The Hindu : Front Page : Planning Commission dissolves all panels

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Friday, Oct 01, 2004

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Planning Commission dissolves all panels

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 30. In a bid to end the controversy over the inclusion of foreign experts in its consultative groups, the Planning Commission today dissolved all the panels it had set up for the midterm appraisal of the Tenth Five Year Plan. In a brief statement, the Commission said it would revert to the earlier practice of consulting individuals separately as part of the appraisal process.

The setting up of the consultative group was a departure from the earlier practice of restricting the appraisal to Government officials. This time, the Commission's Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, roped in non-government experts in different disciplines in order to get outside inputs on the way the Tenth Plan, valid for the years 2002 to 2007, had worked so far and what course correction could be attempted to accommodate the priorities of the National Common Minimum Programme of the United Progressive Alliance.

While the new idea of widespread consultations was welcomed, the Left parties and some civil society organisations objected to the inclusion of representatives of the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and international consultancy organisation such as McKinsey and the Boston Consultant Group. They wanted the representatives of the foreign institutions removed from the groups on the ground that they were being formally included into what was essentially a State organ. When the Commission failed to respond, the matter was taken to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, who promised to look into it on his return from the foreign visit.

However, Mr. Ahluwalia's statement in London that the foreign consultants would stay led to severe protests by top Left party leaders and some economists in the consultative groups threatened to resign if the Commission continued with the foreign consultants.

Commission's view

In its statement, the Commission acknowledged that the decision to include individuals associated with international multilateral organisations and foreign firms operating in India had become a subject of some discussion. Therefore, it reviewed the matter and decided to dissolve the consultative groups.

Though officially the Commission did not go beyond the statement, sources indicated that the decision to dissolve the groups was taken because the whole issue had become politicised. The view in the Commission was that it had to be politics-neutral in the interest of harmonious Centre-State relations, the sources added.

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