NEW DELHI:
Congress may soon ask its office-bearers to opt for
train journeys over air travel as it puts in place austerity measures aimed at countering the fund crunch afflicting the party.
In a raft of measures aimed at cutting down establishment expenses, the party is likely to urge leaders to take less expensive ways of discharging duties. While the “train over flight” advisory is general, it is aimed more at
AICC secretaries, the second-rung that assists the party
general secretaries or state in-charges in looking after state affairs.
The number of AICC secretaries has ballooned recently in view of a new organisational model adopted. Multiple secretaries have been attached to each state in-charge and have been allocated specific districts to ensure micro-management. They have been instructed to continuously tour their jurisdiction instead of cooling their heels in the headquarters. Also, Congress has put in place one general secretary/in-charge per state for better focus. The novel modelhas taken the number of state in-charges to 23 from 16, and secretaries to 68 from 40 — directly spiking the party expenditure.
An AICC manager said while general secretaries don’t tour the states much, the secretaries have to curb their expenses owing to their constant touring. It also decided to launch a door-to-door fund mobilisation drive to beef up its war chest with the likely target of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per polling booth. Target-wise collection is viewed as the best way to ensure adequate funds in a short time.
Besides raking in money, an elaborate campaign at the bottom-most rung of constituencies by knocking on the doors would also serve as a mass contact programme ahead of elections.
The simultaneous focus on austerity and fund generation follows an unambiguous signal within that the party is short of money. While the managers have been making this claim since Congress’s ouster from power in 2014, the message hit home when the AICC shrunk financial support to candidates in assembly polls across states.
