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NDA govt reconstitutes six cabinet committees
The Narendra Modi government had last week scrapped four out of 8 cabinet panels set up by the UPA government
New Delhi: In a move that further centralizes power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reorganized key cabinet committees under his leadership.
At the same time, Modi has sought to balance the sharing of political power with his key allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by including them in the powerful cabinet committee on political affairs (CCPA) and some other committees.
The Prime Minister, who has promised to streamline the administrative structure and decided to discontinue a number of cabinet committees, has reconstituted six committees of the cabinet—those on appointments, accommodation, economic affairs, parliamentary affairs, political affairs and security. The appointments committee on cabinet, which decides appointments to several top government posts, has only Modi and home minister Rajnath Singh as its members. The appointments committee on cabinet used to include the minister of the concerned department for which the appointments have to be made.
The move signals a further concentration of power in the Prime Minister, a criticism that Modi has faced since taking over the post on 26 May.
The cabinet committee on security has Modi, Singh, Arun Jaitley, who handles both the defence and finance ministries, and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) has seven senior ministers, including Ashok Gajapathi Raju, civil aviation minister and a leader of key ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP), as well as Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the food processing industries minister belonging to the Shiromani Akali Dal.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers in the CCEA are M. Venkaiah Naidu (urban development and parliamentary affairs), Nitin Gadkari (road transport and highways), D.V. Sadanand Gowda (railways), Ravi Shankar Prasad (communication and information and technology) and Radha Mohan Singh (agriculture).
Ministers of state with independent charge Dharmendra Pradhan (petroleum and natural gas), Piyush Goyal (power) and Nirmala Sitharaman (commerce) will be attending the CCEA meeting as special invitees as and when issues related to their respective ministries come up before it.
The government earlier this month announced the discontinuation of cabinet committees on natural calamities, prices, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), saying their functions will be carried out by the new CCEA. It also scrapped groups of ministers (GoMs) and empowered groups of ministers (eGoMs), an initiative of the last NDA government to assist the council of ministers in resolving contentious issues.
The idea was embraced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, which created 82 GoMs and 14 eGoMs during its decade-long rule, in the process drawing criticism for evading and delaying decisions. In a move that is expected to fast-track decision making, Modi has asked his ministers and civil servants to take decisions on pending matters without referring them to the cabinet.
Modi, who led the BJP and its allies to a landslide victory in the national election, had made the UPA’s policy paralysis a major campaign issue.
The cabinet committee on accommodation has Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, Naidu and Gadkari in it, and the panel on parliamentary affairs has Swaraj, Najma Heptulla (minority affairs), Lok Janashakti Party leader Ramvilas Paswan (consumer affairs minister and a Dalit leader), Ananth Kumar (chemicals and fertilizers) and Prasad, apart from those in the cabinet committee on accommodation.
The parliamentary affairs committee has Smriti Irani (human resources development), with ministers with independent charge Santosh Kumar Gangwar (textiles) and Prakash Javadekar (information and broadcasting, and environment and forests) as special invitees.
The CCPA has Modi, Rajnath Singh, Jaitley, Swaraj, Naidu, Gadkari, Paswan, Prasad, Raju, Kaur and ally Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete, who handles the portfolio of heavy industries and public enterprises.
The composition of the reconstituted cabinet committees:
1. Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh, minister of home affairs.
2. Cabinet Committee on Accommodation.
Rajnath Singh (minister of home affairs), Arun Jaitley (minister of finance, corporate affairs and defence), M. Venkaiah Naidu (minister of urban development, housing and urban poverty alleviation and parliamentary affairs), Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Shipping; Minister of Rural Development; Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
3. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs; and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of Defence, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development; Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Shipping; Minister of Rural Development; Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Railways, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice, Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries, Radha Mohan Singh, Minister of Agriculture.
Special Invitees: Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Coal and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
4. Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs; Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs; and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs; Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs and Minister of Defence; M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development; Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Dr. Najma A. Heptulla, Minister of Minority Affairs; Ramvilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; Ananthkumar, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers; Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice.
Special Invitees: Smriti Zubin Irani, Minister of Human Resource Development; Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Textiles; Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation; Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
5. Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs; Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs; and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs; Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of Defence; M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development; Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Shipping; Minister of Rural Development; Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation; Ramvilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communications and Information Technology; and Minister of Law and Justice; Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviationl; Anant Geete, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of Food Processing Industries.
Cabinet Committee on Security
Prime Minister; Rajnath Singh, Minister of Home Affairs; Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs; and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs; Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance; Minister of Corporate Affairs; and Minister of Defence.
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First Published:19 Jun 2014, 07:52 PM IST
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