CMs agree on devolution of power to States; Congress against dismantling of 65-year-old body
A consensus emerged over devolution of more “power and planning” to the States at a meeting of Chief Ministers called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday to decide the fate of the Planning Commission, though the Congress and some other parties opposed the complete dismantling of the 65-year-old body. However, BJP-ruled States and some of those ruled by parties like the AIADMK, TRS and BJD supported the initiative taken by the Prime Minister.
There were indications after the meeting that the proposed new body would have the Prime Minister, some Cabinet Ministers and some Chief Ministers along with technocrats and experts in various fields. The Chief Ministers could be included in the body on rotation and the States could be given liberty to spend funds according to their needs.
While BJP-ruled States like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat supported the move to dismantle the Plan panel, Congress-ruled Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh opposed the proposal. West Bengal also opposed the move. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s representative proposed that the role of the Plan panel should be given to inter-State council and opposed its dismantling.
The important takeaway was in the PM’s opening and closing remarks where he dropped enough hints about the structure of the new body. Modi pushed for an effective structure, which strengthens “co-operative federalism” and the concept of “Team India”, and even cited his predecessor Manmohan Singh as saying on April 30 this year that the current structure has “no futuristic vision in the post-reform period.”
Modi gave a new thrust to the quest for an effective replacement to the Planning Commission, describing “Team India” as a combination of three teams - the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers; the Union Council of Ministers; and the bureaucracy at the Centre and States.
Invoking the spirit of “cooperative federalism”, Modi said the current global scenario offered a chance for India to take a big leap forward. He called for abandoning the incremental approach and stressed on the need for a suitable body to replace the Planning Commission, so that the strengths of the country can be suitably harnessed.
The seven-hour-long marathon meeting at Modi’s residence took place in the backdrop of Modi’s Independence-Day announcement from Red Fort that the Planning Commission would “soon” be replaced by a “new institution.”
Except for Chief Ministers of West Bengal, Mizoram, poll-bound Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand, CMs from all other States attended the meeting where Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh were also present.
Briefing the media Arun Jaitley said there was a “larger consensus” that the “context” has changed and there is a “need to decentralise both power and planning”.
Noting that “there cannot be a universal scheme that suits all States,” he said “it is a fallacy that one size fits all in case of implementation of central schemes.”
The strategy should be to empower the States to enable them to meet their own specific needs, he said.
Refusing to give any time-frame for setting up the proposed new body, Jaitley said the Centre will take a “considered view after consultations are over.” Changes were favoured by almost all. But there was a question whether the present structure should evolve or a new structure should be created,” Jaitley said.
He said three of four Chief Ministers wanted the current structure to evolve. Asked whether they were from Congress-ruled States, he replied: “You guessed it correctly.” However, there were indications that the shape of the new structure, which could also see the involvement of the private sector, may be firmed up by January 26 next year.
Congress’ Deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma told reporters that dismantling the Planning Commission would be “unwarranted, shortsighted and dangerous” as it will have long-term adverse effect on Centre-State relations. He said the Planning Commission needed a “reorientation” and not a “political burial”.
“What the Planning Commission needs is reorientation and not renaming or a political burial,” Sharma said in a statement. He said that it was interesting that the Prime Minister called a meeting of the Chief Ministers to discuss the future of the Planning Commission almost four months after “unilaterally” announcing the decision to dismantle it.
“It is ironic that the Prime Minister has claimed, that, the move is to empower the State Governments and strengthen the federal structure, after having taken the arbitrary decision without convening a meeting of the National Development Council nor consulting the States,” said Sharma.
Alleging that this “unwarranted” action has “undermined the federal structure” of the country, he said that the importance of the Planning Commission is to mediate between the Centre and the States for planning and funding of the Plans, thereby strengthening India’s federal structure.
Claiming that the Plan panel has evolved over a period of time and made a notable contribution in Plan development through the Five-Year Plans until now, Sharma said: “Even in a market economy, many aspects need planning since they require cooperation of multiple layers of Government as there exist cross-cutting issues across different sectors”.