Letters: Practise austerity

This refers to ‘Krishna, Tharoor to vacate 5-star suites:FM’ (September 9). As a part of austerity drive, the government’s directive to the two central ministers to vacate five-star accommodation in city hotels seems to be an over-reaction, if not a gimmick. Moreover, since both of them were footing the bills out of their own resources the fuss seems misconceived

The real problem is the waste in governance. Consider the hefty package of perks including free rail and air passes, umpteen number of foreign trips, concessional telephone, medical, conveyance, medical facilities our ministers and MPs are enjoying. Can these not be curtailed? From days of yore, Indians have been practising austerity by using minimum resources in their daily life. So one fails to understand why the people’s representatives should follow suit.

There is a need to be more responsible and far-sighted in the use of resources and this would require better awareness on the part of our leaders. It is austerity in our daily life that can rescue us from the demonic problem of global scarcity.

Satya Prakash, on email

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