The machinery of Government in the States is organized on the same pattern as that of the Union Government. As in the Union, the Government in the States is based on the parliamentary model. The Head of a State is called the Governor who is the constitutional head as the President is for the Union. The chief of State Government is called the Chief Minister who is the counterpart of the Prime Minister of India in the State. There is a Council of Ministers for each of the States as in the Union. Government activities are divided mainly on a functional basis and grouped together as distinct departments, each of which is placed under a Minister just as the various ministries at the Centre. The organisation of the State legislature is also more or less on the model of Indian Parliament. In the judicial field, the High Court occupies the same position within the State as the Supreme Court does for the whole of India. Thus, the State Government is almost a true copy of the Union Government within the jurisdiction of each State. This helps the State to draw the example and inspiration from the working of the Union Government in almost every field of activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Governor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The executive power of the State is vested in\nthe Governor who is appointed by the President and who holds office during the\npleasure of the President (Articles 154, 155 and 156). The vesting of the\nentire executive power of the State in the Governor shows that he occupies the\nsame constitutional position\nwithin the State as the President does with respect to the Government of India.\nNormally, the Governor holds office for a period of five years from the date on\nwhich he assumes office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The qualifications for appointment as a Governor\n(Article 157) are simple and few. He should be a citizen of India and must have\ncompleted the age of thirty-five years. The Governor cannot be a member of\neither House of Parliament or of a State legislature, nor can he hold any other\noffice of profit. He is entitled to a free official residence, a regular\nmonthly salary and other allowances. At present, his salary is fixed at Rs.\n3,50,000 per month. His salary and allowances cannot be reduced during his term\nof office. These are charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State and, as\nsuch, are non-votable. Before assuming his office, the Governor has to make and\nsubscribe, in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court of the State,\nan oath of affirmation to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Powers\nand Functions The executive power of the State is vested in\nthe Governor who is empowered to exercise it either directly or through\nofficers subordinate to him. And the executive power of the State extends to\nall matters on which the State legislature has the power to make laws. In the\ndischarge of his responsibilities as the Head of the State, the Governor\nexercises functions similar to those of the President as the head of the Union.\nHe appoints the Chief Minister and other members of the Council of Ministers\nwho hold office during his pleasure. He allocates the business of the\nGovernment among the Ministers and makes rules for the more convenient\ntransaction of such business. All executive actions of the State Government are\ntaken in his name. In the States of Bihar\/Jharkhand, Madhya\nPradesh\/Chhattisgarh and Odisha, it is the special responsibility of the\nGovernor to see that a Minister is placed in charge of tribal welfare (Article\n164). In Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, the Governor is given certain\nspecial powers with respect to the administration of the tribal areas as\nprovided in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the President, who has the power of pardon,\nthe Governor, too, is empowered to grant pardons (Article 161). This\napplies to all persons convicted of any offence against any law relating to a\nmatter to which the executive power of the State extends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the legislative field, the Governor has\nconsiderable powers. He is an integral part of the State legislature. He\nconvenes the State legislature, addresses it in person or sends messages to it,\nand can prorogue or dissolve it (Article 174). During every financial year, he\ncauses the budget to be laid before the House. Demands for grants in the\nlegislature can be made only on his recommendation. Every Bill that is passed\nby the State legislature has to be presented to the Governor for his assent.\nThe Governor has three alternatives before him with respect to such a Bill. He\nmay give his assent to it, in which case it becomes a law. Or, he may return it\nto the legislature with a message suggesting alterations or modifications. The\nGovernor has, however, no power to return a Money Bill (defined in Article\n199). Or again, he may preserve the Bill for the assent of the President if, in\nhis opinion, it contains provisions which might endanger the position envisaged\nfor the High Court under the Constitution (Article 200).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Governor has also the special legislative\npower of promulgating ordinances during the recess of the State legislature, if\nhe is satisfied that there exist circumstances which make it necessary for him\nto take immediate action. But with respect to three matters, the Governor is\nprohibited from promulgating ordinances without prior instructions from the\nPresident. These are :<\/p>\n\n\n\n (1) if the\nordinance contains provisions which, if embodied in a Bill, would require the\nprevious sanction of the President for introduction in the State legislature;\nor<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2) if the\nGovernor would have deemed it necessary to reserve a Bill containing the same\nprovisions for the consideration of the President; or<\/p>\n\n\n\n (3) if an\nAct of the State legislature containing the same provisions would be invalid\nwithout the assent of the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every ordinance promulgated by the Governor has\nthe same force and effect as an Act of the State legislature but if the\nordinance is not upheld by the legislature when it reassembles, then the\nordinance becomes invalid. The Governor is empowered to withdraw the ordinance\nany time he likes. The ordinance will be invalid if it has provisions which\nwould not be valid if enacted in an Act of the State legislature to which the\nGovernor gives his assent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the period of emergency, the Governor\ncomes into his own as the real head of the executive in the State. With the\nproclamation of an emergency by the President the entire State administration\ncomes directly under the control of the Union. Being the \u201cman on the spot\u201d and\n\u201cagent\u201d of the Union Government in the State, the Governor, during the period\nof emergency, takes over the reins of administration directly into his own\nhands and runs the State with the administrative aid of bureaucrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nGovernor and the Council of Ministers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In the exercise of all his functions, except\nwhen he is expressly required to act in his discretion, the Governor is aided\nand assisted by a Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister (Article\n163). But if there is a conflict of opinion between the Governor and the\nministry as to whether or not a particular matter falls within the scope of the\nGovernor’s discretionary power, the decision of the Governor in his discretion\nshall be final. Further, the validity of anything done by the Governor cannot\nbe called in question on the grounds that he ought or ought not to have acted\nin his discretion. Although the Governor has to act on the advice of the\nCouncil of Ministers, the question whether any, and if so what, advice was\ntendered by the Ministers to the Governor cannot be enquired into by any court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and on\nthe advice of the Chief Minister he appoints other Ministers. The Ministers\nhold office during the pleasure of the Governor. The Ministers are collectively\nresponsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State just as the Union\nMinisters are responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Governor administers the oath\nof office to each Minister before he assumes his office. The Governor can\nappoint as Minister a person who is not a member of the State legislature at\nthe time of appointment. But such a Minister should become a member of the\nlegislature within six months after entering upon his office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have already noticed that all executive\nactions of the State Government are taken in the name of the Governor. In this\nconnection, the Governor is authorised to make rules for the more convenient\ntransaction of the business of the State Government. He is also empowered to\nallocate among Ministers the business of the Government except where he is\nexpected to act in his discretion. It is the duty of the Chief Minister as the\nhead of the Council of Ministers to communicate to the Governor all decisions\nof the Council relating to the administration of the affairs of the State and\nproposals for legislation. He has also to furnish any information which the\nGovernor calls for and which is connected with any administrative or\nlegislative matter of the State. Again, it is the duty of the Chief Minister to\nplace before the Council, if the Governor so requires, any matter on which a\ndecision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered by the\nCouncil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These provisions of the Constitution vest in the\nGovernor a fairly long list of powers which, if taken on their face value, will\nadd up to formidable proportions. Yet, by the very nature of his office, the\nGovernor is only a Constitutional Head of the State. This means that although\nhe is the \u201cchief executive\u201d, in the exercise of his functions, the real power\nlies in the hands of the Council of Ministers. This was pointed out again and\nagain by the authorised spokesmen in the Constituent Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interpreting the scope of the provision that\n\u201cthe Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor,\u201d\nDr. B.R. Ambedkar said that : \u201cI have no doubt that it is the\nintention of this Constitution that the Ministry shall hold office during such\ntime as it holds the confidence of the majority. It is on this principle that\nthe Constitution will work. The reason why we have not so expressly stated it\nis because it has not been stated in that fashion or in those terms in any of\nthe constitutions which lay down a parliamentary system of Government. \u2018During\npleasure\u2019 is always understood to mean that the \u2018pleasure\u2019 shall not continue\nnotwithstanding the fact the Ministry has lost the confidence of the majority;\nit is presumed that the Governor will exercise his \u2018pleasure\u2019 in dismissing the\nMinistry and, therefore, it is unnecessary to differ from what I may say the\nstereotyped phraseology which is used in all responsible Governments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is difficult to think of a Governor under a\nfully responsible system of Government established on the broadest possible\npopular basis, to behave in an authoritarian manner, when a Cabinet composed of\npopular Ministers, collectively responsible to the legislature, is to aid and\nadvise the Governor in the discharge of his functions. Occasions are almost\nnon-existent for him to overrule them or act in a manner contrary to their\nadvice. Nevertheless, a careful reading of the Constitutional provisions and an\nappreciation of them in the perspective of the totality of Constitutional\nscheme, will show that the Governor is not a mere figurehead but a functionary\ndesigned to play a vital role in the administration of the affairs of the\nState.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The occasions which will give such an\nopportunity to the Governor to act in his discretion appear to be the following\n:<\/p>\n\n\n\n (1) the\nselection of a Chief Minister prior to the formation of a Council of Ministers;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (2) dismissal\nof a Ministry;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (3) dissolution\nof the Legislative Assembly;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (4) asking\ninformation from the Chief Minister relating to legislative and administrative\nmatters;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (5) asking\nthe Chief Minister to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers\nany matter on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not\nbeen considered by the Council;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (6) refusing\nto give assent to a Bill passed by the legislature and sending it back for\nreconsideration;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (7) reserving\na Bill passed by the State legislature for the assent of the President;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (8) seeking\ninstructions from the President before promulgating any ordinance dealing with\ncertain matters;<\/p>\n\n\n\n (9) advising\nthe President for the proclamation of emergency; and\n\n(10) in the case of\nGovernor of Assam, certain administrative matters connected with the tribal\nareas and settling disputes between the Governor of Assam and the district\ncouncil (of an autonomous district) with respect to mining royalties. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The machinery of Government in the States is organized on the same pattern as that of the Union Government. As in the Union, the Government in the States is based on the parliamentary model. The Head of a State is called the Governor who is the constitutional head as the President is for the Union. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nof the Governor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n