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How India is governed

Politics is the promise. Governance is the delivery. Most argument about Indian government skips the part where you have to know what the machinery actually is — so here it is, in five charts, in the order they answer each other. Roles only, no officeholders named, so it stays accurate between elections.

Who it is for

Anyone who votes and wants to know where that vote actually lands — students, first-time voters, aspirants preparing for the services, and readers who were never shown the whole structure in one place.

Why we publish it

The firm’s essays argue about how India is governed. They presuppose a reader who knows how it is built. That literacy should not be a paywall or a textbook chapter — so we publish it, free, and argue separately.

How to read it

In order, top to bottom. Each file answers a question the one before it raises: structure, then who leads it, then how it makes law, then how a citizen enters it, then why part of it is never elected.

FILE 01The org structurePresident, Prime Minister, Cabinet and Parliament — and the same shape repeated in every state.Open →FILE 02From a vote to a Prime MinisterNobody votes for a Prime Minister. Seat arithmetic, the leader’s selection and the floor test.Open →FILE 03How a bill becomes lawMinistry draft to the Gazette, in seven stages — and where a money bill differs.Open →FILE 04Two paths into governmentThe examination and the ballot: two careers that end up in the same room.Open →FILE 05Why the services existWhy a democracy keeps an unelected permanent service, and the Articles that hold it there.Open →
FILE 01 OF 05 · UNION AND STATE — ROLES ONLYThe org structure

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Org structure — roles only

How India is governed

Two parallel structures. The Union government at the centre, and the same pattern repeated in every state. Elected legislators sit on the right of each half; the executive they sustain sits on the left.
Directly elected  MPs, MLAs
Appointed  Governor, civil service
Political executive  PM, CM, ministers
Permanent executive  secretaries, collectors
01

The Union

Parliament, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers
Legislature
Source of authority
The electorate
General election every five years; universal adult franchise.
Parliament — Lower House
Lok Sabha
543 MPs
Members directly elected from single-member constituencies. Constitutional ceiling 550. Money bills originate here; the government must hold its confidence.
Parliament — Upper House
Rajya Sabha
245 members
233 elected by state legislatures, 12 nominated by the President. Permanent house, a third retiring every two years. Ceiling 250.
Presiding officers and floor roles
Speaker
Lok Sabha, elected by MPs
Deputy Speaker
Lok Sabha
Chairman
Rajya Sabha — the Vice-President
Deputy Chairman
Rajya Sabha
Leader of the House
Government's floor manager
Leader of the Opposition
Largest non-government party
Chief Whip
Party discipline; defiance can cost the seat
Committees
Standing, departmental, Public Accounts
Executive
Head of State
President of India
Elected by an electoral college of MPs and MLAs. Acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
appoints the leader who commands a Lok Sabha majority
Head of Government
Prime Minister
Chairs the Cabinet, allocates portfolios, and answers to the Lok Sabha. Loses office if the House withdraws confidence.
Council of Ministers
All ministers together; capped at 15% of Lok Sabha strength. Three ranks:
RANK 1
Cabinet Minister
Sits in Cabinet, holds a full portfolio.
RANK 2
Minister of State
With independent charge, or assisting a Cabinet Minister.
RANK 3
Deputy Minister
No portfolio of their own; appointed as needed.
The Cabinet — senior ministers, collectively responsible
Home Affairs
Finance
Defence
External Affairs
These four, with the Prime Minister, form the Cabinet Committee on Security. Every other ministry — Railways, Health, Education, Agriculture and the rest — follows the same shape.
Permanent executive
Cabinet Secretary
Senior-most civil servant; head of the Cabinet Secretariat and of the Indian Administrative Service.
coordinates
Secretaries
One per ministry; the minister's official head
All-India Services
IAS, IPS, IFoS — serve Union and states alike
02

