Planning Commission

No commitment to lowering fiscal deficit, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Ahluwalia said if household net savings continue to decrease and fiscal deficit reduction is neglected, it could lead to significant problems, including crowding out of private investments

India's federalism dilemma: Cooperative model or competitive reality?

Much as India desires the existence of cooperative federalism, what it often witnesses is competition

Scenarios for India's future: How planning can shape growth and inclusion

Scenario planning, having being successfully implemented in businesses, has tremendous potential for shaping India's future

Scrap NITI Aayog, bring back Planning Commission: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

In Delhi to attend a NITI Aayog meeting on July 27, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said the public policy think tank brought by the Modi government should be scrapped and the Planning Commission should be brought back. Banerjee, who is set to attend the NITI Aayog meeting even as most INDIA bloc chief ministers have decided to give it a miss, said she felt their voices should be raised on a common platform. "They (BJP) have formed the government but they don't have people's mandate. This is the first time after the BJP came in, since 2014, they have not formed the government as a single party. She said that because of their "compulsions", the BJP-ruled NDA has brought a "politically very biased budget" which "deprives" all opposition states. "I thought it is my duty to raise this voice at least on a common platform though I know the NITI Aayog has no financial powers," she said. "Since the NITI Aayog has been planned, I have not seen a single work being done

Centre denies Bihar's 'special category' status; no new designation allowed

The Centre said that no new states are being awarded 'special category' status at present, as the Indian Constitution does not accommodate such classification

Must decentralise power from states to local authorities: Ahluwalia

At Business Standard Manthan, Arvind Subramanian said that to reduce the gap, there needs to be a renegotiation of social contracts in agriculture and fiscal federalism

Two-thirds of faculty posts lie vacant in 14,000 ITIs, govt data shows

Only 73,384 posts filled out of 205,635 sanctioned; Andhra tops with 86% posts lying vacant, followed by Rajasthan (84%) and Madhya Pradesh (82%)

Leading economist Abhijit Sen passes away at 72 following a heart attack

Economist Abhijit Sen, a former Planning Commission member and one of the country's foremost experts on rural economy, died on Monday night. He was 72. "He suffered a heart attack around 11 PM. We rushed him to the hospital, but it was all over by the time we got there," said Dr Pronab Sen, his brother. In a career spanning more than four decades, Abhijit Sen taught economics at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, and held several important government positions including the chair of the Commission of Agricultural Cost and Prices. He was a member of Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014, when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister.

Should purchasing power parity of $3.2 be made India's formal poverty line?

Experts have some reservations about the methodology used to arrive at the number, and that the poverty figures under the existing PPP of $1.9 per person per day have been understated

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: A combination of balance, optimism and resilience

Looking into yesterday while he assesses today, Ahluwalia retains his entrenched belief in India's ability to overcome

The Morning Show, Ep 1: Jet Airway, Indian economy, and the middle class

Is the economic recovery at the cost of the middle class? Will Jet Airways' take-off after a lull be smooth? Is stock frenzy based on irrational exuberance? Listen to this podcast for answers

Did central planning end in July 1991?

Government picking winners is alive and well

The importance of EQ over IQ for politicians

Humility, not hubris, should be the middle name of any Indian politician who wants to achieve his goals

India needs economists to usher in reforms

We have a government with an extremely weak economic team advising a PM who hardly pays attention to their thoughts, writes Jayanta Roy

Former Planning Commission member Dr Vaidyanathan passes away in Coimbatore

During his lifetime, Dr Vaidyanathan also served as professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies and Centre for Development Studies in Trivandrum

India can tide over worst recession, but govt must be careful: Experts

Montek Singh, D Subbarao were participating in a webinar hosted by Bhavan's SP Jain Institute of Management Research

Invest in trust to promote entrepreneurship

What we observe currently is a dilution of the formal channels of communication, while there is not much evidence of the informal ones evolving

UPA economy doctors' prescription to tide over coronavirus crisis

C Rangarajan, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and Pronab Sen say the present crisis is different from the one then and requires a different prescription

A question of answers

Book review of All the Wrong Turns: Perspectives on the Indian Economy

Flowers for planning

After the dismantling of the Planning Commission, the centre continued to do the same work for NITI Aayog