The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) is a high-level institution that functions as a standing committee of the Union Cabinet, responsible for approving senior appointments in the Government of India. It is an extra-constitutional body.
The ACC was formally formed on January 26, 1950. Its legal basis is the Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961, which are framed under Article 77(3) of the Constitution. The committee was established to centralize and streamline the selection process for critical government posts, ensuring efficient, transparent, and merit-based appointments to maintain the integrity of the bureaucracy.
The mechanism is highly centralized: the ACC is a two-member committee, with the Prime Minister as the Chairperson and the Minister of Home Affairs as the sole member. It is the final authority for appointments to top-level posts, including those at the level of Joint Secretary and above in the Central Government, as well as senior positions in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), banks, and autonomous bodies. The Establishment Officer's Division of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) processes its decisions.
The ACC is one of the key Cabinet Committees of India. It connects directly to the executive power derived from Article 77(3) and is distinct from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which is a constitutional recruitment body. The core composition of the ACC, consisting of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, has remained unchanged, even when other Cabinet Committees were recently reconstituted in July 2024.