In the wake of Covid-19 crisis, President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday decided to take a 30 per cent salary cut for the whole year and announced a slew of other austerity measures, including deferment of purchase of the Presidential Limousine (at an estimated cost of around Rs 10 crore) to be used for ceremonial occasions.
The domestic tours and programmes of the President will also be substantially reduced in order to follow social distancing restrictions and minimise expenditure, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique.
Announcing the several measures, the communique said in the President's estimation this will be a "small but significant contribution to realise the government's vision of making India self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) and energise the nation to take up the challenge to fight the pandemic and continue our journey for development and prosperity simultaneously."
The President gets a monthly salary of Rs 5 lakh. It is estimated that these measures will save nearly 20 per cent of the budget of the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the current financial year, the statement said.
According to the officials, these measures will result in the saving of around Rs 40-45 crore annually by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, which has an yearly budget of more than Rs 200 crore including an outlay of Rs 80.98 crore allocated for "staff, household and allowance of the President".
The consumption during ceremonial occasions such as At-Home ceremonies and state banquets will also be minimised by keeping smaller guest lists, reducing the food menu and lessening usage of flowers and other decorative items, it said.
On Kovind’s decision to defer the purchase of the Presidential Limousine, the communiqué said, "The existing resources of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the government will be shared and used for such occasions."
The repair and maintenance work in the Rashtrapati Bhavan will be minimised to only ensure proper upkeep of assets. The Rashtrapati Bhavan will also not take up any new capital works (building and engineering works) in the current fiscal and only the ongoing works will be completed, it said. There will be substantial reduction in the use of office consumables and a greater emphasis would be laid on using e-technology to cut down the use of paper to avoid wastage and make the office eco-friendly, the communique stated.
The President has given instructions to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to set an example by economising the expenditure, making optimal usage of resources, and dovetailing the saved money to combat Covid-19 and mitigate the people's economic plight, the communique said.
"Meanwhile, it will be ensured that such austerity measures would have no adverse impact on support given to outsourced (or) contractual workers. Other activities taken up by the Rashtrapati Bhavan for the welfare of poor people will not be affected either," it added.