Answer: Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutional bodies provided in the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961. They are set up to relieve the Cabinet of some burden of work. They usually comprise Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State to deliberate and take a final call on important policy issues related to different sectors such as security, politics, economy, among others. Due to their composition, they can be indirectly said to be equivalent to the Council of Ministers (CoM). Role in reinstating collective responsibility and principle of homogeneity of the Executive:

• Collectively answerable: Article 75(3) of the Constitution states that the CoM is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. Cabinet Committee’s decisions make the CoM collectively answerable to the Lok Sabha for the policies and decisions of the government, even though a decision taken may pertain to a single ministry.
• Joint decision: Cabinet Committees’ decisions become a joint decision of all the Ministers, hence it is the duty of every minister to stand by cabinet decisions and support them both within and outside the Parliament.
• Reflective of the decision of the Government: 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.
• They also ensure homogeneity of the Executives in following manner:
  • Cabinet Committees play the role of assisting the Government in decision-making thereby ensuring coordination among different Ministries by erasing differences that arise within various Ministries or Departments.
  • Cabinet Committees are involved in ensuring the meeting of minds of different Ministries with the help of the Standing and Ad hoc Committees of Secretaries.
  • Cabinet Committees collectively work towards managing grave crises that are faced by the nation by means of coordinating different activities of the Ministries in such circumstances. For e.g.: Economic Affairs Committee directs and coordinates governmental activities in the economic sphere.

In this way, Cabinet Committees have played highly relevant roles in guiding the Cabinet and its ministers in the process of handling the largest democracy in the world and provide good governance to its citizens.