The Prime Minister is the executive head of the country. With reference to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, answer the following question:
Name the other two categories of the Council of Ministers.
Topic: Categories of ministers
Answer
Besides the Cabinet Ministers, the other two categories are: (1) Ministers of State — who may hold independent charge of a department or assist a Cabinet Minister, but who do not ordinarily attend Cabinet meetings. (2) Deputy Ministers — who assist the Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State in their departments and are not members of the Cabinet.
One mark each. The three-tier structure is the point: Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, Deputy Ministers. The distinction examiners look for is that the COUNCIL OF MINISTERS is the whole body of all three ranks, while the CABINET is only the top tier — the small group that actually decides policy. Mixing the two terms is the commonest error in this chapter.