The Cabinet of India (officially called the Union Council of Ministers of India) is the collective decision-making body of the Government of India, composed of the Prime Minister and 35 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers. The Cabinet is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory.
The Union Cabinet of the Government of India was formed after the Indian general election, 2009 held in five phases in 2009: on 16 April, 22/23 April, 30 April, 7 May and 13 May 2009. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2009 and led to the formation of the 15th Lok Sabha. Manmohan Singh took oath as the 14th Prime Minister of India on 22 May 2009, followed by the oath-taking ceremonies of the present 'Council of Ministers' in two phases. Most of the cabinet functions from Cabinet Secretariat, at Secretariat Building, New Delhi.
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The head of executive officers is Cabinet Secretary after President of India.The Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board, and thus the head of the Indian Administrative Service. As a matter of convention the senior most civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent generally has a tenure of 2 to 3 years. Though there is no fixed tenure, the average tenure of the Cabinet Secretary in India has been less than 3 years. His tenure however, can be extended. The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all the civil services under the constitution like IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS, PCS, PPS etc. Thus, he is the head of all the All India services including the Indian Police Service(IPS), Indian Administrative Service(IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Revenue Service(IRS) and the Indian Forest Service(IFS). He ranks eleventh in the Table of Precedence of India.
The current Cabinet Secretary is Shri A K Seth [2]
The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary :
In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961, "Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business.
The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted.
The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat.
The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advise and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs Committee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India.
This is a list of current members of the Council of Ministers of the Government of India. All ministers are based in offices of their respective Union Ministries in New Delhi. All Cabinet members are mandated by the constitution to be members of either House of the Parliament of India. In a departure from the norm the current Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is a member of the Upper House, the Rajya Sabha. He remained so for the duration of his entire first term (2004–2009) too. Most, but not all, previous Prime Ministers have been elected members of the Lok Sabha.
There are three categories of ministers, in descending order of rank:
The government positions are listed in alphabetical order, rather than in terms of seniority.
A 'Minister of State with independent charge' is a junior Minister in the Federal (State) or Central Government of India but is in charge of a ministry, unlike Minister of State who is also a junior Minister but assists a cabinet minister. All the following seven ministers are from the Indian National Congress.
| Sl. No. | Name | Responsible Ministries | Age | Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha | Educational Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Srikant Kumar Jena | Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation | 60 | Lok Sabha, Balasore, Orissa | B.A. Educated at College, Utkal University, Cuttack, Orissa |
| 2 | Dinsha Patel | Minister of State of the Ministry of Mines | 74 | Lok Sabha, Gujarat(Kaira) | Matriculate |
| 3 | Krishna Tirath | Minister of State of the Ministry of Women and Child Development | 55 | Lok Sabha, North West Delhi (SC) (Delhi) | M.A., B.Ed. (University of Delhi) |
| 4 | K. V. Thomas | Minister of State of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution | 64 | Lok Sabha, Ernakulam, Kerala | M.Sc.(Chemistry) |
| 5 | Ajay Maken | Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports | 47 | B.Sc Chemistry(Hons) | |
| 6 | Jayanthi Natarajan | Minister of State of the Ministry of Environment and Forests | 57 | Rajya Sabha, Tamil Nadu | B.A., B.L. Educated at Ethiraj College and Madras Law College |
| 7 | Paban Singh Ghatowar | Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region | 61 | Lok Sabha, Dibrugarh | B.A. |
Source: Various news organizations[1][2][3][4]
The new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) included 79 members, 78 members in the cabinet plus Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The first 20 cabinet ministers including Manmohan Singh, swore in on 22 May 2009, while the other 59 cabinet members swore in on 27 May 2009. The non-Congress cabinet ministers, include M.K. Azhagiri (DMK President Karunanidhi's Son) from the DMK, Dinesh Trivedi from Trinamool Congress, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel from Nationalist Congress Party, Farooq Abdullah from National Conference and Chaudhary Ajit Singh from RLD.
| Party | Cabinet Ministers | Ministers of State | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian National Congress | 27 | 31 | 58 |
| Trinamool Congress | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Nationalist Congress Party | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Indian Union Muslim League | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 33 | 45 | 78 |
| State | Cabinet Ministers | Ministers of State(I) | Ministers of State | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | 5 | — | 3 | 8 |
| Tamil Nadu | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| Bihar | — | — | — | — |
| Kerala | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 3 | — | 3 | 6 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 1 | — | 1 | 2 |
| Karnataka | 3 | — | 1 | 4 |
| West Bengal | 2 | — | 6 | 8 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Haryana | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Orissa | — | 1 | — | 1 |
| J & K | 2 | — | — | 2 |
| Panjab | 1 | — | 2 | 3 |
| Delhi | 1 | 2 | — | 3 |
| Rajasthan | 2 | — | 4 | 6 |
| Chhattisgarh | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Gujrat | — | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Pondicherry | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 3 | — | 3 | 6 |
| Jharkhand | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Meghalaya | — | — | 2 | 2 |
| Uttarakhand | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Assam | 1 | 1 | — | 2 |
| Chandigarh | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Total | 33 | 7 | 37 | 77 |
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