PM Modi chairs meeting with CMs, reviews preparedness for West Asia conflict

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, March 27, reviewed with chief ministers of all but poll-bound states their preparedness and plans in the wake of the West Asia conflict.

The virtual meeting was aimed at ensuring synergy of efforts in the spirit of ‘Team India’, official sources said.

This is the first time that the prime minister held such a meeting with the chief ministers on the West Asia conflict which started on February 28 with the attack by the US-Israel on Iran. Iran also retaliated by firing on its Gulf neighbours and Israel.

Those chief ministers who attended the meeting included N Chandra Babu Naidu (Andhra Pradesh), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Revanth Reddy (Telangana), Bhagwant Mann (Punjab), Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat), Omar Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) among others.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah were also present in the meeting.

“The prime minister interacted with the chief ministers through video conferencing on the West Asia conflict and reviewed preparedness and plans of the states. The meeting focused on ensuring synergy of efforts in the spirit of Team India,” a source said.

PM to conduct separate meeting with chief secretaries of poll-bound states

The chief ministers of election-bound states were not part of this meeting due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The Cabinet Secretariat is going to hold a separate meeting with the chief secretaries of poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

On March 25, the government held an all-party meeting to brief the leaders of the political parties about the West Asia situation, where a detailed presentation was given about the steps taken by the government to deal with the situation.

Revanth Reddy briefs PM on Telangana’s preparedness

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy informed PM Modi that the state government has formed a committee headed by Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao to review the supply of petrol, diesel and gas in Hyderabad that continuously monitors the fuel situation from the Command Control Centre.

Additionally, committees have been constituted with nodal officers in all 33 districts to oversee gas supply, petrol and diesel sales and to curb black marketing.

The CM said that commercial gas cylinders are being supplied to hospitals, schools, orphanages, and old-age homes on a priority basis, and officials are continuously monitoring stock levels at every filling station as well as the daily consumption rates.

The average daily consumption of petrol and diesel in Telangana stands at 36,189 kiloliters under normal circumstances, and the state currently holds reserves of 188,210 kiloliters. Anyone spreading misinformation and creating panic regarding shortages is being strictly dealt with, the CM said.

He added that electric vehicles are being promoted in the state as it tries to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas and informed the PM about the 100 percent exemption on road tax and registration fees for EVs, retrofitting of 1.20 lakh petrol and diesel-run auto-rickshaws to convert them into EVs and purchase of EV buses for Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC).

(With inputs from PTI.)