Appointments Committee of the Cabinet
Also called: ACC · Topic: Union Executive: President, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is a cabinet committee made up of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. It approves the top jobs in the Union government. The Constitution does not set it up. The PM creates it under the Rules of Business, the rules that say how the government divides and does its work. The ACC matters because it gives the political executive control over who heads the bureaucracy and the forces.
Example
When the government picks a new Secretary to a ministry, a new chief of an armed service or a new head of a central police force, the choice goes to the ACC for approval.
Don't confuse with
- Union Public Service Commission (UPSC): the UPSC recruits civil servants on merit at the start of their careers. The ACC approves who gets the senior posts later on.
Related concepts
- Rules of Business
- Cabinet committees
- Cabinet Committee on Security
- Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
- Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs
- Group of Ministers
- Cabinet Secretariat
- Prime Minister's Office