkash - Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Darshana Vikram - Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles; and Minister of Jardosh State in the Ministry of Railways Rameswar Teli - Minister of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment Meenakashi Lekhi - Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture Annpurna Devi - Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Renuka Singh Saruta - Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs Kaushal Kishore - Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Kailash Choudhary - Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ajay Bhatt - Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism

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A. Narayanaswamy - Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Ajay Kumar - Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs B. L. Verma - Minister of State in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Cooperation Kapil Moreshwar Patil - Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj Devusinh Chauhan - Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications Bhagwanth Khuba - Minister of State in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers Dr. Subhas Sarkar - Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Pratima Bhoumik - Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan - Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs Singh - Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao - Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Karad Bishweswar Tudu - Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar - Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Dr. Munjapara - Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Mahendrabhai Development

- Minister of State in the Ministry of AYUSH Shantanu Thakur - Minister of State in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Dr. L. Murugan - Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting John Barla - Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs Nisith Pramanik - Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs

- Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

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