Govt tells babus to cut travel

After the sixth Pay Commission nearly doubled the Travelling Allowance (TA) of senior officers, the Govt. says it won’t make additional funds available for the increased expenditure. It wants officers to cut official travel drastically to neutralize the effect of the increased TA.

In the time of global financial crisis, the government’s latest memorandum on austerity measures reminds officers that “the new Travelling Allowance rules clearly state that no additional funds will be provided on account of revision of TA/DA entitlements”. Officers should, therefore, travel “judiciously”, “restricted only to absolutely essential officials requirements”.

Source : Indian Express.

In June, the government had asked all ministries and departments to mandatorily cut 10 per cent cut of their non-plan expenditure.

The new memorandum, issued by the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, asks each ministry or department to ensure that airline discounts are utilized in the best manner for the benefit of the government, and the cheapest tickets should be bought, “preferably by getting information through the Internet”.