Imran Khan government announces austerity measures for its ministries. Food, water bottles, ACs to go

When Imran Khan took oath as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, he promised to change the face of the country through a slew of measures. One of the major announcements he made was his intention to cut down on expenditures, in order to tackle Pakistan's enormous debt and flagging economy, and bring reforms in the government departments.

Accordingly, even as, in an unrelated development, his government has received its first warning from the US to act against terrorists on its soil, the former cricketer appears to have begun his austerity measures, starting by reducing costs in the Pakistan government's Information Technology and Telecom department. In a recent circular issued by the Imran Khan-led government, the country's new Prime Minister has laid down strict rules for his department.

One of the major points from the recent notification is the complete ban on food and beverages in official meetings. Henceforth, no kind of lunch/dinner will be provided and even half-litre bottles of water will be withdrawn. Instead, only coffee or tea would be served during the meetings.

Further, Imran Khan has laid down that the usage of Air Conditioners will be restricted, and shall only be switched on post 11 PM, that too at a temperature of 26-degrees-Celsius. There was also the mention of minimum usage of lighting. The notification stated that all the officials should make sure to switch off lights after their office hours.

Another important point in the circular was the need to control travel allowances, dearness allowances for the people working in these two departments. It states that the TA, DA and other allowances will be cut down to the bare minimum and shall be optimized.

It is likely that this is just the start of Imran Khan's austerity measures. While addressing a celebratory news briefing shortly after the election results, Imran Khan had also mentioned that he would not occupy the Prime Ministerial residence, and instead turn it into an educational facility, and that he would turn government hill-station getaway resorts, a favourite of former PM Nawaz Sharif, into rest houses, in an effort to boost tourism in Pakistan.