Two high-level groups have endorsed the Prime Minister’s intent to replace the 64-year-old Planning Commission. However, they failed to reach an agreement on the structure and function of the new institution.
In separate meetings, the two groups met here on Tuesday as part of the consultation process to propose a new design and structure for the Planning Commission, following the Prime Minister’s announcement on August 15. The meeting was called by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Each group had eight members. The first group had former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan, former Finance Secretary NK Singh, former Planning Commission member Saumitra Chaudhuri, among others. The second group comprised Chairman of the National Statistical Commission Pronab Sen, economists Shankar N Acharya, Shekar Shah, Rajat Kathuria and Rajiv Kumar, along with former Finance Secretary Sumit Bose.
Terming the PM’s announcement as bold, Sinha, said, “There is unanimity over the need to reinvent this Commission.” Echoing similar sentiments, Rajiv Kumar told reporters after the meeting that “the new body will come up, and whatever body comes up, will combine knowledge power along with some mandate for getting it executed.”
Sinha said the decision on the new body will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This is a work in progress, it’s not important to discuss the deliberations of today’s meeting, the outcome is important. And that decision will be taken by the Prime Minister. We also discussed how the Plan fund should be allocated to States as well as on the autonomous status to be granted to the new body,” he said.
The two meetings, held simultaneously, saw a free flow of suggestions. However, one of the participants termed the views as ‘heterogeneous’ while another said that views on the structure and functions were varied.
“Everyone agreed that it (the proposed institution) should perform a knowledge function to serve the requirements of the Central and State Governments,” said a participant. He also mentioned that there was a fair amount of agreement that the new body cannot function without a political context and statutory status.
The meeting also suggested that one of the important functions of the proposed institution should be to co-ordinate with various scientific and technological bodies, such as Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and Indian Council for Agricultural Research.