Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday gave a new thrust to an effective replacement of the Planning Commission, a Government release said.
The Prime Minister described 'Team India' as a combination of three teams – the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers, the Union Council of Ministers and the bureaucracy in the Centre and States.
Invoking the spirit of "cooperative federalism", Modi said that the current global scenario offered a chance for India to take a big leap forward and stressed the need for a suitable body to replace the Planning Commission so that the strengths of the country can be suitably harnessed.
He said the question of role, relevance and restructuring of the Planning Commission had been repeatedly questioned for more than two decades. The first introspection was done after the launch of economic reforms, in 1992, when it was felt that in light of changing Government policy, a different approach was required. In 2012, the Parliamentary Consultative Committee stressed the need for a serious look at the Planning Commission and the need for a new body to replace it. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stressed the need for a relook at the Planning Commission towards the end of his term, the Prime Minister added.
Modi stated that when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had attended meetings of the Planning Commission, and had felt the need for a better platform to articulate the view of States.
Bottom to top approach
He said it is impossible for the nation to develop unless states develop. He said the process of policy planning also has to change from "top to bottom" to "bottom to top." The Prime Minister also noted that in countries such as the US, thinktanks that function independently of the Government have a major role in policy-making. He said that in India, too, there is a great deal of economic activity that happens outside the Government setup, and there is a need to design policies for them as well.
"Can we develop a new mechanism, that plans according to India's strengths, empowers states, and brings on board all economic activity, including that which happens outside the Government," Modi said at the outset of Sunday's consultation meeting, where he added that the views which the States expressed would prove valuable in shaping the new body to replace the Planning Commission.