NEW DELHI, India, Sept. 11 Reuter: The government ordered on Friday spending cuts of 6.5 billion rupees (500 million dollars) and a hold down (on official trips abroad to finance relief for a disastrous drought sweeping India.
The Finance Ministry said the money would help bring food, water and farm aid to millions of Indians facing shortages.
In & terse statement it said the government Was deferring nonfarm programs, suspending cost‘ of living wage increases for officials and bureaucrats and cutting all ‘but essential official travel, entertaining and training.
“These austerity measures are to be observed by all government departments and) offices and will equally apply to all autonomous bodies funded or controlled by government,” the ministry said)
The cuts were part of crisis measures by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to counter the drought disaster caused by partial failure of the summer monsoon rains,
There was no indication that a trip by Gandhi to Canada and the United States next month for the Commonwealth Conference in Vancouver and talks with President Reagan would be affected.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 18, 1987
