Plan panel: Chandy opposes wholesale change, says fed structure undermined

New Delhi: The central government’s “arbitrary decision to dismantle” the Planning Commission without convening a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) or consulting the states undermines the federal structure, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_1838809” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. AFP[/caption] He said the Centre’s proposal to replace Planning Commission with a new body is “half baked, unwarranted and ignores the need of planned development” of the country. “It was unfortunate on the part of the central government to unilaterally do away with the Planning Commission that came into being in 1950, which had been playing a pivotal role in the development of the country,” Chandy said at a meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chief Ministers to discuss the structure of the new body which would replace the Planning Commission. He noted that the Planning Commission has been “quite instrumental” in ensuring social equality, promotion of decentralised planning and in the monitoring of human development, especially that of the socially and economically backward segments in the country’s population. “The proposed move to distribute the planning functions amongst the Ministry of Finance and subject matter ministries will result in loss of perspective and of long-term view,” the senior Congress leader said. The Chief Minister, who heads a Congress-led government, said doing away with the Planning Commission is likely to have an adverse effect on key areas like monitoring of human development in the states, Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, facilitating and mainstreaming social sector reform and promotion of decentralized planning. “I also believe that, on occasions, the Planning Commission has been unfairly criticised for its failure to achieve targets in some areas. The truth is that there have been huge deviations from the Plan from time to time and failures in implementation. “I am not convinced that the wholesale change of a time-tested institution is required, particularly so, when we have not progressed even now beyond the conceptual stage of designing an alternative mechanism,” he said. Chandy, however, acknowledged that there are several deficiencies in the present system, and suggested that while redesigning public expenditure management, it is important that “we do not throw the baby out with the water.” “Whatever is designed must be built in provisions for sequestering of funds for development, preventing unproductive expenditure from gobbling up resources that need to be earmarked for development, optimum balance between central and state schemes, flexibility in laying down priorities according to needs of different States and different regions and a clear focus on agreed outcomes at the state and central level,” he said. The chief minister said the new planning mechanism must be supported by a proper legal framework and “necessary legal frameworks may be provided to support the organisations created at the central and state level, preferably through Constitutional amendment.” He also suggested that an important function of the alternative mechanism should be to serve as a single-window clearance house for development problems of the states. He said at present, state governments have to run from Ministry to Ministry, trying to get their problems resolved. “There exists no fixed mechanism for co-ordination and quick decision one way or the other. Also, there is no neutral body, sufficiently empowered to hear the views of the states on issues of crucial importance for their development and take objective decisions vis-a-vis central ministries,” the Chief Minister pointed out. Chandy said the states should be further consulted in the task of designing and creating the Alternative Mechanism. “We have to work together to reach a national consensus to build a structure that becomes a powerful instrument for the rapid growth of our great country,” the Chief Minister said. PTI