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Union Executive – Structure, State Executive, Composition

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: November 14th, 2023

Union Executive provides supervision to the Indian Government and is considered the most crucial formal Government branch concerning practice, while superiority lies with the Legislature. The Union Executive consists of three members who establish laws and manages all the administrative functions within the Indian Parliament.

The Prime Minister is the absolute leader, while the President is the nominal executive. Chapter I of Part V of the Constitution (Articles 52 to 78), concerns the Union Executive of India. The Constitution of India designates the executive power of the President, who cannot exercise it independently. The President exercises the executive powers with the help of the Prime Minister, who manages the Council of Ministers. In this article, read about the Union Executive, its structure, and its role in the Indian Constitution.

Union Executive

There is a major interrelationship between the union executive and the state executive. The Union executive functions to administer laws passed by the Legislature, and it coordinates with the governing party Ministers who make policy judgments. In comparison, the State Executive is the part of the state administration which implement laws and is liable for the governance of the state.

Union Executive Articles in Indian Constitution

The Union Executive is an essential body of the Indian Constitution that circulates the powers of both Union and the state level between the Prime Minister, the President, and the Council of Ministers.

The Union Executive in Indian Constitution is a component of the political executive composed of three essential posts.

State Executive

The Prime Minister and the Ministers Council are indisputable leaders of the Union Executive that exercises executive powers at the federal level. In contrast, the President can exercise powers with the direction of all ministers.

The state executive of the Constitution of India is a component of the political executive that includes three vital positions. The state executive of India bears the following posts.

  • Governor (Article 153-161).
  • Council of Ministers and Chief Minister (Articles 164 and 167).
  • Advocate-General of State (Articles 165 and 177).

Composition and Structure of Union Executive

The ministries and the departments help to operate the administration successfully along with Legislature and directorate. The qualifications and functions of all executive members are mentioned further.

The union executive consists of-

  • President (De Jure Head or Nominal or titular executive)
  • Head of the State
  • Vice-president
  • Prime Minister, and the Council of Ministers (De Facto Head or Real Executive).

Union Executive President

President is the leader of the Union Executive and the state. The executive powers are enacted in the President’s name, who uses his powers under the leadership of the Ministers.

Qualifications

The President should possess the following qualifications.

  • Must be an Indian citizen.
  • He must be of 35 years or more.
  • His qualifications must be the same as that of Lok Sabha members.

Functions

  • To call, postpone, or disband the Parliament.
  • Nominate 9 Anglo-Indian members to Lok Sabha and appoint 12 Rajya Sabha members.
  • Approves UPSC and National Commission for Women members.
  • He has the power to announce war or peace.

Vice-President of Union Executive

The Vice-President plays a significant role under Articles 63 and 65 by filling the vacancy in the office of the President. He ought to be the Rajya Sabha ex-chairman.

Functions:

  • Vice-President holds power to work and function similarly to the President in urgent circumstances, for instance, during his absence, disease, resignation, or death. (As per Article 65)
  • He has the authority to terminate the President’s duties when he is unavailable or suffering from any disease (As per Article 65).

Prime Minister Under Indian Executive

The representatives of the Lok Sabha members choose the Prime minister of India. He is the principal leader of the Government and the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister has the authority to advise the President on matters.

Qualifications

  • He must be 30 years old if he is a member of the Rajya Sabha and 25 years old if he belongs to the Lok Sabha.
  • He may be a member of any of the two Parliament houses and must be the head of the political party.

Functions

  • He acts as a connection between the Parliament and the President.
  • He owns the authority to dissolve the Lok Sabha during his tenure of 5 years.
  • He advises the President to select the heads of judges, constitutional bodies, the Chief of Navy, commissions, governors, and more.

Council of Ministers – Part of Union Executive

The Council of Ministers of the Union Executive is defined as the constitutional body of the Parliament under Article 74. The council comprises 60 – 70 ministers, including Deputy Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, and State Ministers.

Qualifications

  • The council of ministers should be a member of either of the two houses.
  • If a Parliament member gets disqualified based on disloyalty, he would not be eligible to become a minister.

Functions

  • The Council of Ministers is collaboratively responsible to the Lok Sabha House.
  • These ministers and the Prime Minister assist and counsel the President in exercising his operations.

Attorney General

The President appoints the Attorney General after taking suggestions from the Union Cabinet, and they majorly serve under the control of the President. The General of Attorney instructs the Indian Government on lawful issues and expresses it in the Supreme Court.

Qualifications

  • He should be an individual who has qualified to be appointed a Supreme Court judge.
  • His tenure is not specified by the Constitution and may discontinue after the resignation of the President.

Functions

  • He has the right to have an audience in any court of India.
  • Attorney General obtains all the legislative concessions available to Parliament members.
  • He has the dominance to participate in the proceedings of Parliament houses.

Union Executive UPSC

The Union Executive is an important section of Indian Polity asked in the IAS Exam. The topic can be questioned in the Prelims, Mains, and interview rounds of the IAS Exam 2023. Candidates must thoroughly study all the important Union Executive questions.

Aspirants should be familiar with the Union Executive topic and have in-depth knowledge about the Union, state executive and their interrelationship, the structure of the union executive, executive articles in the Indian Constitution, etc. Candidates can examine the Indian Polity Notes for UPSC to understand the majority of topics covered in the section.

UPSC Notes
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Rashtrakuta Dynasty Landforms
India-US Relations Art and Architecture of Delhi Sultanate
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Moplah Rebellion Separation of Powers
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