NEW DELHI, May 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he held a “fruitful” meeting of the Council of Ministers on Thursday evening, where members exchanged perspectives and best practices to enhance “Ease of Living” and “Ease of Doing Business” and discussed further reforms to realise a developed India.
Modi, in a post on X, said the meeting — the council’s first this year and attended by all cabinet ministers, ministers of state (independent charge) and ministers of state — lasted more than four hours. He praised his government’s “Reform Express” for delivering systemic transformation and urged ministers to focus on governance, delivery and people-centric outcomes.
Sources said the prime minister set 2047 as the target year to make India a fully developed nation and instructed ministers to prioritise measures that bring comfort to citizens’ lives and ensure maximum benefits from welfare programmes. He also stressed that government work should have no pendency and warned against any interference in people’s lives.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar presented highlights from Modi’s recent visits to the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy. Nine secretaries reviewed the initiatives and performance of their ministries, while Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan and NITI Aayog member Rajiv Gauba outlined overall reform efforts and people-centric measures.
The meeting follows the BJP’s strong performance in recent assembly elections, including gains in West Bengal and Assam and a return to power in Puducherry.
