Planning Commission of India

The Planning Commission is an Indian government institution founded in 1950 with the primary responsibility of supervising the nation's social and economic development via the creation of five-year plans. The commission's initial goal was to improve the standard of living for common Indians by effectively using the nation's people and material resources, increasing output, and generating jobs for everyone. These days, its duties include conducting recurring resource assessments of the nation, creating five-year plans and strategies for carrying them out, keeping an eye on how the plans are being carried out, and suggesting changes to policy as necessary.

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This Story also Contains

1. Evolution of Planning Commission in India
2. NITI Aayog
3. Difference between NITI Aayog and the Planning Commission
4. Conclusion

In 1951, the country launched its inaugural five-year strategy. Alongside a deputy chairman and numerous part-time members, the committee is headed by the Indian prime minister. Every section of the commission, representing various aspects of the country's economy and social structure, is overseen by an experienced leader. This includes areas such as education, health, science, manufacturing, financial assets, social support, agricultural growth, and water management.

Evolution of Planning Commission in India

• The Soviet Union's adoption of Joseph Stalin's Five-Year Plan in the late 1920s served as the model for the idea.

• The Saha ionisation equation was created in 1938 by the Indian astronomer Meghnad Saha, a former member of parliament from 3 April 1952 to 16 February 1956.

• In 1938, Saha sought a proposal from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who served as the president of the Congress at the time, to set up a National Planning Committee. In 1938, Bose, Atul Tiwari, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the groundwork for the beginnings of economic planning.

• Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, also known as Sir MV, served as the 19th Diwan of Mysore and was an Indian civil engineer who led the planning committee.

• While it was in operation, the board suggested creating a Planning Commission to focus entirely on the planned development.

• Ultimately, the Planning Commission was founded by the Indian government in March 1950.

Planning Commission: Background

Among other things, the Planning Commission of India was a government agency in charge of creating the country's five-year plans. The planning committee was tasked with providing work options for everyone in a community service capacity.

The Prime Minister of India got firsthand information from the Planning Commission. On March 15, 1950, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru led its establishment. The Planning Commission was a branch of the Union/Central Government that lacked formal creation through laws or the Constitution.

The Indian government passed a resolution in March 1950, creating the Planning Commission. The government's main goals were to raise production, ensure that everyone has access to work opportunities in the service of society, and quickly raise the quality of life for Indians via the productive exploitation of the nation's resources.

The Planning Commission was tasked with evaluating all of the nation's resources, optimising those that were already scarce, creating plans for the most efficient and equitable use of those resources, and setting priorities. The first chairman of the Planning Commission was Pandit Nehru.

The first five-year plan was introduced in 1951, and many were developed until 1965 when a pause was caused by the conflict with Pakistan. After the yearly strategies from 1966 to 1969, the initiation of the fourth five-year strategy occurred in 1969, as a result of the disruption in the planning process due to a two-year drought, the devaluation of the rupee, rising prices overall, and the exhaustion of resources.

In 1990, the process of executing the Annual Plans for the years 1990–1991 and 1991–1992 began, as the Eighth Plan was postponed due to changing political circumstances and instability within the government.

In 1992, the government launched the Eighth Plan as it started implementing policies for economic reform. After the launch of the 9th Plan in 1997, the emphasis moved from focusing on heavy industries to the concept that planning should mainly serve as a guide. The initial eight strategies focused heavily on growing the public sector through substantial investments in both the foundational and heavy industrial areas.

Functions of the Planning Commission

The work of the Planning Commission was linked to the social and economic responsibilities assigned to the Indian government by the foundational principles of the Indian Constitution. The Directive Principles of State Policy placed special emphasis on the state's obligation to guarantee that its population had enough means of sustenance and to eradicate disparities in the ownership of wealth and the means of production.

The 1950 resolution that created the Planning Commission outlined the following responsibilities:

• Assist in organising India's material, financial, and people resources. Promote the growth of individuals skilled in technology and explore ways to enhance the necessary resources that are found to be lacking for the nation's requirements.

• Create a more lucrative, comprehensive strategy that utilizes the majority of the nation's assets.

• List the procedures the company needs to follow, arranging them by priority, and provide recommendations for distributing resources to guarantee that every phase is finished successfully.

• Ascertain the potential reasons behind the decline in the pace of economic growth.

