Ministers to go on foreign tour to study austerity measures
In a bid to bolster its austerity drive, the government of India has set up a parliamentary standing committee consisting of cabinet and state ministers which will recommend measures for increasing austerity in all ministries and central government departments.
After a two-hour long meeting held today, the parliamentary committee which met for the first time after being conveyed, announced that it will send all cabinet and state ministers on a special foreign tour of 41 countries to study austerity measures in these countries. After the end of the two-month tour, the committee will meet again and formulate recommendations for increasing austerity based on the suggestions of the committee members.
The committee rejected criticism by assembled media journalists that the foreign trip was ostentatious in nature and a waste of tax-payers money by pointing out that precepts of austerity will be maintained and followed by the parliamentary delegation even during the two-month long tour.
The chairman of the parliamentary committee, External Affairs Minister, S.M. Krishna, said "We are totally committed to austerity and there will be absolutely no compromises in our effort to reduce wasteful expenses even during the study tour. In view of the government's focus on curtailment of excess consumption, all ministers will travel only by economy class and stay only in lowly 5-star accommodations instead of 7-star hotels."
The minister also said that in order to further cut costs, every minister will be allowed to travel with a personal entourage of only five aides instead of the usual seven.
Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee said that the government was very serious about introducing austerity in every expanse of governmental spending. "After the launch of the austerity drive by the government, the sensitivity of ministers towards wasteful expenditure has increased several fold."
The Finance Minister gave examples of how members of the standing committee spoke forthrightly against possible wasteful expenses during the tour. "We decided to limit the study tour to only 41 countries instead of the initially-proposed trip of 71 countries after some members of the committee objected to the inclusion of many north European countries in the tour initiatory. Members of the committee felt that extreme cold climate of these countries during the next few months will curtail the productivity of the delegation."
There were loud guffaws amongst members of the press, when a journo wisecracked "It will cost Indian tax payer a lot of money to keep the Indian government in austerity."
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