Cabinet Committees Reconstituted after the reshuffle in Ministry

• 14 Jul 2021

Under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, the Government has reconstituted Cabinet Committees recently after the reshuffle of ministry.

Why Cabinet Committees are formed?

• Cabinet committees are established to reduce the workload of the Cabinet Ministers.

Types of Cabinet Committees

• There are two types of cabinet committees - standing and ad-hoc.
• Standing cabinet committees are permanent whereas ad-hoc cabinet committees are temporary and deals with special issues.

At present there are eight Cabinet committees:

1. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
2. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation
3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
4. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs
5. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
6. Cabinet Committee on Security
7. Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth
8. Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development

Note: In the recently formed committees (out of the eight), the Prime Minister is not a member of two committees - Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.

About Cabinet Committees

• The Cabinet Committees are not mentioned in the Constitution.
• They are established under the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961 under which the executive in India works.
• These Rules emerge out of Article 77(3) of the Constitution, which states: “The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.”
• The Prime Minister sets up different cabinet committees with selected members of the Cabinet and assigns specific functions to these committees.
• The Prime Minister may even change the numbers of committees and modify the functions assigned to them.
• If the Prime Minister is a member of any such committee, he acts as the head of the committee.