INDIA
CONSTITUTION OF INDIA
India, also known as Bharat, is a
Union of States.It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a
parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the
Constitution of India which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th
November 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950.
The Constitution provides for a
Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with certain
unitary features. The constitutional head of the Executive of the Union is the
President. As per Article 79 of the Constitution of India, the council of the
Parliament of the Union consists of the President and two Houses known as the
Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).
Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of
Ministers with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President,
who shall exercise his/her functions in accordance to the advice. The real
executive power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the Prime
Minister as its head.
The Council of Ministers is
collectively responsible to the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Every State
has a Legislative Assembly. Certain States have an upper House also called
State Legislative Council. There is a Governor for each state who is appointed
by the President. Governor is the Head of the State and the executive power of
the State is vested in him. The Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as
its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive functions. The
Council of the Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the
Legislative Assembly of the State.
The Constitution distributes
legislative powers between Parliament and State legislatures as per the lists
of entries in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. The residuary powers
vest in the Parliament. The centrally administered territories are called Union
Territories.