Explanation:

• Council of ministers
• The President exercises his powers only on the advice of the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers is headed by the Prime Minister. Therefore, as head of the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister becomes the most important functionary of the government in our country.
• In the parliamentary form of executive, It is essential that the Prime Minister has the support of the majority in the Lok Sabha.
• The Prime Minister then decides who will be the ministers in the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister allocates ranks and portfolios to the ministers. Depending upon the seniority and political importance, the ministers are given the ranks of cabinet minister, minister of State or deputy minister.
• The difference between them lies in their resp ective ranks, emoluments, and political importance. At the t op of all these ministers stands the Prime Minister, the supreme governing authority of the country.
• The cabinet ministers head the important ministries of the Central government like home, defense, finance, external affairs and so forth. They are members of the cabine t, attend its meetings and play an important role in decidi ng policies. Thus, their responsibilities extend over the entire ga mut of Central government.
• The ministers of state can either be given ind ependent charge of ministries/ departments or can be attached to cabinet ministers. In case of attachment, they may either be giv en the charge of departments of the ministries headed by the c abinet ministers or allotted specific items of work related to the ministries headed by cabinet ministers. In both the cases, they work under the supervision and guidance as well as under the overall charge and responsibility of the cabinet ministers.
• The deputy ministers are not given independent charge of ministries/departments. They are attached to the cabinet ministers or ministers of state and assist them in their administrative, political, and parliamentar y duties. They are not members of the cabinet and do not atten d cabinet meetings.
• At times, the council of ministers may also include a deputy prime minister. The deputy prime ministers are appointed mos tly for political reasons.