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Till last year, around February, chief ministers of most states used to make a beeline to the erstwhile Planning Commission to plead for their share in central plan allocation.
The visits have become more frequent in the past few months, more precisely since January. However, the purpose is now different.
Since the Planning Commission was changed into NITI Aayog, and annual state plan work ceded to the finance ministry, the new body has become a platform to experiment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'cooperative federalism'.
On Sunday, Modi said in Burnpur, West Bengal, that Delhi would not run the country. At the first meeting of the Aayog, he had talked of forging a sense of cooperative federalism through it.
A panel under the chairmanship of Madhya Pradesh's chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, is on the verge of finalising the total of centrally sponsored schemes that India should have. After three rounds of discussion with states and central ministries, a team is visiting states not on the panel to get their views.
The number of schemes is expected to come down from the current 48, after this consultation process.
The government has already given more funds to states, from 32 per cent to 42 per cent of the taxable divisible pool, following the 14th Finance Commission's recommendations. The idea was to enable the states to implement more schemes on their own and 12, including the Backward Regions Grant Fund and National Scheme for Modernisation of Police and other Forces, were delinked from central assistance.
As many as 13 schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana and Housing for All, will run with the changed assistance pattern, by Centre with states. The latter want the Centre to bear additional responsibility in the shared schemes. That will be worked out after the panel's report.
The flexible fund component is expected to be raised to 25-30 per cent from the current 10 per cent within these schemes, to enable states to have a greater say in spending of central funds. There are at present 23 schemes fully funded by the Centre.
Two more panels of CMs - one on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the other on Skill Development - have also started working.
That apart, the draft Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) for the 12th five-year plan might be sent to the states, to get their opinion on the Centre's priorities. The MTA is normally meant for a course correction and the erstwhile Commission used to do it usually after the first three years of a five-year plan period. However, this time, it will not mirror the plan document.
The previous MTA, of the 11th five-year plan, had as many as 22 chapters. The new MTA, officials said, will broadly have only nine segments. These would be a macro economic overview, on employment, manufacturing, physical infrastructure (including transport), social infrastructure (including health and education), natural resources, rural transformation, urban transformation and governance.
"The Aayog had prepared a draft on each one of these, which details the progress so far in the plan period as against the targets, initiatives by the new government and how it is going to impact the targets, parameters or standards in the coming years," said a senior official.
He said the draft was being circulated among central ministries and departments for their views, after which it could be shared with the states, to get their opinion.
The chapter on the macro economic environment is expected to be where the Modi government would lay down the growth achieved in the first three years of the plan period, steps taken on improving those and what the outcome.
"We might not explicitly say whether the 12th five-year plan target of average annual eight per cent growth could be achieved or not but could give enough indications that it might look difficult," another official said.
The economy grew 6.5 per cent annually on an average in the first three years of the plan, even after the push given by the new gross domestic product numbers.
The Aayog has also adopted a bottoms-up approach to poverty estimation. It recently sent letters to all states and union territories to send data on poverty levels, how these have altered in recent years and the steps taken to eliminate poverty.
"Based on the inputs received, we will determine what measures and steps need to taken to eliminate this (poverty) from a national perspective," the official said.
The Aayog, to complete six months of existence in June, is also rationalising its staff and advisors. By the end of June, officials said, the total of staff was expected to come down to less than half the current 1,000-odd. "Many advisors and others completing their tenure might not get an extension and would have to return to their parent cadre," the official said.
| SAANSAD ADARSH GRAM YOJANA |
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