PM Modi Announces Two New Cabinet Committees To Look After Economic Growth And Employment 

Prime Minister (PM) Modi announced two new cabinet committees on Wednesday to spur economic growth, investment and employment, signalling his second tenure’s focus areas. The prime minister himself will be the chairman of both the committees, reports Hindustan Times.

The five-member Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth includes home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, road transport and highways and MSME minister Nitin Gadkari and railway minister Piyush Goyal.

The 10-member Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development includes all of the above except Gandkari. Apart from them, the minister of agriculture and farmers welfare, rural development and panchayati raj Narendra Singh Tomar, human resource development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan, minister skill and entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey and ministers of state Santosh Kumar Gangwar (labour) and Hardeep Singh Puri (housing and urban affairs).

Economy and employment both remain sensitive issues as the GDP dropped to 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of the 2018-19, according to NSSO figures. On the other hand, Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) - Annual Report (july 2017 - July 2018) put the unemployment rate at 6.1 per cent, the highest in 45 years.