Raj Bhushan Choudhary

What they do

• Executive charge of a Union ministry or department and its policy, schemes and administration — when holding Independent Charge (no Cabinet Minister above them for that portfolio).
• Assisting a Cabinet Minister with the specific subjects, files and functions handed to them — when holding the ordinary Minister of State rank.
• Steering Bills, moving motions, answering questions and making statements in Parliament for their ministry (a minister may speak in either House under Article 88, but votes only in the House they belong to).
• Approving files, issuing notifications and taking executive decisions within the business given to them under the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961.
• Presenting and defending the department's budget demands and overseeing its spending, subject to Parliament's approval.
• Representing the ministry in inter-ministerial groups, Groups of Ministers, official committees and, on their subject, in international meetings and agreements.
• Making subordinate rules and administrative or statutory appointments where the governing Act allows the minister to do so.
• Attending Cabinet meetings when specially invited (an Independent Charge MoS is not a permanent member of the Cabinet).

Not their job — ask instead

• Overall government policy direction and top-level Cabinet decisions — these rest with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; where a Cabinet Minister heads the ministry, that Cabinet Minister carries final responsibility for the whole department.
• Law and order and policing — a State subject run by the State Government's Home Department and police (the Union Home Ministry only for Union Territories and central forces), not by most Union ministers.
• Local civic services like roads, water, drainage and garbage — run by municipalities, panchayats and the State Government, not by a Union minister.
• Court verdicts and case delays — decided by the independent judiciary; ministers cannot direct courts.
• Holding and deciding elections — the job of the independent Election Commission of India, not any minister.
• State-list matters such as agricultural markets, land and state public health — the responsibility of the relevant State Government and its ministers.

What they do

• Debating and voting on central laws and Bills on Union List and Concurrent List subjects (for example defence, foreign affairs, railways, telecom, citizenship, criminal law).
• Approving the Union Budget, taxes and government spending — including Money Bills, which can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha (Articles 109–110), and voting the government's Demands for Grants.
• Questioning the government — Question Hour, Zero Hour, Calling Attention notices and Short Duration Discussions to get answers from ministers.
• Moving and voting on motions — including the no-confidence motion, which only the Lok Sabha can use to remove the Council of Ministers, plus adjournment and censure motions.
• Recommending local development works under the MPLAD Scheme (about ₹5 crore a year) — such as community buildings, roads, and water and sanitation assets — for execution by the district administration.
• Serving on parliamentary committees (standing, select and joint committees) that examine Bills, budgets and government performance in detail.
• Introducing Private Members' Bills and Resolutions to propose new laws or raise policy issues.
• Representing the constituency — raising local problems, projects and grievances with central ministries and pressing for central schemes.
• Helping pass Constitutional Amendment Bills, which need a special majority of Parliament (Article 368).
• Approving or ending proclamations of National Emergency, President's Rule in a State, and Financial Emergency, which must be approved by Parliament to continue (Articles 352, 356 and 360).
• Taking part in electing the President and Vice-President, and in the removal of Supreme Court and High Court judges and the impeachment of the President.
• Raising matters of public importance and presenting petitions on behalf of citizens.

Not their job — ask instead

• Everyday civic services — city roads, water supply, garbage collection, streetlights, drainage and building approvals. Ask your municipal corporator/councillor and the urban local body (Municipal Commissioner); in villages, the Gram Panchayat and Sarpanch.
• Police, crime and law-and-order — in the States this is a State subject, so ask the State Government (State Home Department) and the local police/SP; in Union Territories such as Delhi and Chandigarh the police come under the central government. Either way, an MP has no command over the police.
• State laws, state welfare schemes, land and most day-to-day governance where you live — these belong to your MLA and the State Government (in some Union Territories, such as Delhi, land is with the central government), not to a Union MP.
• Court cases and verdicts — the judiciary is independent; an MP cannot decide, speed up or interfere in cases.
• Running schools and hospitals or appointing teachers or doctors — public health is mainly a State subject and education is a Concurrent subject, handled largely by State Government departments.
• Physically building MPLAD works or choosing contractors — the District Authority (Collector/DM) sanctions and carries out the works; the MP only recommends them.
• Day-to-day running of a ministry — unless the MP is themselves the Minister in charge, this is run by the Union Minister concerned and civil servants, not by an ordinary MP.