Cabinet expansion will reflect 'budget focus & priorities': PM

New Delhi, July 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was tonight quoted as saying that tomorrow's expansion of his ministry will reflect "budget focus and priorities".

Modi, who met a group of journalists here, talked about various other issues, including the Dhaka carnage with regard to which he pressed the need for the world to unite to fight against terrorism. During the interaction, he referred to the expansion of his Council of Ministers tomorrow and said it is "reflect the budget focus and priorities", according to one of those present.

Modi said the four-point agenda on minimum government for maximum governance was expeditious clearance of office files, improving ease of doing business, reduced time for Cabinet note finalisation and government no longer working in silos, the journalist from Business Standard reported on the website of the newspaper. "(It is) not correct to say economic growth in India will be jobless. Focus (is) on creating more jobs in retail sector. Model law (has) already (been) passed," he said.

"I am in favour of promoting the personal sector for creating more jobs," the Prime Minister said, adding Banks Board Bureau will act as an agent to distance ownership from management. He said subsidies reforms have made headway with kerosene and urea. Entire leakage of subsidised kerosene in Chandigarh has been plugged and there are no complaints of urea shortage after more production and neem-coating, Modi said.

He said 70 per cent of 125,000 beneficiaries of loans under Jan Dhan Yojana for women and people belong to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward castes. Talking about the Dhaka carnage, Modi said it was a reminder to the world to unite to fight against terrorism.

He said it was time to give a bigger push to adopting the United Nations resolution to define terrorism through the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

PTI