Council of Ministers of West Bengal
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The Council of Ministers of West Bengal is the collective decision-making body of the Government of West Bengal, composed of the Chief Minister and 34 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers. The Cabinet is the ultimate decision-making body of the executive within the Westminster system of government in traditional constitutional theory.
The Union Council of Ministers of the Government of West Bengal was formed after the West Bengal state assembly election, 2011 held in six phases in 2011: on 18 April, 23 April, 27 April, 3 May, 7 and 10 May 2011. The results of the election were announced on 13 May 2011 and led to the formation of the 15th Vidhan Sabha. Mamata Banerjee took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of West Bengal on 20 May 2011, followed by the oath-taking ceremonies of the present 'Council of Ministers'.
Constitutional requirement
For the Council of Ministers to aid and advise Governor
According to Article 163 of the Indian Constitution,
- There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his function, except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.
- If any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor is by or under this Constitution required to act in his discretion, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion.
- The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the Governor shall not be inquired into in any court.
This means that the Ministers serve under the pleasure of the Governor and he/she may remove them, on the advice of the Chief Minister, whenever they want.
For other provisions as to Ministers
According to Article 164 of the Indian Constitution,
- The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor:
Provided that in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and backward classes or any other work.- The Council of Minister shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
- Before a Minister enters upon his office, the Governor shall administer to him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to the forms set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.
- A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.
- The salaries and allowances of Ministers shall be such as the Legislature of the State may from time to time by law determine and, until the Legislature of the State so determines, shall be a specified in the Second Schedule.
Government and politics
The West Bengal is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. Universal suffrage is granted to residents. There are two branches of government. The legislature, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, consists of elected members and special office bearers such as the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, that are elected by the members. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker in the Speaker's absence. The judiciary is composed of the Calcutta High Court and a system of lower courts. Executive authority is vested in the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister, although the titular head of government is the Governor. The Governor is the head of state appointed by the President of India. The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor, and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers reports to the Legislative Assembly. The Assembly is unicameral with 295 Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs,[1][2] including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. Terms of office run for 5 years, unless the Assembly is dissolved prior to the completion of the term. Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats, for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs. The state contributes 42 seats to Lok Sabha and 16 seats to Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament.[3]
The main players in the regional politics are the All India Trinamool Congress, the Indian National Congress, the Left Front alliance. Following the West Bengal State Assembly Election in 2011, the All India Trinamool Congress and Indian National Congress coalition under Mamata Banerjee of the All India Trinamool Congress was elected to power (getting 225 seats in the legislature).[4] West Bengal had been ruled by the Left Front for the past 34 years, making it the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government.[5][6]
Council of Ministers
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Mamata Banerjee's Oath of Office
Taking the Oath at Raj Bhavan, Kolkata
 Mamata Banerjee takes the oath of office as Chief Minister administered by Governor M. K. Narayanan on May 20, 2011. |
There are Total 41 Ministers with excluding Chief Minister of West Bengal with 17 New Face. This is a list of members of the Council of Ministers of the Government of West Bengal after the 2016 state assembly election.[7] All ministers are based in offices of their respective Ministries in Kolkata. All Cabinet members are mandated by the constitution to be members of the Vidhan Sabha of West Bengal. In a departure from the norm the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, did not join the cabinet as a member of the Vidhan Sabha.[8][9][10][11]
