Prime Ministers of India
Prime Minister of
India
Jawaharlal Nehru
Aug. 15, 1947 - May 27, 1964
|
Gulzari Lal Nanda
May 27, 1964 - June 9, 1964 (Interim)
January 11 - 24, 1966(Interim)
|
Lal Bahadur Shastri
June 9, 1964 - January 11, 1966
|
Indira Gandhi
Jan. 24, 1966 to March 24, 1977
Jan. 14, 1980 to Oct. 31,1984
|
Morarji Desai
March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979
|
Charan Singh
July 28, 1979 - Jan. 14, 1980 |
Rajiv Gandhi
Oct. 31,1984 to Dec. 1,1989 |
V. P. Singh
Dec. 2,1989 - Nov. 10, 1990
|
Chandra Shekhar
Nov. 10,1990 - June 21, 1991
|
P. V. Narasimha Rao
June 21, 1991 to May 10, 1996 |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
May 16 to June 1, 1996 |
H. D. Deve Gowda
June 1, 1996 to April 21, 1997 |
I. K. Gujral
April 21, 1997 - Nov. 28. 1997. |
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
March 19, 1998 - May 22, 2004 |
Dr. Manmohan Singh
May 22, 2004 - till date
|
The
Prime Minister of India (
Hindi:
प्रधान मंत्री) is the
head of government of the
Republic of India, and head of the
Council of Ministers, appointed by the
President to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the
executive in India. The Prime Minister is responsible for the discharge of the functions and power vested in the President in terms of the
Constitution of India. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, and recognized as leader of the majority party in the two Houses of the
Parliament of India.
Constitutional framework and position of Prime Minister
The
Constitution envisages a scheme of affairs in which the
President of India is technically the head of the
executive in terms of Article 53 with office of the Prime Minister as heading the
Council of Ministers to assist and advise the
President in the discharge of the executive power. To quote, Article 53 and 74 provide as under;
The executive powers of the Union shall be vested in the President and shall be exercised either directly or through subordinate officers, in accordance with the Constitution.
— Article 53(1), Constitution of India
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 advice.
— Article 74(1), Constitution of India
Typically like most
parliamentary democracies where the Head of State's duties are largely
ceremonial, the Prime Minister of India is the
head of government and has effective responsibility for
executive power. With India following a
parliamentary system of government (known as the
Westminster system after that of the United Kingdom), the Prime Minister is generally the leader of a party (or coalition of parties) that has a majority in the
Lok Sabha, the lower house of the
Parliament of India. The Prime Minister either has to be a current member of one of the houses of
Parliament, or be elected within six months of being appointed.
Role of the Prime Minister
The Prime Minister leads the functioning and exercise of authority of the
Government of India. They are invited by the President as leader of the majority party in the
Parliament of India to form a government at the
federal level (known as
Central or
Union Government in India) and exercise its powers. In practice the Prime Minister nominates the members of their
Council of Ministers [1][2][3] to the President. They also work upon to decide a core group of Ministers (known as the
Cabinet)
[1] as in-charge of the important functions and ministries of the
Government of India.
As the head of the government, the Prime Minister is responsible for distribution of work of the Government to various ministries and offices and in terms of the
Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961 [4] whereunder the Prime Minister's Office
[5] allocates the work to be performed by various Ministries. The work is generally allocated to the Cabinet Secretariat
[6] which in turn acts as a nodal agency for the functioning of the various Ministries. While generally the work of the Government is divided into various Ministries, the Prime Minister may retain certain portfolios.
The Prime Minister, in consultation with the Cabinet, schedules and attends the sessions of the Houses of Parliament and is required to answer the question from the Members of Parliament
[7] to them as the in-charge of the portfolios in the capacity as Prime Minister of India.
[8] The Prime Minister is also the
ex officio Chairman of the
Planning Commission of India. They also appoint the Deputy Chairman of the Commission, who is responsible for the functioning of the Commission and reports to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister represents the country in various delegations, high level meetings and international organizations that require the attendance of the highest government office
[9] and also addresses to the nation on various issues of national or other importance.
[10] They also have exclusive jurisdiction over disposal of two national funds, (i) the PM's National Relief Fund
[11], and (ii) the PM's National Defence Fund
[12], which they use at their discretion attain the objectives behind the establishment of these funds.
tags:- Prime Ministers of India list, pm, PM ,Role of the Prime Minister