PM Modi to chair Council of Ministers meet tomorrow

New Delhi, June 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday at 5 pm. The focus of the meeting would be to discuss the Covid situation and may also review functioning of few ministries.

The work done by the Road and Transport Ministry and Civil Aviation and Telecom ministries may be reviewed in the meeting. A wider discussion on the COVID-19 situation is also likely during the meeting.

The meeting is being held a week after Prime Minister Modi held meetings with ministers both Cabinet and Minister of State rank in different groups to review the performance of their respective ministries.

Recently, PM Modi has held a series of meeting with BJP president JP Nadda and several Union ministers, including Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh.

Tomorrow's cabinet meeting holds significance as it is being held at a time when political circles are abuzz with speculation of a cabinet expansion and reshuffle.

PM Modi said on Monday hailed a host of measures announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will help stimulate economic activities, boost production and exports, and generate employment.

In a series of tweets, Modi said the decisions will enhance public health facilities, especially in under-served areas, boost private investment in medical infrastructure and augment critical human resources.

Special focus is on strengthening healthcare facilities for children, he noted, adding that importance has also been given to helping farmers with multiple initiatives that will reduce their costs, increase incomes and support greater resilience and sustainability of agricultural activities.

The prime minister said more support has been announced for small entrepreneurs and self-employed persons to enable them to not only sustain their business activities but also expand them further.

Several initiatives, including financial assistance, are being taken to help those linked with tourism, he added.

"The measures will help to stimulate economic activities, boost production & exports and generate employment.

"Result linked Power Distribution Scheme and streamlined processes for PPP projects and Asset Monetisation demonstrates our Government''s continuing commitment to reforms," Modi said.

To help revive the economy battered by COVID-19, Sitharaman has announced a slew of measures including Rs 1.1 lakh crore credit guarantee scheme for improving health infrastructure and enhancing the limit under the ECLGS by 50 percent to Rs 4.5 lakh crore for the MSME sector which is facing a liquidity crunch.