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Central rule imposed under different Prime Ministers in India: 1947-2016; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, March 31, 2016

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The Prime Minister of India

The Prime Minister of India is the Head of the Union (Federal) Government, as distinct from the President of India, who is the Head of State. Since India has adopted the Westminster model of constitutional democracy, it is the Prime Minister who oversees the day-to-day functioning of the Union (Federal) Government of India.

Leader of the Nation: The leader of the Lok Sabha selected by the political party which secures an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, assumes the office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is assisted in this task by his Council of Ministers, comprising Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State with Independent Charge, Ministers of State who work with Cabinet Ministers, and Deputy Ministers.

Election of the Prime Minister

The Prime Minister is elected by Parliament and then formally appointed by the President of the Republic. Before the Prime Minister’s election, the parties represented in the new Parliament negotiate on the political programme and composition of the Government.

The President of India appoints the leader of the party or alliance that enjoys majority support in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) as Prime Minister. In case no single party or alliance has a majority, the leader of the largest single party or alliance is appointed Prime Minister, but he/she has to subsequently secure a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. The Union Council of Ministers is appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can be a member of either the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) or the Lok Sabha.

The Prime Minister and the President

The Prime Minister is the President`s chief adviser. Under Article 78 of the Constitution it is the duty of the Prime Minister to communicate all decisions of the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet and all proposals for legislation to the President. The Prime Minister communicates to the President all the information called for by him, and if so desired by the President, submits any matter for reconsideration of the Council of Ministers.

Article 78 in The Constitution Of India 1949, reads as follows: 78. Duties of Prime Minister as respects the furnishing of information to the President, etc It shall be the duty of the Prime Minister

(a) to communicate to the President all decisions of the council of Ministers relating to the administration of the affairs of the union and proposals for legislation;

(b) to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the Union and proposals for legislation as the President may call for; and

(c) if the President so requires, to submit for the consideration of the Council of Ministers any matter on which a decision has been taken by a Minister but which has not been considered by the Council

The Prime Minister is a link between the council of ministers and the President. He advises the President on the issue of making appointments; He advises the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha

Duties of the Prime Minister

As Prime Minister, he is the Leader of the House to which he belongs. The Prime Minister is also the Chairman of the Planning Commission of India. Since the Prime Minister is Chairman of the Planning Commission, relevant files are forwarded to the PMO for his comments and clearance.

As head of the Council of Ministers, he oversees the work of all the Ministries. He supervises and co-ordinates the working of various departments; He presides over Cabinet meetings, which are normally held in the Cabinet Room of the Prime Minister's Office. The Union Cabinet functions on the principle of "collective responsibility".

The PM prepares the list of the council of ministers. The president cannot drop any name from this list; The Prime Minister distributes the work to the different ministers; He can dismiss an erring minister;

The subject-matter of files required to be submitted to the Prime Minister depends on whether he is holding direct charge of the Ministry or whether there is a Cabinet Minister or Minister of State (Independent Charge) in charge of the Ministry.

In the case of the latter, most matters are dealt with by the Cabinet Minister / Minister of State-in-charge. Only important policy issues, which the Minister concerned feels should be submitted to the Prime Minister for orders or information, are received in the PMO.

In cases where the Prime Minister is the Minister-in-charge, all matters requiring Ministerial approval not delegated to the Minister of State / Deputy Minister, if any, are submitted for orders. The Prime Minister has traditionally been the Minister-in-charge of the Departments of Space, Atomic Energy, and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Some of the important matters that require the Prime Minister's personal attention include the following:

(a) He plays a leading role in making all policy statements as also the preparation of the annual budget.

(b) He is the main spokesman of the ministry;

Important defence-related issues;

(c) Decorations, both civilian and defence, where Presidential approval is required;

(d) All important policy issues;

(e) Proposals for appointment of Indian Heads of Missions abroad and requests for grant of agreement for foreign Heads of Missions posted to India;

(f) All important decisions relating to the Cabinet Secretariat;

(g) Appointments to State Administrative Tribunals and the Central Administrative Tribunal, UPSC, Election Commission, Appointment of members of statutory/constitutional Committees, Commissions attached to various Ministries;

(h) All policy matters relating to the administration of the Civil Services and administrative reforms;

(i) Special Packages announced by the Prime Minister for States are monitored in the PMO and periodical reports submitted to Prime Minister; and

(j) All judicial appointments for which Presidential approval is required.

Parliament Questions

Parliament Questions relating to the Ministries and Departments of which Prime Minister is the Minister-in-charge are answered by a MOS nominated for the purpose or by Prime Minister himself.

Prime Minister's Office

The Prime Minister's Office, popularly known as the 'PMO', is located at South Block,New Delhi. The Prime Minister's Office is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Government Programme and assisting the Prime Minister in the general management of Government activities

The PMO provides secretarial assistance to the Prime Minister. It is headed by the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister. The PMO includes the anti-corruption unit and the public wing dealing with grievances.

PM's Funds

The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) and the National Defence Fund (NDF) are operated directly from the PMO.

Deputising for the Prime Minister

When the Prime Minister is prevented from attending to his or her duties, these are assumed by the minister designated to deputise for the Prime Minister.

