Guwahati: Himanta Biswa Sarma today announced that many of the austerity measures taken by the government of Assam in view of the COVID-19 crisis shall be rolled back amid the Centre's 'Unlock' initiative so that the "developmental activities" can take precedence. However, many of the austerity measures that were taken earlier shall still remain in force, he said.
With the situation seemingly limping back towards normalcy, Sarma said that many of the austerity measures that the government had imposed for its officials after the emergence of the pandemic to cut down on costs shall be discarded now.
"From today, departments can under delegated financial power give administrative and financial nods. Secondly, the limit to the establishment expenditure shall also be removed. The tax exemtions to the by the government shall be resumed. The restrictions on the Development Fund of the MLAs will also be lifted", he said.
"However, a few austerity measures will continue. The ban on the purchase of vehicles shall continue, and so will the ban on conferences, workshops, seminars, and fairs. Only the CM will be able to travel by executive class. Government events cannot be held in 5-star hotels, the international travel shall remain and the reduction in the salaries of MLAs, Ministers, etc, shall also be continued," Sarma said.
The Assam government Wednesday in April last announced a slew of austerity measures to "rationalise expenditure and optimise available resources" in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The government made it mandatory for department heads to obtain permission from the finance department before approving the implementation of schemes.
It also ordered the reduction of establishment expenditure — instead of the earlier 20 percent only 10 per cent of the total budget will be spent in the first quarter of the financial year. Moreover, the order stated: "All expenses pertaining to industrial exemptions, subsidies, and incentives of various sectors are hereby suspended until further orders."
It halted the purchase of government vehicles, except ambulances and those required for police duty, and banned conferences and workshops in the first quarter of the financial year.
It was decided that no executive class travel would be allowed except in the case of the Governor, the CM, the Chief Justice of Assam and other judges of the high court, and the state's chief secretary. No government official will be allowed to attend any foreign training course or workshop on state expense.
Moreover, the release of the MLA Area Development Fund was suspended for the first four months of the financial year.