New Delhi: The Ministry of Culture has issued a gazette notification for the formation of a high powered National Committee to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi this year.

The National Committee will be under the chairmanship of President Ram Nath Kovind and will have all political and social shades represented in a 115-member committee.

According to the notification issued by additional secretary Shefali Shah, the National Committee has a clear mandate of working and implementing Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary celebrations and proposing ideas to the government for approval.

The committee will have chief ministers as ex-officio members, including Mamata Banerjee who has so far stayed away from central government initiatives.

Other names on the list are Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma, BJP national president Amit Shah and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

BSP Supremo Mayawati, JD(S)' HD Deve Gowda, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, former J&K CM Omar Abdullah and NCP's Sharad Pawar will also be part of the committee, along with Sadhguru Vasudev Jaggi, Muslim cleric Kalbe Sadiq and RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale.

Among others, judicial and constitutional experts like RC Lahoti and Subash Kashyap and chairmen of Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission, High-Level Dandi Memorial and Sabarmati Ashram have also been selected.