Karnataka ministers, babus told to fly economy class

BANGALORE: Fly economy class, no foreign jaunts, no holding official meetings in star hotels. This is the message to Karnataka mantris and babus.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 tosave money for the relief and rehabilitation of flood-hit people. For instance,it has said no to foreign jaunts by ministers and bureaucrats. Such trips areallowed only if the state has to sign an MoU for foreignassistance.The state government has directed the heads of alldepartments to cut down on spending and save 10% of the non-plan expenditureallocated in the 2009-10 budget. "This applies to all, including me," the CMsaid.