The central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also constituted cabinet committees with the help of its allies. In which maximum representation was seen for the NDA allies for the first time since 2014.
This time, in the cabinet committees, a lot of importance has also been given to the Union Ministers from BJP’s allies like Janata Dal (U), Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (S), Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).
Due to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not getting a clear majority in the Lok Sabha 2024, the BJP is moving forward with the new government with agreement/ settlement and mutual coordination with its allies. The effect of which is also clearly visible in the formation of cabinet committees.
Features of Cabinet Committees: –
- Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutional in origin. That is, these committees are not mentioned in the Constitution. However, the rules of business provide for their establishment.
- These committees are mainly of two types: Permanent and Ad-hoc (temporary).
- Ad-hoc committees are formed from time to time to deal with specific problems.
- They are formed by the Prime Minister as per the need of the time and situation and are dissolved after the work is completed. Hence, their number, naming and composition keep changing from time to time.
- Membership of Cabinet committees ranges from three to eight and usually includes only Cabinet ministers. However, non-Cabinet ministers are not denied their membership. These include not only the ministers in charge of the subjects they cover, but also other senior ministers.
- These are mostly headed by the Prime Minister. Sometimes other cabinet ministers also act as their chairpersons. But, if the Prime Minister is a member of a committee, he necessarily chairs it.
- They not only resolve issues and prepare proposals for the Cabinet’s consideration but also take decisions. However, the Cabinet can review its decisions.
List of Cabinet Committees: –
At present there are 8 Cabinet Committees:
- Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)
- Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
- Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
- Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth
- Cabinet Committee on Employment & Skill Development
Functions of Cabinet Committees and their members: –
1) Cabinet Committee on Security: –
- It deals with issues relating to law and order, internal security and policy matters relating to foreign affairs having internal or external security implications and also considers economic and political issues relating to national security.
- It considers all matters involving capital defence expenditure exceeding Rs 1,000 crore and also issues relating to the Department of Defence Production and Department of Defence Research and Development, services capital acquisition schemes and schemes for procurement of security-related equipment.
This committee is headed by the Prime Minister Rajnath Singh (Defense Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (Foreign Minister).
2) Appointments Committee of the Cabinet: –
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is a high-level committee of the Government of India. This committee appoints officers to key posts in the central government and the public sector.
- It makes appointments to the posts of chiefs of the three armed forces, Director General of Military Operations, heads of all air and army commands, Director General of Defence Intelligence Agency, etc.
- It decides on all important panels and changes of officers serving on central deputation.
There are only two members of this cabinet committee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah (Home Minister and Cooperation Minister).
3) Cabinet Committee on Accommodation: –
- It lays down the guidelines or rules regarding the allotment of government accommodation.
- It also decides on the allotment of government accommodation to non-eligible individuals and organisations and the rent to be charged from them.
- It may consider allotment of accommodation to Members of Parliament from the general pool.
- It may consider proposals to shift existing central government offices to places outside the capital.
- At present, the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation is the Home Minister.
This committee includes senior ministers of the Central Government and chairman of this Cabinet Committee, Amit Shah (Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation), along with his cabinet colleagues Nitin Jairam Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport and Highways), Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Manohar Lal Khattar (Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Minister of Power), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry), etc.
Special Invitee Member: –
Dr. Jitendra Singh (Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space)
4) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs: –
- This committee is responsible for taking key decisions regarding India’s economic policies and giving economic guidelines as well as for all issues related to the economy.
- This committee is chaired by the Prime Minister himself.
- Its objectives are to review economic trends, make proposals for evolving a coherent and integrated economic policy, coordinate all activities requiring policy decisions at the highest level, deal with the determination of prices of agricultural product and prices of essential commodities.
- It considers investment proposals above Rs 1,000 crore, deals with industrial licensing policies and reviews rural development and the public distribution system.
This Cabinet Committee includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh (Defense Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister and Cooperation Minister), Nitin Jairam Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways Minister), Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister and Rural Development Minister), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister; and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, (External Affairs Minister) , HD Kumaraswamy (Heavy Industries Minister and Steel Minister), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry Minister), Dharmendra Pradhan (Education Minister), Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh (Panchayati Raj Minister; and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister) etc.
5) Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs: –
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs is one of the important committees of the Government of India.
- This committee considers political issues. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs is extra-constitutional like all other Cabinet Committees of the Government of India. This committee is also known as the Super Cabinet.
- It resolves the problems related to centre-state relations.
