Uttarakhand Council of Ministers

The Uttarakhand Council of Ministers is the executive wing of Government of Uttarakhand and headed by Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, who is the head of government and leader of the state cabinet. The term of every executive wing is for 5 years. The council of ministers are assisted by department secretaries attached to each ministry who are from IAS Uttarakhand Cadre. The chief executive officer responsible for issuing orders on behalf of government is Chief Secretary to the state government. The current Chief Secretary is Utpal Kumar Singh who took charge from outgoing S. Ramaswamy on 25 October, 2017.[1]

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.

Chief Minister

Like any Indian state, Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand is the real head of the government and responsible for state administration. He is the leader of the parliamentary party in the legislature and heads the state cabinet. The current Chief Minister is Trivendra Singh Rawat.

State Cabinet

As per Indian Constitution, all portfolios of state government is vested in Chief Minister, who distribute various portfolio to individual ministers whom he nominates to the State Governor. The state governor appoints individual ministers for various portfolios and departments as per advice of Chief Minister and together form the State Cabinet. As the original portfolios are vested with CM, who delegates to others upon his/her wish, actions of individual ministers are part of collective responsibility of the state cabinet and Chief Minister is responsible for actions of each minister. The state cabinet along with Chief Minister, prepares General policy and individual department policy, which will be guiding policy for day-to-day administration of each minister.

Current Cabinet

This is the current Cabinet of Uttarakhand headed by the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Trivendra Singh Rawat:[2][3][4]

Colour key for parties
Bharatiya Janata Party

№	Name Portfolio (Constituency)	Departments & Works Allotted (Ministries)		Party
1	Trivendra Singh Rawat Chief Minister (Doiwala)	Home Intelligence Personnel and Establishment of All India Services Thematic Working Vigilance Law and Justice State Government Judicial/Legal Field Nominations/Appointments Secretariat Administration General Administration Good Governance, Corruption Eradication and Civil Services Public Grievances State Assets Public Works Rural Development Information Rural Works Rural Roads and Drainage Civil Aviation Energy Renewable Energy Medical Services	Medical Education Family Welfare Disaster Management Revenue and Land Management Veterans Welfare Paramilitary Welfare Technical Education Planning External Aided Programmes Prisons Civil Defence and Homeguards Consolidation in Hills Villages Industrial Development Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Khadi and Village Industries Food and Civil Supplies Food Processing Information Technology Science and Technology Bio Technology	Bharatiya Janata Party
1	Trivendra Singh Rawat Chief Minister (Doiwala)	Parliamantary Affairs Legislative Affairs Languages Finance Commercial Tax	Stamp and Registration Entertainment Tax Excise Drinking Water and Sanitation Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industries	Bharatiya Janata Party
2	Satpal Maharaj Cabinet Minister (Chaubattakhal)	Irrigation Flood Control Minor Irrigation Rain Water Harvesting Water Management	India–Nepal–Uttarakhand River Projects Tourism Pilgrimage and Religious Fairs Culture	Bharatiya Janata Party
3	Harak Singh Rawat Cabinet Minister (Kotdwar)	Forests and Wildlife Environmental and Solid Waste Management Labour Employment	Industrial Training Ayush Ayush Education	Bharatiya Janata Party
4	Madan Kaushik Cabinet Minister (Haridwar)	Urban Development Housing Rajiv Gandhi Urban Housing Scheme	Census Reorganisation Elections	Bharatiya Janata Party
5	Yashpal Arya Cabinet Minister (Bajpur)	Transportation Social Welfare Minority Welfare Students Welfare	Rural Water Reservoirs Development Remote Areas Development Sub-Divisional Development and Management Backward Areas Development	Bharatiya Janata Party
6	Arvind Pandey Cabinet Minister (Gadarpur)	School Education Adult Education Sanskrit Education	Sports Youth Welfare Panchayati Raj	Bharatiya Janata Party
7	Subodh Uniyal Cabinet Minister (Narendranagar)	Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Agricultural Processing	Agricultural Education Plantation and Horticulture Silk Development	Bharatiya Janata Party
8	Rekha Arya Minister of State (Independent Charge) (Someshwar)	Womens Welfare and Child Development Animal Husbandry Sheep and Goat Husbandry	Fodder and Meadows Development Fisheries	Bharatiya Janata Party
9	Dhan Singh Rawat Minister of State (Independent Charge) (Srinagar)	Co-operatives Higher Education	Dairy Development Protocol	Bharatiya Janata Party

References

"Utpal Kumar Singh takes charge as Uttarakhand chief secretary". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
Cabinet of Uttarakhand. Retrieved on 16 May 2016.
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/trivendra-singh-rawat-sworn-in-as-uttarakhand-cm/
http://www.uttara.gov.in/upload/announcements/Announcement-256.pdf (PDF)

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[1] "Utpal Kumar Singh takes charge as Uttarakhand chief secretary". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 25 October 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2018.

[2] Cabinet of Uttarakhand. Retrieved on 16 May 2016.

[3] ttp://www.dailyexcelsior.com/trivendra-singh-rawat-sworn-in-as-uttarakhand-cm/

[4] ttp://www.uttara.gov.in/upload/announcements/Announcement-256.pdf (PDF)