Kerala government to introduce austerity measures

The Kerala government plans to come out with certain restrictions in creating new posts as part of cutting government expenditure.
Ruling out any recruitment ban and slash in funds for welfare schemes, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said government may go in for some restrictions in creating new posts.
He pointed out that more than 15,000 new posts had been created after the UDF government came to power in May 2011 and that the additional burden on this account came to around Rs 460 crore annually.
Chandy made it clear that the government would not cut funds for development and welfare programmes. Government wanted to increase its revenue without causing any difficulty to the common man, he added.

The Cabinet meeting today discussed the financial situation of the state, which it felt was under stress due to general climate of the country.
The Chief Secretary would hold discussions with all departments and the next Cabinet meeting scheduled on October 10 would finalise steps to be taken to address the financial situation, which Chandy termed as "a reflection of the overall financial condition of the country.