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UNIT 3: State Administration: Governor, Chief Minister and State Secretariat

Governor
Article 153 of the constitution states that there shall be a Governor in each state. The 7th constitution
amendment Act 1956 makes it possible to appoint the same person as the governor of two or more
states. The Governor is the executive head of a state. Like the President of India, he is the titular or
constitutional head. The Governor plays a dual role- as the head of the state administration and as the
agent of the union government.
Appointment and tenure
Article 155 stipulates that the governor shall be appointed by the President of India. Article 156 says
that the governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the president and subject to this provision, he
shall hold office for a period of five years He can be terminated either by dismissal by the President or by
resignation. He can resign any time addressing a letter to the President under (Art.156). The grounds

upon which the governor may be removed are not laid down in the constitution. In the presence of CJ
of concerned High Court or in his absence the available senior most Judge of that court administers the
oath of office.
Qualifications Art.157
1. He must be a citizen of India
2. He should have completed the age of 35 years.
3. He should not be a member of either house of Parliament or of state legislature
4. He should not hold any office of profit
Additionally, two conventions have also developed in this regard over the years. First, he should be
an outsider; he should not belong to the state where he is appointed. Second, while appointing the
governor, the President is required to consult the chief minister of the concerned state.
Why an appointed governor?
The governor of a state is appointed and not elected. The reasons for accepting an appointed governor
are:
1. In a parliamentary system, the governor in a state is to be a mere constitutional head. His position is a
ceremonial one. The council of ministers headed by the chief minister is the real executive. Thus,
direct election of a governor does not fit in a parliamentary system.
2. A directly elected governor may create a problem of political leadership. If he is elected, he cannot be
above party politics which would lead to clash of leadership authority in the state. Thus, an appointed
governor enables the efficient functioning of the office as an impartial and neutral head.
3. Above all, the separatist tendencies in the country needed a strong Central Government to counter
them and provide stability; it would thus, be better to have a governor appointed by the President.
Powers and Functions
1. Executive Powers Art.166
The governor is the chief executive head of the state government. The executive powers and
functions of the governor are;
a) All executive actions of the government in the state are formally carried out in his name.
b) He appoints the chief minister and other ministers. They hold office during his pleasure.
c) He appoints the advocate general of the state.
d) He appoints the state Election Commissioner and other members.
e) He appoints the chairman and other members of the State Public Service Commission.
f) He acts as the chancellor of the state universities.
2. Legislative powers:
A governor is an integral part of the state legislature and exercises the following legislative powers
and functions;
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a) He summons, prorogues and dissolves the state legislative assembly

b) He addresses the state legislature at the commencement of the first session.
c) He can nominate 1/6th of the members of the state legislative council from amongst persons having
special knowledge in literature, science, art, social service etc.
d) All bills passed by the state legislature have to be signed by the governor. In this regard, he can
withhold his assent or return a non money bill for reconsideration by the state legislature. However,
if the bill is passed again, the governor has to sign it.
e) He can reserve a bill for consideration by the President of India.
f) He can promulgate ordinances when State Legislature is not in session. The State Legislature must
approve these ordinances within six week from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance at
any time.[Art.213]
3. Financial powers;
a) He sees that the Annual Budget is laid before the State legislature
b) Money bills can be introduced in the state legislature only with his prior recommendation.
c) No demand for grant can be made except on his recommendation.
d) He can make advances out of the state contingency fund to meet unforeseen emergencies.
e) Amendments relating to financial matters cannot be moved except on his recommendation.
f) The Governor constitutes a Finance Commission after every five years
4. Judicial powers
a) He can grant pardons, reprieves and remissions of punishments or suspend and remit sentences of
any person convicted of an offence relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state
extends. President while appointing judges of the concerned state High Court consults the Governor.
5. Discretionary powers
There are certain powers which the governor can exercise without the advice of the council of
ministers, called discretionary powers. They are;
(i) Appointment of Chief Ministers
The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and on his advice the Council of Ministers. When a
party with absolute majority elects a leader, the Governor has no choice but to appoint him the Chief
Minister and invite him to form the government. Problems arise when no political party has an absolute
majority in the legislature. Here the discretion of the Governor comes into play. In a coalition of political
parties aspiring to form the government, he can exercise his discretion by choosing one of the leaders of
coalition partners to form the government.
(ii)Dismissal of a Ministry
The Governor can use his discretion in dismissing a ministry when the party in power loses
majority or is likely to lose majority in the State Legislature due to a revolt or split in the party.
(iii) Use of Emergency Powers
The governor may independently appraise the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state
and may submit his report to the president with his recommendation. Under article 356, the president
can promulgate emergency in a state on receipt of a report from the governor of the state or otherwise
if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried out in
accordance with the constitution. An important aspect of this article is that emergency can be imposed
on a state even without the governor’s report. The factors that could lead to such an emergency are;
a) Breakdown of law and order machinery
b) Political instability as a result of defections
c) Paralysis of the parliamentary process, as in the case when chief minister refuses to resign even after
losing majority support
d) Corruption, maladministration, separatist activity and terrorism
e) Popular agitation against the ministry
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f) Loss of public confidence in the majority

g) Absence of majority party and no coalition govt.