A state

The same pattern, one level down — the Chief Minister's government
Legislature
Source of authority
The state's electorate
State election every five years, held separately from the general election.
Lower House
Legislative Assembly
MLAs
Vidhan Sabha. Members directly elected from constituencies within the state; strength between 60 and 500 depending on population. Sustains or dismisses the Chief Minister.
Upper House — only in six states
Legislative Council
MLCs
Vidhan Parishad. Where it exists, no larger than a third of the Assembly. Members are elected by local bodies, teachers and graduates, by MLAs, or nominated by the Governor.
Presiding officers and floor roles
Speaker
Legislative Assembly
Chairman
Legislative Council, where one exists
Leader of the Opposition
Largest non-government party
Chief Whip
Party discipline in the House
Executive
Head of State (constitutional)
Governor
Appointed by the President, not elected. The Union's link to the state; acts on ministerial advice.
appoints the leader who commands an Assembly majority
Head of Government
Chief Minister
Runs the state government, allocates departments, and answers to the Legislative Assembly.
State Council of Ministers
Capped at 15% of Assembly strength, minimum twelve. The same three ranks:
RANK 1
Cabinet Minister
Full department; sits in the state Cabinet.
RANK 2
Minister of State
Independent charge, or assisting.
RANK 3
Deputy Minister
Assists without a portfolio. Some states also name a Deputy Chief Minister.
Typical state departments
Home & Police
Finance
Revenue
Health & Education
Subjects a state may legislate on are set by the State List; some are shared with the Union on the Concurrent List.
Permanent executive
Chief Secretary
Senior-most civil servant in the state; head of the state administration.
down to the districts
Department Secretaries
One per department
District Collector
Revenue and administration in each district
Solid red box — the office that actually runs the government.
Vertical rule — a line of appointment or accountability, read downward.
Roles only, no officeholders named. Seat counts are the constitutional and current sanctioned strengths.
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File 02  ·  From a vote to a Prime Minister
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FILE 02 OF 05 · SELECTION AND FORMATIONFrom a vote to a Prime Minister

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File 02 — selection and formation

From a vote to a Prime Minister

Nobody votes for a Prime Minister or a Chief Minister. Voters elect legislators; the legislators' arithmetic produces the leader. This is that chain, in the order it happens.
Part one  becoming a legislator
Part two  the two routes into a House
Part three  how a leader is chosen
A

Becoming an MP or an MLA

The Election Commission runs every step of this
01
The constituency
The country is divided into 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, each returning one member; every state is divided the same way into assembly constituencies. Boundaries are fixed by a Delimitation Commission, not by the government of the day.
02
Nomination
A candidate files nomination papers with the Returning Officer, with proposers, a security deposit and a sworn affidavit declaring assets, liabilities and any criminal cases. Parties allot their ticket and symbol; anyone else stands as an independent. The officer scrutinises and may reject a paper.
03
Campaign
From the day the schedule is announced the Model Code of Conduct binds candidates and governments alike. Spending per candidate is capped and accounted for. Campaigning stops 48 hours before polling closes.
04
Poll and count
Secret ballot on electronic voting machines with a paper trail. First past the post: the candidate with the most votes wins, whether or not that is a majority. The Returning Officer declares the result; the term is five years.
Who may stand
A citizen of India, a registered voter, and at least 25 years old for the Lok Sabha or a Legislative Assembly — 30 for the Rajya Sabha or a Legislative Council. Reserved constituencies are open only to candidates from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes.
Who may not
Anyone holding an office of profit under the government, an undischarged insolvent, a person of unsound mind so declared, or anyone convicted and sentenced to two years or more. A sitting member convicted on that scale loses the seat.
B

Two routes into a House

A minister may come from either one
Direct election
Lok Sabha MP  ·  MLA
Elected by the voters of one constituency, for five years. This is the route that decides who forms the government: only the directly elected House can make or unmake it.
Indirect election and nomination
Rajya Sabha MP  ·  MLC
Rajya Sabha members are elected by the MLAs of each state by proportional representation with a single transferable vote; twelve are nominated by the President for distinction in literature, science, art or social service. Council members are elected by local bodies, graduates and teachers, by MLAs, or nominated by the Governor. Six-year terms, a third retiring every two years.
Membership is the qualification for office
Every minister, including the Prime Minister or Chief Minister, must be a member of one of the Houses. Someone appointed from outside has six months to win a seat, or the office falls vacant.
C

How the leader is chosen

Read the same way for a Chief Minister, one level down
05
The numbers are counted
Winning candidates become MPs. A party or a pre-poll alliance needs more than half the Lok Sabha to govern alone; short of that, parties negotiate a coalition and pool their members.
543 elected seats
272 for a majority
06
The winning side picks its leader
The elected members of the party or alliance meet as a legislature party and choose the person who will lead the government. This is a party decision, not a constitutional procedure, and it is usually settled before the results are formally in.
07
The invitation and the oath
The President invites the leader who appears able to command a majority and appoints them Prime Minister, then administers the oath of office and of secrecy. In a state the Governor does the same for the Chief Minister.
08
The Cabinet is built
Ministers are appointed by the President on the Prime Minister's advice alone, and the portfolios are the Prime Minister's to allot and to take back. The whole Council is capped at 15% of Lok Sabha strength.
Cabinet Minister
Full portfolio, sits in Cabinet
Minister of State
Independent charge, or assisting
Deputy Minister
Assists, without a portfolio
09
The floor test
The new government proves its majority by a vote in the House. It holds office only as long as it keeps that majority: a successful no-confidence motion ends it at any point in the five years. Members who vote against their party's whip can be disqualified under the anti-defection law.
In office
Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
Collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha — the House the voters elected in step 04. In a state, the Chief Minister and the state Council of Ministers, answerable to the Legislative Assembly.
D

