India’s institutions and policies have often, for inexplicable reasons, outlived logic. The Planning Commission is an eloquent illustration of this. The Commission in the 1960s and 1970s, opposed every transformative initiative, including the likes of the Green Revolution and Milk Revolution. This has through the years effected the growth of the country. The political economy has witnessed multiple seizures and failures. The concerns of the First Five-Year Plan continue to be voiced in the 12th Plan.
Yet the Commission has survived over the years. Rajiv Gandhi called those at Yojana Bhavan “a bunch of jokers”, but he couldn’t dismantle the Commission or the “ Command Economy ”. The irony is that the Planning Commission outlived the 'licence raj', and thrived even during, what can be called a 'liberated economy'.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his historic speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort announced, that the end of the Planning Commission was now a given.
True to his style, the Prime Minister organised the first of its kind “Retreat” for most Chief Ministers at his official residence at 7, Race Course Road to discuss innovative and new practices. In his opening remarks, Modi said that States should have a key role in the new body that replaces the Commission and there should be an effective mechanism to address inter-state disputes. He said relevance of the Commission has been repeatedly questioned for more than two decades and policy planning should be "bottom to top" instead of the other way round.
"Can we develop a new mechanism, that plans according to India's strengths, empowers states, and brings on board all economic activity, including that which happens outside the government," he asked. This is where he introduced Team India stating that it would comprise of three teams - the Prime Minister and Chief ministers, union council of ministers, and the bureaucracy at the Centre and States.
Referring to the role of think tanks in countries like the US, Modi said, there was need to devise policies for "a great deal of economic activity" that takes place outside the government. "Time has come to develop a new mechanism to deliver growth and development," he said, and referred to his own experience as Gujarat chief minister.
The Planning Commission seemed to have been a flawed construct. The Centre allocated resources, the Planning Commission monitored and regulated the deployment, and the States were tasked with implementation. The Centre had no responsibility to deliver, the Commission no power to enforce, and the States who had little say or incentive, felt dumped upon. It also functioned on the fallacy that "one size fits all" and not that the requirement of each State is different and the States know what suits them the best. The Chief Ministers are said to have felt that strategy has to be to empower the State and strengthen federalism. It seems, most States favoured a system which strengthens their ability to deliver, and wanted more flexibility rather than a control and command structure.
If Modi’s Gujarat model is anything to go by, then Team India could be a great opportunity to explore new ideas and sharing of a futuristic vision. It is said that the new Institution would have functions to include monitoring and evaluation; programme project and scheme evaluation; cross-sectoral and inter-ministerial expertise including appraisal and monitoring of projects. Besides, it would act as a think-tank, networking with universities and other institutions, thus maximising India’s intellectual power. The new body could provide internal consultancy services to the States and the Centre on different matters. It could also be used to design medium and long-term strategy.
While this is definitely being looked upon as a welcome initiative and bitterly being criticised by the Congress, it is hoped that eventually this will be a step in the right direction that empowers India to be on its course to achieve its fullest potential.