Ranking
There are three categories of ministers, in descending order of rank:
- Cabinet Minister: Senior minister in-charge of a ministry. A cabinet minister may also hold additional charges of other Ministries, where no other Cabinet minister is appointed
- Minister of State (Independent Charges): Junior minister not reporting to a cabinet minister
- Minister of State (MoS): Junior minister with overseeing Cabinet Minister, usually tasked with a specific responsibility in that ministry. For instance, an MoS in the Finance Ministry may only handle taxation
Cabinet Ministers
| Sl. No. | Name | Ministries | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamata Banerjee | Chief Minister of West Bengal Also in-charge of:
|
Bhabanipur | |
| 2 | Partha Chatterjee | Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
|
Behala Paschim | |
| 3 | Amit Mitra | Ministry of Finance
|
Khardaha | |
| 4 | Subrata Mukherjee | Ministry of Panchayat & Rural Development
|
Ballygunge | |
| 5 | Bratya Basu | Ministry of Information Technology & Electronics | Dum Dum | |
| 6 | Jyotipriyo Mullick | Ministry of Food & Supplies | Habra | |
| 7 | Sovandeb Chatterjee | Ministry of Power & Non-Conventional Energy Sources | Rashbehari | |
| 8 | Arup Biswas | Ministry of PWD
|
Tollugung | |
| 9 | Firhad Hakim | Ministry of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs | Kolkata Port | |
| 10 | Sovan Chatterjee | Ministry of Fire & Engineering, Housing, Environment | Behala Purba | |
| 11 | Suvendu Adhikari | Ministry of Transport | Nandigram | |
| 12 | Abani Mohan Joardar | Ministry of Correctional Administration
|
Krishnanagar Uttar | |
| 13 | Sadhan Pande | Ministry of Self Help Groups | Maniktala | |
| 14 | Abdur Rezzak Mollah | Ministry of Food Procurement and Horticulture | Bhangar | |
| 15 | Purnendu Bose | Ministry of Agriculture | Rajarhat-Gopalpur | |
| 16 | Arup Roy | Ministry of Co-operation | Howrah Central | |
| 17 | Ashish Banerjee | Ministry of Biotechnology | Rampurhat | |
| 18 | Javed Khan | Ministry of Disaster Management | Kasba | |
| 19 | Churamani Mahato | Ministry of Backward Classes Welfare | Kumargram | |
| 20 | Soumen Mahapatra | Ministry of Water Resources | Pingla | |
| 21 | James Kujur | Ministry of Tribal Development | Kumargram | |
| 22 | Tapan Dasgupta | Ministry of Agriculture Marketing | Saptagram | |
| 23 | Goutam Deb | Ministry of Tourism | Dabgram-Phulbari | |
| 24 | Chandranath Sinha | Ministry of Fisheries | Bolpur | |
| 25 | Binay Krishna Barman | Ministry of Forest | Mathabhanga | |
| 26 | Moloy Ghatak | Ministry of Labour
|
Asansol North | |
| 27 | Rabindranath Ghosh | Ministry of North Bengal Development | Natabari | |
| 28 | Rajib Banerjee | Ministry of Irrigation and Waterways | Domjur | |
| 29 | Santiram Mahato | Ministry of Paschimanchal Unnayan | Gopiballavpur | |
Ministers of State (Independent Charges)
Note:- The sign $ indicates that He/She is also a Non-independent Minister of State (MoS)
| Sl. No. | Name | Ministries | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Swapan Debnath | Ministry of MSME | Purbasthali South | |
| 31 | Manturam Pakhira | Ministry of Sunderbans Development | Kakdwip | |
| 32 | Ashima Patra | Ministry of Technical Education | Dhanikhali | |
| 33 | Shashi Panja$ | Health and Family Welfare | Shyampukur | |
| 34 | Siddiquallah Chowdhury$ | Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs | Mangalkote | |
Ministers of State (MoS)
| Sl. No. | Name | Ministries | Constituency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 (i) | Shashi Panja | Ministry of Women Development & Social Welfare
|
Shyampukur | |
| 34 (i) | Siddiquallah Chowdhury | Ministry of Minister of Mass Education
|
Mangalkote | |
| 35 | Indranil Sen | Ministry of Information & Cultural Affairs | Chandannagar | |
| 36 | Laxmi Ratan Shukla | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | Howrah North | |
| 37 | Bachhu Hansda | Ministry of North Bengal Development | Tapan | |
| 38 | Ghulam Rabbani | Ministry of Tourism | Goalpokhar | |
| 39 | Zakir Hossain | Ministry of Labour | Jangipur | |
| 40 | Shyamal Santra | Ministry of Panchayat & Rural Development
|
Kotulpur | |
| 41 | Sandharani Tudu | Ministry of Backward Classes Welfare | Manbazar | |
| 42 | Giasuddin Mollah | Ministry of Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education | Magrahat | |
References
- ↑ "West Bengal Legislative Assembly". Legislative Bodies in India. National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
- ↑ "Election Database". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ↑ "West Bengal". India Together. Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ↑ "Statewise results – West Bengal". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
- ↑ Mukherjee, Rudrangshu. "The CPI(M) has always used violence to achieve its goals". India Together. Calcutta, India: The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
- ↑ Akbar, M J. "West Bengal: Next time, the volcano". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ The result published on Election Commission of India
- ↑ Data collected from (some data were wrong, corrected by Education Guide)The Hindu
- ↑ WB Xpress
- ↑ Edited and Rearranged by Education Guide
- ↑ Data collected from West Bengal Information & Cultural Centre, New Delhi