Overview

• All ministries, departments and public sector undertakings have been told to incur no expenditure on gifts for Diwali or other festivals.
• The Department of Expenditure said the instruction takes immediate effect to ensure prudent and judicious use of public resources.
• The directive was signed by Joint Secretary PK Singh and issued with the approval of the Secretary (Expenditure).
• The government framed the step as part of its fiscal-discipline drive, alongside public outreach such as the 'GST bachat utsav' after GST rate cuts.
• A comparable austerity push in 2020 curtailed printing of calendars, diaries and greeting cards, which was partially relaxed in 2022 to allow calendar reprints.