Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired an all-party meeting with leaders of various political outfits and top union ministers to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, sources said. Floor leaders from all parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been invited to attend the virtual meeting which started around 10:30 am.
About 12 leaders from prominent political parties having five or more than five MPs, will be speaking at the meeting, the sources said.
The Prime Minister will be joined by a number of his Cabinet colleagues, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister and Lok Sabha Deputy Leader Rajnath Singh, Social Justice Minister and Rajya Sabha Leader of House Thawarchand Gehlot, Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, besides Joshi, Meghwal and Muraleedharan.
The meeting is likely to begin with a brief presentation by the Union Health Secretary. The presentation would include details on India’s fight against the pandemic so far as compared to the rest of the world.
The Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is also likely to talk to the MPs about the various vaccines that are being developed and what stages of trials they are currently at, following which party leaders would speak. The meeting would end with an address by the Prime Minister.
This is the second such meeting convened by the government to take opposition parties into confidence in its fight against the coronavirus. The last such meeting was held in April when the nation was under complete lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.
