Oommen Chandy strikes note of discord

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has strongly objected to what he has termed as the unilateral move of the Centre to do away with the Planning Commission.

“India is still a country where the fruits of development have not reached all sections of its society. This is precisely why planning is essential,” the Chief Minister said at the meeting of chief ministers convened by the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Sunday.

Mr Chandy said that the proposed move to distribute the planning functions amongst the Ministry of Finance and Subject Matter Ministries will result in loss of perspective and of long-term view.

“The differences in approach between Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance were always useful since it provided checks and balances and no one was able to impose its will without convincing the other,” he said.

Mr Chandy said that the move to dismantle the Commission without even convening a meeting of the National Development Council or consulting the states undermined the federal structure.

“The proposal to replace it with a new body is half baked, unwarranted and ignores the need of planned development of the country,” Mr Chandy said. He even felt that the absence of the Commission might undermine the affirmative action, an idea inherent in the Constitution.

"It is likely to have an adverse effect on key areas like monitoring of human development in the states, Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan, facilitating and mainstreaming social sector reform and promotion of decentralized planning,” he said.

He also felt that the Commission had been unfairly judged for the non-achievement of targets. "The truth is that there have been huge deviations from the Plan from time to time and failures in implementation,” Mr Chandy added.