Question

Explain Council of ministers.

Answer 1

Hint: Any minister shall not take any decision unless being considered by the council of ministers per Article 78(c).

Complete answer:
The Council of Ministers or the Union Council of Ministers exercises executive authority in the Republic of India. It is composed of senior ministers, called cabinet ministers, junior ministers, called ministers of state and deputy ministers. The council of ministers is led by the Prime Minister of India.
Another smaller executive body within the council of ministers is called the Union cabinet is the supreme decision making body of the Country. Only the prime minister and ministers of the rank of cabinet minister are members of the Union Cabinet according to the Article 75 of the constitution.
The Council of Ministers is responsible collectively to the lower house of the Indian parliament, and on losing the confidence of the Lok Sabha they shall resign to facilitate the new government formation.
According to the Constitution of India, the total number of ministers in the council of ministers must not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha. Also, the ministers must be members of parliament.

The members of the council of ministers in descending order of their ranks are:-
- The Prime Minister
- Deputy Prime Minister
- Cabinet minister
- Minister of State(does not report to cabinet minister)
 - Minister of State reporting to cabinet minister

A minister is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
Under the provision of "Collective Responsibility" under Article 75, the Prime Minister and the entire Council of Ministers must resign if a Vote of No Confidence is passed in the Lower House also known as the Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament.Every state in India is governed by its council of ministers with a set of rules and procedures similar to the union council of ministers as mentioned in the Articles 163, 164 and 167(c).

Note:Some important ministers serving India presently are:-
Narendra Modi- Prime Minister of India
Rajnath Singh- Defence Minister of India
Subramanyan Jayashankar- Minister of external affairs
Amit Shah- Minister of Home affairs
Nirmala Sitharaman- Finance Minister of India
Piyush Goyal- Minister of commerce and industries.