What is the difference between Cabinet Minister and MoS? D2G Explains!!!

In Articles
February 20, 2016

While reading News, we usually come across the terms like Cabinet Minister OR Minister of State (MoS) OR Minister of State (Independent Charge). We know that they are all the Members of the Parliament. But what is the difference between these three? What are their powers? Who has more powers?

Read this Article and Keep Yourself Updated.

Cabinet Minister

Cabinet Minister or Union Minister is treated as the head of a particular ministry such as Education, Health, Home, Finance, Defence etc. Each ministry has a cabinet level minister. Cabinet minister is a high ranking official in a government system. Cabinet ministers comes from the ruling political party and consists upon its top leaders. Cabinet Minister possesses maximum authority and responsibility. Every cabinet minister has the power to take independent decisions pertaining to his/her ministry. They attend cabinet meetings usually chaired by the Prime Minister.

Minister of State (MoS)

Minister of State (MoS) is junior to Cabinet Minister. Each cabinet minister has Minister of State. Their activities involve day-to-day functioning of ministry and taking care of the state-centric functioning of a ministry. Every MoS reports to either Cabinet Minister or Independent charge of ministry, they works in close coordination.

However, the Union Minister comes into picture when a bigger policy decision needs to be taken MoS does not possess authority of decision making. They need to consult with their respective superior authority either Union Minister or Independent charge of ministry. MoS are not called to the Cabinet meetings.

MoS with Independent Charge

MoS with Independent charge do not come under any cabinet Minister but yet are of lower rank than cabinet minister. He/she has an authority to take decision independently without an overseeing of Cabinet Minister. He/she is in charge of his ministry. MoS with Independent Charge can attend Cabinet meetings in case of important issue.

Additional Facts

The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative authority in the country and it is bicameral. It is divided into two houses – the Rajya Sabha, which is the Council of States, and the Lok Sabha, which is the House of the People.
Lok Sabha or the Lower House of the Parliament consist of 545 members. 543 members are elected and 2 Members are directly elected by President of India from Anglo Indian Community.
A speaker and a deputy speaker is elected from the members of Lok Sabha.
No Confidence motion against Government can only be introduced in Lok Sabha. If it is passed then Prime Minister and other ministers have to resign.
The term of Rajya Sabha is six years (one-third of its members retire every two years and are replaced by newly elected members) and the term of Lok Sabha is five years.
The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members in all. Out of those, 238 members are to be elected from the States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President of India.
The minimum age for membership of the Rajya Sabha is 30 years. The minimum age for membership of the Lok Sabha is 25 years.
The members of the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by the members of the various state legislative assemblies for a fixed term of six years.

Reference : Parliament of India