Sir,
This refers to the news item,No First Class air travel for bureaucrats'(DE,Oct31,2014).The Union Government has done well to announce austerity measures banning first class air travel for bureaucrats, meetings in five star hotels, purchase of new cars and freezing new appointments.All these measures are aimed at promoting fiscal discipline by cutting non plan expenditure by 10 per cent.There is no doubt that harsh and strict steps need to be taken to avoid wasteful expenditure and bring economy back on the rails. There is also a need to take measures to cut expenditure on the advertisements in the electronic and print media.There is no doubt that it is the duty of every Government to popularise various schemes launched for the welfare of the people so that they can avail of their benefits.
Obviously, there is no better way to disseminate the information related to such schemes launched by different Ministries other than such media as television, radio, newspapers, magazines etc. But it is often seen that various Union and State Ministries publish full/half page coloured advertisements/posters in national and regional newspapers,magazines or get them telecast on television channels to highlight the achievements of their respective departments or inaugurate various projects.
The question is -Is it in the interest of the nation to spend a huge amount of tax payers’ money by issuing big coloured advertisements when the same information can be conveyed by smaller advertisements in black and white which cost much less?Thus, a lot of money can be saved which can wisely be used for various welfare measures for the needy people who are crying for Government’s attention.Various State Governments also ought to practise such measures to save every penny for the improvement of the plight of the citizens.
Yours etc…..
Ashok Sharma
Flat No.4,Housing Colony
Udhampur
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