The same chain for a Chief Minister

Where the state version differs from the Union one
Step one
Assembly election
Voters elect MLAs, one per constituency, first past the post. The majority mark is half the Assembly, so it differs by state — 145 of 288, 202 of 403, and so on.
Step two
Legislature party
The winning party's or alliance's MLAs name their leader. The national party leadership often has the decisive say here.
Step three
Governor invites
The Governor appoints that leader Chief Minister and administers the oath — the same act the President performs at the Union.
Step four
Council and floor test
Ministers are appointed on the CM's advice; the Council is capped at 15% of Assembly strength, with a floor of twelve. A majority is then proved in the Assembly.
If no one has a majority
President's rule
The Governor reports that no government can be formed and the state is administered from the centre under Article 356 until a fresh government or a fresh election. There is no Union equivalent.
A CM may sit in either state House where a Council exists, and, like the Prime Minister, has six months to win a seat if appointed from outside the legislature.
Roles and procedure only; no officeholders named.
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File 03  ·  How a bill becomes law
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FILE 03 OF 05 · THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESSHow a bill becomes law

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File 03 — the legislative process

How a bill becomes law

The lights run down the line in the direction a bill travels: from a ministry's draft, through three readings in each House of Parliament, to the President's assent and the Gazette.
Running light  the bill in motion
Red side rule  an exception or a branch
Ordinary bill  unless marked money bill
01
Drafting
The ministry concerned prepares the draft; the Law Ministry vets it and the Cabinet clears it. A private member — any MP who is not a minister — may bring a bill of their own instead.
02
First reading — introduction
The minister asks leave, the title and objects are read, and the bill is printed in the Gazette. There is no debate at this stage.
Money bill May only be introduced in the Lok Sabha, and only on the President's recommendation.
03
Committee scrutiny
The House may refer the bill to a departmental standing committee, a select committee, or a joint committee of both Houses. The committee takes evidence, hears officials and experts, and reports back with recommended amendments.
04
Second reading
General discussion on the principle of the bill, then clause-by-clause consideration. Amendments are moved and voted on one at a time. This is where the bill is actually shaped.
05
Third reading — the vote
Debate is confined to accepting or rejecting the bill as it now stands. A majority of the members present and voting carries it, and the House it started in has passed it.
06
The other House
The bill goes through all three readings again in the second House, which may pass it, reject it, amend it, or simply take no action.
Deadlock
Joint sitting
Both Houses vote together — Article 108
Money bill The Rajya Sabha has fourteen days and may only recommend changes; the Lok Sabha need not accept them. No joint sitting applies.
07
The President's assent
Under Article 111 the President may assent, withhold assent, or return an ordinary bill for reconsideration. If both Houses pass it again, assent must follow. A money bill cannot be returned.
Enacted
It is an Act of Parliament
Published in the Gazette of India, numbered by year, and in force from the date the Act names or the date the government notifies.
08

In a state legislature

Same readings — a different final signature
Step one
Legislative Assembly
Three readings, as in the Lok Sabha. Money bills start here.
Step two
Legislative Council
Only in the six states that have one, and it can delay a bill but not block it.
Step three
Governor
May assent, withhold assent, return the bill, or reserve it for the President — Article 200.
Result
A State Act
Binding within the state, on subjects in the State and Concurrent Lists.
Roles and procedure only; no officeholders named.
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File 04  ·  Two paths a citizen can take
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FILE 04 OF 05 · THE EXAMINATION AND THE BALLOTTwo paths into government

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File 04 — connecting the dots

