THE CHANGING NATURE AND THE ROLE OF PLANNING

Led by various inter-connected and experience-based factors, a great many new elements have been included in the Indian planning process in recent years. Some of the new elements are too path breaking to reverse the very established thinking of planning in the country. Still some of them could be seen as the government’s attempt to address some of the long-standing and overdue criticisms of planning in India. The inclusion of the new methods and strategies of planning has gone to change the very nature, role and scope of planning in the country. It was the Tenth Plan which is credited in doing this. Many ‘first time’ initiatives were taken up by the Plan. Usually, the plan projections in India did talk about development in the recognised sectors, but here the Tenth Plan imaginatively forges ahead towards new goals—it was undoubtedly a historic moment. The new measures initiated by the Plan99, which led to changes in planning may be seen as under:

1. The Role of the State in Planned Development

It was for the first time that the Planning Commission not only went for a detailed talk on the states’ concerns but also emphasised and recognised their role in the process of development planning (in Vol. III, Tenth Plan). The Plan accepts that unless the states achieve their targets, a nation cannot achieve its targets. This is an open acceptance of the state’s role in planning

and a clear pointer to the need for decentralised planning. The meeting of the Planning Commission which passed the Tenth Plan advised two important ideas in this regard:

(i) to make the Tenth Plan a ‘People’s Plan’, and

(ii) to make development a ‘People’s Movement.’

The Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission articulated on the ocassion that ‘people’s say in Plan is a must’. The Chairman, Planning Commission emphasised that only economic growth should not be our objective but improvement in the quality of life of the masses should be the real goal of planned development. He further added that people’s participation in the planning process is a must to make development a mass movement and helpful to all. This idea continued in the Eleventh Plan and proposes the Twelfth Plan (2012–17).

2. Agricultural Sector Accepted as the Driving Force of the Economy

There had been a bias against the agricultural sector around the world after the Second World War—emphasis on agrarian economy was considered a symbol of backwardness. This mindset, ultimately, changed by the early 1990s to which the World Bank also agreed. Though the Union Budgets of 2000–01 and 2001–02 clearly referred to the proposition, it was the Tenth Plan which clearly accepted the ‘agriculture sector’ as the Prime Moving Force (PMF) of the economy. The Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has also suggested on the same lines.100

The Plan further adds that by prioritising agriculture (in place of industry) the economy will be able to solve three major problems which have been ailing the economy:

(i) With the increase in agricultural production, the economy will have food security,

(ii) Emphasis on agriculture will give a great thrust to employment generation (92 per cent of the employment is today generated by the unorganised sector with agriculture being the biggest), and

(iii) Purchasing power of the masses will increase, which will reverse the long-standing situation of ‘market failure’ in the economy (that is why India sells lesser industrial goods and the industries lack the market for their products. It means by emphasising upon the agriculture sector, the economy will be able to boost its income from the industries).

Accepting agriculture as the ‘core element’ of the economy, the Plan suggested key reforms which are at their various stages of implementations:

(i) Elimination of inter-state barriers to trade and commerce;

(ii) Encouraging contract farming and permitting leasing in and leasing out of agriculture lands;

(iii) Need to amend the Essential Commodities Act;

(iv) Liberalising agri-industry, agri-trade and exports;

(v) Replacement of various Acts concerning food by one comprehensive ‘Food Act’;

(vi) Permitting ‘future trading’ in all commodities;

(vii) Removal of restrictions on financing of stocking and trading.

3. Governance Recognised the Most Important Factor of Development

It was for the first time that the economic think tank, the Planning Commission went to comment upon the issue of governance (which has been only of political concern till date and the Planning Commission never thought to ponder upon such issues). In its first comment upon it, the Planning Commission recognised governance among the most important factors to realise the planned goals (a full chapter devoted to it in Vol. I of the Tenth Plan). The government also did set up an empowered committee on the matter which advised a list of reforms:

(i) Improved people’s participation through PRIs;

(ii) Increased involvement of civil society and NGOs;

(iii) Civil service reforms for improving transparency, accountability and efficiency; security of tenure for the civil servants with more equitable system of rewards and punishments;

(iv) Right sizing both the size and role of the government;

(v) Revenue and judicial reforms; and

(vi) Use of Information Technology for ‘good governance’

After the World Bank report on ‘Good Governance’ in the mid-1990s, the government has been trying to sensitise the issue. Finally, it was the Tenth Plan which accepted the immediate need for good governance.

4. New Steps for Economic Reforms to be Taken by the State

In a major decision it was articulated that from now onwards all the new steps of economic reforms will be taken by the states with the Centre playing a supportive role. It was the time when the government initiated the Second Generation of Economic Reforms. Till date the states had been playing a secondary role in the process of economic reforms. That is why the economy had not been able to tap the expected benefits from it. Now the method and strategy from the reforms process have gone in for a change.

5. Monitorable Targets of Development Set for the First Time

There used to be planned targets in the past, but this time an innovative way of setting these targets was initiated. The Plan did set, for the first time, a national-level monitorable targets in 11 broad areas.

The monitorable targets have importance as the concerned central ministries are parties to its realisation. The ministries hand over an undertaking to the Planning Commission about their strategies of realising the targets, and performance reports are submitted by them, which become the bases for monitoring by the Planning Commission.