National Integration Council reconstituted

NEW DELHI: The government has reconstituted the National Integration Council (NIC) which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The NIC has 147 members, including Union Ministers, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories with Legislatures.

It also includes leaders of national and regional political parties, chairpersons of national commissions, eminent journalists, public figures, and representatives of business and women's organisations.

Set up in the early 60s by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the NIC held its first meeting in 1962. The council reviews matters relating to national integration and makes recommendations over such issues.

The NIC aims at finding ways and means to combat the menace of communalism, casteism and regionalism. It has held 14 meetings so far, with the last one in October 2008 during the first innings of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

The reconstituted NIC will have 14 Union Ministers — Pranab Mukherjee (Finance), Sharad Pawar (Agriculture), A.K. Antony (Defence), P. Chidambaram (Home), Mamata Banerjee (Railways), M. Veerappa Moily (Law & Justice), Kapil Sibal (Human Resource Development), Ambika Soni (Information & Broadcasting), Dayanidhi Maran (Textiles), Farooq Abdullah (New & Renewable Energy), Mukul Wasnik (Social Justice & Empowerment), Kantilal Bhuria (Tribal Affairs), Salman Khurshid (Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs) and Krishna Tirath (Women & Child Development).