Austerity measures not new: Mukherjee

New Delhi, Sep 11: While the UPA ministers are still trying to come to terms with the renewed push for austerity, Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee reaffirmed that in times of need, it is necessary that these measures are adhered to.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Sep 11, Mukherjee said that the austerity measures had already existed in the standing instructions of the Finance Ministry but they were never implemented.

Reiterating what cabinet sources had already revealed, the Finance Minister said that the cabinet members have been directed to take the economy class in domestic flights. However, for international flights the ministers can take business class.

Mukherjee also informed that a salary cut has been proposed by his ministry for the Congress MPs.

According to some reports, this economy dirve came up for discussion in the union cabinet meeting on Thursday, Sep 10, where certain leaders had reportedly raised objections to these steps.

OneIndia News