PM asks ministers for austerity; directs them to cut air travel

[K.Karthik Raja]

PM asks ministers for austerity; directs them to cut air travel
Thursday, Jun 5

NEW DELHI - After addressing the nation on conserving energy in a
television address Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today
urged his
cabinet colleagues to turn frugal with their fuel expenses.
Noting that there was substantial scope to cut expenditure on
travel and
expenditure, Singh asked ministers to "severely curtail" expenditure
on air
travel, particularly foreign travel.
"You are aware of the huge burden imposed on our financial
resources due
to the continuously rising trend in global oil prices and our
dependence on
crude import. As we ask the people to bear some of the financial
burden of
our oil imports, it is not only necessary from resource conservation
point of
view but also as a moral duty to cut out all wasteful expenditure in
our
establishments," Singh said in his letter to ministers.
Singh said Cabinet Secretary will be directed to scrutinize
foreign
travel proposals more rigorously.
The government Wednesday raised petrol price by 5 rupees per L,
diesel by
3 rupees per L and cooking gas by 50 rupees per cylinder.
The price hike has been accompanied by a cut in excise and customs
duties.
The fuel price hike was on the anvil for a long time to bail out
state-owned oil marketing companies that are suffering huge revenue
losses on
subsidised sale of oil products. End
.