State too catches austerity fever

BANGALORE: Fly economy class, no foreign jaunts, no holding official meetings in star hotels. This is the message to Karnataka mantris and bureaucrats.
With austerity being the latest political rage, the BJP government too jumped on to this bandwagon on Friday. The UPA government at the Centre launched austerity measures for its ministers last month.
The state government has chosen the austerity path to save money for the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people. For instance, it has said no to foreign jaunts by ministers and bureaucrats. Such trips are allowed only if the state has to sign a memorandum of understanding for foreign assistance.
The government has directed the heads of all departments to cut down on spending and save 10% of the non-plan expenditure allocated in the 2009-10 budget.
This, if implemented properly, will help save around Rs 2,000 crore. The CM said: ���It applies to all, including me.������