The Alternative Could be More Devastating

by Sandeep Pandey

Narendra Modi has declared in his maiden Independence Day speech that the Planning Commission will be scrapped and replaced by a Reform and Solutions Commission based on the recommendation of an Independent Evaluation Office (IEO). The report was placed before Narendra Modi soon after he took over as PM. It suited Modi because the new body, conceived as a 8 member think tank, will have one member directly from the trade and industry sector who’ll push Modi’s neo-liberal agenda. It is pertinent to note that the Planning Commission till now had no representative of the industry or trade sector directly participating in its deliberations. Although, the new think tank will have one member from social sector, given Modi’s proclivities it is anybody’s guess who will have a dominant role in the think tank.

It is being said that the Planning Commission had lost its relevance in the environment of market economy and was too centralized to allow for participation of state governments. The IEO thought that since states are in a better position to determine local requirements and have better knowledge of resources available with them, they should have a key role in taking decisions about planning at their level. Ajay Chibber, the Director General of IEO thinks that the states were not happy with the way the schemes were designed centrally and then pushed down their throats, leaving very little space for states to do their own planning or experimenting with innovative ideas. While this thinking is definitely welcome, Ajay Chibber must certainly know that the Constitution of India actually allows for decision making at even lower level of rural and urban local bodies under the 73rd and 74th amendments, respectively. The articles 243-g and 243-w empower the village panchayats and urban bodies, respectively, to undertake the task of economic development and programmes for social justice. Whereas panchayats can take decisions on 29 subjects, nagar palikas can do so on 18 subjects. Will it require another IEO evaluation to arrive at the conclusion that planning should be further decentralized to the level of local bodies? How long will we have to wait for it?

There has been a criticism of Planning Commission as an extra-Constitutional body which came into existence by a mere cabinet resolution in 1950 and over time had become too powerful and hence there was a demand to scrap it. Planning Commission had usurped the role of Finance Commission and the Finance Ministry of allocating funds among various states and between centre and states. But it is hoped that with the dismantling of Planning Commission its powers will be distributed and vested among elected bodies, especially at the local levels. In article 243-z-d the Constitution envisages a District Planning Committee which will make a comprehensive district plan after collecting plans from the rural and urban local bodies, the Gram Sabhas, Town Panchayats and Nagar Palikas. Hence according to the Constitution the entire planning exercise can be completed at the district level and there is no role whatsoever of any external agency to take decisions in the matter of development at the local level.

However, this is not what Narendra Modi has in mind. He is conceiving of a body which will ‘better perform’ the functions of Planning Commission. But it’ll continue to comprise of experts. He is talking of a creative thinking body which will take the idea of public private partnership, optimum utilization of resources including natural resources, utilization of youth power forward to make the nation strong. He is talking of a new body with a new soul, new direction, new confidence and new thinking. Ajay Chibber adds that this think tank will think big for long term, generate fresh ideas, look at innovations, suggest systemic reforms and not get involved in routine administration. One wonders whether the greater participation of states is meant for larger exploitation of natural resources as they ‘have better knowledge of resources available with them?’

Considering the new government’s decisions like allowing FDI in defence sector it looks like Narendra Modi is going to pursue essentially the same economic policies of privatization, globalization and liberalization, initiated by the P.V. Narasimha Rao government and followed by all governments thereafter, more aggressively and all the proposed changes are to suit his agenda. Even the previous BJP government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee pursued these economic policies more ardently than the government which initiated them.

Hence a likely scenario is that one extra-Constitutional body will be replaced by another one and the experts and corporate sector will continue to dominate the process of policy making. The elected representatives from the parliament to the local bodies will continue to be sidelined. This will further weaken the democracy and make us further dependent on the market.

In a country like India with a huge poor population we cannot afford to give up the agenda of planning totally and hand it over to the corporate sector and experts. The state must continue to play the role determining and implementing policies and programmes of social welfare and social justice. Removing poverty can never be a lucrative business for corporate. Similarly, there is no money to be made in teaching the poor kids or in treating the poor patients. Hence we have to make sure that the social agenda doesn’t slip down on the list of priorities of the government.

The danger is that Narendra Modi has not just been elected by the people but there are forces which were at work behind the scene. It is an open secret that his campaign was majorly funded by corporates and for the first time in India corporate sector, with media in tow as it has increasingly begun to consider itself more of a corporate than the fourth pillar of democracy, have gotten a PM of their choice elected by the people.

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