UP CM seeks equal role for states in new plan panel

 Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Sunday said the states and the central government should have equal participation in a new body to replace the Planning Commission.

He was speaking at a meeting here convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the chief ministers to hear their views on the restructuring of the planning panel.

"Based on the documents made available concerning the meeting, we feel that states and the Centre should have equal participation in the new institution," he said.

Yadav said due representation of states was essential for their all-round development without any discrimination.

"The states should have representation in the proposed body so that their all-round development is ensured without any discrimination and the federal structure gets a firm base," Yadav said in his speech, copies of which were later made available to media.

Modi, in his Independence Day address, had announced that a new institution would be set up "in a short span of time" to replace the commission.

The commission was conceived by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was set up March 15, 1950.