What is Group of Ministers?
Q. Which of the following is/are true?
1) Group of Ministers (GoMs) are constituted to only give advice to the cabinet.
2) Ministers heading the concerned ministries are inducted into the relevant GoMs.- Published on 01 Mar 17a. Only 1
b. Only 2
c. Both 1 and 2
d. All of the above
ANSWER: Only 2
- In addition to cabinet committees, several Groups of Ministers (GoMs) have been constituted to look into different issues/subjects.
- Some of these GoMs have been empowered to take decisions on behalf of the Cabinet whereas the others make recommendations to the Cabinet.
- In the past two decades, the institution of GoMs has become a viable and effective instrument of coordination among the ministries.
- These are ad hoc bodies formed to give recommendations to the cabinet on certain emergent issues and critical problem areas.
- Ministers heading the concerned ministries are inducted into the relevant GoMs and when the advice is crystallized they are disbanded.
- In 2013, 21 GoMs were in existence.
In 2013, there were six Empowered Groups of Ministers (EgoMs) -
1. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) to decide the price band and final price of sale of shares held by Government of India in all central public sector enterprises.
2. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on gas pricing and commercial utilization of gas.
3. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on ultra-mega power projects.
4. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS).
5. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on vacation of spectrum and auction of 3G spectrum,and to look into the grant of license and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 service areas.
6. Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on drought.
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005-2009) made the following observations and recommendations with respect to the GoMs -
1. The Commission observed that the constitution of a large number of GoMs has resulted in many GoMs not being able to meet regularly to complete their work thus leading to significant delays on many major issues.
2. The Commission felt that more selective use of the institution of GoMs would perhaps lead tomore effective coordination particularly if they are empowered to arrive at a decision on behalf of the Cabinet with time limits that are prescribed for completing the work entrusted to them.
3. The Commission recommended that there is need to ensure that the existing coordination mechanism of GoMs function effectively and helps in early resolution of issues.
4. Selective, but effective use of GoMs with clear mandate and prescribed time limits would be helpful.
