Caretaker government
Topic: Union Executive: President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A caretaker government is a ministry that stays in office after it has resigned, lost its majority or seen the Lok Sabha dissolved. It stays until a new government takes over. It must stay because Art. 74 requires a Council of Ministers to aid and advise the President at all times. The Supreme Court said this in U.N.R. Rao (1971). By convention (an unwritten rule followed in practice), a caretaker government avoids major policy decisions.
Example
Charan Singh led a caretaker government in 1979-80 after resigning without facing the Lok Sabha. Vajpayee's government was a caretaker government in 1999 when it handled the Kargil conflict.
Don't confuse with
- Interim Prime Minister: this is a stop-gap PM sworn in after a PM dies, as Gulzarilal Nanda was after Nehru (1964) and Shastri (1966). A caretaker government is the outgoing ministry continuing in office.