Nitty-gritty of planning

There is a smart acronym, NITI, followed by the very ‘Bharatiya’ Aayog. It will have a CEO, which makes it a key part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda. A replacement for the Planning Commission, announced over four months ago on the Independence Day, has finally been announced. The delay, caused by the internal churning within the government and its mentors, does not, however, seem to have changed either its nomenclature or its philosophy.

Replacing the 65-year-old Planning Commission, a leftover from the Jawaharlal Nehru-driven Socialist era, the National Institution for Transforming India – an Institute and not a Commission -- marks a major shift in India’s policy-making process, from a top-down approach to, hopefully, more participatory. Since the new avatar is touted as more federal than the Planning Commission was supposed to be, it marks the end of the National Development Council that had been junked for long. The Centre and the States did not agree on most things during three decades of coalition era. A government with a secured parliamentary majority needs to display its faith in federalism and this should be welcomed.

PM Modi will head NITI Aayog, located at the very same Yojana Bhavan, and will have a governing council comprising chief ministers of all states and Lt Governors of Union Territories, union ministers concerned and full and part-time Members drawn from the vast expertise available. The new buzzword is fostering "co-operative federalism" and for providing a "national agenda".

The criticism from the Congress and the Left, dubbing the new body ‘a-NITI’ and ‘durNITI’ is on the expected lines. It is billed as “pro-people”, but the Modi Government’s stance is seen as much “pro-industry” and “anti-farmer.” While the Left’s criticism can be understood, was not the Congress already taking the path that the new government is now adopting, without the Nehruvian baggage?

The earlier planning process, with its achievements and lapses, was quantifiable. The new one will likely need certificates from business chambers and global financial bodies and lenders, both of which are, in essence, opposed to state control and the concept of planning itself.

Considering the likely choice of the vice-chairman and CEO, Columbia University professor Arvind Panagariya, known through his analytical writings, there should be no doubts about which way NITI and the government itself are moving. The government has already initiated moves to free its economic management from environmental ‘controls’ and those pertaining to land acquisition that were exercised in parts by the Planning Commission. With this institution gone, the economy and its management are poised to be made more ‘open’ and acceptable to entrepreneurship and investment, domestic and foreign. Yojana Bhavan publishes a first rate journal called Yojana. For generations it has been the source of information and analysis for students and experts alike. One hopes NITI Aayog, styled as a think tank, would continue the good work.