FM directs ministries to cut flab

NEW DELHI, OCT 15: Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has directed the financial advisors (FAs) of all the ministries to tighten belts and cut avoidable costs. In a more specific direction, the Finance Minister directed them to strictly implement 10 per cent cut in their non-plan expenditure as per an earlier directive of the Government.

The Finance Minister, who held a meeting of the FAs of all the ministries on the second day of his office to discuss ways and means to check expenditure, also asked them to complete zero-based budgeting by December 31. He said that all expenditure cuts should get reflected in their budget during the time of supplementary demands and drawing up revised estimates.

Restructuring of weak public sector undertakings (PSUs) also figured during the meeting. The Finance Minister said that budgetary support could no longer be extended to them hence some viable alternative plan for their revival will have to be drawn up. He said that the Government was not in a position to just pay idle wages’.

The Finance Minister said that all central Government utilities related to education, health, water, electricity, roads, etc, should now start moving towards charging user costs and do away with subsidies. However, in this regard no definite time-frame has been fixed.