Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid thrust on quicker delivery of the government's developmental agenda as he embarked on a comprehensive review of the ongoing schemes in a first of its kind meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Modi is also learnt to have expressed concern over the soaring price of pulses in the over three-hour-long meeting during which the status of projects of some ministries were reviewed.
It was also decided to hold such meetings every fourth Wednesday of each month during which similar review of other ministries would be carried out, sources said.
Reviewing the progress of schemes of ministries including Agriculture, Rural Development, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Chemical and Fertilizer and Water Resources, Modi emphasised the need to take the government's initiatives to people.
He also asked ministers to be well-versed in all subjects so that they can highlight the government's achievements effectively when they communicate in public.
Noting that the schemes launched so far for cleaning of river Ganga have failed to bring effective results, he called for out of box ideas to ensure greater participation participation of people for the success of his pet Namami Gange project, the sources said.
Modi also sought suggestions for improving various schemes and their effective implementation.
A key highlight of the meeting was the Prime Minister's focus on how to increase the production of pulses in the country. The issue of soaring pulse price had been used by the Opposition to corner the government repeatedly including during the Bihar Assembly polls.
The discussion on pulses saw Modi talking about long term measures required to be taken to increase their production and to create sufficient buffer stock. He also stressed on the need to take measures against hoarding.
All these ministries are related to day to day needs of the people, especially farmers.
The meeting also saw a discussion on rural jog flagship scheme MNREGA. The issue of direct release of wages to workers for its better implementation and empowerment of the states also came up for discussion.
(Reopens DEL 63)
The exercise that comes after BJP's debacle in Delhi and Bihar assembly polls, saw the Prime Minister repeatedly emphasising the need to reach out to people aggressively on the measures being taken by the government.
Modi also wanted to know why certain schemes could not gain pace and how the bottlenecks can be removed.
He particularly focussed on issues related to agriculture and food as he reviewed the status of implementation of the several key Cabinet and CCEA decisions taken in the last 18 months.
At the meeting, schemes such as National Rural Livelihood mission, which aims to organise and support the poor to come out of poverty, were also discussed. The modifications made in the framework for their implementation were also discussed briefly.
The status of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rurban Mission and recently launched Neeranchal watershed management project with the help of World Bank were also discussed.
The review meeting also took stock of the progress made on revival of three fertiliser plants, setting up of a agriculture university in Bihar and soft loans to cash-starved sugar mills as he reviewed progress made on decisions by Cabinet.
