Government constitutes cabinet committees on security, economic and political affairs; allies accommodated

The Modi government on Wednesday constituted various cabinet committees, including the country's highest decision making bodies on security, economic and political affairs.

The members of the cabinet committees included Union ministers from the BJP and its NDA partners like Janata Dal (U), Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (S), Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

According to an official notification, the Cabinet Committee on Security comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

Apart from PM Modi, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has Rajnath Singh, Shah, Sitharaman, Jaishankar, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Heavy Industries and Steel Minister H D Kumaraswamy as its members.

Others in the committee are: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of Panchayati Raj and Fisheries Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs comprises Modi, Rajnath Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal, Health Minister J P Nadda, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Jitan Ram Manjhi, Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Women and Child Development Minister Annpurna Devi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs comprises Rajnath Singh, Shah, Nadda, Sitharaman, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Naidu, Rijiju, Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Minister of Jal Shakti C R Patil.

The special invitees in the committee are Union Minister of State for Law (Independent Charge) Arjun Ram Meghwal and Minister of State for Law L Murugan.

Like previous years, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet comprises only two members --? Modi and Shah.

Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth comprises PM Modi, Rajnath Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and Minister of Food Processing Industries Chirag Paswan.

Special invitees in the committee are Minister of State for Statistics Rao Inderjit Singh and Minister of Aayush Prataprao Jadhav.

The Cabinet Committee on Accommodation has Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Goyal and Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal as its members.

Union Minister of State for Personnel and PMO Jitendra Singh is a special invitee in the committee.

The Cabinet Committee on Skill, Employment and Livelihood comprises the PM, Rajnath Singh, Shah, Gadkari, Sitharaman, Vaishnaw, Pradhan, Yadav, Puri, Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Union Minister of State for Skill Development Jayant Choudhary is the special invitee.