(iv)He may reserve a bill for the consideration of the president after it has been passed by the state
legislature assembly on the ground that it may be in conflict with a law or policy of the union govt.
(v) He can seek information from the CM regarding administrative and legislative matters.
(vi)There are some provisions as to the administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya,
Tripura and Mizoram. The Governor of each of these States exercises these functions in his
discretion.
(vii) The governor of Nagaland has a special role in the maintenance of law and order problem.
Position of the Governor: the dual role
Although the Constitution vests enormous powers with the Governor, in actual practice all these are
to be exercised by him only on the advice of the Council of Ministers, the exception being the areas in
which he can use his discretion, the Governor’s office is one with dignity and respect but without much
power. This opinion holds well in normal times, but in abnormal times, the position undergoes a change.
The Governor is the ceremonial head of the state and the Chief Minister and his councils are to aid and
advise him in matters other than what falls under his discretion. All the executive powers are exercised
by the Cabinet in the name of the Governor. The courts of the land do not have the power to question
the action of the Governor taken in his discretion and his decision is deemed final. The governor plays a
dual role-both as an agent of the central government and as the head of the state administration. He
acts as the Representative of the Central Government because he is the only Constitutional link between
the Centre and the State. As he is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, he is
inclined to remain more loyal to the Centre more than to the States. It is his duty to ensure that the
State Government functions in accordance with the directives of the Centre and the Constitution. State
Emergency is declared by the President upon the advice of the Governor of the concerned State. As the
representative of the Centre in State he should strive to maintain the federal balance and political
stability in a peaceful manner. His role as the head of State Government grants him discretionary
powers and the exact range of his powers would greatly depend upon the political situation that exists
in the State. If the State is politically harmonious there are fewer burdens for the Governor and in case
the State is overwhelmed by political disharmony the Governor has a herculean task of solving various
problems ahead of him.
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Chief Minister
The Chief Minister performs the same functions in respect of the state government as the Prime
Minister does in respect of the Union Government. The Governor is the constitutional and nominal head
while the Chief Minister is the real executive. In other words, the Governor is the head of the
government and the chief minister is the head of the government. Art, 163 provides that every state
shall have a council of ministers headed by the chief minister to aid and advice the governor in the
discharge of his functions except the discretionary ones.
Art. 164 provide that the chief minister is to be appointed by the governor and other ministers on his
advice and all of them shall remain in office during the pleasure of the governor. Generally, the leader of
the majority party in the legislative assembly is appointed as the chief minister. However in case no
single party gets majority support and the government is formed by a coalition, the governor can
exercise his discretion in the appointment of the chief minister. Constitutionally, the chief minister stays
in office as long as he enjoys the pleasure of the governor.
Powers and functions of the Chief Minister
1. In Relation to the Council of Ministers
i. The Chief Minister is the leader of the Council of Ministers. He recommends the names of the council
of ministers and the governor formally approves them.
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ii. The chief minister of a state enjoys full discretion in allocating portfolios to his ministers. He can also
reshuffle his ministry as and when necessary.
iii. The chief minister can dismiss one or several ministers or even the entire ministry. This happens
when a minister disagrees with the chief minister on a policy matter, unable to discharge his duties or is
found to be inefficient and corrupt. The chief minister can ask him to resign and if he does not, the chief
minister can ask the governor to dismiss him. In case a large number of ministers have to be removed,
the chief minister tenders his resignation and the entire ministry goes with him. If after such drastic
changes, the same chief minister continues to enjoy a majority in the assembly, he can be asked to form
a new government.
iv. The chief minister is the chairman of the cabinet. He determines the time and agenda of cabinet
meetings.
v. He plays a coordinating role in the functioning of his Council of Ministers. He has to see that the
decisions of the several departments are coherent. He has to lead and defend his Council of Ministers in
the Assembly. In short, he has to ensure the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the
State Assembly.
2. In Relation to the Legislature
The Chief Minister is also the leader of the House. The Chief Minister gives real legislative leadership
to the House in the sense that he sets the legislative agenda. The legislative measures are brought
before the Assembly after the approval of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. Private
members may also bring a Bill before the Assembly, but, that has a limited chance of success from the
fact that it has no backing of the majority party, the private members do not have the wealth of
information that is accessible to the government. The Chief Minister has to keep the Assembly informed
about the several activities of the government through answering questions, intervening in the debates,
etc.
3. In Relation to the bureaucracy
By virtue of being the head of the political executive, the Chief Minister controls the whole
bureaucracy of the state. In this function, he is assisted by the Secretariat headed by the Chief Secretary.
He approves all senior appointments like those of Secretaries, Additional/Joint/Deputy Secretaries,
Heads of the Departments, Chairpersons and Managing Directors of Public Sector Undertakings, etc.
Through his Cabinet, he controls their service circumstances and disciplinary matters. He gives them
leadership to ensure good performance and good morale. At the same time, he has to keep a watch on
their performance through administrative channels as well as through his own sources like party
workers, complaints from aggrieved persons and actual observation throughout tours etc.
4. Administrative role
The chief minister may keep one or more portfolios under his charge which have special importance
in the government. There has been no uniformity in the states in this regard. However, many chief
ministers have kept under their charge important departments like finance, personnel and
administrative reforms, planning etc. In administering these departments directly by him, his
administrative role gain importance.
5. In relation to the National Development Council
The chief minister is a member of the National Development Council. The National Development
Council is designed to bring about effective plan coordination between the central and state
governments. The chief minister participates in its deliberations to discuss the plan objectives and in
procuring grants and central assistance for the state plans. The chief minister formulates state plans and
obtains funds for the state’s socio economic development.
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STATE SECRETARIAT
The governor being the constitutional head of the state is advised and aided by a council of ministers
who heads the various departments which form the state secretariat. The state secretariat consists of
the several departments of the government which are administratively headed by the secretaries and
politically by the ministers. The chief secretary is the head of the entire secretariat and a secretary is the
head of each department. The chief secretary and various secretaries serve the government as a whole
and not a particular individual minister.
Organisation
The secretariat departments vary from state to state their number varies from 30 to 40. The
departments which are common to most of the states are:

