Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked his ministers abstain from announcing any new schemes but focus on implementing the existing one announced in the three Budgets of his government and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto.
The month-end review meeting of the Union council of ministers chaired by the PM lasted four hours and 45 minutes.
However, the meeting was different from preceding such meets, where the review of work of only four to five ministries was taken up.
On Thursday, the performance of 42 key ministries and departments, ever since the Modi government took over on 27 May, 2014, was taken up. The PM said such overall review of each department will now take place every three months.
In a 113-page-long presentation prepared by the secretaries of each department, Budget utilisation of individual ministries for 2014-15 and 2015-16 was reviewed and their performance rated. The meeting comes in the wake of intense speculation about a possible Cabinet reshuffle by the end of first week of July.
According to sources, Modi expressed satisfaction that targets of 2014-15 have been largely met.
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He didn’t pick on any particular ministries but asked those that have been unable to meet their targets for 2015-16 to come up with “out of the box” solutions to expeditiously implement schemes. He said ministers needed to keep in mind the government’s motto of Antyodaya, that the touchstone of a success of a scheme is whether its benefits reach the poorest. He advised ministers to ensure better implementation of the proposals in the 2016-17 budget.
According to sources, the PM asked his ministers to ensure their attendance during the monsoon session. The session is from July 18 to August 12. Later, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan tweeted: “After independence Modi is the only PM who has taken a record-long meeting that too with keen interest and understanding.”
The comprehensive review of his council of ministers has added to the speculation that a cabinet reshuffle in the offing. Several party and government sources have claimed that the reshuffle is scheduled for early next week, before the PM leaves for his four nation tour of Africa beginning July 7. The PM and Shah had held nearly a four hour long meeting on Wednesday.
Today, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also carried out a reshuffle of his cabinet. He dropped above 75-year-olds from his Cabinet.