GUWAHATI: The Assam government, on Tuesday, May 18, issued a new set of austerity measures aimed at ensuring fiscal prudence and reducing non-developmental expenditure amid the prevailing crisis in West Asia.
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In an executive order issued by the Finance (Budget) Department, the government directed all administrative departments and district administrations to strictly adhere to the measures until further orders.
According to the order, the state government has imposed a six-month ban on the purchase of new vehicles and asked departments to minimise the movement of official vehicles within the state. Official and private foreign visits by ministers and government officials have also been deferred for six months, except in cases involving national or strategic interests, education, medical reasons, or visits to immediate family members abroad, subject to prior approval from the Chief Minister.
The government has further ordered a reduction in the convoy size of ministers and senior officials without compromising security protocols. Non-essential official travel within and outside Assam has also been restricted.
As part of the austerity measure, the Finance Department directed that old and obsolete government vehicles be scrapped immediately and stressed that priority should be given to electric vehicles while hiring vehicles for departmental use. The order also mandates a 20 per cent reduction in expenditure on petrol, oil and lubricants during the current financial year.
The government has advised departments to avoid large physical gatherings, working lunches, official dinners, cultural programmes, lavish hospitality arrangements and entertainment expenses funded by the public exchequer. Non-essential training programmes and exposure visits involving travel have also been discouraged.
The order additionally states that permanent government buildings, seminar halls and auditoriums should be used for unavoidable official functions instead of constructing temporary pandals. A 10 per cent cut in revenue and establishment expenditure has also been proposed for the current financial year compared to FY 2025-26, excluding salaries, pensions, debt repayment and charged expenditure.
To boost revenue generation, departments have been directed to revise and rationalise user charges, licence fees, lease rents and service charges wherever feasible. The government has also asked departments to commercially utilise public assets such as buildings and community halls developed under various schemes to generate additional revenue for the state.
The executive order also highlights energy conservation measures, including energy audits in government offices and reduced wastage of electricity by municipal authorities.
Promoting public transport, carpooling and electric vehicles has also been emphasised in the advisory. The Transport Department has been asked to issue notifications regarding incentives for electric vehicle purchases and expand EV charging infrastructure across the state.
The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs has been tasked with transitioning municipal public transport towards non-fossil fuel alternatives within the next 12 months, while the Guwahati Municipal Corporation has been instructed to move towards a fully green public transport system.