Barack Obama announces austerity measures; similar steps in India are mostly on papers

NEW DELHI: US President Barack Obama has come out with a series of cuts on government spending to jumpstart a sputtering economy. At home, a close look at similar austerity measures reveals that such steps are in place in India, too, but mostly on paper.

On Wednesday, the American president signed an executive order that bans swag, an acronym for “stuff we all get”. According to reports, Obama's order “directs (government) agencies to stop wasting taxpayer money on non-essential items used for promotional purposes, such as clothing, mugs, and non-work related gadgets”.

He also ordered federal agencies to cut the number of cell phones, smartphones, laptops and tablet computers for employees on the grounds some workers are issued more devices than they need, according to reports.

In India, austerity measures announced some time early this year include a ban on meetings in fivestar hotels and restrictions on foreign travel.

Congress president and NAC chairman Sonia Gandhi set an example for others by traveling economy class, but the measures seem to have petered out lately; the government’s original idea was to narrow fiscal deficit target which was upset by a spike in global oil prices and worries of a slowdown.

However, the Indian government was on a spending spree a few weeks ago on the death anniversary of former prime minister and Sonia’s mother-inlaw Indira Gandhi.

More than 10 English dailies carried nearly 65 ads of Indira Gandhi, paying tributes to the late Congress leader. This generosity was reflected in the case of Nehru’s and Rajiv’ Gandhi’s birth anniversaries as well.

But none of it stopped the ruling dispensation from criticising UP chief minister Mayawati for splurging on monuments for Dalit leaders and gurus.

At the signing in ceremony in Washington, Obama said: “At a time when families have had to cut back, have had to make some tough decisions about getting rid of things that they don’t need in order to make the investments that they do, we thought that it was entirely appropriate for our governments and our agencies to try to root out waste, large and small, in a systematic way.”

Such considerations don’t seem to exist in India. The government here is busy doling out sleek iPads or other tablets of their choice for our lawmakers.