National Advisory Council to be wound up this month

The National Advisory Council (NAC) set up by the UPA government to help it implement the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) is likely to be wound up this month.

NAC member and former Planning Commission secretary N C Saxena told Business Standard that the tenure of the NAC was unlikely to be extended after March 31.

The NAC last sent recommendations to the government on February 28 on the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, giving an update on the implementation of the scheme.

The NAC constitution says it was set up to implement the NCMP of the government. The main functions of the NAC were to provide inputs to the government for formulation of policy and support the government in its legislative business.

Initially, the NAC was chaired by Congress President Sonia Gandhi who later quit after the issue of people in power holding offices of profit came up before the Election Commission.

Following her exit, the recommendations sent by the NAC to the government ceased to carry weight and gradually members began to quit, beginning with economist and social activist Jean Dreze and Magsaysay awardee Aruna Roy.

The present members include C H Hanumanthrao, D Swaminathan, Madhav Chawan, Mrinal Miri, A K Shivkumar Sehba Hussain and NC Saxena.

Jean Dreze, who was there in the NAC for a year, said: "As soon as Sonia Gandhi left the NAC, it lost its sharp edge. I think that is fairly clear. Incidentally, it is not just the NAC, the NCMP was also put in the fridge on the same occasion. Ever heard of it since?"

Aruna Roy said, "NAC was set up to monitor implementation of the NCMP. In first two years, it managed to fulfil some of its obligations. RTI, NREGA, Forests Act and Domestic Violence Act would not have been possible without it. It lost clout after it lost leadership."

NC Saxena said it was difficult to say if the NAC had become redundant after Gandhi's exit. "It would have been good if someone had taken the place of Gandhi as chairperson. We never had one after she left," he said.

However, he said the meetings continued to be held and attendance was always good, adding in the same breath that the government had failed to implement the NCMP. "There were high expectations, but the last Budget leaves one cynical," he said.

Medha Patkar's enduring grudge against the NAC is that it approved a draft rehabilitation policy scripted by her and other NGOs, which even got the approval of Gandhi, but still it never saw the light of day.

However, member Madhav Chavan, founder of NGO Pratham, says that whether or not NAC is wound up in March, the purpose for which it was started has been fulfilled.

The main job of NAC was to set policy priorities. At the same time, the government cannot take policy initiatives at the end of its term, so in that way the NAC is not needed now, he adds.

The NAC met 28 times between April 2006 and February 2008 as documented in the website of the council. There were 11 meetings in 2006 and 15 in 2007, while there were two in 2008. Thirty communications were sent to the government till March 6, 2006.

On the other hand, 65 concept papers were presented before the NAC by various experts till February 28 this year.