Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 14 July, chaired a meeting of the reshuffled Union Cabinet. This is the first physical Cabinet meeting in over a year.
The new Union Cabinet meeting is being held at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the prime minister's official residence.
Later in the day, PM Modi will also chair a virtual meeting of the Council of Ministers at 4 pm, news agency PTI reported.
While the last physical gathering of the Cabinet was held in April last year, the Council of Ministers has been meeting weekly via video-conference.
The upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament, which is set to begin on 19 July, is one of the reasons behind Wednesday's meeting, sources indicated.
This is the second time in less than a week that the Council of Ministers will be meeting. The first meeting of the ministers had taken place on 8 July, a day after the Cabinet reshuffling.
1st Cabinet Meeting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday, 8 July, conducted a virtual meeting with the new Union Cabinet, his first since the revamped Council of Ministers was announced on Wednesday, 7 July.
Following the meet with the Cabinet, PM Modi also chaired a meeting with the Council of Ministers last week, at which he reportedly issued warnings about the COVID situation in the country.
He also advised the newly-inducted ministers to meet with their predecessors and seek guidance from them, government sources said, as per an NDTV report.
Shortly after the first meeting, Cabinet ministers announced a slew of decisions, including a Rs 23,000 crore COVID package, and that Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will continue.
PM Modi's New Cabinet
PM Modi’s 77-member strong new Cabinet has 30 Cabinet ministers, two ministers of state with independent charge, and 45 ministers of state.
After the mega overhaul of the Council of Ministers, the newly-allocated portfolios were announced, with Ashwini Vaishnaw being allocated the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and Jyotiraditya Scindia getting charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The newly-inducted, including several first-time MPs, such as Bharati Pawar, Bishweswar Tudu, Shantanu Thakur, among others, and senior leaders like Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were all welcomed with congratulatory messages on social media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote, “We will continue working to fulfil the aspirations of people and build a strong and prosperous India.”
(With inputs from PTI and NDTV)
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