Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers on Wednesday to discuss issues related to the Covid situation in the country, preparedness to deal with the possible third wave, and the functioning of few ministries, sources said on Tuesday.

The BJP insiders feel the council of ministers meeting assumes significance as it is being held at a time when political circles are abuzz with speculation of a cabinet expansion and reshuffle. However, there was no official input about the Cabinet reshuffle discussion in the meeting. This is the third such meeting within the last month.

It is learnt that the meeting is going to be held virtually on Wednesday evening. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, and Member (Health) NITI Aayog Dr V.K.Paul are expected to give a presentation on the Management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is also reported that wider discussion on the Covid-19 is the key issue of the meeting during which works done by the Road and Transport Ministry, Civil Aviation and Telecom may be reviewed.

The meeting has been scheduled a week after the Prime Minister discussed with Cabinet and state affairs ministers in different groups about the ongoing works in their departments and respective ministries.

These meetings were held at the Prime Minister’s official residence 7 Lok Kalyan Marg and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J.P. Nadda also participated.

On April 30, the Prime Minister held a similar meeting with the Council of Ministers to discuss the situation arising out of the second wave of Covid in the country in which it was noted that the present pandemic crisis is a ‘once in a century crisis’ and has thrown a big challenge for the world.

The Government of India’s Team India approach to fighting Covid, based on the collective efforts of the Centre, state governments, and people of India was highlighted in that meeting.

The Prime Minister then said that all arms of the government were working unitedly and rapidly to deal with the situation. He also urged the ministers to stay in touch with the people of their respective regions, help them and keep getting their feedback. He stressed the need to ensure that issues at the local level are promptly identified and addressed.

The Council also reviewed all the efforts made in the last 14 months by the Central and state governments and the people of India.