President Ram Nath Kovind has decided to forego 30% of his salary for the whole year apart from directing officials to adopt other austerity measures in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic , a communique from Rashtrapati Bhavan said on Thursday.
The domestic tours of the President will be substantially reduced, guest lists as well as food menu at official ceremonies will be cut and plans to purchase a new Presidential Limousine (estimated to cost ₹10 crore) have been deferred.
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“The President has given instructions to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to set an example by economising the expenditure, making optimal usage of resources, and dovetailing the saved money to combat COVID-19 and mitigate the people’s economic plight,” said the statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
“In the President’s estimation, this will be a small but significant contribution to realise the government’s vision of making India self-reliant (atmanirbhar) and energise the nation to take up the challenge to fight the pandemic and continue our journey for development and prosperity simultaneously,” the communique said.
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Right now, the President’s salary is ₹5 lakhs per month and the Rashtrapati Bhavan has a yearly budget of more than ₹200 crore including an outlay of ₹80.98 crore for “staff, household and allowance of the President”.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan communique stated that the austerity measures announced are expected to save around 20% of the expenditures.
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President Kovind will now rely on technology to reach out to people, the statement said.
The repair and maintenance work in the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be minimised to only ensure proper upkeep of assets and no building and engineering works will be taken up.
Apart from reducing the use of office consumables, a greater emphasis on using e-technology wpould be given. “Efforts will be made to save energy and fuel by rationalising their usage,” the communique said.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, however, said the austerity measures wont affect contractual payments and welfare work for the poor.
Last month, Vice-President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha M.Venkaiah Naidu had also announced foregoing 30% of his salary till normalcy is restored. The Rajya Sabha secretariat is also targeting a total saving of ₹80 crore in the current financial year.
