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The new body that will replace the five-decade Planning Commission of India is expected to have wider representation from the states, as it will devise central schemes in consultation with state governments.
According to a broad consensus that emerged from the day-long meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers, or their representatives, from all states on Sunday, the existing structure of the Commission will be disbanded and the schemes might not apply to all states uniformly.
The Congress party, however, termed the move to dismantle it “unwarranted, shortsighted and dangerous”. It will have a long-term adverse effect on Centre-state relations, it warned and asserted the panel needed “reorientation” and not “political burial”.
This was Modi’s first meeting with the chief ministers after coming to power six months ago. The new structure could be permanent, comprising the prime minister, some Cabinet ministers and some chief ministers, along with technocrats, bureaucrats and experts from various fields.
Chief ministers could be included in the body by rotation and the states could be given liberty to spend funds according to their needs.
The new body might have a statutory role, not enjoyed by the previous Commission. It could be firmed up by January 26.
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Addressing the media after the consultations, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said most state governments favoured a change in the existing Commission’s structure and wanted a system where their ability to deliver was strengthened.
“There were a few state governments which wanted changes to be made in the existing structure and not a new body but an overwhelming majority was in favour of a new structure to replace the Planning Commission,” said Jaitley.
He added the government would take a considered view soon on the structure of the new Plan body, once the consultative process was over.
According to Jaitley, other issues related to the Commission, such as the name of the new body and future of the five-year Plan process, will be addressed later.
“There was also a view that the new structure should be more like a ‘think-tank’, so that the private sector can also have a role,” he said.
Planning Commission secretary Sindhushree Khullar in her presentation to the chief ministers said the new body should group states based on their geography, demography, state of economy and urbanisation.
A professional Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office should also be set up and a proper evaluation of project and programmes should be done.
In his opening address, Modi said the process of policy planning had to change from “top to bottom” and “bottom to top”.
Modi said the replacement to the Planning Commission must incorporate the concept of “Team India”, which according to him is a combination of three teams — the PM and chief ministers; Union council of ministers; and the bureaucracy in the Centre and states.
He also recalled the remarks made by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, while addressing the meeting of the Commission in April, that the body had no futuristic vision in the post-reform period.
Chief ministers of Congress-ruled states wanted the existing structure to continue.
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Centre’s “arbitrary decision to dismantle” the Commission without convening a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) or consulting the states undermined the federal structure.
According to him, the proposal to replace the Commission with a new body was “half-baked, unwarranted and ignores the need of planned development” of the country.
Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav said the practice of “one-size-fits-all” should be discarded by the new body as without a flexible policy, states with differing needs cannot develop.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, who sent state finance minister Amit Mitra to attend the meeting, favoured replacing the Commission with the Inter-State Council where the NDC could be subsumed.
