Prime minister Narendra Modi's proposal to replace the Planning Commission with a new institution got a boost with all the 18 non-Congress chief ministers including those from UP and Tamil Nadu supporting the idea. At a brainstorming session, the chief ministers supported greater powers to the states, less interference in their planning and their participating in the financial as well as planning structures at a brainstorm session hosted by Modi at his official Race Course residence. After the formal six-hour long consultations aided by their senior officials, chief minister went into retreat, the first of its kind with the prime minister, without the aides in relaxed and private settings.
Sources said, while the nine Congress chief ministers took the party line and opposed abandoning of the Nehruvian relic, many of them supported the idea of cooperative federalism and participation of states in the planning process rather getting dictated from New Delhi. Walking on the thin line between the party stand and their own aspirations, they favoured an alternate structure be built on the edifice of the present structure and opposed changing its name. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who skipped the meeting, however, in a letter to the prime minister suggested the new body be given a constitutional statues like that of the inter-state council.
In his concluding remark, prime minister particularly referring towards the opposition by Congress chief minister reminded them remarks made by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on April 30th, 2014 regarding the Planning Commission. He said that Dr Manmohan Singh, who had been associated for a long time with the Planning Commission, had noted that the body has no futuristic vision in the post-reform period. He had also noted that the Planning Commission would have to reinvent itself to remain more effective and relevant in the present situation.
In a presentation made by Planning Commission secretary Sindhushree Khullar, sketching role of new institution, he said instead of the sector-wise budget allocations to the states so far done through the Planning Commission, the new institution will have the basic role of monitoring and appraisal of the projects and schemes to ensure the best use of the money spent by the government and recommend changes wherever it finds lacuna.
The concept paper circulated at the meeting also envisaged the new institution to have 50 per cent representatives of the state governments as its 8 to 10 regular members, while other positions will be filled by the independent non-government environmentalists, financial experts, engineers, scientists and other eminent scholars form different fields. Alike the Planning Commission, the prime minister will continue to be its chairman ex-officio.
In his inaugural comments, Modi said the process of policy planning has to change from "top to bottom" and "bottom to top", stressing that it was impossible for the nation to develop unless states develop. He said the replacement to the Planning Commission must incorporate the concept of "Team India", which according to him, was a combination of three teams – the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers; the Union Council of Ministers; and the bureaucracy in the Centre and states.
He reminded the first introspection of restructuring Planning Commission had come soon after after the launch of economic reforms in 1992. Even in 2012, the Parliamentary Consultative Committee stressed the need for a serious look at the Planning Commission and the need for a new body to replace it.
Meanwhile, the Congress has dubbed the move to arbitrarily and 'undemocratic' and warned that such a step taken will have long term implications, thereby, hurting the Centre-state relations. "It's ironic that the prime minister has called a meeting of the chief ministers to discuss the future of the Planning Commission, four months after he had arbitrarily announced the disbanding of the commission, which was undemocratic," Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}