First Banerjee ministry
19th Ministry of West Bengal
2011—2016
Date formed20 May 2011
Date dissolved25 May 2016
People and organisations
GovernorM. K. Narayanan

D. Y. Patil

Keshari Nath Tripathi
Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee
Chief Minister's history2011 — present
No. of ministers42
Member party  All India Trinamool Congress
Status in legislatureMajority
184 / 294 (63%)
Opposition party  Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Opposition leaderSurya Kanta Mishra
History
Election(s)2011
Outgoing election2006
Legislature term(s)15th Assembly
PredecessorThird Bhattacharjee ministry
SuccessorSecond Banerjee ministry

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 bagunnava ra , 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 2011 West Bengal state assembly election 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,

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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,

  1. 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.
  2. The Council of Minister shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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

Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee heads her first Cabinet, May 2011 to present

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]

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:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Ministry of Land & Land Reforms
Ministry of Information & Cultural Affairs
Ministry of Hill Affairs
Micro and Small Scale Enterprises
Ministry of Personnel & Administrative Reforms
Ministry of Minority Affairs & Madrassah Education		 Bhabanipur
2 Partha Chatterjee Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Minister for Education
Minister of Science & Technology and Biotechnology		 Behala Paschim
3 Amit Mitra Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Excise
Ministry of Commerce and Industries
Ministry of Industrial Reconstruction
Ministry of Public Enterprise		 Khardaha
4 Subrata Mukherjee Ministry of Panchayat & Rural Development
Ministry of Public Health Engineering		 Ballygunge
5 Bratya Basu Ministry of Information Technology & Electronics Dum Dum
6 Jyotipriyo Mullick Ministry of Food & Supplies Habra
7 Sovandeb Chattopadhyay Ministry of Power & Non-Conventional Energy Sources Rashbehari
8 Arup Biswas Ministry of PWD
Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sports		 Tollygung
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
Ministry of Refugee Relief & Rehabilitation		 Krishnanagar Uttar
13 Sadhan Pande Ministry of Self Help Groups
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution		 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 Asish Banerjee Ministry of Biotechnology
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation		 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 North Bengal Development Dabgram-Phulbari
24 Chandranath Sinha Ministry of Fisheries Bolpur
25 Binay Krishna Barman Ministry of Forest Mathabhanga
26 Moloy Ghatak Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Law & Judicial Services		 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 Balarampur

Ministers of State (Independent Charges)

  1. ↑ I/C stands for independent charge. It means that a minister can hold portfolios independently in a junior rank.
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 [lower-alpha 1] Minister of Women Development & Social Welfare, Child Development
MoS–Health and Family Welfare		 Shyampukur
34 Siddiquallah Chowdhury [lower-alpha 2] MoS-Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Minister of Mass Education, Library		 Mangalkote

Ministers of State (MoS)

Sl. No. Name Ministries Constituency
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
Ministry of PHE		 Kotulpur
41 Sandharani Tudu Ministry of Backward Classes Welfare Manbazar
42 Giasuddin Mollah Ministry of Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Magrahat

Notes

  1. ↑ The MLA is also a Non-independent Minister of State (MoS)
  2. ↑ The MLA is also a Non-independent Minister of State (MoS)

References

  1. ↑ "West Bengal Legislative Assembly". Legislative Bodies in India. National Informatics Centre. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2006.
  2. ↑ "Election Database". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  3. ↑ "West Bengal". India Together. Civil Society Information Exchange Pvt. Ltd. Archived from the original on 18 August 2002. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  4. ↑ "Statewise results – West Bengal". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Mukherjee, Rudrangshu. "The CPI(M) has always used violence to achieve its goals". India Together. Calcutta, India: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
  6. ↑ Akbar, M J. "West Bengal: Next time, the volcano". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  7. ↑ The result published on Election Commission of India
  8. ↑ Data collected from (some data were wrong, corrected by Education Guide)The Hindu
  9. ↑ WB Xpress
  10. ↑ Data collected from West Bengal Information & Cultural Centre, New Delhi
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