Two paths a citizen can take

Everyone in the earlier files started here: an ordinary citizen. One path is won by examination and lasts a career. The other is won by votes and lasts until the next election. They end up in the same room.
Path one — appointed
The examination
IAS, IPS, IFS and the rest of the permanent executive
Path two — elected
The ballot
MLA, MP, minister, Chief Minister, Prime Minister
A1
Who may sit the exam
Any graduate, generally between 21 and 32, with a limited number of attempts. Upper age and attempts are relaxed for reserved categories and for candidates with disabilities. The IAS and IPS are open only to Indian citizens.
No political affiliation, no party membership, no constituency. Merit and preference decide everything from here.
A2
Preliminary examination
Two objective papers — general studies and an aptitude test — held by the Union Public Service Commission. It is a screening round only: the marks do not carry forward. States run their own equivalent through a State Public Service Commission.
A3
Main examination
Nine written papers over several days: an essay, four general studies papers, two papers in a chosen optional subject, and two qualifying language papers. Everything is written by hand and marked descriptively.
A4
Personality test
An interview before a UPSC board. The written papers and the interview together produce one national merit list, published rank by rank.
A5
Service and cadre
Rank and stated preference decide the service — IAS, IPS, Indian Foreign Service, revenue and audit services — and the cadre state a candidate will spend a career in. Neither is a matter of choice alone.
A6
Training
A common foundation course, then service academy training — the IAS at Mussoorie, the IPS at Hyderabad — followed by district attachment under a serving officer.
A7
The career ladder
Sub-Divisional Magistrate — first posting
District Collector or Superintendent of Police
Department Secretary in the state
Joint and Additional Secretary, Government of India
Secretary to a ministry
Cabinet Secretary — the top of the service
Promotion by seniority and empanelment, retirement at sixty. No election ever touches this ladder.
B1
Who may stand
Any citizen on the electoral roll, aged 25 or more for the Lok Sabha or a Legislative Assembly. No degree, no examination and no upper age limit.
Disqualified: an office of profit under the government, undischarged insolvency, and conviction with a sentence of two years or more.
B2
Building a base
Most careers start locally: booth and ward work for a party, a youth or student wing, a panchayat or municipal seat, a union or a movement. Some candidates arrive instead with standing earned entirely outside politics.
B3
The ticket
A party nominates one candidate per constituency and lends its symbol. This is the real bottleneck of the elected path — an internal party decision with no published criteria. Anyone refused can still stand as an independent.
B4
Nomination and campaign
Papers filed with the Returning Officer, a security deposit, and an affidavit of assets and criminal cases. Then a campaign under the Model Code of Conduct, with spending capped and accounted for.
B5
The poll
Secret ballot, first past the post. Whoever leads the count wins the seat, majority or not — and one constituency's verdict is the entire qualification for office.
B6
Sworn in as a member
The oath is taken before the presiding officer of the House. A five-year term, a constituency to answer to, and a party whip to follow — defying it can cost the seat under the anti-defection law.
B7
The career ladder
Member of the House — MP or MLA
Committee member, party whip
Deputy Minister or Minister of State
Cabinet Minister with a portfolio
Leader of the legislature party
Chief Minister or Prime Minister
No seniority rule and no retirement age. Every rung depends on winning again, and on the leader's confidence.
C

Where the two paths meet

Each pair works in the same office, one elected, one appointed
In a district
MLA  ·  Collector
The MLA carries the constituency's demands and the political mandate. The Collector runs revenue, land, relief and coordination, and stays when the MLA changes.
In a ministry
Minister  ·  Secretary
The minister decides and answers in the House. The secretary is the ministry's official head: advises frankly, records the advice, then carries out whatever is decided.
At the top
PM  ·  Cabinet Secretary
The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet; the Cabinet Secretary services it, coordinates every ministry, and hands the same machinery to the next government.
The difference
Appointed — the service
Elected — the politician
Selected by
A competitive examination and a national merit list
A party ticket and then the voters of one constituency
Tenure
Until sixty, with constitutional protection against arbitrary removal
Five years at a time, and only while the House keeps confidence
Answers to
The minister of the day, service conduct rules and the courts
The House, the party whip and the electorate
Decides
How a policy is implemented, and advises on what is feasible
What the policy will be, and takes the responsibility for it
The dot that connects everything
One citizen, two doors
The elected side supplies the mandate and can be voted out. The appointed side supplies continuity and cannot be. Every structure in File 01, every step in File 02 and every stage in File 03 is filled by people who came through one of these two doors.
Procedure in outline; exact age limits, attempt counts and paper patterns are revised from time to time.
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FILE 05 OF 05 · CLOSING THE LOOPWhy the services exist

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File 05 — closing the loop

Why a democracy keeps a permanent service

An unelected officer with real power looks like a contradiction in a democracy. It is a deliberate design: the Constitution gives the services their own footing so that they can carry out an elected government's decisions without belonging to it.
A

