MUMBAI, May 13 -- Cultural affairs minister Ashish Shelar will not be going to Cannes, and 22 legislators may have to forfeit a study tour in Japan. These are some of the austerity measures being taken by the state government after the prime minister appealed to governments and citizens to limit foreign travel and work from home to save fuel amid surging energy prices due to the West Asia crisis. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed ministers not to use government aircraft, except for urgent business. Even this would require him to personally sign off on such requests. Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was quick to fall in step with the austerity drive. "I have started conducting official meetings online without summoning district collectors and officials to Mumbai. I personally do not travel by flight except for very urgent tours, and even those happen only four or five times a year," he said. Fisheries and port development minister Nitesh Rane too has switched to virtual meetings. "He has also asked offices to switch to electric vehicles, as appealed by the PM," an official from his office said. Austerity has cut a little deeper for cultural affairs minister Ashish Shelar, who was to travel to France for the Cannes Film Festival. Shelar, who was to represent a delegation of officials and people from the film and entertainment industry, will now participate virtually. "The relevant people will remain present as per the plan for coordination and support relating to the Marathi films participating in the festival," Shelar said. The delegation was to visit Cannes from May 12 to 18. So far, the government has not rolled out a formal policy after the PM's appeal, so decisions by ministers and the administration to rein in travel are ad hoc. "The chief minister may issue official directives on Thursday when a cabinet meeting is scheduled," a senior BJP minister said. State chief secretary Rajesh Aggarwal said the state is awaiting directives from the centre on austerity measures. So, for 22 MLAs, the decision to forfeit a study tour to Japan with an elaborate itinerary, is purely for the greater good. Led by Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, they were to visit six Japanese cities from May 23 to June 2. Capping the tour was a trip to Mount Fuji. The delegation was to meet Japanese lawmakers, governors and officials, and visit the National Diet Building, Japanese Parliament, the Wakayama and Okayama prefectural assemblies, and engage in industrial interactions with major Japanese corporations. "We were invited by the governors of Wakayama and Okayama and were to discuss best parliamentary practices. A meeting was also scheduled with officials of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which funds major infrastructure projects in Maharashtra," said Narwekar. He said he had decided to cancel the tour although a decision will be taken by a special board comprising the chairman of the legislative council, assembly speaker, and the chief minister. "I do not think the tour will happen," he said. For tourism minister and Shiv Sena leader Shambhuraj Desai, the PM's appeal struck a personal chord - he has cancelled a family trip to Europe. Desai and his family were to leave at the end of May for a tour of cities such as London, Paris and Amsterdam but they have dropped the plan, said an official from Desai's office. Opposition leaders are not impressed. They have slammed the state government, pointing to lavish spending on ministerial security and official convoys. NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil challenged the chief minister to prune his personal convoy to a single vehicle and one security personnel, in keeping with the PM's call for austerity. "Mr Fadnavis, taking the Prime Minister's order as supreme, you too should reduce the number of vehicles in your convoy as well as those of all ministers. The middle class is always ready to make sacrifices. But the expectation is that those in power should also implement the 'Nation First' policy in action," Patil said in a post on X....