Difference b/w council of ministers and cabinet

In a parliamentary system, the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet are very important systems, although in the event of a lack of knowledge, we consider both to be the same, that’s why,

In this article, we will discuss the differences between Council of Ministers and Cabinet in a simple and easy way, and try to understand its various important aspects. 📚 Constitution

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What is Council of Ministers?

The federal executive consists of the President , the Vice-President , the Prime Minister , the Council of Ministers and the Attorney General . Similarly, the state executive consists of the governor , chief minister , state council of ministers and the advocate general .

Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Constitution i.e. Articles 52 to 78 describes the federal executive . Under this, the Union Council of Ministers has been discussed in Articles 74 and 75 . Similarly Chapter 2 of Part 6 of the Constitution describes the executive of the states. And under this, the Council of Ministers for the states has been discussed in Article 163 and 164.

The work that the Union Council of Ministers does at the center is done by the State Council of Ministers in the state. There are three types of ministers in the Union Council of Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers. Similarly, there are three types of ministers in the state council of ministers, cabinet ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers.

Just as the highest executive officer at the Center is the President of the Council of Ministers, that is, the Prime Minister, in the same way the highest executive officer in the states is the President of the State Council of Ministers, that is, the Chief Minister.

Just as Article 74 states that there shall be a Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, to advise the President, similarly Article 163 states that there shall be a Council of Ministers to advise the Governor, headed by the Chief Minister.

Just as it is written in Article 75 that the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and other ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, similarly Article 164 states that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. Will do

It can be understood from this fact that the way there is a system of council of ministers in the center, in the same way it is in the states, the way of working is also the same. The cabinet at the center is also a part of the council of ministers, in the state also the cabinet is a part of the council of ministers.

Overall, it means that the difference between the council of ministers and the cabinet is in the state as well as in the center, except for a few things, such as the size of the cabinet at the center is slightly larger because there is more number of members in the Lok Sabha. At the same time, the size of the cabinet in the states is relatively small because the number of members is less and the number of assembly members is different for different states.

However, the point to be remembered here is that even at the Center the number of members in the Council of Ministers including the Prime Minister cannot exceed 15 percent and in the states also, the number of members in the Council of Ministers including the Chief Minister cannot exceed 15 percent. This arrangement was brought by the 91st Constitutional Amendment 2003. But the interesting thing here in the affairs of the state is that the number of other ministers including the Chief Minister will not be less than 12. This may have been done to strike a balance.

This examples of goa can understand from;

Since the number of members in the Legislative Assembly is 40, the number of members in the Council of Ministers there should not be more than 6 (because 15 percent of 40 is 6 only). If this happens, then the government may face problems in executive work. That is why by raising the minimum number of members to 12, states with fewer assembly seats like Goa will benefit.

[ Understand in detail from here – Union Council of Ministers ^️ – State Council of Ministers ^️ ]

What is Cabinet?

The cabinet or cabinet, as we have just read above, is a part of the Council of Ministers, which has about one third of the members as compared to the Council of Ministers. These members have all the main ministries, such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture etc.

That’s why the government’s work is mainly done because they usually meet once a week and take all the important decisions. The Council of Ministers does not attend this meeting.

After understanding this, let us now understand the main difference between the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet.

difference between council of ministers and cabinet

Council of Ministers	cabinet
The Council of Ministers is a large body consisting of 60 to 70 ministers.	On the other hand, the cabinet is a small body consisting of 15 to 20 ministers.
The Council of Ministers consists of all three categories of ministers – cabinet ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers.	At the same time, only cabinet ministers are included in the cabinet. Because it is a part of the Council of Ministers itself.
There is no collective work of the Council of Ministers and it does not meet together for official work.	The activities of the cabinet are collective, it usually meets once a week and takes decisions regarding government business. Talking about the Centre, the cabinet meeting is held every Wednesday.
Although the Council of Ministers has got all the powers but in papers. Its functions are determined by the cabinet and it implements the decisions of the cabinet.	The cabinet actually exercises the powers of the Council of Ministers and also acts for it. It directs the Council of Ministers by taking political decisions and these instructions are binding on all the ministers.
The Council of Ministers is a constitutional body. Its detailed description has been given in Article 74 and 75 of the Constitution.	The Cabinet is a body which was incorporated by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act. Therefore, it was not included in the original form of the Constitution.

These were some of the main things that separate the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet from each other. Hope you have understood. It is important to know one more thing here that the way the Council of Ministers at the Center is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, in the same way the Council of Ministers in the states is collectively responsible to the State Legislative Assembly .

Meaning of Collective Responsibility

Collective responsibility means that all the ministers will have joint responsibility towards the Lok Sabha (at the center) and to the assembly (in the state) for all their actions and decisions. All of them will work as a team, even if no one personally agrees with a decision, but as a council of ministers it will have to be publicly accepted and they will also be responsible for that decision.

In other words, it is the duty of all ministers to abide by the decisions of the cabinet and to support them both inside and outside the Parliament. If a minister disagrees with a decision of the cabinet and is not ready for it, he will have to resign.

There is a word related to the cabinet itself , which is often discussed. You can understand about it by clicking on the given link.

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Kitchen cabinet