Centre reconstitutes eight cabinet committees

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has reconstituted eight key cabinet committees, including appointments committee, the cabinet committee on economic affairs, and security, among others.

The eight committees which have been reconstituted include - Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, Cabinet Committee on Security, Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development.

In the newly-constituted eight cabinet committees, Modi is part of six committees, barring Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, while Home Minister Amit Shah is part of all cabinet committees.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet includes Modi and Shah, while Cabinet Committee on Accommodation has Shah, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Jitendra Singh and Minister of State (I/C) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri will be special invitees to Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, according to a statement issued by the Centre on Thursday.

Another important key committee- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs - will be headed by Modi and includes Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers D.V.Sadananda Gowda, Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahamanayam Jaishankar, and Petroleum, Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs has also been reconstituted and now includes Shah, Sitharaman, Tomar, RS Prasad, Consumer Affairs Minister Ramvilas Paswan, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi.

This committee will have Ministers of State (MoS) Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan as special invitees.

Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has also been reconstituted. It includes Modi, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Paswan, Tomar, RS Prasad, Harsimrat Kaur, Goyal, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise Minister Arvind Ganpat Sawant and Prahlad Joshi.

Considered one of the most significant cabinet committees, the Cabinet Committee on Security includes the Prime Minister, Rajnath, Shah, Sitharaman and Jaishankar.

The Prime Minister is also a part of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth, whose members include Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal.

Another committee to be reconstituted is the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development composition, and includes Modi, Shah, Sitharaman, Tomar, Goyal, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Skill development and Entrepreneurship Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, MOS(I/C)Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar, and Hardeep Singh Puri.

The Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development will have Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Smriti Zubin Irani and Prahlad Singh Patel as special invitees.

Narendra Modi-led NDA stormed back into power for a second term at the Centre after bagging 353 seats in the 543-member Lower House of the Parliament.

Members of the new cabinet took oath on May 30 and were assigned their respective portfolios the next day.