Government departments have been banned from holding meetings and conferences at five star hotels and foreign visits by bureaucrats at the cost of State exchequer will not be allowed as part of a slew austerity measures announced by the government on Tuesday.
These are part of the 16 such instructions issued by the government in an order to promote fiscal discipline and for financial prudence in all government departments, said Pushpa Subramanyam, Principal Secretary, Finance.
The State government's austerity measures in fact come close on the heels of similar measures announced by the Union government for all its departments in view of the slowdown in the economy, particularly after the fourth quarter of 2011-12 posted dismal GDP growth rate.
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As part of the austerity measures, all officials drawing a salary of Rs. 80,000 and Ministers have been permitted to travel by air as per their eligibility. All others eligible for air travel should travel only by economy class. The government laid down that permission for air travel should not be given to ineligible officers.
While creation of posts would be based on absolute necessity, no proposal for upgradation would be entertained. The government ruled out further sanction of outsourcing of staff and suggested to bring down the number.
No proposal for abolition of existing revenue would be allowed and requests for additional allocation of budget would not be entertained, the government order said.
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As part of financial prudence, the government also deferred/banned proposals for purchase of vehicles and asked the departments to reduce the number of hired vehicles to the minimum. Advertisements directly by departments should be limited and the expenditure be met from their own budget.
The austerity measures will be applicable to all local bodies including municipalities, public sector undertakings, universities and grant-in-aid institutions, the GO said.