Covid vaccine drive on agenda, PM Modi to chair council of ministers' meeting today

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the council of ministers on Wednesday. The Prime Minister, along with senior ministers and the BJP’s national president J P Nadda, have held a number of meetings recently to review the performance of several ministries.

While the meeting will take place amid the build-up of speculation of likely expansion and reshuffle of the council of ministers, the Prime Minister is likely to ask the ministers to step up their efforts in the Covid-19 vaccination drive, including dealing with rumours and misgivings about taking the vaccines.

It will be a virtual meeting, sources said, adding that the government is also bracing for the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament, which is likely to be held for a month, beginning third week of July. 

While the meeting of the council of ministers will be held in the evening, the Cabinet will also meet on Wednesday morning. Sources said that the government being preoccupied with measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, there could be sharing of the current status and the future roadmap with the ministers so as to allow them to effectively deal with the perception management in their respective areas of influence.

The BJP chief had also hosted a few senior Union ministers on Saturday at the party headquarters, with focus being the government to deliver on certain challenges so that the party could brace for the Assembly elections coming up next year.