The Hindu : National : `Use their expertise but do not put them on committees'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

National

National

`Use their expertise but do not put them on committees'

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, SEPT. 29. The former Karnataka Minister and Congress MLC, B.K. Chandrashekar, says the Planning Commission should avail itself of the expertise of foreign consultants only for informal discussions and should not on its consultative committees.

Dr. Chandrashekar said the country had a 52-year history, experience and expertise in planning. It had its own development economists and planning experts.

He said the foreign experts should be confined to the level of seminars and conferences. Being representatives of the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank or other institutions, their very presence on a committee might have a "daunting" effect on others. They would turn out to be the first among equals. He did not find any "jingoism" in those who criticised the appointment of foreign experts on the Planning Commission panels.

Dr. Chandrashekar said the Nobel Laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz had criticised the World Bank for imposing "one-sided globalisation" though he was himself connected with the Bank in the past. He had warned policymakers and students in developing countries to be wary of the recommendations regarding policy from the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Often it was found that they had given wrong policy directions.

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