Cabinet Committees and GoMs

📖 Why Cabinet Committees exist

Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutional — they find no mention in the Constitution, but derive their authority from the Rules of Business framed under Article 77(3). They exist to reduce the workload of the full Cabinet by letting a smaller group of ministers examine and decide matters, referring only the most important ones back to the full Cabinet.

A Cabinet Committee's decision is treated as a decision of the Cabinet itself unless it is specifically referred to the full Cabinet.

🏛️ The key standing committees

• Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) — chaired by the PM; the most powerful committee, handles defence and internal/external security matters.
• Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) — chaired by the PM; major economic and infrastructure decisions.
• Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) and the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
• Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) — decides all senior civil and military appointments.

🤝 Groups of Ministers (GoMs)

Unlike the permanent, standing Cabinet Committees, a Group of Ministers (GoM) is set up ad hoc to examine a specific issue and is dissolved once its report is submitted. An Empowered GoM (EGoM) goes further — it can take a binding decision on the government's behalf without the matter going back to the full Cabinet.