Introduction:

The Cabinet Committee are organizations which are instrumental in reducing the workload of the Cabinet. These committees are extra-constitutional in nature and are nowhere mentioned in the Constitution. However, the Rules of Business provide for their establishment. The executive in India works under the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961. Recently, the Union government has released the composition of eight Cabinet Committees, including two new ones — one on Investment, the other on Employment and Skill Development.

Body:

Types and Composition of Cabinet Committees:

Standing Cabinet Committee: These are permanent in nature with a specific job. The Cabinet Ministers are called its ‘members’ while the people without the rank of Cabinet Committee are called ‘special invitees’. Standing committees include the following:

Appointments committee of the Cabinet; Cabinet committee on accommodation; Cabinet committee on economic affairs; Cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs; Cabinet committee on political affairs; Cabinet committee on security; Cabinet committee on investment and growth; Cabinet committee on employment & skill development.

Ad-hoc Cabinet Committee: These are temporary in nature and are formed time to time to deal with specific tasks.

Composition: The composition of a Cabinet Committee varies from 3 to 8 people. Even Ministers who are not the part of the Cabinet can be added to a Cabinet Committee. Usually, each cabinet committee has at least one Cabinet Minister. The members of the Cabinet Committee can be from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Importance of Cabinet Committees:

• Article 77(3) of the Constitution states: “The President shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government of India, and for the allocation among Ministers of the said business.”
• The Prime Minister constitutes Standing Committees of the Cabinet and sets out the specific functions assigned to them. He can add or reduce the number of committees.
• They solve issues and formulate proposals for the consideration of the cabinet and take decisions on matters assigned to them. However, the cabinet is empowered to review such decisions.
• This device enables ministers to bargain and compromise with each other and this reduces pressure of work upon the cabinet.
• Consequently, the cabinet is left free to devote itself to more important matters.
• The committee system safeguards the principle of collective responsibility, which is an essential feature of the cabinet system.
• These committees facilitate deep examination of the policy issue and effective coordination.
• Many a times, when an activity/agenda of the Government acquires prominence or requires special thrust, a Cabinet Committee may be set up for focussed attention.
• In all areas delegated to the Cabinet Committees, normally the decision of the Cabinet Committee in question is the decision of the Government of the day.
• Ministers of state and deputy ministers who are not members of the cabinet are members of one or more committees. This is a way in which they can and are brought into a closer association with the work of the cabinet.
• Thus, all ministers continue to be partly responsible for the government’s action. Cabinet committees increase the effectiveness of political control over public services.
• The public servants are called upon by the committees to justify their proposals and comment on problems under review. This procedure establishes a close interface between a politicians and public servants and ensures that those who formulate policy are reasonably well informed.
• It also eliminates the possibility of any one department carrying a disproportionate weight of opinion. The committees also act as a collective check on individual ministers and on the Prime Minister
• In view of the growth in the volume and complexity of the government business, a proper division of labour and effective delegation within cabinet requires committees to perform functions devolved on them by the cabinet.
• They focus supra-ministry attention on particular sectors of administration. Effective coordination is their major contribution.

Conclusion:

The cabinet committees wield real power of decision on less important general policy matters. Other matters, which must be dealt with in the cabinet, are also whittled in committees. Only the delicate and complex points, or those on which ministers differ, remain for discussion by the cabinet. What has saved the cabinet, as the central decision-making body, is the elaborate network of cabinet committees, which have acted as a clearing house.