PM meets ministers to review schemes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met the Council of Ministers to review implementation of government schemes, his first such review exercise since he assumed office.

At Wednesday’s meeting, which included all ministers, the PM took stock of implementation of all major Cabinet decisions and asked the ministries to implement the decisions fast.

It was also decided to hold such meetings every fourth Wednesday of each month, sources said. Laying emphasis on quicker delivery of the government’s developmental agenda, the PM is learnt to have expressed concern about the soaring prices of pulses in the over three-hour meeting during which the status of projects of some ministries were reviewed.

The main focus of the Prime Minister remained how to increase the production of pulses in the country. The issue of soaring pulse prices had been used by the Opposition to corner the government repeatedly, including during the Bihar Assembly polls.

The discussion on pulses saw Mr Modi talk about long-term measures required to increase their production and to create a sufficient buffer stock. He also stressed the need to take measures against hoarding.

Reviewing the progress of schemes of ministries, including agriculture, rural development, consumer affairs, food and public distribution, chemicals and fertilisers and water resources, the PM emphasised the need to take the government’s initiatives to the people.

He also asked ministers to be well-versed in all subjects so that they can highlight the government’s achievements effectively when they communicate in public.

Noting that the schemes launched so far for cleaning of the Ganga river have failed to bring effective results, he called for out-of-the-box ideas to ensure greater participation of people for the success of his pet Namami Gange project, the sources said.

Mr Modi also sought suggestions for improving various schemes and their effective implementation. The meeting also saw a discussion on the flagship rural job scheme MGNREGA. The issue of direct release of wages to workers for its better implementation and empowerment of the states also came up for discussion.