Villages,urban slums on agenda of new Cabinet panel on core sector

The Government today announced a Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister with 12 Cabinet Ministers...

The Government today announced a Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister with 12 Cabinet Ministers,two Ministers of State (Independent Charge) and Deputy Chairman,Planning Commission,to fast-track and monitor the implementation of infrastructure sector projects above Rs 150 crore with particular emphasis on rural housing and urban slum clearance.

The fact that its a Cabinet Committee,similar to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA),marks an upgrade of the Committee on Infrastructure (CoI) of the previous UPA government which dealt with projects costing more than Rs 300 crore.

The upgrade is also evident in the composition of CCI,which includes 12 Ministers of Cabinet rank unlike the previous CoI that had only seven Cabinet Ministers. The Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the PM and two other members of Planning Commission,who were part of the previous CoI,will not be part of the CCI.

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The CCI widens the scope of areas covered by bringing agricultural,rural,irrigation,and urban infrastructure segments under it including Sharad Pawar,Minister of Agriculture; C P Joshi,Minister of Rural Development; Pawan Kumar Bansal,Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources; Jaipal Reddy,Minister of Urban Development; Selja,Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation,and Farooq Abdullah,Minister of New and Renewable Energy. They were not part of the previous CoI.

Apart from these new additions,the CCI will include Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee,Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee,Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde,Road,Transport & Highways Minister Kamal Nath,Communications & Information Technology Minister A Raja,and Shipping Minister GK Vasan. In addition,the CCI will also include Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia,Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Aviation Praful Patel and Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan as special invitees.

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