The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the

governance Governance is the overall complex system or framework of Process, processes, functions, structures, Social norm, rules, Law, laws and Norms (sociology), norms born out of the Interpersonal relationship, relationships, Social interaction, intera ...

of the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

, ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

executive authority The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

lies with the

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

, the '' de facto'' authority and the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. Following elections to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose

council of ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

are collectively responsible to the assembly. Legislative assembly elections are held every five years to elect a new assembly, unless there is a successful

vote of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

in the government or a two-thirds vote for a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

in the assembly, in which case an election may be held sooner. The

legislature of Tamil Nadu The Tamil Nadu Legislature is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Legislature is composed of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and List of governors of Tamil N ...

was

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

until 1986, when it was replaced by a

unicameral legislature Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

. The judiciary branch is led by a High Court (

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

) led by a Chief Justice.

Executive

The

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

is the ''

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

head of state while the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

is the '' de facto''

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. The governor is appointed by the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

. Following elections to the

, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the

, whose

are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, w ...

is the capital of the state and houses the state executive,

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

and head of judiciary.

Council of Ministers

Legislature

The

consists of

234 __NOTOC__ Year 234 (Roman numerals, CCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Pupienus and Sulla (or, less frequently, year 987 ''Ab urbe condita''). The ...

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

elected through democratic

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. The current seat of the assembly is at

Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress at the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

. The first election to the assembly on the basis of

universal adult suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

was held in January 1952. The

was

until 1986, when it was replaced by a

after the abolishment of

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

. Any

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

passed by the legislature needs the assent of the governor before becoming an act.

Judiciary

The

was established on 26 June 1862 and is the highest judicial authority of the state with control over all the civil and criminal courts in the state. It is headed by a Chief Justice, a position currently held by K. R. Shriram. The court is based out of Chennai and has a bench at

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

since 2004.

Administrative divisions

As per the 2011 census, Tamil Nadu is the seventh most populous state in India with a population of 72.1 million. It covers an area of and is the tenth largest Indian state by area. The state is divided into 38

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

, each of which is administered by a

District Collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

, who is an officer of the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

(IAS) appointed to the district by the Government of Tamil Nadu. For revenue administration, the districts are further subdivided into 87 revenue divisions administered by Revenue Divisional Officers (RDO) which comprise 310

taluks A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administrative ce ...

administered by Tahsildars. The taluks are divided into 1,349

revenue block Revenue blocks, revenue circles, ''firka'', or ''patwar circles'' are the local revenue sub-divisions of the various districts of the states of India. The revenue blocks exist to simplify local administration, and each consists of a small numbe ...

s called ''firkas'' which encompass 17,680 revenue villages. , the

local administration Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

consists of 15

municipal corporations Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally ow ...

, 121

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and 528

town panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

s in the urban and 385 panchayat unions and 12,618 village panchayats, administered by Village Administrative Officers (VAO).

Greater Chennai Corporation Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is a local government for the City of Chennai in the Chennai Metropolitan Area of Tamil Nadu, India. Inaugurated on 29 September 1688, under a royal charter issued by James II of England, King James II of Eng ...

, established in 1688, is the second oldest in the world and Tamil Nadu was the first state to establish town panchayats as a new administrative unit.

Departments

The administration of the state government functions through various secretariat departments. Each department consists of a secretary to the government, who is the official head of the department with the Chief secretary superintending control over the secretariat and staff. The departments have further sub-divisions which may govern various undertakings and boards. There are 43 departments of the state.

Insignia

The state emblem was designed in 1949 and consists of the

Lion Capital of Ashoka The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, . Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus. The side of the abacus is ad ...

without the bell lotus foundation and flanked on either side by an

Indian flag The national flag of India, colloquially called Tiraṅgā (the tricolour), is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag, the colours being of India saffron, white and India green; with the , a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It wa ...

with an image of a ''

Gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Telugu: గోపురం, Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of th ...

'' or

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

tower on the background. There are two inscriptions in

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

displayed around the rim of the seal runs. தமிழ் நாடு அரசு ('Tamil Nadu arasu') translating to "Government of Tamil Nadu" is inscribed on the top. Inscribed at the bottom is வாய்மையே வெல்லும் ('Vaymaiye Vellum') which translates to "Truth Alone Triumphs" and derived from the words "

Satyameva Jayate Satyameva Jayate (; ) is a part of a ''mantra'' from the Hindu texts, Hindu scripture ''Mundaka Upanishad''. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950, the day India became a Republic ...

" in the Indian emblem.

References

External links

* {{Authority control