Curbing wasteful expenditure a major task: President

President Pranab Mukherjee Monday told a group of Indian Defence Accounts Service probationer officers who called on him that "ensuring that wasteful expenditure does not take place is a great task".

Addressing the 23 probationers at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president said the officers of the service discharge a very important responsibility.

Saying he has no doubt that the probationers' training would not only make them responsible but also responsive, he urged the young officers to remain true to their own conscience and apply their own judgement after an honest appraisal, said a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

Mukherjee told the probationers that their responsibilities are tremendous and the complexity of their task is increasing in view of the increasing defence expenditure.

The probationers are undergoing training at the headquarters of the Controller General of Defence Accounts, in Delhi Cantt.