The Prime Minister virtually chaired the first meeting of the Council of Ministers after the Cabinet reshuffle. It is learnt that the Prime Minister said that ministers must learn from the experience of those who are no longer part of the Council of Ministers.

 

"The Prime Minister told the new ministers that they should learn from former ministers, who are currently not part of the Council of Ministers, and benefit from their experience," sources said.

 

Sources said that Modi also advised ministers to avoid making unnecessary comments.

 

"The Prime Minister told the minister to carefully choose their words and avoid making unnecessary comments in the media," sources said. It also learnt that the Prime Minister asked the ministers to focus on their ministerial assignments and work with utmost sincerity.

 

Expressing concern over people violating Covid-appropriate protocols, the Prime Minister told the Council of Ministers that pictures and videos of crowded places and people roaming about without masks or social distancing is not a pleasant sight and it should instil a sense of fear in us.

 

"The Prime Minister stressed that powered by our COVID warriors and frontline workers, India's fight against the global pandemic is underway with full vigour. We are steadily vaccinating substantial numbers of our nation's population. Testing is also consistently high," sources said.

 

They said that the Prime Minister pointed out that in such a time, there should be no space for carelessness or complacency and a single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight to overcome Covid-19.

 

"The Prime Minister said that with the numbers being lesser than what they were in recent months, people may want to venture out. However, everyone must remember - the threat of Covid-19 is far from over. Many other nations are seeing surges in infections. The virus is also mutating," sources said.

 

Modi further advised, "As ministers, our aim should not be to instil fear but to request people to keep taking all possible precautions so that we are able to move beyond this pandemic in the times to come. He also expressed concern at the persistently high number of cases coming from Maharashtra and Kerala."