The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India.
The government comprises three branches:
- the executive,
- the legislative and
- the judiciary.
The head of the executive branch is the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him / her.
The legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the President.
The judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level. India is the largest democracy in the world.
The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalized for local governance.
The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses:
- the directly elected 545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and
- the 250-member indirectly elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house.
The Parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha collectively.
Read more about Government Of India: Collective Responsibility, Executive Branch, Judicial Branch, Civil Service, Elections and Voting, State and Local Governments, Central Board of Direct Taxes
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“The government of the world I live in was not framed, like that of Britain, in after-dinner conversations over the wine.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“No Government can be long secure without a formidable Opposition. It reduces their supporters to that tractable number which can be managed by the joint influences of fruition and hope. It offers vengeance to the discontented, and distinction to the ambitious; and employs the energies of aspiring spirits, who otherwise may prove traitors in a division or assassins in a debate.”
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“There exists no politician in India daring enough to attempt to explain to the masses that cows can be eaten.”
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