The government on Thursday announced the constitution of eight Cabinet Committees, including two panels to address slow growth and unemployment.
The Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development will both be headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is perhaps the first time that Cabinet committees on the two concerns have been set up, PTI reported.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal will serve on both committees. Union minister Nitin Gadkari will be part of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth, while he is listed as a “special invitee” in the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development.
Cabinet committees are constituted or reconstituted when a new government takes over or the Cabinet undergoes a reshuffle.
The Cabinet Committee on Security, which addresses concerns related to national security and foreign affairs, includes Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Shah, Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which overseas senior-level appointments in the government, is headed by Modi and includes Shah.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is headed by Modi and will have Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, Sitharaman, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister for Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal as its members. Jaishankar, Goyal and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan are also part of the panel.
Shah will head the Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, which determines the allotment of government accommodation. Gadkari, Sitharaman and Goyal are its members. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh and Minister of State of Housing and Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri are “special invitees” in the committee.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which recommends dates for holding Parliament sessions, will be headed by Shah and will include Sitharaman, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Tomar, Prasad, Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi as its members. Ministers of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan are special invitees.
The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, which helps the government take policy decisions, will be headed by the prime minister. Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal, Paswan, Tomar, Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Heavy Industries Minister Arvind Sawant and Joshi will be its members.
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