No more five star treatment

Simple living high thinking, that seems to be the message from the government. It has asked two of its ministers to vacate five star hotels where they were staying for several weeks.

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and his deputy Shahsi Tharoor were paying from their own pocket for their hotel stay but on an austerity drive, the government asked them to leave- the big question how far is will they go?

There was a public reprimand in response to a report in the Indian Express newspaper. Fiance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has ordered SM Krishna and Shashi Tharoor to move out of their luxury suites.

Tharoor had  however, already moved out last week while Krishna is also leaving his Maurya Sheraton room.

Both Krishna and Tharoor have maintained not a single paisa of government money was spent for their stay in these hotels that the bills were paid from their private wealth.

And both ministers seemed stunned with Pranab Mukherjee's reaction since their official residences are not ready for them to move into.

"The house allotted to me is undergoing repairs. I had made private arrangements now I am making other arrangements," said SM Krishna, External Affairs Minister.

On twitter Shashi Tharoor wrote:

"It's a non-story. I wasn't spending taxpayer money or using any government privilege. I'd much rather be in my official house."

He goes on to say: "I need two things daily that Kerala House doesn't offer - a gym and some privacy."

However, many say how far will this austerity go? Will Congress MPs now be asked to stop eating lunches at five star hotels or attend big weddings? The debate rages.