Q10Indian Constitution
Question
Q.10. [CO3] (K2) Distinguish between Cabinet and Council of Ministers.
Answer
The Cabinet is a smaller, core group of senior ministers who make key policy decisions, while the Council of Ministers is the larger body of all ministers (Cabinet, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers) collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
The Council of Ministers is the complete body of all ministers of various ranks — Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State (independent charge and otherwise), and Deputy Ministers — appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister, and is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha as per Article 75(3). The Cabinet is a smaller, inner group consisting only of senior Cabinet Ministers who actually meet regularly, deliberate, and take the major policy decisions that are then implemented in the name of the full Council of Ministers; thus the Cabinet is the real decision-making nucleus, while the Council of Ministers is the larger constitutional body of which the Cabinet is a part.