The Union Executive

Making laws is one job; making sure they are carried out and enforced is another. The chapter says the second is just as important as the first.

The Union Executive is what "gives life to the legislative functions and power of the Parliament". It has three parts: the President, the Vice President, and the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.

Notice something important about the Council of Ministers. Its members are chosen from among the MPs of both houses of Parliament.

So ministers are also members of the legislature. The executive is not a separate group brought in from outside; it sits inside Parliament.

And they are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. 'Collectively' means they answer as one body, not each for himself.

The chapter adds a detail about making Parliament usable by everyone. Simultaneous interpretation (live translation) was available in 12 languages (Hindi, English, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Punjabi and Telugu), and six more were added recently: Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, Manipuri, Urdu and Sanskrit. That makes 18 in all.

An MP who can speak in the language they think in can represent their constituency properly. Translation is not just politeness; it is part of representation.

Near the Speaker's chair stands the Sengol, a gold-plated silver sceptre handed to Nehru on 14 August 1947 to mark the transfer of power. The tradition goes back to the Chola period, when it was given to new rulers as a reminder that power must be guided by dharma, with Nandi at its top as a symbol of justice.