Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted six important Cabinet committees
The reconstituted committees include the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.
The reconstituted committees include the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.
Background
- In May 2014, Narendra Modi government announced the “abolition” of all Groups of Ministers (GoMs) and Empowered Groups of Ministers (EGoMs) “for greater accountability and empowerment
- Nine EGoMs and 21 GoMs were set up by the previous UPA government to take decisions on various matters such as corruption, inter-State water disputes, administrative reforms and gas and telecom pricing, before bringing them for the Cabinet’s consideration.
- In June 2014, Prime Minister announced discontinuation of four Standing Committees of the Cabinet
- The committees were Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities, Cabinet Committee on Prices Cabinet Committee on World Trade Organisation Matters and Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India
New Members of Cabinet Panels
CCPA: Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- The Political Affairs Committee deals with all policy matters pertaining to domestic and foreign affairs.
- The government has included defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, railway minister Piyush Goyal in the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), reaffirming their elevation in the Union Cabinet.
CCEA: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- The Economic Affairs Committee directs and coordinates the governmental activities in the economic sphere.
- Sitharaman and Goyal, along with petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, have also been included as permanent members of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
CCPA: Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- Parliamentary Affairs Committee looks after the progress of government business in the Parliament.
- Social justice minister TC Gehlot has for the first time been included in the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- Vijay Goel and Arjun Ram Meghwal, have been included as special invitees to the bread
CCS: Cabinet Committee on Security
- The government has included defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman in this committee.
CCA: Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
- Hardeep Puri in his capacity as minister of state (independent charge) of housing and urban affairs ministry, has been included as a special invitee to the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation.
ACC: Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
- Appointment Committee decides all higher level appointments in the Cabinet Secretariat,Public enterprises, Banks and Financial Institutions.
To Be Noted
- Except the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, all other committees are chaired by the Prime Minister. Of all the Cabinet Committees, the most powerful is the Political Affairs Committee, often described as a "Super-Cabinet".
