Flying High, Saving Low: Getting Better

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent selfie message from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit highlights the importance of domestic economic discipline. The Prime Minister urged citizens to avoid non-essential foreign leisure travel, overseas weddings, and unnecessary gold purchases, emphasizing the need for frugality in line with his vision of a Viksit Bharat.

This message echoed his earlier calls for restraint in May 2021. The Prime Minister's message was followed by a five-nation tour of the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Italy, as statecraft requires.

Initially, the Prime Minister’s appeal for public austerity and overseas travel was limited to a year, but now it is open-ended. This open-ended commitment to austerity is a positive development. Since 2014, the Prime Minister has undertaken 104 international trips to 82 countries, resulting in expenditures of approximately Rs 550 crore since 2021.

Over his tenure, he has spent around 350-400 days abroad, averaging 30-35 days annually. While critics argue that these expenditures are excessive, the scale is comparable to a provincial administration’s education budget. However, New Delhi sees this expenditure as a worthwhile investment, as it brings strategic dividends and contributes to the country’s GDP growth.