LIST OF ALL PRIME MINISTERS

OF INDIA
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
• In a Parliamentary form of government, the Prime Minister is the leader of the
Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister of India is also the leader of the Union
Council of Ministers. His office is based on Article 74 of the Constitution of
India. Article 75 (l) says that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the
President. But the appointment of the Prime Minister is not a discretionary
power of the President. He is bound to appoint the leader of the majority party in
the Lok Sabha as the Prime Minister.
• The prime minister is selected by the members of Lok Sabha, rather than
elected directly by voters. The party or coalition holding majority in the Lok
Sabha elects its leader as prime minister.
• The Prime Minister must be a member of the Parliament. If he is not a member
of the Parliament at the time of his appointment, he must be so within a period
of six months from the date of taking over charge as Prime Minister.
Qualification:-
A Prime Minister must be-
• Citizen of India
• Member of the Lok Sabha (lower house) or the Rajya Sabha(upper
house). If the person chosen as the prime minister is neither a
member of the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha at the time of
selection, they must become a member of either of the houses within
six months.
• Above 25 years of age if they are a member of lok sabha, or above 30
years of age if they are a member of Rajyasabha.
• Not hold any office of profit under the Government of India .
Powers and functions of the Prime
minister of India
• The Prime minister is the supreme ruler of the land. He is the most powerful
person in the council of ministers. He is responsible for running the Government
of the country. The Prime minister plays an important part in the administration
of the country. The Prime minister occupies an extremely e powerful position.
Thus the powers and functions of the Prime minister may be analysed as follows:
1. Formation Of Council Of Ministers: The Prime minister plays a very
important part in the formation of the the council of ministers. The president
appoints the Prime minister and President appoints other ministers only with
the advice of the Prime minister. It is the Prime minister who determines the
shape and size of the council of ministers. The ministers are the choice of the
Prime minister. The council of minister is headed by the Prime minister.
Therefore, as a head of the council of ministers, the Prime minister becomes
the most important functionary of the government in our country.
2. Chief Administrator Of The Country: the Prime minister is the head of the
government. So he looks to the entire administration of the country even if
it falls within the jurisdiction of any other minister. He coordinates the
activities Of various ministers and ministries. The council of ministers and the
cabinet function under the leadership of the Prime minister. No minister can
take a policy decision without consulting the Prime minister . the Prime
minister can interfere in the affairs of any ministry.

3. Leader of the lok sabha: the Prime minister is the leader of the lok sabha.
He supports the policies of the party in the parliament. He is primarily
responsible to the lok sabha for the administration of the country. the Prime
minister is to answer the questions when the members of parliament are not
satisfied With the replies given by other ministers. It is his duty to defend his
colleagues on the floor of a house. He announces all the important decisions
and answers queries on all critical questions. It is on his advice the President
summons and prorogues Parliament and dissolves the lok sabha.
4. Distribution of portfolios: the president distributes portfolios among
the ministers on the advice of the Prime minister. The president has no
choice in this regard. The Prime minister may also so make changes of
the portfolios of the ministers as he likes. Of course, the Prime minister
takes various factors into consideration while distributing portfolios.

5. Head of the cabinet: the Prime minister presides over the meetings
of the cabinet. He conveys to the president, the decision taken by the
cabinet. As the head of the cabinet, the Prime minister must see that
decisions are taken unanimously. He must resolve the differences rising
among the ministers. When a decision is taken by the cabinet, all the
ministers must abide by it. If anyone differs, he will have to submit his
resignation.
6. Link between President and the cabinet: the Prime minister acts as
a link between the council of ministers on one hand and the president
as well as the parliament on the other. It is also the constitutional
obligation of the the Prime minister to communicate to the president
all the decisions of the the council of ministers relating to the
administration of the affairs of the union and proposals for or
legislation.

