Ministers scrap travel plans after PM calls for austerity

EXHORTING MINISTERS: PM wants his ministers to lead by example in light of fuel price hike issue.

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New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for austerity in a letter written to all his ministers, four union ministers cancelled their foreign trips that were scheduled over the next two weeks.

Defence Minister AK Antony was slated to travel next week for bilateral defence ties but that trip now stands cancelled.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar were scheduled to be at the Stanford University for a seminar later this week, but they too have cancelled their plans.

Apart from them, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has scrapped his trip plan to Japan for the G8 summit that was scheduled to take place on Friday.

Tourism Minister Ambika Soni too has cancelled her week-long trip to USA.

Earlier, the Finance Minister had come out with a series of proposals to cut down government expenditures such as organising conferences in five star hotels.

The Prime Minister had written to his ministers after addressing the nation on the fuel price hike issue. He had exhorted the citizens to adopt a rational attitude towards his price hike decision, but obviously he wanted his ministers to lead by example by cutting down on foreign travel and car expenditure.

"I urge every citizen to conserve energy at every step, every minute of the day. Be it petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG, electricity or even water. Let us learn to save and use efficiently. Let us reduce wasteful consumption of petrol," he had said.