Congress members attack government for abolishing Planning Commission

NEW DELHI: Government today came under attack in Rajya Sabha for scrapping Planning Commission, with Congress members saying the step appears to have been taken with a desire to abolish the legacy of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Participating in a discussion on the General Budget 2015-16, Bhalchandra Mungekar (Congress) said the establishment of Planning Commission in 1950 was a historic decision.

By abolishing the Plan panel, the government had done a great disservice, added Mungekar, who was a member of the Planning Commission earlier.

He said it appeared that the decision to scrap the Planning Commission was taken with a desire to abolish the legacy of Nehru, which he protests.

Mungekar said if there is any figure in the country who stands tall as the maker of modern India, it is Nehru.

Referring to National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog which was set up in place of Planning Commission, Mungekar said it was not known what change it would bring.

But certain other organisation is bringing transformation in the country through "religious bigotry", he said without taking any names.

Another Congress member P Bhattacharya concurred with Mungekar and referred to abolition of Planning Commission as an attempt to discard Nehru's economic policy.

Mungekar and other opposition members expressed concern over reduction of allocation for social sector. T Rathinavel (AIADMK) said the reduction in the social sector schemes could adversely affect the poor.

He added that while the Centre had claimed to increase the funds allotted to states, it had also taken a lesser role in implementation of several schemes and states could face financial crunch.

However, the ruling party members lauded Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for coming out with a "good" budget. Rangasayee Ramakrishna ( BJP) said no budget has addressed the concerns of poor like this budget does.

He targeted former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for saying the budget fails the test of equity.

Ram Kashyap (Ind) also appreciated several of the schemes in the budget and demanded the Kurukshetra University be made a Central University.

Dilipbhai Pandya (BJP) congratulated the Finance Minister over the budget but raised the issue of corruption.

He said income of IAS, IRS and IPS officers should be noted from the moment they join service to what it is after a few years. Anil Desai (Shiv Sena) supported the budget but expressed concern over the impact of implementation of GST on Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.