Reconstituted Plan panel to vet 12th Plan performance

Work on the mid-term review will be completed in Dec 2014 and by that time the newly constituted Commission will be in place: Montek

Planning Commission today said the mid-term review of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) will be done by the reconstituted panel after Lok Sabha Elections next year.

"..The mid-term review will be done after the elections by the (reconstituted) Planning Commission in place at that time. But a lot official work will be done now," Commission's Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters here.

As per practice, the Commission does the mid-term review of the 12th Plan document in the third year of the policy period and revised certain target such as economic growth as per the requirement.

But since the Commission's term is co-terminus with government, it is generally reconstituted when the new Union Cabinet takes charge.

Explaining further Ahluwalia said, "Normally the mid-term review is prepared toward to end the middle (third) calender year of a Five Year Plan."

Thus, the work on the mid-term review would be completed in December 2014 and by that time the newly constituted Commission would be in place.

However, the work on the mid-term review would start as soon as the Commission would have revised estimates (of expenditure) for current year (fiscal). That would be available around the time when vote on account will be presented in February end next year in the Parliament.

"We would see what are big messages which come out of it (Plan). The work (on mid-term review) will be done on that basis (by present Commission)," Ahluwalia said.

The country's apex planning body National Development Council headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with all Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers on its board had approved the 12th Five Year Plan in December last year.

The policy document has envisaged 8 per cent annual average economic growth in the five year policy period ending on March 31, 2017.