A day after the mega reboot of his cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually met with his new Council of ministers and advised them to be on alert mode regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Prime Minister’s other advice was “no unnecessary statements to the media," according to an NDTV report.

"New ministers were asked to meet with them and seek guidance in their work. The PM also advised the new ministers to avoid giving unnecessary statements to the media," sources told NDTV.

PM Modi also praised the ministers who resigned before the reshuffle and asked the new ministers to consult their predecessors for work.

PM Modi also underscored the importance of punctuality and asked the ministers to begin work by 9:30 am, a CNN-News18 report said quoting sources.

He suggested ministers leverage technology and learn how to reflect the government’s intentions via presentations, the report added.

The Prime Minister also mentioned the viral photos and videos of people crowding hill stations and local markets. He said the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over and the threat of a third wave is looming large.

“A single mistake would have far-reaching impacts and weaken the fight to overcome Covid,” the PM said and asked ministers to urge people to take all possible precautions.

Thirty-six new faces joined PM Modi's cabinet while 12 sitting ministers were asked to resign. With this, the tally of the PM's Council of Ministers has shot up to 78, just three ministers shy of the limit of 81.

The Cabinet expansion witnessed the exit of some senior ministers, including Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar.

Those who were given key portfolios — Health to Mansukh Mandaviya, IT and Communication to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Civil Aviation to Jyotiraditya Scindia, Education and Skill Development to Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment, Labour and Employment to Bhupendra Yadav, Law to Kiren Rijiju, and Information and Broadcasting to Anurag Thakur, among others.

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