 General Administration Department

 Home Department
 Revenue Department
 Food and Agriculture Department
 Finance and Planning Department (Planning Wing)
 Finance and Planning Department (Finance Wing)
 Law Department
 irrigation and Power Department
 Medical and Health Department
 Education Department
 Industries Department
 Panchayati Raj Department
 Command Area Development Department
 Transport, Roads and Buildings Department
 Housing and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department
 Labour, Employment and Technical Education Department
 Social Welfare Department
 Rural Development Department
 Forest Department
 Environment Department
 Women and Child Welfare Department

Usually, each secretary is given charge of more than one department. A department consists of officers
who are appointed for fixed tenure. It consists of a secretary, additional secretary, joint secretary, and
deputy secretary, under-secretary, superintendent, upper division clerks, lower division clerks, steno-
typists and clerical posts.
Functions
The following extract from the Administrative Reforms Commission‘s Report on State Administration
gives a clear expression to the position and role of the State Secretariat. The State Secretariat, as the top
layer of the state administration, is primarily meant to assist the state government in policy making and
in discharging its legislative functions. It also acts "as a memory and a clearing house, preparatory to
certain types of decisions and as a general supervisor of executive action". The main functions of the
State Secretariat are broadly as follows:
i) Assisting the ministers in policy making, in modifying policies from time to time and in discharging
their legislative responsibilities. It supplies to the minister all the data and information needed for policy
formulation and provide the programmes, with content by working out their details.
ii) Framing draft legislation, and rules and regulations.
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iii) Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and controlling their execution, and reviewing of
the results.
iv) Budgeting and control of expenditure, it prepares the annual budget of the state government after
detailed discussion or consultation with the Finance Department of the state.
v) Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state governments.
vi) Overseeing the smooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery and-initiating measures
to develop greater personnel and organisational competency.
vii) The secretariat looks after the appointment, of the departmental heads of various departments,
including their salaries, leave etc. and takes the necessary decisions thereof.
viii) Drafts of legislations to be introduced in the legislature by ministers are prepared by the secretaries.
ix) The Secretariat is a channel of communication and continuity between one government and another.
x) The Secretariat functions as an institutionalised memory. This means that the emerging problems
require an examination in the light of precedents. Records and files maintained in the Secretariat serve
as an institutional memory and ensure continuity and consistency in the disposal of cases.