Kerala is governed via a
parliamentary system of representative democracy; universal suffrage is
granted to state residents. There are three branches of government. The
unicameral legislature, the Kerala Legislative
Assembly, comprises elected members and special office bearers (the
Speaker and Deputy Speaker) elected by the members from among
themselves. Assembly meetings are presided over by the Speaker and in
his absence by the Deputy Speaker. Kerala has 140
Assembly constituencies. The state sends 20 members to the Lok Sabha and
9 to the Rajya Sabha, the Indian Parliament's upper house.
The Governor of Kerala is the
constitutional head of state, and is appointed by the President of
India. The executive authority is headed by the Chief Minister of Kerala , who is the de facto
head of state and is vested with extensive executive powers; the
Legislative Assembly's majority party leader is appointed to this
position by the Governor. The Council of Ministers, which answers to the
Legislative Assembly, has its members appointed by the Governor on
advice of the Chief Minister.
The judiciary comprises the Kerala High Court (including a Chief Justice combined with 26 permanent and two additional ( pro tempore ) justices) and a system of lower courts. The High Court of Kerala is the apex court for the state; it also hears cases from the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Auxiliary authorities known as panchayats , for which local body elections are regularly held, govern local affairs.
The state's 2005–2006 budget was
219 billion INR. The state government's tax revenues (excluding the
shares from Union tax pool) amounted to 111,248 million INR in 2005, up
from 63,599 million in 2000. Its non-tax revenues (excluding the shares
from Union tax pool) of the Government of Kerala as
assessed by the Indian Finance Commissions reached 10,809 million INR in
2005, nearly double the 6,847 million INR revenues of 2000. However, Kerala's
high ratio of taxation to gross state domestic product (GSDP) has not
alleviated chronic budget deficits and unsustainable levels of
government debt, impacting social services.
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