New Delhi, Oct 30 (Inditop.com) Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday defended the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s austerity measures, saying those were a “need” to curtail expenditure and were not mere tokenism.
Mukherjee, who was in the midst of a controversy last month over austerity measures initiated by his ministry, said the decision on the austerity drive was taken before he was appointed the finance minister.
“It is not being Gandhian or this or that. Whatever I have done in the name of austerity was initiated even before I took over as finance minister,” he said here while addressing delegates at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, an annual conference that organisers say seeks to push discussions on pressing issues.
When delegates asked him whether the austerity move was a “token gesture”, Mukherjee said: “When the country’s trade was going at the reverse direction, you can’t look at austerity measures as mere tokenism. Austerity is a need.”
The UPA government last month advised its ministers to fly in economy class and not hold meetings in five-star hotels, and also imposed a 10-percent cut in non-plan expenditure.
“To what extend I will be able to succeed or not depends on the cooperation of the system,” Mukherjee said about the implementation of the austerity drive.
rounak