Cabinet note proposes new identity, role for Planning Commission

NEW DELHI: As the government prepares to wind up the Planning Commission, Planning secretary Sindhushree Khullar has suggested five changes that could outline the identity, structure and function of the body that will succeed the 64-yearold commission.
Officials at Yojana Bhawan, the seat of the Planning Commission since 1950, said Khullar has in a Cabinet note proposed a new name and reduced strength for the new body. The note, drafted following a directive from the Prime Minister’s Office, also suggests limiting the new panel’s functions to key areas like infrastructure, mining and targeted implementation of the government’s flagship schemes.

“Planning secretary has proposed five major changes that can be made to re-invent the institution whose structure and functionality has been questioned by many over the last few years,” a senior official told ET on condition of anonymity.

The government is in the process of collating the views of all stakeholders on the new institution.

According to the official, it has been suggested that the name of the new institution should reflect the spirit of development and knowledge-based work that the body will undertake.

“Besides, it has been suggested to substantially cut down on the routine staff and replace them with a handful of domain experts in the areas of infrastructure including power and social sector, which are the focus areas of Narendra Modi government,” the official added.

The Planning Commission employs nearly 1,000 people. A list of the staff along with their roles and responsibilities has been attached with the Cabinet note.

The new institution will also re-work on the model concession agreement of public-private partnership projects across sectors as the government is keen to rope in private players for infrastructure development.

Besides, the new institution will house social sector experts, who will deliberate on the key changes in over a dozen flagship schemes and introduce these changes over a period of time to ensure the targeted outcomes are achieved. The commission has already collated nearly 1,000 changes, big and small, in flagship schemes as proposed by respective ministries and sent them to the PMO, which had asked for the suggestions last week.

The prime minister, who is the chairman of the Planning Commission, had announced in his Independence Day address the demise of the body that was set up through an executive order in 1950 by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and served as a link between the Centre and states.