Purulia, 21 May (H.S.): Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to save fuel and use public transport, and the state government’s directive to reduce the use of official vehicles, senior officials of Purulia district administration travelled by bus to Durgapur on Thursday to attend a high-level administrative meeting.

The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, is being held at Srijani Auditorium in Durgapur with officials from five western districts — Purulia, Bankura, Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Bardhaman and Birbhum.

Purulia District Magistrate Sudhir Kontham said the administration decided to follow both the Prime Minister’s message on fuel conservation and the state government’s order to cut down unnecessary use of government vehicles.

Around 9:45 am, two buses carrying the District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrates, Sub-Divisional Officers and BDOs left from the district administrative building for Durgapur. Police officials also reportedly reduced the number of vehicles used for the journey.

The initiative has drawn attention as a symbolic effort to promote fuel conservation and responsible government spending. Recently, MLAs in Kolkata were also seen using buses to travel to the Assembly.

The District Magistrate said the move was aimed not only at implementing state directives but also at taking the Prime Minister’s message to the grassroots level.

The administrative meeting in Durgapur is expected to discuss several developmental and governance-related issues concerning the western districts. Officials, including BDOs, police officers, MLAs and MPs, are attending the programme.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal has directed all districts and government departments to prepare immediate, mid-term and long-term action plans for the 2026-27 financial year under a seven-point expenditure control framework. All departments have been asked to submit their reports by Friday, while monthly progress reports will have to be sent to the Chief Secretary’s office from July 1 onwards.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey