Plan panel buys peace with Left

Consultative committees dissolved.

Bowing to the relentless pressure applied by the Left, the Planning Commission yesterday dissolved all the 19 consultative groups established for undertaking a mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan.

The decision follows a meeting last night between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of the commission. The move is expected to diffuse the controversy over the appointment of "foreign" consultants.

"The commission has reviewed the matter and has decided to dissolve the consultative groups. It will revert to the earlier practice of consulting individuals separately as part of the mid-term appraisal process," the commission said in a statement.

The dissolution of the committees indicates the success with which the government has saved face all round. The Left's stand was that though it was not opposed to consultations, the institutional presence of multilateral lending agencies was unacceptable to it. It has achieved its objective.

However, Ahluwalia has not yielded ground either: he has got rid of the Left-leaning economists who had 'threatened' to resign on the World Bank issue, thus, positing themselves as a permanent band of conscientious objectors in the Planning Commission.

Ahluwalia is now free to start with a clean slate and pick individuals for consultation as he likes, whether from the International Monetary Fund or from the group of Left-leaning economists.

Reacting to the announcement, the Left parties said the government could not ignore the strong concerns expressed by them but it would have to explain the logic behind the move to disband the groups.

"The government could not undermine the strong concern expressed by us. They will, however, have to explain their move and also tell us how they expect to proceed," said D Raja, the secretary of the CPI's national council.

RSP leader Abani Roy said the right noises made by the Left had yielded positive results. This, he said, was in the national interest since the "foreign" experts could have had their own agenda.

"Good sense prevailed on the Planning Commission and whatever we had said has been heard," he said.

The Left's stand was that it was not opposed to consultations, but the institutional presence of multilateral lending agencies was unacceptable to it.

PM-Left meet today

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet the leaders of the four Left parties for breakfast on Friday to brief them on the details of his foreign trip.

Sources in the Left said the meeting might be a quasi-coordination meeting since there has been some difficulty in finalising the dates for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-Left coordination meeting due anytime now.