New Delhi, September 7
Faced with major drought and the resultant crisis in foodgrain production, the Union Government today “tightened its fists” and cut down on expenses of running the government.
In a terse four-page order released tonight, the government has directed all ministries to impose a mandatory 10 per cent cut on the following: Domestic and foreign travel expenses; publications, professional services; advertising and publicity; office expenses; fuel expenses and administrative expenses. It also imposed a blanket ban on hosting meetings and conferences in five-star hotels. Conducting exhibitions, seminars and conferences in foreign countries is “discouraged”, the order said.
A ceiling has been imposed on expenses incurred on holding seminars in the country. In an almost identical fashion, the UPA had also cut down on “wasteful expenditure” by slashing the non-plan expenditure during its earlier tenure (2004-2009).
The order issued by the Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance will come into force with immediate effect. It said “…there was a further need for economy and rationalisation of expenditure in view of the current fiscal situation and that arising out of insufficient rain in large parts of the country and consequent pressure on government resources”.
The government has managed to avoid any cut in the defence capital outlay, salaries, pensions and Finance Commission grants to the states. Interest payment and repayment of debt will also continue. All other non-plan expenses would be subjected to a mandatory five per cent cut, the order clarified.
“No re-appropriation of funds to augment non-plan heads of expenditure shall be allowed during the current financial year,” the order said. It, however, does not give an indication of how much the government aimed to save by these measures. For air travel, the government has banned domestic and international flights in the first class. “All travel on government account by air will only be by economy class, irrespective of the entitlement,” it added.
Where travel is unavoidable, it will be ensured that officers of appropriate level dealing with the subject are sponsored, instead of those at higher levels. This means the senior bureaucracy will not go on tours where their juniors can easily manage. The size of delegation and the duration of the visit will be kept to the minimum.
The order says proposals for participation in study tours, workshops, conferences, seminars, presentation of papers abroad at government cost will not be entertained, except those that are fully funded by the sponsoring agencies.
