PM Modi pitches fuel savings, WFH, delaying foreign travel & gold purchases as West Asia crisis hits economy
PM Modi urged reducing fuel, foreign travel, and gold purchases for a year, promoting work-from-home and virtual meetings to conserve foreign exchange amidst the West Asia crisis.
PM Modi urged reducing fuel, foreign travel, and gold purchases for a year, promoting work-from-home and virtual meetings to conserve foreign exchange amidst the West Asia crisis.
PM Modi urged reducing fuel, foreign travel, and gold purchases for a year, promoting work-from-home and virtual meetings to conserve foreign exchange amidst the West Asia crisis.
Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced a series of measures aimed at reducing fuel consumption and conserving foreign exchange as India faces the economic impact of the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Addressing a BJP rally in Hyderabad, Modi urged people to cut down petrol and diesel use, postpone foreign travel and gold purchases for a year, and revive practices such as work-from-home and virtual meetings introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Stressing the need to protect the economy from global disruptions, Modi said the Centre was trying to shield citizens from the adverse effects of rising fuel and fertiliser prices caused by the West Asia crisis.
Calling for “saving foreign exchange by every possible means”, the Prime Minister appealed to people to increasingly use metro rail services, opt for carpooling, switch to electric vehicles and depend more on railways for parcel transportation. He also urged companies and institutions to encourage work-from-home arrangements and video conferencing wherever possible.
“We got used to work-from-home, virtual meetings and video conferencing during Covid-19. The need of the hour is to bring back those methods,” he said.
Modi also appealed to people to reduce edible oil consumption, cut the use of chemical fertilisers and promote natural farming and Swadeshi products as part of efforts to make the country more self-reliant.
The Prime Minister also referred to the BJP’s performance in the recent West Bengal Assembly elections, claiming the party had secured a massive mandate and saying he could see similar enthusiasm building in Telangana. Raising the slogan “Agli baar”, Modi prompted the crowd to respond with “BJP sarkar”.
Launching a sharp attack on the Congress, Modi accused the party of pursuing divisive politics instead of public welfare. He alleged that Congress had become “more Left than the Left” and claimed it was attempting to protect Maoist forces at a time when Maoism was weakening across the country.
During his Hyderabad visit, Modi also inaugurated the Sindhu Hospital and described it as an important addition to the city’s healthcare infrastructure.