New Delhi, Jun 30 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the Union Council of Ministers to discuss issues related to the Covid management, vaccination drive and preparedness to deal with possible third wave.

At the virtual meeting, which lasted for around five hours, some ministers including Nitin Gadkari made a presentation about developments in their ministries.

"The Prime Minister advised ministers to increase the pace of work in their respective ministries," a source said.

Sources said that Prime Minister Modi discussed Covid management and asked to encourage people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour as restrictions have been relaxed.

"The Prime Minister said that the ministers must tell people about the importance of following Covid protocol to contain the spread of infection," a source said.

It is also learnt that the Prime Minister also asked ministers to speed up the vaccination drive, by spreading awareness among people to reduce vaccine hesitancy.

According to sources, the Prime Minister also discussed government preparation for the third wave of Covid.

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's Team India approach to fight Covid, based on the collective efforts of the Centre, state governments and people of India, was highlighted in that meeting. He had also urged ministers to stay in touch with the people of their respective regions, help them and keep getting their feedback. He stressed upon the need to ensure that issues at the local level are promptly identified and addressed.