Modi forms two Cabinet committees to spur growth, employment

NEW DELHI: With the spectre of slowdown haunting the economy and rising unemployment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday constituted two new Cabinet committees under his chairmanship to spur economic growth and investments and employment.

The five-member Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth includes Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Road Transport and Highways and of MSME Minister Nitin Gadkari and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.

Another 10-member Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development has been formed which includes Shah, Sitharaman, Goyal, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Rural Development and Panchayat 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).

The economy has become a major cause of concern for the new government with GDP dropping to 5.8 per cent in the last quarter of the 2018-19, according to NSSO figures. Overall GDP for last financial year has been estimated at 6.8 per cent against a target of 7.2 per cent.

On the employment front, just after the elections were over the government released the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) - Annual Report (July 2017 - July 2018) which put the unemployment rate at 6.1 per cent, the highest in 45 years.