THE demolition of the Planning Commission by the NDA Government did not come as a surprise. There have been rumblings for a while now and studies have been commissioned to find out what ailed the Commission and how it could have been more productive instead of bureaucratic. These studies were in fact commissioned by the UPA Government. When Narendra Modi was chief minister of Gujarat he made excellent presentations to the Commission in the initial stages and expected the Commission to be as enthusiastic as he was to assist with schemes listed out by his Government. But that never happened. The Planning Commission had its own way of allocating funds which are inexplicable. In fact Narendra Modi had often complained that Congress ruled states were favoured over others, although those others deserved the funds. Tripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar has similar complaints and spoke of the disdainful treatment by the Planning Commission although Tripura, he says maintained strict financial discipline and successfully implemented centrally sponsored schemes.
The Modi Government has crossed its 100thday benchmark on which governments are given their first report card. What is found wanting is a new body to replace the Planning Commission. Then some key posts such as Chief Economic Advisor, Chief of the Unique Identification Authority of India and Chairman of Coal India, to name a few are lying vacant although they are important offices for accelerating the pace of development of this country.
While Prime Minister Modi might be taking his time to zero in on the right person for the right job which he has been doing very meticulously, the delay in filling key positions could hamper his Government’s ability to deliver. Also over-concentration of powers in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has its pitfalls. A vast country like India does better when powers are devolved to the lowest levels of governance but with a tight control over deployment of funds. An accountability mechanism was what was missing. The Planning Commission had no control over how central schemes it had envisaged were implemented across the states or if they were even feasible in all states considering the geographical, social and cultural disparities. Taking all this into account, the Modi Government should come up with a national planning body that will not repeat the errors of the Planning Commission and which would also meet the present needs of the states based on realistic plans emanating from the villages and talukas rather than a top-down model that the Planning Commission had unquestioningly entertained all along.
