India Inc. may be part of new plan body planned to replace Planning Commission

New Delhi: Baring West Bengal, Mizoram and poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand Chief Minsiters, CMs from all others states attended the Prime Minister’s meeting.

Briefing the media, Mr Jaitley later said there was a “larger consensus” that the “context” had changed and there was a “need to decentralise both power and planning”. Noting that there cannot be a universal scheme that “suits all states”, Mr Jaitley said, “It is a fallacy that one size fits all in case of implementation of Central schemes.”

He emphasised that the strategy should be to empower the states to enable them to meet their own specific needs. The Union finance minister said the Centre will take a “considered view after consultations are over”. There are indications that the shape of the new structure, which could also see the involvement of the private sector, may be firmed up by January 26 next year.

New plan body wants experts from all fields

Suggesting that the new body, which will replace the Planning Commission, should be structured in such a way that it meets the need of changing economic paradigm, both domestic and global, the panel in its presentation at the meeting of CMs, which was chaired by Prime Minister, said that the new avatar should comprise of experts from different fields and state representatives.

In her presentation before the top leadership of the country, which the Prime Minister once called “Team India”, planning secretary Sind-hushree Khullar said that the new institution may have 8-10 regulars or executive members with half of them representing the states. Ms Khullar suggested that the remaining members could be exp-erts — environmentalists, financial experts, engineers, scientists and eminent scholars from different fields.