7. Spokesman of the nation: the Prime minister is the leader of the

nation and as such, he is the chief spokesman of the nation. He
represent the country in all national and international gatherings. He
speaks on behalf of the people of the country. The voice of the Prime
minister is the voice of the nation. He represents the voice of the
Government of India. That is why, so much importance is given to every
word spoken by the Prime minister.
8. Foreign relations: the Prime minister also maintains foreign
relations. He plays an important part in the formulation of of foreign
policy. He recommends to the president the names of of the
ambassadors and envoys and issues them instructions. Being an
important member of the National Defence Committee, He decide
matters relating to War and Peace. The Prime minister also plays an
important role in the maintenance of international peace and security.
The entire council of ministers is
appointed and are allocated work by the
president on the advice of the Prime
minister. The council of ministers is
collectively responsible. The Prime
minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the
council of ministers and presides over its
meetings. The Prime minister coordinates
the work of of various departments and is
the link between the cabinet and the
president. No minister can be appointed
without the consent of the Prime minister
and he can drop either one minister or
his entire council of ministers.
91st Amendment Act.
1} Amend articles 75 and 164.
Insert article 361B.
Amend 10th schedule Of Indian Constitution
2} date of amendment-1 January 2004
3} Objective of amendment- Restrict the size of council of ministers to 15% of legislative
members & to strengthen Anti Defection laws
91st Amendment Act. 2003
Made the following provisions to limit the size council of Ministers,
to debar defectors from holding public offices, and to strengthen
the Anti-Defection Law: • A member of either House of
• The total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in Parliament or either House of a State
the Central Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total Legislature belonging to any Political
strength of Lok Sabha (Article75(1A)) party who is disqualified on the
• A member of either House of Parliament belonging to any ground of defection shall also be
political party who is disqualified to be appointment as a disqualified to hold any remunerative
minister (Article -75(1B)) political post.
• The total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the • The provision of the Tenth Schedule
council to Ministers in state shall not exceed 15% of the total (Anti-Defection Law) pertaining to
strength of the legislative Assembly of that state. But the number
of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in a state shall not be exemption from disqualification in
less than 12 (Article -164 (IA)) case of split by one-third members of
• Member of either House of a state legislature belonging to any
legislature party has been deleted. It
political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection means that defectors have no more
shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister (Article- protection on grounds of splits.
164(1B))
• On 1.1.2004 the Constitution 91st Amendment Bill, 2003 was passed by both
the Houses of Parliament. This Bill after the assent of the President became
an Act with modifications made to Articles 75 and 164 of the
Constitution. This Act inter-alia provides under Article 164(1A)1 that the size
of the Council of Ministers in the State should not exceed 15% of the total
strength of the Assembly.
• At the time of the coming into force of the 91st Constitutional Amendment
Act, 2003, the strength of the Council of Ministers in the State of Assam was
at 36 out of a total 126 members, amounting to 28.57% of the strength of the
Legislative Assembly. In view of the mandate contained in Article 164(1A) the
strength of the Council of Ministers was to be brought down to 19 to be
consistent with the ceiling of 15% imposed by Article 164(1A).
• The strength of the Assam ministry is 14, including the chief
minister of Assam, with 11 from the BJP and 2 Asom Gana Parishad,
and 1 from United People’s Party Liberal
• Council of ministers is headed by the Prime Minister. The current
ministry is commanded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took
oath on 31st May 2019. As per the Constitution of India, the Council
of Ministers’ total strength should not exceed 15% of the Lok Sabha
Strength. The 17th Lok Sabha’s current strength is 543 members.
• During the time of swearing, the Prime Minister along with 63
Ministers initiated the Council of Ministers. In due course of time,
there were few changes made to the list.
As per Council of Ministers 2021 list –
• Cabinet Ministers – 24
• Minister of State (Independent Charge) – 9
• Minister of State – 30

