Austerity would have to be the buzz word when half the country was facing a drought-like situation, the Congress party told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday as it extended full backing to the government on its approach in tackling widespread drought along with measures taken so far in controlling spiralling prices of essential commodities.

A meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision making body of the party, which met this morning under the chairmanship of Sonia Gandhi, agreed with the steps taken by Prime Minister Singh and his government in dealing with the worrisome situation on drought and rising prices but made it apparent that the later would have be seen being sensitive to the plight of the common man.

As a symbolic gesture, Gandhi directed all Congress MPs, MLAs and holders of offices, to donate 20% of their salary to the government?s relief funds for one full year beginning from next month.

?The party and the government have responsibility of not only addressing these problems, but also to demonstrate austerity in the conduct and activities of their functionaries,? a resolution passed later by the CWC said.

Prime Minister Singh told the CWC that the country had enough food stocks and that there was no room for any panic as he briefed the members about his recent meetings with chief secretaries and chief ministers. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also assured the CWC that there was enough money with the government for any crisis situation.

Senior leader Arjun Singh, who has been shunted out of the UPA government, invoked Indira Gandhi?s name to contend that she converted a challenge into an opportunity when she began the green revolution as the country then faced a severe drought. He said the present government must go for a second green revolution, which found support from several members including the chief ministers.

The suggestion to go for austerity measures, made by Sonia Gandhi, obviously elicited the widest response as members tried to outscore each other in supporting her. While senior leader AK Antony promptly said that everyone including those in government should travel economy class, Pranab Mukherjee said all parliamentary standing committee meetings should be held in Delhi as members always took their entire families on tours outside, which led to significant increase in travel and accomodation costs. Antony even suggested that a 20% cut in salary was not enough and that the ministers and officeholders should do away with perks and allowances.

To the amusement of the Congress president, there was one voice who felt that the 20% cut was a bit steep. Senior leader Karan Singh pointed out that as part of such austerity measures, they had never parted with such a large sum, pointing out that the highest was 10% for the Bangladesh famine. ?That was about Bangladesh, this time we are talking about our own country,? she told him.

Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is still dealing with the panic from swine flu, said they did not mind parting with even 50% of their salaries but cautioned that it should not create a panic situation in the country. According to sources, Ahmed Patel, political advisor to the Congress president, immediately shot down Azad?s contention saying that no panic had been created earlier when severe austerity measures were implemented.