Planning Commission should be replaced with a new body: Independent Evaluation Office

NEW DELHI: The Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) has said that the Planning Commission should be replaced with a think tank, endorsing the widely held view in some sections of the government and the BJP that the body should be shut down or its role significantly curtailed.

“It is clear that the Planning Commission, in its current form and function, is a hindrance and not a help to India’s development.

In my experience it is not easy to reform such a large ossified body and it would be better to replace it with a new body that is needed to assist states in ideas, to provide long-term thinking and to help cross-cutting reforms,” Ajay Chhibber, IEO director-general, said in its first assessment report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The IEO, which was set up by the Planning Commission last year, assesses the effectiveness of government programmes, institutions and policies.

Calling it a “control commission”, the IEO’s assessment said that the Plan body exceeds the scope of its authority, particularly its influence on the allocation of funds to state governments, and has suggested that its role as an allocator of resources to states should be taken up by the Finance Commission while the allocation of resources among the central ministries should be carried out by the finance ministry.

The Planning Commission has been the interface between the Centre and states, with funds from the finance ministry being routed to states through it. However, most states were of the view that this could be done directly by the ministry and that the Planning Commission shou

BJP has criticised the working of the panel, seeking a change in its role. “Organisations are not to adjust people. We have to see how they are working for the benefit of the people,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain had said on the future of the Planning Commission.

The commission along with its advisors came under severe criticism from within the government for blocking projects. Former roads minister Kamal Nath blamed it for delays in clearing projects. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also called for restructuring of the institution.

The IEO suggested that “the Planning Commission be replaced by a new think tank as it is staffed largely by non-specialist bureaucrats who lack the expertise to act as a think tank or serve as an oversight body to review implementation of programmes and policies in the states.” Other concerns related to its opaque functioning, the lack of parliamentary oversight of its leadership and the lack of accountability of members.

The IEO assessment said the new institution could be called the ‘ Reform and Solutions Commission’ to highlight its role as a driver of new and dynamic thinking. “It can be staffed by experts with domain knowledge to replace the Plan body.

This new think tank should be tasked with giving recommendations and with providing a road map of priorities to central and state governments, to Parliament as well as to the private sector. It should report to the prime minister but also have a defined relationship to Parliament,” it said.