CBSE Board Exam: Political Science Study Material Cabinet
It is a smaller body consisting of 15 to 20 Ministers.
It includes the Cabinet Ministers only. Thus, it is a part of the Council of Ministers. It meets, as a body, frequently and usually once in a week to deliberate and take decisions regarding the transaction of the Government business. Thus, it has collective functions. Exercises, in practice, the power of the Council of Ministers and thus, acts for the latter. Directs the Council of Ministers by taking policy decisions which are binding on all Ministers. Supervises the implementation of its decisions by the Council of Ministers. The word Cabinet was inserted in the Article 352 of the Constitution in 1978 by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act. Thus, it did not find a place in the original text of the Constitution. Now also, Article 352 only defines the Cabinet saying that it is the Council consisting the Prime Minister and other Ministers of Cabinet rank appointed under Article 75 and does not describe its powers and functions. In other words, its role in our politico-administrative system is based on the conventions of the Parliamentary form of Government as developed in Britain. Enforces the collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the lower House of the Parliament.