EDITORIAL
Re-planning the Planning Commission
The IIPM Think Tank New Delhi 10/22/2010 3:08:55 AM
Dear Readers
The transformation process of the Planning Commission has been a subject to an intense debate, after being in a state of suspended animation for long. But precisely since last few months the raison d’être of the institution is being examined afresh; especially in the backdrop of burgeoning market economy. With market economy becoming stronger, the role of the Planning Commission seems to become even more significant, considering the complexities and challenges of the Indian economy. But then, for that to happen, we need to revisit and re-look the entire organisation of the Planning Commission and its objectives. We may still fight shy of renaming our Planning Commission as it has happened in other countries, yet there are belligerent voices suggesting that the focus of the institution has to change with emergence of new development ethos. A cross country analysis would suggest that suggest that centralised planning has failed but more on account of the failure in the administrative framework, which has been bereft of any accountability, at all hierarchical levels. Which in turn slackened the pace of implementation considerably, and the Planning Commission became a universal ‘villain’.
What’s required today is a resolve, which is directed towards creation of a new organisation that will facilitate the private endeavours amidst the ever growing market economy through judicial allocation of resources and carefully devised policies that allow government intervention at necessary junctures, so as to neutralise the perils of the market economy. They need to readjust and take into consideration the universal social agenda, taking into account the interests of every stakeholder of the market economy! As pointed out by Hemanta Saikia, there is an urgent need for integrated planning since interpersonal and interspatial inequalities persist in India despite nearly six decades of planned economic development. Raj Aggarwal likewise advocates a balanced approach and spells out five principles as a guide to national economic planning. Rabin Majumder recommends the exploitation of Private Public Partnership (PPP) for success of planning and gradually decommissioning the
Planning Commission.
This issue also carries opinion pieces by Anindo Banerjee who writes about the importance of integrated district planning exercise, while Debnarayan Sarker argues that lack of technological progress will cause a fall in the growth of worker’s income. Even Gouri Pada Dutta agrees on the criticality of technological progress, but also mentions a word of caution on importance on the social aspect of science and need for an eco-friendly developmental approach.
This issue of IER carries voices of those who seek to provide the Planning commission with alternative approaches to Indian development. But more significantly they recommend
transformation and makeover of the Planning Commission. We at the IIPM Think Tank, would enjoy the numerous seminal opinion pieces and research articles by eminent economists from world over.
Best,
Team – The IIPM Think Tank
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