Kitchen cabinet in polity explained [UPSC]

In this article, we will discuss the kitchen cabinet in a simple and easy way and try to understand its important aspects. So read this article till the end and for better understanding read all related articles also; link is given below-

Central Council of Ministers	Click Here
Cabinet Committee	Click Here
Attorney General of India	Click Here
Governor	Click Here

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Background of kitchen cabinet

Before understanding the kitchen cabinet ( also known as the internal cabinet), we should know what a cabinet is and to understand the cabinet, we have to understand also the council of ministers. Although separate articles are available on the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet, yet we will discuss them here as per the need.

What is Council of Ministers?

A council of ministers is a group of people, who can be either a cabinet minister or a minister of state or a deputy minister , at the discretion of the leader of the majority party.

In other words, according to Article 74 of the Constitution, a Council of Ministers will be constituted to advise and assist the President, which will be headed by the Prime Minister. This is what is written in Article 163 for the state.

Secondly , it is written in Article 75 that the President shall appoint the Prime Minister and the persons chosen by the Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President for the post of Minister. The same thing is written for the state in Article 164 .

Overall, since the Prime Minister cannot do all the work alone, he needs people who work according to his agenda. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party and he has to fulfill the promise made to the public in the manifesto, that is why he has been given the power to form a group of people who are members of the house, agree with his views. . This is called the Council of Ministers .

Its number is fixed that it will not exceed 15 percent of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha . That is, the number of members of the Council of Ministers in the center can be 80-81. Out of this 80-81 people , some people are cabinet ministers , some people are ministers of state and are deputy ministers .

What is Cabinet?

As we have just seen above, the cabinet is a part of the council of ministers. In which there is usually one-third of the members of the Council of Ministers, but they have all the important ministries such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture etc.

The Council of Ministers has been a part of the Constitution from the very beginning but the Cabinet was inserted in the Constitution under the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act 1978. The cabinet gradually became so powerful that it actually started exercising the powers of the Council of Ministers and also started working for it. In other words, it gives instructions to the Council of Ministers by taking political decisions and these instructions are binding on all the ministers.

For more information understand the differences between the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet ^️

Kitchen cabinet or interior cabinet

As we know, there are three categories of ministers in the Council of Ministers – Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers . All these ministers are headed by the Prime Minister, who is the highest executive of the government.

In this, some of the cabinet ministers, along with some other trusted people of the prime minister, form the kitchen cabinet.

Usually this cabinet can have 10 to 20 important ministers including some other people, which is headed by the Prime Minister. It is the highest informal decision-making body.

This small body, called the internal cabinet, is considered the center of power. In this informal body, the Prime Minister has two to four influential, fully-confident colleagues with whom he discusses every problem and it advises the Prime Minister on important political and administrative issues.

Overall, it is a cabinet, but there is a slight difference in it that along with the cabinet minister, it also includes people from outside like friends and family members of the Prime Minister etc.

The credit for starting this kitchen cabinet tradition goes to Mrs. Indira Gandhi . It is said that the internal cabinet which was there in the time of Indira Gandhi, it was also called the Kitchen Cabinet.

The prime minister makes this kitchen or internal cabinet for the following reasons.
1. It is a smaller organ and is more influential in decision making than the sheer size of the cabinet.
2. Its meetings are held regularly and it deals with the affairs of the government more quickly than the big cabinet.
3. It helps the Prime Minister to exercise secrecy in taking decisions on important political matters.

However, it also has several drawbacks such as it reduces the importance and authority of the cabinet as a supreme decision-making organ. Secondly, the entry of outsiders and their influential role in the affairs of the government complicates the legal process.

Overall, this is the kitchen cabinet , hopefully you will understand. Links to other articles related to this have been given, also read them.