👉 Find out Updated list of Cabinet Ministers with their respective

portfolios (Homework)
Council of Ministers
• The council of Ministers is collectively responsible to
the lok sabha. This provision means that a ministry
which loses confidence of lok sabha is obliged to
resign. This means that all ministers including the the
selected ministers in rajya sabha are jointly
responsible to the lok sabha.
• All ministers must be members of parliament. If a
non member is appointed as a Minister, he either
has to be elected or nominated to either House of
the Parliament within 6 months.
• The principle indicates that the ministry is an
executive committee of the Parliament and is
collectively governs on behalf of the Parliament.
Collective responsibility:
• Collective responsibility is based on the principle of the
solidarity of the cabinet. It implies that it a vote of no
confidence even against a single minister leads to the
resignation of the entire council of Ministers. Collective
responsibility is linked to the idea of of collective decision
making full stop it is about putting up the United Front.
The ministers must defend decisions of government in
public.
• Collective responsibility implies that a vote of no
confidence even against a single minister leads to the
resignation of the entire council of Ministers. It also
indicates that if a Minister does not agree with a policy
or decision of the cabinet, he or she must either accept
the decision or resign. It is binding on all ministers to
pursue or agree to a policy for which there is collective
responsibility.
Why Nehru ji describe him as “the linchpin of the Government”?
(page:92)
How does the coalition government act as a
constraint on the power of the Prime Minister?
PERMANENT EXECUTIVE: BUREAUCRACY
• The terms bureaucracy, civil service, public servants, public
service, civil servants, government service, government
servants, officials of government, officials, permanent
executive and non-political executive are used to describe
all such persons who carry out the day to day
administration of the state. The terms Bureaucracy’ and
‘Civil Service’ are popularly used as synonyms.
• Bureaucracy or the Civil Service constitutes the permanent
and professional part of the executive organ of
government. It is usually described as the non-political or
politically neutral, permanent, and professionally trained civil
service.
• It runs the administration of the state according to the
policies and laws of the government (political executive).
Main Features:
1. Permanent Character: The civil servants hold permanent jobs in
government departments. They mostly join their services during their
youths and continue to work as government servants till the age of
retirement which is usually 58 to 60 years.
2. Hierarchical Organisation:Bureaucracy is hierarchically organised
in several levels. Each official is placed at a particular level of hierarchy
and he enjoys the privileges and powers which are available to his co-
level officials. The principle of rule of the higher over the lower governs
the inter-relations between various levels of bureaucracy.
3. Non-partisan Character:The members of the Bureaucracy are not
directly involved in politics. They cannot join political parties and
participate in political movements. They are not affected by the political
changes which keep on coming in the political executive. Whichever
party may come to power and make the government, the civil servants
remain politically neutral and carry out their assigned departmental
roles impartially and faithfully.
4. Professional, Trained and Expert Class:The Bureaucracy
constitutes the educated and professionally trained class of persons
which helps the political executive in carrying out its functions. The
members of civil service are recruited through competitive
examinations for appearing in which they have to possess some
minimum educational qualifications. Before their appointments, they
get special trainings.
5. Fixed Salaries:Each member of the Bureaucracy receives a fixed
salary. Right at the time of appointment he is allotted a scale of pay,
which depends upon the nature and level of his job-responsibility.
6. Bound by Rules and Regulations:The Bureaucracy always
works in accordance with ‘rules and regulations’. ‘Strict obedience to
rules’, ‘Through Proper Channel’, ‘Decision-making after satisfying the
rules’, are the principles which always guide, direct and regulate the
working of bureaucracy. Each official works only within the sphere
prescribed for him by the rules of his department.
7. Public Service Spirit as the Ideal:Modern Bureaucracy
identifies itself with public service spirit. It always tries to project itself
as the civil servants devoted to the promotion of public welfare
through the satisfaction of public needs. They are expected to behave
as ‘officers’ responsible for public welfare, with service as their motto.
8. Centralized: persons selected by UPSC for Indian Administrative
Service and Indian Police Service constituted the backbone of higher
echelons of bureaucracy in the states. In a district, collector is the most
important officer. He is appointed by the central government and his
conditions of service are also laid down by the central government.
The IAS or IPS offices assigned to States work under the supervision of
the state government. They are however appointed by the central
government and only Central Government can initiate disciplinary
action against them.
Role of Bureaucracy: Functions:
• Implementation of Governmental Policies and Laws.
• The Bureaucracy plays an active role in Policy-Formulation.
. To run the day to day administration in accordance with the
policies, laws, rules, regulations and decisions of the government
is also the key responsibility of the Bureaucracy.
• One of the important functions of the Bureaucracy is to advise
the political executive. The ministers receive all the information
and advice regarding the functioning of their respective
departments from the civil servants.
Who constitutes the Civil servants?