The problem it was built to solve

Four difficulties an elected government cannot solve by being elected
Discontinuity
Governments end; the state does not
Ministries change hands every five years, sometimes sooner. Tax collection, policing, relief work and land records cannot pause for an election. A career service is what continues across the gap.
Patronage
The alternative is a spoils system
If administrative posts were filled politically, each new government would replace the administration with its own supporters, and every official act would carry a party label. Recruitment by open examination removes that reward.
Capacity
Someone has to know how it was done last time
A minister arrives with a mandate, not with the file. Precedent, rules, budget procedure and technical judgment sit with people who have spent a career in the system and will be there after the minister leaves.
Federation
One standard across twenty-eight states
The All-India Services are recruited centrally but spend their careers serving states. That single design gives the country a common administrative standard and keeps a working link between the Union and the states — the argument made for retaining them when the Constitution was drafted.
B

Their footing in the Constitution

Part XIV — Services under the Union and the States
Article
What it says
Why it matters
53 & 154
The executive power of the Union and of a state is vested in the President and the Governor, exercised directly or through officers subordinate to them.
Officers act in the name of the state itself, not as a minister's personal staff.
309
Recruitment and conditions of service are regulated by law made by the legislature, or by rules until such a law exists.
Entry and service terms are set out in public rules, not decided case by case.
310
A civil servant holds office during the pleasure of the President or the Governor.
The service is subordinate to the elected executive by design. It is not an independent branch.
311
No dismissal, removal or reduction in rank except after an inquiry in which the officer is informed of the charges and given a reasonable opportunity to answer them — and never by an authority subordinate to the one that appointed them.
The counterweight to Article 310. Because a career cannot be ended at will, an officer can record inconvenient advice and refuse an unlawful instruction.
312
Parliament may create All-India Services common to the Union and the states; the IAS and the IPS are treated as created under it.
One service, two masters: recruited by the Union, working under a state government.
315–323
The Public Service Commissions. Members are appointed by the President or Governor and can be removed only for proved misbehaviour after a Supreme Court inquiry; the expenses are charged on the Consolidated Fund; the Commission conducts the examinations and is consulted on appointments, promotions and disciplinary cases.
The gate into the service is held by a body the government of the day cannot dismiss or defund.
C

What powers they actually hold

Statutory powers attached to a post, not favours granted by a minister
IAS — in the district
District Magistrate and Collector
Collects land revenue and keeps the record of rights; exercises magisterial powers, including prohibitory orders to prevent a breach of the peace; runs disaster relief and licensing; and acts as the Election Commission's officer in the district during a poll.
IPS — in the police
Superintendent of Police
Commands the district force under the state police law. Investigation of a criminal case is the officer's own statutory function: a minister may set policing policy, but cannot direct the outcome of an investigation or order an arrest.
In the secretariat
Secretary to a ministry
Official head of the department under the government's rules of business. Every proposal moves on a file with recorded notes; the secretary is bound to state the legal and financial position plainly, and the minister's decision is recorded against that advice.
The distinction that holds the whole arrangement together: powers conferred by statute on a named post belong to the officer holding it. A minister decides policy and answers for it in the House, but cannot personally exercise a power the law has given to a magistrate or a police officer.
D

What keeps them aligned to the Constitution

Loyal to the government's decisions, not to its party
Allegiance is to the Constitution
An officer's obligation runs to the Constitution and the law, and through them to the lawful decisions of the elected government. Conduct rules require political neutrality outright: no party membership, no campaigning, no public comment on government policy.
Everything is written down
Advice, objection and decision all sit on the same file. That record is what makes responsibility traceable years later, and much of it is obtainable by any citizen under the Right to Information Act.
A lawful order must be carried out
An officer may argue and may record dissent, but cannot substitute a personal view for the government's policy. The elected side won the mandate; the service implements it. An unlawful instruction is the exception — obeying it is itself a breach of duty.
Answerable in four directions
To the minister for performance, to service and vigilance rules for conduct, to the Comptroller and Auditor General for the money, and to the courts, which can strike down any administrative act that breaks a law or a fundamental right.
E

The loop, closed

Power flows out along the top line and accountability returns along the bottom
01
Citizen
Votes, and may stand or sit the examination.
02
MPs and MLAs
Fill the Houses — File 02.
03
PM and Cabinet
Formed from their numbers — File 01.
04
Law
Passed and assented — File 03.
05
The service
Implements it in every district — File 04.
06
Back to the citizen
As a service delivered, a right enforced, or a grievance.
The next election
Removes the elected side, not the service
The courts
Any citizen can challenge an administrative act
Right to Information
Opens the file the decision was recorded on
Audit and vigilance
The CAG reports to the House that granted the money
The design in one sentence
Elected to decide, appointed to execute
The services hold no mandate and cannot make policy. They exist so that a mandate can actually be carried out — the same day the government changes, and in the same way in every district.
Articles are cited in outline; the text of the Constitution governs.
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File 01  ·  How India is governed
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