People power to new Plan body
Business
Standard, August 20, 2014
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A special open forum has been created on the website
mygov.nic.in for suggestions
To involve people
in the decision making process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Tuesday invited suggestions from the public on the shape
of the proposed institution to replace the Planning
Commission.
"We envision the
proposed Institution as one that caters to the aspirations
of 21st century India & strengthens participation of the
states...Let the ideas flow," Modi said in a statement.
A special open
forum has been created on the website mygov.nic.in for
suggestions, the statement added.
In his maiden
Independence Day speech, Modi had announced abolition of the
Planning Commission and replacing it with a new institution,
which would cater to the needs of changing economic
realities and also various demands from states.
The Planning
Commission was created over 60 years ago to usher in an era
of planned development in the country. The prime minister is
the chairman of the Commission.
Experts said the
shape of the new body would mainly depend on the powers that
it is vested with.
"It (the shape of
the new panel) depends on how much power you will give to
the new body," Pronab Sen, chairman of India's Statistical
Commission and a former principal advisor to the Planning
Commission, told Business Standard.
Sen was also critical of the proposed move to hand over the
allocation power for plan expenditure to the finance
ministry as part of the restructuring exercise and said it
might take away the checks and balances that existed till
now.
Secretary-General of Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)
Pradeep S Mehta said the new body being thought of by the
government should be a leaner and meaner organisation, which
initiates reforms, monitors projects, does perspective and
scenario planning with the active participation of state
governments to give it a more federal structure.
"It should be involved in giving vital inputs in policy
making," Mehta said.
Mehta said more than China's National Development and Reform
Commission, the ideal model for the new body should be the
Korean Development Institute (KDI). "Whatever policies are
made in Korea is with the active help of KDI," Mehta said.
CUTS were among the first organisation, which held two
round-table discussions on the shape of the Planning
Commission.
Former Planning Commission member Arun Maira too felt that
the new body should not limit itself to just Budget making
exercise, which the earlier Planning Commission used to do.
"The new body should be more 'catalytic' in nature and not
control-oriented, which were the hallmarks of all the
previous Commission," Maira said.
He said it is not that the Planning Commission was not
changing itself, but the pace was much slower than the rate
at which the world around it changed. Maira who had earlier
floated the idea of a 'Systems Reforms Commission', in place
of the Planning Commission.
Experts too disagreed on the vitality and usefulness of the
five-year plans.
Sen felt that abolishing the five-year plans was a bad idea.
Years of the plan are not the main thing, but there should
be short-term, medium-term and long-term plans for the
economy. "In corporates also, you have a planning division.
They also make plans. When they can have a planning system,
why can't there be plans for the economy," asked Sen.
However, Maira felt the five-year plan system should be done
away with, as it was a rigid document without ample scope to
adjust to changes. "Just look at the 12th five-year plan
(2012-13 to 2016-17), it had laid down some growth targets,
which could be achieved in the next five years, but the
world changed in two years itself," he said. Maira felt that
the five-year plan process should be replaced with scenario
planning or a rolling plan.
This news can
also be viewed at: http://www.business-standard.com/
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Regional Conference “A Scoping Study on the Impact of
Climate Change and Food Insecurity on Poverty in South Asia”
January 11, 2011, Magnolia, India Habitat Centre,
New Delhi, India
Outcome Mapping for Programme and Project Planning
February 15-17, 2011,
Hotel Jaipur Palace, Jaipur, India
Conference on Reviewing the Global Experience with Economic
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April 18-20, 2011,
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