- It also examines economic and political issues that require a broader perspective but which have no internal or external security implications.
- This committee is also chaired by the Prime Minister.
At present, the key members of this Cabinet Committee are Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with his senior colleagues in the Central Government, Rajnath Singh (Defense Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister; and Cooperation Minister), Nitin Jairam Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport and Highways), Jagat Prakash Nadda (Minister of Health and Family Welfare; and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers), Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry), Jitan Ram Manjhi (Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Sarbananda Sonowal (Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Minister of Civil Aviation), Bhupendra Yadav (Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change), Annapurna Devi (Minister of Women and Child Development), Kiren Rijiju (Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Minority Affairs), G Kishan Reddy (Minister of Coal and Minister of Mines) etc. are the cabinet ministers.
6) Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs: –
- It prepares the programme for Parliament sessions and monitors the progress of government business/work in Parliament.
- It examines non-official business and decides which official bills and resolutions are to be introduced.
- Parliament has a limited time to deal with this work. Therefore, Parliament cannot consider in depth all the legislative and other matters that come before it. Much of the work of Parliament is done by the committees of the House.
This Cabinet Committee is also an important committee.
In Modi 3.0, like other committees, senior Union Ministers of the Central Government have been made members. This committee includes Rajnath Singh (Defense Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister and Cooperation Minister), Jagat Prakash Nadda (Health and Family Welfare Minister and Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister and Corporate Affairs Minister), Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (Panchayati Raj Minister and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Minister), Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment Minister), Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu (Civil Aviation Minister), Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs Minister), Kiren Rijiju (Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Minority Affairs Minister), CR Patil (Water Power Minister) etc.
Special Invitee Member: –
Arjun Ram Meghwal (Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Law and Justice and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs)
Dr. L. Murugan (Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs)
7) Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth: –
- It will identify key projects required to be implemented on a time-bound basis, involving an investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more in respect of infrastructure and manufacturing, or any other critical projects as specified by it.
- It will set timelines for granting the required approvals and clearances by the concerned ministries in the identified areas and also monitor the progress of such projects.
- The main objective of this committee is to increase the growth rate and employment. And it is also the responsibility of the members of this committee to take decisions on development issues in all areas of the country.
The key members and chairpersons of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his key colleagues in the government, namely Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation), Nitin Jairam Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport and Highways), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry), Prahlad Joshi (Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Minister of New and Renewable Energy), Giriraj Singh (Minister of Textiles), Ashwini Vaishnav (Minister of Railways, Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology), Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (Minister of Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region), Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas), Chirag Paswan (Minister of Food Processing Industries).
Special Invitee Member: –
Rao Inderjit Singh, (Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture), Pratap Rao Jadhav (Minister of State with Independent Charge of the Ministry of AYUSH and Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare).
8) Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development: –
- It aims to provide direction to all policies, programmes, schemes and initiatives for skill development with the aim of enhancing the employability of the workforce to effectively meet the emerging requirements of the fast-growing economy and to map the benefits of demographic dividend.
- It is necessary to work towards increasing workforce participation, promoting employability growth and recognition, and bridging the gap between requirements and availability of skills across different sectors.
- It will set targets for early implementation of all skill development initiatives by the Ministries and review the progress in this regard from time to time.
- The Cabinet Committees are headed by the Prime Minister, except for the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
- This committee makes various rules and regulations regarding skill development in all the sectors in the country and it is also the responsibility of this cabinet committee to consider various points from employment generation to livelihood.
This committee is also represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the help of his senior colleagues. The key members of this cabinet committee are Rajnath Singh (Defense Minister), Amit Shah (Home Minister; and Minister of Cooperation), Nitin Jairam Gadkari (Minister of Road Transport and Highways), Nirmala Sitharaman (Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs), Piyush Goyal (Minister of Commerce and Industry), Dharmendra Pradhan (Minister of Education), Ashwini Vaishnav (Minister of Railways; Minister of Information and Broadcasting; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology), Bhupendra Yadav (Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) , Gajendra Singh Shekhawat (Minister of Culture; and Minister of Tourism) , Hardeep Singh Puri (Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas) , Mansukh Mandaviya (Minister of Labor and Employment; and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports).
Special Invitee Member: –
Jayant Chaudhary (Minister of State with Independent Charge of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State in the Ministry of Education).
Explore our courses: https://apnipathshala.com/ncert-foundation-batch/
Explore Our test Series: https://tests.apnipathshala.com/
