G. Kishan Reddy

What they do

• Running one or more Union ministries or departments and directing the civil servants in them
• Setting policy and framing rules and notifications for their subject (for example health, roads, railways or defence)
• Proposing government bills and steering them through both Houses of Parliament
• Managing how their ministry spends the money Parliament grants it, and running its central schemes
• Taking part in Cabinet meetings and big national decisions as one of its members
• Overseeing the public-sector companies, boards, regulators and bodies attached to their ministry
• Answering MPs' questions and debates about their ministry in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha
• Making appointments and approvals that the law allows the ministry to make
• Representing the Government of India on their subject at home and abroad

Not their job — ask instead

• Everyday local problems — garbage, local roads, street lights, drains, local water — are handled by your Municipality or Panchayat, not a Union minister.
• State subjects like police, state roads, government schools and hospitals, and land records are handled by your MLA and the state government's own ministers.
• Court verdicts and pending cases are decided by the independent judiciary; ministers cannot order or overturn them.
• For the running of a different department, ask the minister who holds THAT portfolio — each minister answers individually for their own ministry, though the whole Cabinet shares responsibility for joint decisions.
• Day-to-day file work and on-the-ground delivery are done by civil servants (the Secretary and officers), though the minister is still answerable for the results.
• Purely political-party or election matters are the party's business and the Election Commission's, not official government work.

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.