The two executives

The legislature is the part of government that makes laws. It makes sure the country is run by clear laws, not by someone's personal wishes. Each state also has its own legislature, making laws only for that state.

The executive carries out (implements) the laws made by the legislature and takes policy decisions. (A policy is a set of ideas or actions a government decides on.)

The executive is not one person or one group. It has two parts working together: the political executive and the permanent executive.

The political executive is made up of leaders elected by the people: the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and their ministers, as well as the President and Governors. The President and Governors have mostly formal roles; the real day-to-day power lies with the Prime Minister at the centre and the Chief Minister in each state. The political executive makes big decisions, brings in new laws, sets goals for the country and represents India abroad. They hold power for a fixed time, usually five years, and their power depends on the people's trust.

The permanent executive is made up of government officers who are not elected but selected through exams, like those of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). They are called bureaucrats or civil servants. They are not replaced after every election; they keep the government running smoothly whichever party is in power.

India's best-known services, and what their officers mainly do:

• IAS (Indian Administrative Service): running districts and departments;
• IPS (Indian Police Service): law and order;
• IFS (Indian Foreign Service): India's relations with other countries;
• IRS (Indian Revenue Service): taxes;
• IFoS (Indian Forest Service): forests.

What bureaucrats do:

• carry out laws, policies and schemes;
• link citizens and government: through offices and departments they deliver services such as schools, roads and hospitals, and deal with complaints;
• keep records of government work and decisions, so nothing is lost when a new government comes in.

The bureaucrats we usually meet work at the grassroots: government school teachers, anganwadi workers, health workers, water and sanitation workers, bus conductors. The bureaucracy also runs huge tasks like the census, national elections, disaster relief, and welfare programmes such as the COVID-19 vaccination drive and the rural jobs scheme VB-G RAM G.

One civil servant's story: C.B. Muthamma became the first woman to pass the public services exam (1948) and to join the Indian Foreign Service (1949), at a time of strong bias against women, who even had to promise to resign if they married. She became India's first woman ambassador in several countries. When she was unfairly denied promotion, she went to the Supreme Court, and a bench led by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer struck down the unfair rules as against the Constitution. She also wrote that the free thinking of Indian religions is the most important thing that makes democracy possible in India.