The Union Council of Ministers in responsible for day to day administration of the country & governance in general. But what are the rules that define & allocate work between departments? Here is a detailed explainer. For every organization small or big to function effectively, certain rules & division of work are necessary. It holds true for the humungous task of governing the country as well. At the central level, the Union Council of Ministers is at the helm of governing the country, under the leadership of the Prime Minister. But how does this division of work take place? Here is an explainer. What are the Constitutional Provisions? The Constitution in article 74 recognizes the Union Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister (PM) as its head to aid & advise the President in discharging his executive functions, in short running the government. The President has to act in accordance with that advise. In Article 77, the constitution notes that the President shall make rules for the transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers for the transaction of such business. In other words, the exact distribution of work is made in those rules. Accordingly, two sets of rules have been made and are continuously amended to accommodate new subjects or issues. The rules are These rules along with the ‘Manual of Office Procedures’ form the crux of documents based on which the Government of India functions. What is the Cabinet Secretariat then? As per the details on the official website, the Cabinet Secretariat functions directly under the Prime Minister and is responsible for the administration of the two sets of rules mentioned earlier. It is also responsible for facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries. The secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus, management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of various ministries in such a situation etc. The Allocation of Business These rules clearly lay down that all the business of the Government of India shall be transacted in the Ministries, Departments, Secretariats, and Offices as specified in the rules. The first schedule of these rules has a detailed list of Ministries & the Departments within these ministries. The second schedule of these rules deals with the distribution of subjects among these departments. It has to be noted that such distribution also includes all sub-ordinate offices, public sector undertakings related to that subject. Among other things, the rules also specify the following The allocation rules are continuously amended to omit some outdated subjects, include or redistribute new ones etc. There have been close to 350 such amendments till April 2019. What about the Transaction rules? The Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, on the other hand, deal with how the day-to-day business of the government should be transacted. Among other things, these rules deal with when to consult other departments, what kind of cases are to be submitted to the PM, the cabinet & various cabinet committees. Inter-Departmental Consultations: The rules mention that when the subject of a case concerns more than one department, no decision is to be taken until all concerned departments have concurred or in case of no concurrence, until such time the cabinet has taken a decision in the case. The rules also define that any case, in which if a decision is taken by one department and that decision is likely to affect the transaction of business allotted to another department, will be treated to be a case whose subject concerns with more than one department. Concurrence of the Ministry of Finance: Except in cases where complete powers to sanction expenditure or to appropriate or re-appropriate funds, are made by the Ministry of Finance, no department can issue orders in the following matters without the concurrence of the Ministry of Finance. The matters concerned are Consultation with the Law Ministry: The rules mention that the Law Ministry has to be consulted in the following matters. Who can request papers from Ministries? According to these rules, the following entities can call for papers from various departments. What is the Cabinet? The Union Council of Ministers is made up of the PM, the Cabinet ministers and the Ministers of State (MoS). However, the cabinet includes only those ministers of the cabinet rank. The Cabinet generally meets on a specific day of a week to take decision on all issues brought before it.