Overview
- The Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services on Monday ordered state-run banks and insurers, including SBI, Bank of Baroda and LIC, to hold meetings by video, cap foreign travel for top executives and accelerate a shift to electric cars for hired fleets.
- Delhi’s labour department urged private employers to adopt two work-from-home days, stagger office hours and promote car-pooling and public transport to cut fuel use.
- Delhi Police issued a force-wide memo to slash non-essential vehicle movement, pool two-wheelers for duties, prefer virtual meetings, use Metro for routine commutes and rationalise VIP cavalcades.
- Leaders showcased visible changes, with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and BJP MP Manoj Tiwari riding the Metro on Monday and Haryana ministers cycling to a cabinet meeting.
- Critics questioned the optics of the push by pointing to recent large roadshows and an air display involving top leaders, while transport experts warned that weak bus coverage and first–last mile links limit fast shifts away from private vehicles.