Power and Functions of the Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India holds the Supreme Authority in the country. He is the real executive authority (known as the de facto executive) of the country. Under him works many appointed officers who head different constitutional institutions. 

In this content, we will explicitly talk about the PM of our country. Powers and functions of the Prime Minister of India will be discussed in detail in the section titled ‘Prime Minister of India – his powers and functions. Apart from the powers of Prime Minister of India, we will also be discussing his roles and responsibilities. Finally, at the end of this content, we will also share some facts about the Prime Ministers of India which will surely amaze you. 

Prime Minister – Head of the Union Cabinet

The Prime Minister of India or officially known as the Prime Minister of the Republic of India is the leader who leads our nation India. He is appointed as the executive branch of the Indian Government. The Prime Minister renders its functions by being the chief adviser of the President of India. He is also the head of the cabinet named ‘Union Council of Ministers’.

In the Union Cabinet, the prime minister is the senior-most member functioning in the executive wing of the government. In his own will, the prime minister can select and can dismiss all the members from the cabinet. He allocates the posts to the members who work within the government system and also allocates the one who is the presiding member and chairperson of the cabinet.

History of Prime Minister - Our PMs From the Year 1945 Till Now

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India follows a system of parliamentary. In this system, the prime minister presides over and is known as the presiding head of the government. The Prime Minister is also the chief of the executive department of the government. 

Interestingly, the prime minister may or may not be a member of the Parliament. But he needs to compulsorily be a member of parliament within 6 months after he holds the chair of the PM. The Prime Ministers works with other important ministers to perform functions like a passing of the bills.

Qualifications of the PM

Article 84 sets the principle and other required qualifications for a member of the Parliament to be a Prime Minister.

A Prime Minister Should be the Following:

• The Prime Minister mandatorily should be a citizen of India.   

• He should be a member of either of the houses – Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. If a person chosen as the PM is not a member of any of the houses, then he should mandatorily be the member after 6 months of his appointment as PM.

• PM should be above 25 years of age if he is a member of Lok Sabha, else he should be 30 years of age if he is a member of Rajya Sabha. 

• The PM cannot hold his office of profit under the government of India or by any other government of any state or under any local or other authority who is under the control of any of the said governments.

Prime Minister of India - His Powers and Functions

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Powers of Prime Minister are bestowed on an individual who has the capacity to run the administration, his country. The Prime Minister is appointed as the leader of the Council of Ministers. The President is only the nominal ruler while the real power is enjoyed by the Prime Minister. Mentioned below is the power and function of the Prime Minister of India: 

• The Prime Minister functions while he recommends the names of members who are in his team to appoint as important ministers. The President in turn can only make those members as ministers whose names are recommended by the Prime Minister.

• The Prime Minister will determine which department will be headed by which minister. Also, he can alter the department of these ministers as well.  

• The PM also takes over the meeting of the Council of Ministers who can change their decisions if he wishes to. 

• PM can also ask any minister to resign from the cabinet or advise the president to dismiss any minister in case there are differences of opinion existing between them.

• The PM is responsible for controlling and directing the activities of all Ministers.

• The other minister will stop functioning if PM leaves the office. 

Power of the Pm While the Appointment of any Member

The Prime Minister enjoys his right to advise the President in relation to the appointment of these following officers:

• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India  

• Attorney-General of India

• Solicitor General of India

• President of the Union Public Service Commission and its members

• Election Commissioners

• Chairman and Members of the Finance Commission.

PM’s Power in the Parliament

The prime minister acts as the leader of the lower house of Parliament meaning the Lok Sabha. While being there, he enjoys the following powers.

• He advises the President to summon or prorogue the sessions of the parliament.

• He can recommend the dissolution of the sessions in Parliament.

• He can declare government policies right on the floor of the house.

Other Powers of the Prime Minister

• The Prime Minister plays a crucial role in shaping the foreign policy of our country. 

• He is the chief spokesman of the Indian Government.

• He is the leader of the ruling party.

• He is ex-officio Chairman of the following committees - Planning Commission (which is now known as NITI Aayog), National Development Council, National Integration Council, Inter-State Council, and National Water Resources Council.

• He also acts as the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level during national emergencies.

• He is also the political head of the Indian Armies.

President and Prime Minister of India

The relationship that exists between the President and the Prime Minister is given vividly in Article 74 and Article 75. 

In Article 74 it is said that the Council of Ministers shall help and advise the President of India. The President is required to work as per the instructions given by the Prime Minister of India. Although, the President has the power to reconsider the advice given by the council of ministers he is liable to act accordingly after the reconsideration. 

In Article 75 it is said that the president will appoint the Prime Minister of this country. While other ministers are appointed by the president on recommendations from the Prime Minister. 

Did You Know?

• Jawaharlal Nehru was the longest-serving Prime Minister of India. He served our country for 16 long years.  He was appointed as PM four times: 1st from the year 1947 to the year 1952, 2nd from the year 1952 to 1957, 3rd from the year 1957 to 1962, 4th from the year 1962 -1964 in which he died in the chair in 1964. Jawaharlal Nehru was also called the Architect of Modern India.

• The only PM who worked twice as the Acting Prime Minister for 13 days each is named Gulzarilal Nanda.

• The original name of the PM Lal Bahadur Shastri was Lal Bahadur Varma. He got the surname Shastri (which means Scholar) after he passed out from Kashi Vidya Peeth in Varanasi.

• Lal Bahadur Shastri belonged to a very humble background. Lal Bahadur Shastri could not save the life of her daughter when she fell ill due to a lack of money for buying the medicines.

• Our lady PM, Indira Gandhi was also known as “Priyadarshini”. Well, this name was given to her by the legend Rabindra Nath Tagore.

• Rajiv Gandhi was actually a Pilot by profession. He was the youngest ever Prime Minister serving India. He was sworn in as Prime Minister the same day when PM Indira Gandhi was assassinated.

• The first Congress PM who was not from the Nehru- Gandhi family was P V Narsimha Rao.

• P V Narsimha Rao was the only PM who had the talent of speaking multi-language.  He knew fourteen languages - Marathi, Hindi, Oriya, Bengali, Gujrati, Tamil, Urdu, English, French, Arabic, Spanish, German, and Parsian apart from his own mother tongue Telugu.

• P V Narsimha Rao is also known as the Father of Economic Reforms of India.  

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first parliamentarian to give deliver his speech in Hindi in the United Nations General Assembly.

• Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first non-Congress party person to rule India for a full term of 5 years.