Introduction
Planning is carried out for development of the nation of this concept of planning is basically
found in those countries which are developing by nature. It is major instrument in the
provision of basic values of objectives. For any developing nation, be it democratic or non-
democratic planning has been seen as one of the strategies to develop the society and
economy by using the available resources. At the same time the developing countries need to
increase the development process as they are under pressure to bridge the stands of living
between the people of their country and that of the developed nations.
What is Planning Commission?
The Planning Commission of India was a non-constitutional and non-statutory body, which
was responsible to formulate India’s five years plans for social and economic development in
India. Prime minister of India is the Ex-officio chairman of the planning commission.
Advisory Planning Board constituted in 1946 under the chairmanship of K.C Neogi gave
recommendations for the establishment of the Planning Commission. It was established on 15
March, 1950 in accordance with article 39 of the constitution which is a part of directive
principles of state policy.
Composition of Planning Commission
Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the commission. He presides over the
meetings of the commission.
Deputy Chairman is the de-facto chairman of the commission. He is given the rank of
a Cabinet Minister. He is responsible to formulate and submit the draft Five Year Plan
to central cabinet.
The Finance Minister and the Planning Minister are the ex-officio members of the
commission. In addition, some other central ministers may be appointed as part-time
members of the commission.
The commission has four to seven full-time members who are experts in various
fields such as economics, industry, science and general administration. They enjoy the
rank of a Minister of State.
The commission has a member-secretary who is usually a senior IAS officer.
Functions of Planning Commission
To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country,
including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting those
are related resources which are found to be deficient in relation to the nation's
requirement.
To formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilization of country's
resources.
To define the stages, on the basis of priority, in which the plan should be carried out
and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage.
To indicate the factors that tends to retard economic development.
To determine the conditions which need to be established for the successful execution
of the plan.
To determine the nature of the machinery required for securing the successful
implementation of each stage of the plan.
To appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of
the plan and also recommend the necessary adjustments of policy and measures
necessary for successful implementation of plan.
To achieve public co-operation in national development.
Hill Areas Development Programme
Perspective Planning
Evolution of Indian Planning
The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 and two subsequent five-year plans were
formulated till 1965, when there was a break because of the Indo-Pakistan Conflict. Two
successive years of drought, devaluation of the currency, a general rise in prices and erosion
of resources disrupted the planning process and after three Annual Plans between 1966 and
1969, the fourth Five-year plan was started in 1969.
The Eighth Plan could not take off in 1990 due to the fast changing political situation at the
Centre and the years 1990-91 and 1991-92 were treated as Annual Plans. The Eighth Plan
was finally launched in 1992 after the initiation of structural adjustment policies.
For the first eight Plans the emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive
investments in basic and heavy industries, but since the launch of the Ninth Plan in 1997, the
emphasis on the public sector has become less pronounced and the current thinking on
planning in the country, in general, is that it should increasingly be of an indicative nature.
Planning Commission: Positives and Achievements
PC laid emphasis on infrastructure developments and capacity building. As a result,
huge investments were made in education, energy, industry, railways and irrigation.
India became self-sufficient in agriculture and made great progress in capital sector
goods and consumer sector goods.
PC introduced many remarkable concepts like nationalisation, green revolution etc
and transformed itself to align with new concepts like liberalisation, privatisation and
inclusion.
Planning commission made great emphasis on social justice, governance, employment
generation, poverty alleviation, and health and skill development.
The transformation of India from a poor to an emerging economic power is credited to
the orderly and phased manner in which planning was implemented.
Planning Commission: Negatives and Problems
No structural mechanism for regular engagement with states.
Ineffective forum for the resolution of centre-state and inter-ministerial issues.
Inadequate capacity expertise and domain knowledge; weak networks with think
tanks and lack of access to expertise outside government.
Failed to implement land reforms.
It was a toothless body, was not able to make union/states/UTs answerable for not
achieving the targets.
Designed plans with ‘one size fit for all’ approach. Hence, many plans failed to show
tangible results.
Weak implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
Why does India need a change from PC?
The contemporary world is governed by constitutional ethos like federalism rather
than centralisation.
India’s population has almost tripled to 121 Cr, and many of the Indian states are as
big as European nations.
Indian economy has expanded from a GDP of 10,000 crore to 100 lakh crore (at
current prices) – i.e. from a poor nation to one of the largest economies.
Co-operative federalism and fiscal federalism will help to meet the diverse needs of
different states/UTs in which planning commission had failed drastically. Plans have
to be formulated by fulfilling the aspirations of states by tailoring the plans to suit
their needs and requirements.
The share of agriculture in GDP has been drastically decreasing while the share of the
service sector to GDP is increasing in India. From 1991, as our economy is
liberalised, private firms have been playing a major role in the economy. Today we
are living in a globalised world connected by modern transport, media,
communications and networked international institutions and markets. With the
increasing levels of development, the aspirations of people have soared from survival
to safety and surplus. So governance systems need to be transformed to keep up with
the same.
Change in the economic scenario where the government is supposed to be an enabler
rather than a player or provider of first and last.
Why was the Planning Commission dissolved?
In contrast to the Commission, which imposed five-year plans and assigned resources
to meet specified economic targets, promoters of the new National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) argue it will work more like a think tank or forum.
The leaders of India's 29 states and seven union territories will be represented at
NITI Aayog. However, the full-time team, which includes a deputy chairman, CEO,
and experts, will report directly to the 64-year-old Prime Minister, who will serve as
chairman.
o It differs from the National Development Council's planning commission,
which used to report to it.
The major difference between the NITI Aayog and the Planning
Commission's approaches to planning is that the former will encourage increased
state participation, whereas the latter will take a top-down approach with a one-size-
fits-all plan.
The Planning Commission's duty was to formulate broad policy and serve as an
advisory body.
o The NITI Aayog would be in charge of allocating resources to states based
on their requirements.
Policy planning, which was the responsibility of the Planning Commission, had
minimal direct input from the states.
o The states were involved indirectly through the National Development
Council; this will not happen again in the NITI Aayog.
Conclusion
The Planning Committee's role has been criticized by a number of people. The one relating to
its duty as an extra-constitutional body is the most important. While the Constitution
establishes spheres of authority and responsibility between the Union and the states for
specific subjects and areas of activity in a federal system, it is argued that the Planning
Commission, which was established by executive order of the Union government, acts as a
"super-cabinet" in economic matters for the Union and the states.
References
https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/planning-commission-of-india-143720373-1
https://www.clearias.com/planning-commission-niti-aayog-indian-planning/
https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/planning-commission-of-india/
https://prepp.in/news/e-492-planning-commission-indian-polity-notes
