You have only few hours to celebrate, then get to work: Modi tells ministers

New Delhi: You have a few hours to celebrate, then get down to work. This was the message Prime Minister Narendra Modi had for the 19 new ministers who joined his government on Tuesday.

Soon after a meeting of the Union Cabinet, Prime Minister Modi interacted with the newly sworn-in ministers and asked them to work hard with honesty and dedication.

He said the ministers should dedicate themselves to the development of the country. PM Modi also said the projects initiated by the government should be visible at the grass-roots level and the last man in queue should get the benefit.

Read: Narendra Modi orders a big Cabinet, 17 new faces, 2 old hands sworn in

In the meeting that lasted a little over 30 minutes, the prime minister told the ministers that they were free to celebrate their entry into the Union Council of Ministers for a few hours. But after that they should get down to work. PM Modi holds a meeting of the Council of Ministers every month and the work done by various ministries is reviewed.

Read: New ministers will do their best for country: Amit Shah

Five ministers of state were dropped in the second exercise undertaken by Modi in a little more than two years since he took over in May, 2014 which saw a number of dalit and OBC leaders being given ministerial positions apparently with an eye on assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year and Gujarat later.

Read: No idea why I was dropped from Union ministry: Mansukhbhai Vasava

After the dropping of five ministers, Tuesday’s expansion took the total strength of the Council of Ministers to 78, just keeping it under the constitutionally allowed maximum.