In his first meeting with the new Council of Ministers onWednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed all the ministers to reachoffice on time every morning and avoid working from home.
He also asked the cabinet ministers to involve their deputyministers (Ministers of State) in all important decisions of the ministeries.He said the deputy ministers should be given adequate responsibilties.
He further added that Members of Parliament and partyworkers should be given time for meeting, suggesting that their grievancesshould be heard.
Ahead of the Council of Ministers meeting, the PrimeMinister met his Cabinet and outlined the road-map and action plan of hisgovernment for the next five years. He took several decisions including tripletalaq Bill among others.
This was first-ever meeting of the new Council of Ministerswith the Prime Minister. Sources said he spelled out his priorities for Mission2022 and asked them to present a report card every three months.
Sources said the Prime Minister told his colleagues that hewould review the task done by them and would monitor the ‘high priority’schemes being implemented by the various ministries.
Sources said the Prime Minister was more concerned about theschemes and projects such as ‘housing for all’ related with Mission 2022, theyear when the country celebrates its 75th year of Independence.
He spelled out his priorities related to ministries dealingwith the social sector. For Rural Development and the newly-constituted JalShakti Ministry, Modi outlined specific tasks, the sources said.
At present water crisis, particularly in rural areas, isposing a grave threat for the agriculture sector in the wake of apprehensionsof a drought in the western region.
Modi has already asked the ministries to furnish an actionplan for their respective departments for the first 100 days.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar toldmedia that the meeting of the Council of Ministers was a regular affair, sayingit is continuation of the practice started by the Prime Minister in 2014.