The Government of India has reconstituted 8 cabinet committees for the ongoing term. These committees primarily consist of Cabinet Ministers. The government has 72 members in the Union Council, of which 31 are of Cabinet Rank. The Prime Minister is a part of 6 out of 8 committees and will head them. The rest committees will be headed by the Union Home Minister and Union Defence Minister.
About New Cabinet Committees
- Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
- It is responsible for assisting the government in the appointment of bureaucrats and other top officials across departments and government enterprises.
- It also resolves disagreements related to appointments
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Security
- It is responsible for all security-related decisions and holds significance for the country’s security.
- It deals with law and order issues to ensure internal security, political and economic issues concerning national security, atomic energy matters, and the requirement of manpower for national security.
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- It oversees key economic issues and makes decisions about industrial policies and approval of big-ticket investments and key infrastructure projects. It also analyses the progress of rural development projects.
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- It helps the government make major political decisions while considering all aspects of the issues, and policy issues related to foreign affairs. It has 14 members, the highest among all committees.
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth
- It identifies essential projects and ensures their implementation, sets deadlines from essential approvals and analyses project progress.
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment and Livelihood
- It supervises decisions and actions related to skilling initiatives and employment generation.
- Headed by the Prime Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- It recommends calling the Parliamentary Sessions and ensures their smooth functioning. It also ponders over suggestions to summon or discontinue the Parliament Houses.
- Headed by the Defence Minister
- Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
- It facilitates the allotment of residences to ministers and other key officials. It also makes decisions about shifting the existing Central Government Offices to a new location.
- Headed by the Home Minister
What are Cabinet Committees?
- These are extra-constitutional bodies, not mentioned in the original Constitution. They have been established under the Rule of Business.
- The Prime Minister constitutes these committees for the convenience of the functioning of the government by reducing the workload on the Cabinet. If the PM is on a committee, he always acts as the head of that committee.
- The Prime Minister can reconstitute these committees at any time by including or excluding one or more members. The PM usually includes cabinet ministers as members, but non-cabinet members can also be included or involved as Special Invitees.
