Cabinet Committees & Groups of Ministers

📄 From your Polity Notes PDF

🗂️ 1. Cabinet Committees — Key Features

Extra-constitutional device — Cabinet Committees find no mention in the Constitution; they rest on the Rules of Business framed under Article 77.
Two types: Standing Committees (permanent) and Ad-hoc Committees (temporary, dissolve once their task is complete).
Constituted by the PM as needed; membership typically ranges from 3 to 8 ministers, with composition and naming changing over time.
Comprise Cabinet Ministers and senior Ministers, usually headed by the PM (sometimes chaired instead by the Home or Finance Minister).
They don't just deliberate — Cabinet Committees can take decisions on assigned matters, though these remain subject to the full Cabinet's validation/review.
Non-Cabinet Ministers can be included, and may attend meetings of committees they aren't formal members of, as special invitees.

📉 2. How Many Cabinet Committees? A Shrinking, Then Steadying, List

1994	2013	2016	2019
13 Committees	10 Committees	6 Committees	8 Committees (current)

The 8 committees presently constituted cover: Political Affairs, Economic Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, Accommodation, Security, Investment & Growth, Employment & Skill Development, and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. In 2014, the government also declared four further committees constituted under, and reporting through, this same core set.

⚙️ 3. Functions of the Main Cabinet Committees

Committee	Function
Political Affairs (CCPA)	Deals with policy matters spanning domestic and foreign affairs, directs/coordinates other committees — often nicknamed the "Super Cabinet."
Economic Affairs (CCEA)	Handles policy matters in the economic sphere.
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)	Decides senior appointments — Central Secretaries, heads of public-sector enterprises, banks and financial institutions.
Parliamentary Affairs	Watches over the government's legislative business and its progress in Parliament.
Accommodation	Chaired by the Home Minister; allots government accommodation to former MPs and other central government personnel.
Investment & Growth	Deals with policy improving ease of doing business.
Security	Covers matters of national security.
Employment & Skill Development	Oversees policy on employment generation and skilling.

Other subject-specific Cabinet Committees: Unique Identification (Aadhaar-related policy) • World Trade Organisation (WTO-related policy) • Prices • a dedicated mechanism for managing natural calamities, functioning under the Cabinet Secretary whenever a calamity occurs.

👥 4. Groups of Ministers (GoMs)

Ad-hoc bodies formed to give recommendations to the Cabinet; a GoM's role is normally advisory.
Empowered GoMs (EGoMs), by contrast, can take decisions on behalf of the Cabinet directly.
Till 2013, there were 21 GoMs and 6 EGoMs.
All GoMs and EGoMs were abolished on 31 May 2014 by the incoming Modi government, for greater accountability within the regular Cabinet Committee structure.
Informal GoMs were subsequently formed — 16 of them — for specific matters, including amending the Juvenile Justice Act, internet-governance guidelines, amending the Child Labour Act, and the Bureau of Indian Standards Bill.

📋 5. 2nd ARC on the GoM System

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005–09) flagged concerns with over-reliance on GoMs and recommended reform:

A large number of GoMs tends to mean they don't meet regularly, delaying action on important issues.
GoMs should be used selectively, not as a default mechanism.
A proper coordination mechanism between GoMs is needed for effective resolution of referred issues.

A related structure, the Parliamentary Forum, gives MPs another channel to engage with specific policy domains outside the formal Cabinet Committee/GoM system.

⚡ 6. Quick Revision Snapshot

Item	Detail
Constitutional status	Extra-constitutional; based on the Rules of Business (Art. 77), not the Constitution itself
Cabinet Committees now	8 (as reconstituted in 2019)
Typical membership	3–8 ministers, usually chaired by the PM
"Super Cabinet"	Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA)
GoMs/EGoMs before 2014	21 GoMs + 6 EGoMs
GoM/EGoM system abolished	31 May 2014, by the Modi government
Informal GoMs formed after 2014	16
Key review of the GoM system	2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, 2005–09

🎯 Exam Angle

A favourite Prelims trap is asking whether Cabinet Committees are constitutional bodies — they are not; they rest purely on the Rules of Business under Article 77. Mains answers on Council of Ministers structure benefit from distinguishing GoMs (advisory) from EGoMs (decision-making), and noting the 2014 abolition as a deliberate accountability reform.