PM Modi’s call amid West Asia crisis | Online meetings, simple functions & curbs in government vehicle usage: Gujarat issues austerity guidelines

The minister added that though these decisions were taken keeping in mind the current global situation, the state government is committed to protecting both the environment and the government treasury by drastically reducing the consumption of petrol and diesel. Giving detailed information about the guidelines, he said that travel for government work will have to be planned only as per need. Officers should avoid travel and make maximum use of modern means like video conferencing, telephone and e-mail. Instead of calling regional officers for meetings, meetings should be held through virtual means, except in cases of extreme necessity.

“It has also been urged to join meetings of other central or state governments through online means as much as possible. Any foreign travel for participation in training, seminars and conferences should be avoided, except in unavoidable circumstances. If travel outside the state is unavoidable, senior officers have been instructed not to take unnecessary staff with them. If an officer is handling more than one charge, he should deposit all the additional vehicles except one main vehicle in the ‘Government Vehicle Pool’,” the guidelines issued by the Gujarat government stated.

Further, travel outside the district for official work should be avoided as far as possible and if unavoidable, officials should inform their controlling officer before traveling.

The government vehicles available in each administrative department and its subordinate systems should be reviewed and the additional vehicles should be put out of use. To promote use of electric vehicles, those officers who have electric vehicles (EV) available as an alternative to government vehicles should use only EV or hybrid vehicles.

Officers and employees have been encouraged to use public transport services like Metro, state transport buses and railways instead of private vehicles. Metro timings have been extended by an hour to 11 pm for public convenience.
Procurement policy will be strengthened in all government institutions to give priority to indigenous goods, local products and MSMEs.

Instructions have been issued to organise government programmes in a simple manner and insist on ‘virtual method’ in inauguration programmes. Also, Piped Gas Connectivity (PNG) will be made mandatory in all government canteens in the next 6 months.