Government of Kerala

State government IN
name_of_state= Kerala
coat_of_arms= building, Trivandrum | state_

seat_of_government= Trivandrum
name_of_governor= R.S. Gavai
name_of_chief_minister= V.S. Achuthanandan
name_of_dpy_chief_minister= None
legislative_assembly= Niyamasabha
speaker= K. Radhakrishnan
legislative_council= Secretariat
chairman=
high_court= Kerala High Court
chief_justice= H.L Dattu
website= http://www.kerala.gov.in

The Government of Kerala (India) is a democratically elected body with the Governor as the nominal head of state.

Government and administration

Governor

The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of five years. The executive and legislative powers lie with the Chief Minister and his council of ministers, who are appointed by the Governor. The Governors of the states and territories of India have similar powers and functions at the state level as that of the President of India at Union level. Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment. Governors discharge all constitutional functions such as the appointment of the Chief Minister, sending reports to the President about failure of constitutional machinery in a state, or with respect to issues relating to the assent to a bill passed by legislature, exercise or their own opinion. [cite web |url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/the_states.php |title=The States |publisher=Government of India] The Governor enjoys many different types of powers:

#Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals.
#Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature.
#Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.

R.S. Gavai has been the present governor since 26 June 2008.

Legislature

The legislature comprises the governor and the legislative assembly, which is the highest political organ in state. The governor has the power to summon the assembly or to close the same.

All members of the legislative assembly are directly elected, normally once in every five years by the eligible voters who are above 18 years of age. The current assembly consists of 140 elected members and one member nominated by the governor from the Anglo-Indian Community.The elected members select one of its own members as its chairman who is called the speaker. The speaker is assisted by the deputy speaker who is also elected by the members. The conduct of meeting in the house is the responsibility of the Speaker.

The main function of the assembly is to pass laws and rules. Every bill passed by the house has to be finally approved by the governor before it becomes applicable.

The normal term of the legislative assembly is five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. But while a proclamation of state of emergency is in operation, the said period will be extended by Parliament by Laws for a period not exceeding one year at a time. [cite web |url=http://niyamasabha.org/codes/govt_2.htm |title=Kerala Government - Legislature |publisher=Kerala Niyamasabha]

Executive

Like in other Indian states, the Executive arm of the state is responsible for the day-to-day management of the state. It consists of the Governor, the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers. The Chief Minister and the council of ministers also have been appointed by the governor. Governor summons prorogues and dissolves the legislature. He can close the legislative assembly on the recommendations by the Chief Minister. Judiciary has been separated from the executive in Kerala like other Indian states.

Judiciary

The High Court of Kerala is the apex court for the state; it also hears cases from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. It is a court of record and has all the powers of such a court including the authority to punish an individual for contempt of court. Like all other High Courts of India, this court also consists of a Chief Justice and other judges who are appointed by the President of India. At present, the sanctioned Judge strength of the High Court of Kerala is 27 Permanent Judges including the Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and two additional judges. Every judge including the Chief Justice is appointed by the President of India by Warrant under his hand and seal. Every permanent and additional judge will continue in office until the age of 62. [cite web |url=http://highcourtofkerala.nic.in/profile.html |title=Profile |publisher=High Court of Kerala]

The High Court of Kerala is located in Ernakulam and there are courts in every district centers and some municipal centers.

Chief Minister

The executive authority is headed by the Chief Minister of Kerala, who is the de facto head of state and is vested with most of the executive powers; the Legislative Assembly's majority party leader is appointed to this position by the Governor. The present Chief Minister is V.S. Achuthanandan, who took office on 18 May 2006. Generally, the winning party decides the chief minister. In many cases, the party focuses a chief ministerial candidate during the election.

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers, which answers to the Legislative Assembly, has its members appointed by the Governor; the appointments receive input from the Chief Minister. They are collectively responsible to the legislative assembly of the State. Generally, the winning party and its chief minister chooses the ministers list and submit the list for the Governor's approval.

Administrative divisions

Kerala State has been divided into three revenue divisions, 14 districts, 63 taluks, 1453 revenue villages, 1007 Gram panchayats, 5 corporations and 53 municipalities. [cite web |url=http://expert-eyes.org/kerala.html |title=Kerala, at a glance |publisher=expert-eyes.org] The business of the state government is transacted through the various secretariat departments based on the rules of business. Each department consists of secretary to government, who is the official head of the department and such other under secretaries, junior secretaries, officers and staffs subordinate to him/her. The "Chief secretary" superintending control over the whole secretariat and staff attached to the ministers.

The department is further divided into sections, each of which is under the charge of a section officer. Apart from these sections, dealing with the subjects allotted to them, there are other offices sections, assigned with specific duties. When there is more than one secretary in a department, there shall be a clear separation of work. [cite web |url=http://www.kerala.gov.in/dept_sec/index.htm |title=Organizational and functional details of the Government Secretariat|publisher=The official website, Government of Kerala]

State emblems

The state animal of Kerala is elephant and the government emblem has also two elephants in it. The state bird is the Great Indian hornbill (ML:മലമ്പുഴക്കി വേഴാമ്പല്‍), the state flower is the Golden shower (ML:കണിക്കൊന്ന) and the state tree is the coconut tree [cite web |url=http://www.kerenvis.nic.in/isbeid/kerala-symbols.htm |title=Kerala Symbols |publisher=kerenvis.nic.in]

The official Kerala emblem is a derivative version of the Royal coat of arms of the Kingdom of Travancore. The state emblem symbolizes two elephants guarding the imperial conch ("Shanku"). When the Kingdoms of Cochin and Travancore merged together in 1949, for a brief period, the crest carried a wheel or chakra in centre with "Shanku" on top of it. With accession of Malabar into Travancore-Cochin, the state of Kerala was formed in 1957. During this time, the royal coat of arms of the Travancore kingdom was modified by placing the "Lion Capital of Ashoka" on top of the imperial conch.

Elections

Elections to the state assembly are held every five years. Elections are generally held for Parliament, State assembly and regional panchayats. Due to the large numbers of eligible voters, over 21 million, elections are usually held on several dates. Like all other Indian states, the minimum age of registration of a voter is 18 years.

Politics

Politics in Kerala is dominated by two political fronts: the Communist party-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Indian National Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). These two parties have alternating in power since 1982. According to 2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election results, the LDF has a majority in the state assembly (99/140).

References

See also