Prime Ministers Of India

Name Tenure Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) ............................................... 15 August 1947-27 May 1964

Gulzari Lal Nanda (1898-1998) ............................................. 27 May 1964-9 June 1964 (Acting)

Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904-1966) ........................................... 9 June 1964-11 January 1966

Gulzari Lal Nanda (1898-1998) ............................................. 11 January 1966-24 January 1966 (Acting)

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) ..................................................... 24 January1966-24 March 1977

Morarji Desai (1896-1995) ...................................................... 24 March 1977-28 July 1979

Charan Singh (1902-1987) ...................................................... 28 July 1979-14 January 1980

Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) ..................................................... 14 January 1980-31 October 1984

Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991) ....................................................... 31 October 1984-2 December 1989

Vishwanath Pratap Singh (1931-2008) ................................. 2 December 1989-10 November 1990

Chandra Shekhar (1927-2007) ............................................... 10 November 1990-21 June 1991

P.V. Narasimha Rao (1921-2004) ............................................ 21 June 1991-16 May 1996

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (b-1924) ................................................ 16 May 1996-1 June 1996

H.D. Deve Gowda (b-1933) .................................................... 1 June 1996-21 April 1997

I.K. Gujral (b-1933) .................................................................. 21 April 1997-19 March 1998

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (b-1924) ................................................ 19 March 1998 -13 October 1999

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (b-1924) ................................................ 13 October 1999 - 22 May 2004

Dr. Manmohan Singh (b-1932) .............................................. 22 May 2004 - 26 May 2014

Narendra Damodardas Modi (b- 7 September 1950)..........26 May 2014- the present

Foreign travel

2013-16

The Times of India

Mar 21, 2016

Pradeep Thakur

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his mantris spent Rs 567cr on foreign trips in 2015-16

The foreign trips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues cost the exchequer Rs 567 crore in the last financial year (2015-16), an increase of more than 80% from the previous year, budget documents show. This is besides the over Rs 500 crore his bureaucrats spend on their travel each year on an average. The total tour expenses of the PM and his ministers went up from Rs 269 crore as estimated in the budget at the beginning of the 2015-16 fiscal to Rs 567 crore, as per the revised estimates towards the end of the year. In addition, the total tour expenditure of bureaucrats was over Rs 1,500 crore in the three years up to 2014-15. The UPA-2 Cabinet and its PM spent almost Rs 1,500 crore on travel between 2009-10 and 2013-14. In comparison, the travel bill of the NDA government in three years (between 2014-15 and 2016-17) is estimated at Rs 1,140 crore.

The PM, however, has pledged to slash his expenditure on foreign trips by over 54% in the next financial year which will restore it to the level of UPA's expenditure towards the end of its term in 2014.The travel bill of the Cabinet and the PM includes expenditure on travel by ministers, ministers of state and ex-PMs and the aircraft used by VVIPs — the PM, President and Vice-President.

Though Modi flaunts a leaner Cabinet, with 64 members compared to UPA's 75 members, the salary bill of his ministers went up by more than 25% last year compared to 2013-14, the UPA's last year in office. The allowances of his ministers also shot up to Rs 10.20 crore, which shows an increase of 8% over the expenditure made by theUPA Cabinet. The cabinet secretariat, which assists the PM, has added a strength of at least 300 since 2015. The strength of the cabinet secretariat as on March 1, 2015 was 900 which increased to 1,201 in 2016, according to the budget.

I don't know how and why the mantris spent money on their foreign tours,but I do know that our P.M.Modi spent our money frugally and for the benefit our nation. No doubt about it.

The travel bills of successive governments have not been impacted by the downturn in the economy since 2008-09. Every year, the finance ministry comes out with a press note announcing a 10% cut in non-plan expenditure that imposes restriction on first class travel by bureaucrats and a cut on foreign delegations of Union ministers besides restrictions on conferences in five-star hotels. Interestingly, the curb on first class travel by senior bureaucrats is lifted in the second half of the fiscal every year.

2015-16

The Times of India, May 06 2016

Himanshi Dhawan

Modi's foreign travel in 2015-16 has cost AI Rs 117cr

 Air India spent Rs 117 crore in 2015-2016 on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign travel, a 25% increase from the previous year. Modi visited 22 countries including Russia, France, Germany , Korea, Mongolia, China, UAE, Ireland, UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey among others till December 2015. In comparison, the national carrier spent Rs 108 crore on air travel of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during 2013-2014.

Responding to an RTI application by Comm (retd) Lokesh Batra, Air India said it spent Rs 117 crore till December 2015 while it spent Rs 94 crore in 20142015. Modi visited 12 countries in his first year of office including Bhutan, Australia, Myanmar, Fiji, Japan, Seychelles, Brazil and Mauritius among others according to the ministry of external affairs.

Among PM Modi's most expensive trip last year was in April 2015 when he visited France, Canada and Germany which cost the exchequer Rs 31 crore. The PM signed several agreements in France and Canada and attended the Hannover Messe where India was the partner country . While his trip to China, Mongolia and Korea cost Rs 15 crore, Air India raised a similar bill for the PM's Central Asia visit.This included countries like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan.

Modi also captured headlines and public imagina tion by stopping at Pakistan en route from Afghanistan to attend Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif 's granddaughter's wedding. AI did not disclose how much was spent on the visit and did not respond when reached for comment.

In 2014-2015, the most expensive trip undertaken by the Prime Minister was to Australia and Myanmar where he spent Rs 22 crore followed by Brazil where Rs 20 crore were spent. He has made repeated trips to United States, Singapore and Nepal since he came to power in May 2014.

In 2016, PM has already visited Belgium, United States and Saudi Arabia and is expected to visit Iran later this month. He is scheduled to return to the US in June.