Govt forms eight cabinet committees, NDA ally leaders on only five of them

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday set up eight Cabinet Committees but included members of its alliance partners in just five of these panels, which play a significant role in policymaking across all important domains.

The committees formed on Wednesday include the Appointments Committee, Committee on Accommodation, Economic Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Political Affairs, Security, Investment and Growth, and Skill Employment and Livelihood.

All these committees are led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal, among others are members.

Key committees to stay with BJP

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet includes Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah. The Committee on Accommodation features Shah, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) include Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and Panchayat Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.

The CCEA is crucial for shaping India's economic policies and strategies. It formulates and approves economic policies affecting various sectors, reviews major investment proposals, and plays a key role in budgetary decisions, including finalizing the minimum support prices of rabi and kharif crops.

On five committees

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal is on as many as five committees -- accommodation, economic affairs, political affairs, investment and growth, and skill, employment, and livelihood.

The Cabinet Committee on Security includes Rajnath Singh, Shah, Sitharaman, and Jaishankar.

However, five members are from the five alliance partners -- Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh of Janata Dal (United), HD Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular), Rammohan Naidu of TDP, Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) (HUM-S) and Chirag Paswan of LJP(R). 

Jayant Choudhary of RLD, the sixth partner of the National Democratic Alliance, is appointed as a special invitee for skill, employment and livelihood.

The Cabinet Committee on Political affairs consists of 13 ministers – Rajnath Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Nadda, Sitharaman, Goyal, Rijiju, Naidu, MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, WCD Minister Annapurna Devi and Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy.