Answer» Correct Answer - Option 3 : 2, 3 and 4 only
The correct answer is 2, 3, and 4 only. - The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary form of government, both at the Centre and in the states.
- Articles 74 and 75 deal with the parliamentary system at the Centre.
- Articles 163 and 164 in the states.
- Modern democratic governments are classified into parliamentary and presidential on the basis of the nature of relations between the executive and the legislative organs of the government.
- The features of parliamentary government in India:
- Nominal and Real Executives -
- The President is the nominal executive (de jure executive or titular executive) while the Prime Minister is the real executive (de facto executive).
- Thus, the President is head of the State, while the Prime Minister is head of the government. Hence, Statement 1 is not correct.
- Majority Party Rule -
- The political party which secures majority seats in the Lok Sabha forms the government.
- Collective Responsibility - (Asked in UPSC prelims)
- This is the bedrock principle of parliamentary government.
- The ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament in general and to the Lok Sabha in particular (Article 75).
- They act as a team, and swim and sink together.
- The principle of collective responsibility implies that the Lok Sabha can remove the ministry (i.e., the council of ministers headed by the prime minister) from office by passing a vote of no confidence.
- Political Homogeneity
- Usually, members of the council of ministers belong to the same political party, and hence they share the same political ideology.
- In the case of a coalition government, the ministers are bound by consensus.
- Double Membership
- The ministers are members of both the legislature and the executive.
- This means that a person cannot be a minister without being a member of Parliament.
- The Constitution stipulates that a minister who is not a member of the Parliament for a period of six consecutive months ceases to be a minister.
- The Leadership of the Prime Minister
- The Prime Minister plays a leadership role in this system of government.
- S/He is the leader of the council of ministers, the leader of the Parliament, and the leader of the party in power.
- Dissolution of the Lower House
- The lower house of the Parliament (Lok Sabha) can be dissolved by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
- In other words, the prime minister can advise the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha before the expiry of its term and hold fresh elections.
- This means that the executive enjoys the right to get the legislature dissolved in a parliamentary system.
- Secrecy
- The ministers operate on the principle of secrecy of procedure and cannot divulge information about their proceedings, policies, and decisions.
- They take the oath of secrecy before entering their office.
- The oath of secrecy to the ministers is administered by the President.
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