GoI Sets up 3 Panels to Commemorate 150th Birth Anniversaries of Patel, Birsa Munda and birth Centenary of Vajpayee

In August 2025, the Government of India(GoI) has constituted 3 High-Level Committees (HLCs) to commemorate the 150th birth anniversaries of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, 1st Home Minister of Independent India and famously known as ‘Iron Man of India’ and Birsa Munda, famous tribal leader; and the 100th birth anniversary of Atal Bihar Vajpayee, former Prime Minister (PM) of India.

• Each committee will be chaired by PM Narendra Modi, and will include Chief Ministers (CMs) of various States/Union Territories (UTs) as members.
• The committees were formed through separate Gazette notifications issued by the Ministry of Culture.

Key Details of HLCs:

Committee for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: The committee will comprise 124 members, including several prominent leaders such as Pratibha Patil and Ram Nath Kovind, both former Presidents of India; and M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice President of India.

• The committee also includes Harivansh Singh, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, and Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Among the Union Ministers, it features Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home Affairs), and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance). In addition, veteran politician Lal Krishan (L.K.) Advani, former Deputy Prime Minister of India, is also a member.
• The committee will comprise Governors and Lieutenant Governors(L-Gs) of 20 States/UTs; It will also have CMs of 20 states such as: Hemant Soren, CM of Jharkhand; Pinarayi Vijayan, CM of Kerala; and Revanth Reddy, CM of Telangana.

Committee for Birsa Munda: The committee will have 118 members, including Pratibha Devisingh Patil, former President of India; Ram Nath Kovind, former President of India and  Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

• The committee also includes Cabinet Ministers such as Union Minister Amit Shah, MHA; Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, MoF; Union Minister Rajnath Singh, MoD and 20 Governors and L-Gs.
• Other than these members, the committee will also have CMs of over 20 States/UTs same as the committee for Patel.

Committee for Atal Bihar Vajpayee: The committee will have 124 members including former Presidents, former Deputy PM Lal Krishna(L.K) Advani, Former Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Cabinet Ministers.

• It will also have 19 Governors and L-Gs and 17 CMs including Mamta Banerjee (West Bengal, WB); Bhagwant Mann (Punjab); Hemnat Soren (Jharkhand); and K. Siddaramaiah (Karnataka).
• The committee will also have members from different fields such as: Ranjan Gogoi, former Chief Justice of India (CJI); Spiritual Guru Ravi; Kapil Dev, former Captain of Indian Cricket Team; Azim Premji, former chairman of WIPRO, among others.

Recent Related News:

In July 2025, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) constituted a National Steering Committee (NSC) headed by Rajit Punhani, Secretary of MSDE, to oversee the implementation of the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) upgradation scheme and the establishment of five National Centres of Excellence (CoEs) for skilling.

• The scheme will operate under a hub-and-spoke model with a target to skill over 2 million youth in five years.