New cars for officials and Ministers, who will be sworn in in the coming days, could be hard to come by. For, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, in a bid to curb unnecessary expenditure from the State’s treasury, has ordered review of all proposals for purchase of new cars.
This follows the decision to strengthen the State’s financial status by taking various austerity measures. He has directed officers to review proposals submitted by various government departments, offices and agencies to buy new cars, sources in Chief Minister’s office said.
While in the past, Ministers used public money to renovate their offices and official residences according to their vaastu beliefs, Mr. Kumaraswamy has now directed authorities concerned to discourage unnecessary refurbishing and renovation of government offices and official residences, sources said. He has also instructed the officials to cut down all unnecessary expenditure, if any, in administration. “An official order will be issued by the Chief Secretary in the next couple of days. With Cabinet expansion to be held shortly, this is to keep the official machinery alert over unnecessary expenditures,” sources said.
In a bid to reduce burden on the exchequer, sources said that Mr. Kumaraswamy has started using national carrier Air India for his travel. “He used Air India to travel to Delhi on his first official trip and is more keen on using the national carrier than private aircraft,” sources said. According to sources, he is also considering reducing his convoy and personnel to minimum numbers to set an example.