Modi reviews ministries' performance in last 6 months

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a review of the performance of various ministries, which could be a precursor to a Cabinet reshuffle, the first after Modi 2:0 government was formed in May this year.

After returning to power for the second consecutive term during which the government has fulfilled many of its core promises but the narrative has somehow gone off the issue of development, which was being repeatedly invoked in the first tenure of Modi government.

The government has in the second term accorded quite a priority to the issue of water conservation, plastic and population control.

M-KISAN scheme, under which income support of Rs 6,000 is granted in instalments and scheme for universal social security, which assures all shopkeepers, retail traders and self-employed persons a monthly pension of Rs 3,000 after attaining the age of 60 years, are two key measures the government announced immediately after forming the second government.

The government will review the performance of its flagship programmes such as the housing for all scheme, Jal Jeevan Mission and Ujjwala Yojana.

In the Council meeting, several ministries made brief presentations on schemes and measures having been taken in the past six months.

The focus of the meeting was infrastructure, agriculture, rural development and social sector.

In the last few Cabinet meetings too, the prime minister reviewed the performance of various ministries and there is a buzz that a Cabinet reshuffle is on way.

Thirty-seven ministers from the previous regime were dropped when the swearing-in of second Modi government took place in May.

Some of them could also be given responsibility in the government or the party organisation, where a massive reshuffle is due.

The BJP Parliamentary Board has to be restructured after a number of vacancies and changes in leadership roles of senior leaders.

Party’s powerful general secretaries Ram Madhav, Bhupendra Yadav, and Murlidhar Rao, who could not make it to the ministry, may be considered for the Parliamentary Board, unless they are drafted into the reshuffled Union Cabinet.