PM Modi flags import costs, supply fears amid austerity call

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated the austerity measures India needs to adopt amid the West Asian crisis and suggested that citizens minimise the use of private vehicles by using public vehicles and opt for carpooling instead. Private and government offices need to prioritise virtual meetings, he said and asked schools to start virtual classes for sometime.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Sardardham in Vadodara on Monday, he said that the world has been going through a tumultuous phase over the last few years starting with the Covid period. To tide over the present fuel crisis, he asked people to reduce the consumption of edible oil and gold until the situation normalises.

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Appealing to turn the "vocal for local" campaign into a public movement, Modi appealed for reduced use of chemical fertilisers and diesel pumps. He requested people to stop foreign vacations and refrain from holding destination weddings in foreign countries and travel within the country instead.

"We had faced the Covid crisis jointly. Likewise, we shall surely emerge from this crisis as well," Modi said. Stating that the country is facing a double-faced crisis, he appealed to people to minimise the usage of everything that costs the foreign exchequer. He also pointed to the sky rocketing import costs and the possible collapse of the supply chain.

"The government is trying to ensure that the common man is minimally affected by these adverse conditions, but during these times, the country needs more public participation," he said.

He further said that over the past few years, the world has been going through continuous instability. "First came the COVID crisis, then global economic challenges, and now the growing tensions in West Asia. All these circumstances have had a constant impact on the entire world, and India too has not remained untouched. If the COVID pandemic was the biggest crisis of this century, then the situation created by the war in West Asia is among the biggest crises of this decade. Just as we together overcame the pandemic, we will certainly overcome this crisis as well," he said.

"The government is continuously trying to ensure that these adverse circumstances have the least possible impact on the people of the country, especially ordinary citizens. But at such a time, the nation needs the power of public participation. As citizens of India, we must prioritize our duties. In earlier decades too, whenever the country faced war or any major crisis, citizens responded to the government's appeal and fulfilled their responsibilities. Even today, there is a need for all of us to do our part together and reduce the burden on the country's resources. You all know that India spends lakhs of crores of rupees in foreign exchange to import many products. At the same time, the prices of imported products are skyrocketing and supply chains have been badly disrupted. Therefore, the country is facing a double crisis," he added.