Cabinet Committees get new faces after reshuffle under PM Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted the crucial Cabinet Committees with new faces. Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Giriraj Singh, Mansukh Mandaviya, Bhupender Yadav, and Sarbananda Sonowal are the new additions to the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA).

The noted move is only days after expanding the Union Cabinet.

The CCPA, however, are all BJP leaders and do not include ministers belonging to alliance partners, Dalit, or minority communities. The powerful Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was also trimmed down. Crucial ministries are not represented in the CCEA, reported The Indian Express.

Rural development is also not a part of CCEA even though the union government has announced that it is a priority. Ministries of railways, environment, forest, climate change are also not included.

The earlier version of CCPA had Sukhbir Singh Badal, Ram Vilas Paswan (also represented Dalit community), and Arvind Sawant.

Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and Nirmala Sitharaman are members of every committee. Pralhad Joshi (Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines) is on the most number of panels - Cabinet Committee on Accommodation, CCEA, CCPA, Cabinet Committee on Investment & Growth and Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development, said the Indian Express report.

The new members of CCEA are Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home), Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance and Corporate Affairs) Narendra Singh Tomar (Agriculture and Farmers Welfare), S Jaishankar (External Affairs), Piyush Goyal (Commerce and Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Textiles), and Dharmendra Pradhan (Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship). The previous committee had 11 members.

The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet makes the decisions regarding all important appointments in the government from the rank of Joint Secretary and above. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision-making body on security affairs, remains the same.

Narayan Rane (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (Civil Aviation), and Ashwini Vaishnaw (Minister of Communications; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology) are new additions to the Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth headed by the Prime Minister.

Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhupender Yadav are added as new members to the Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development. Gadkari, Ramchandra Prasad Singh (Steel), G. Kishan Reddy (Culture, Tourism; and Development of North Eastern Region) are special invitees to the same.