The Prime Minister is the executive head of the country. With reference to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, answer the following question:
What is meant by the term collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers?
Topic: Collective responsibility
Answer
Collective responsibility means that the Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha as a single body, and not individually. The ministers work as a team: they take decisions collectively, and once a decision is taken every minister must defend and support it in public, whatever his private opinion — a minister who cannot do so must resign.
The consequence is that if the Lok Sabha passes a vote of no confidence against even ONE minister, or rejects a government proposal, the ENTIRE Council of Ministers must resign together. They "swim and sink together". It is provided for in Article 75(3) of the Constitution.
Three marks, so build the answer in three parts: what the term means, what it requires of ministers, and what happens when confidence is lost. The sentence that earns the third mark is the consequence — that the WHOLE ministry falls, not merely the minister concerned. The phrase "they swim and sink together" is worth quoting; examiners recognise it at once.