The Planning Commission : The Government of India

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• published: 18 Aug 2014
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The Planning Commission is an institution in the Government of India, which formulates India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. It is located at Yojana Bhawan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi. It was established in accordance with article 39 of the constitution which is a part of directive principles of state policy. "Article 39 - Certain principles of policy to be followed by the State: b) that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good; “ In his first Independence Day speech, in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced scrapping of Planning Commission. [2] History Rudimentary economic planning, deriving the sovereign authority of the state, first initiated in India in 1938 by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose when he was the Congress president and drafted by Meghnad Saha. The British Raj also formally established a planning board that functioned from 1944 to 1946. Industrialists and economists independently formulated at least three development plans in 1944. Some scholars have argued that the introduction of planning as an instrument was to transcend the ideological divisions between Gandhi and Nehru. After India gained independence, the Planning Commission was established on 15 March 1950, reported directly to the Prime Minister of India with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman. The Planning Commission does not derive its creation from either the Constitution or statute, but is an arm of the Central/Union Government. The first Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 which mainly focused in development of agricultural sector. There have been disruptions in Planning Commission. 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. The composition of the Commission has undergone a lot of change too. With the prime minister as the ex officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Presently the post of Deputy Chairman of the Commission is vacant, after the new Government in the Center. Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as ex officio members of the Commission, while the full-time members are experts of various fields like Economics, Industry, Science and General Administration. Present ex officio members of the Commission, are Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister, Home Minister, Health Minister, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Information Technology Minister, Law Minister, HRD Minister and Minister of State for Planning. The Commission works through its various divisions, of which there are two kind: 1. General Planning Divisions 2. Programme Administration Divisions Functions : The Planning Commission’s functions as outlined by the Government’s 1950 resolution are following: To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country. To formulate a plan for effective and balanced utilisation of country’s resources. To indicate the factors that retard economic development. To appraise from time to time the progress achieved of each stage of the plan. From a highly centralised planning system, the Indian economy is gradually moving towards indicative planning where the Planning Commission concerns itself with the building of a long-term strategic vision of the future and decide on priorities of nation. It works out sectoral targets and provides promotional stimulus to the economy to grow in the desired direction. It also plays an integrative role in policy formulation. In the social sector, schemes like rural health, drinking water, rural energy needs, literacy and environment protection The Planning Commission has asked the States to hike the power tariff to save the ailing power sector. It also called upon the States to utilise the power subsidy for improvement to essential services like drinking water supply, education and health for promoting inclusive growth.