• Specify the conditions that must be fulfilled for the process to be completed within the legally binding sociopolitical framework of the country.

• Find out what kind of equipment was required to ensure that the plan was carried out precisely and thoroughly.

• The composition of the Planning Commission saw a significant change from the time of its establishment until the end. Below is a description of the Planning Commission's internal structure.

• The planning group was led by the Indian prime minister. Nonetheless, the Indian head of government only participated in the most important meetings of the Planning Commission.

• The day-to-day activities of the commission were overseen by the deputy chairman. Typically, the deputy chairman was a part of the governing party and held a position in a Cabinet department, but this wasn't a necessity for their role.

• The Planning Commission's members were split into two groups: full-time members, who were notable public personalities, officials, economists, or specialists in technical fields, and powerful Cabinet Ministers who only participated in crucial meetings.

Composition of Planning Commission

The prime minister presided over the Planning Commission, which was formerly under the direction of the National Development Council. The Commission's full-time members and Deputy Chairman worked together as a composite body to advise and direct the subject divisions in the development of state plans, yearly plans, five-year plans, monitoring plan programmes, projects, and schemes.

Members of the Planning Commission

1. Chairman; The Prime Minister presided over meetings of the Commission.

2. Deputy Chairman; effectively the full-time functional head and de facto executive head; in charge of creating and submitting the recommended five-year plan to the central government cabinets.

• held the post of cabinet minister after being appointed by the national government for a certain time.

• may attend cabinet sessions without having to vote.

3. Part-time members; A few central ministers

4. Ex-officio members; Ministers of Planning and Finance

Chairman of the Planning Commission's list

Planning Commission Dissolution

Even though it played a significant role in turning India from a conquered Raj state into a sovereign country with ambitious development goals, the Commission often faced criticism for functioning like a Soviet-style administrative machine that hindered economic progress. The commission faced criticism in 2012 for allegedly spending almost Rs. 35 lakhs remodelling two restrooms. Despite this, the panel maintained that those in the nation who made more than Rs. 27 per day were not impoverished.

It was superseded in 2014 by the more capable NITI Aayog. It functions more like a think tank collaborating with stakeholders in national development.

NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog has replaced the Planning Commission, which has a 65-year existence. People have been doubting the Planning Commission's effectiveness and significance for a longer period. It seems that the other option is more suitable and considerate of the country's existing economic needs and conditions.

NITI Aayog Evolution

• The National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog, came into existence on January 1, 2015. Derived from the Sanskrit words for morality, conduct, and instruction, in today's usage, "NITI" pertains to policy-making. Thus, "NITI" stands for "National Institution for Transforming India."

• It is expected to assist the growth of the national economy as it is the primary policy-making body in the country.

• Its objective is to establish a strong state that will aid in the growth of a strong and dynamic nation. This makes it easier for India to become a major player in the global economy.

• It leads to the federal government's involvement with the Indian states.

• The organization's ability as a think tank is strengthened by the Knowledge and Innovation Hub.

Objectives of NITI Aayog

• the state's proactive participation in formulating a "national agenda" and considering national objectives.

• to promote cooperative federalism by working with the States to develop dependable, efficient support programmes and procedures.

• the development of methods for creating a solid plan at the village level and gradually merging them at higher governmental levels.

• an economic plan that considers issues of national security.

• should pay special attention to the segments of society that do not stand to gain sufficiently from economic expansion.

• establishing long-term, strategic frameworks and initiatives for policies and programmes, as well as evaluating the effectiveness and accomplishment of these endeavours.

• To offer advice and promote partnerships between major players, academic institutions, policy research institutes, and think tanks both domestically and internationally.

• to establish a shared community of national and international specialists to promote innovation, knowledge creation, a network of support for entrepreneurs, etc.

• to provide a platform for departments and sectors to settle disputes in order to hasten the realisation of the progressive agenda.

• To keep up a state-of-the-art resource centre, act as a hub for research on just and sustainable development, good governance, and other related topics, and help distribute these studies to relevant audiences.

• to effectively assess the implementation of projects and programmes, including figuring out what resources are needed to raise the likelihood of success.

• should prioritise improving technology and growing programme and project execution skills.

• to do any other duties needed to fulfil the national development plan and reach the objectives.

Difference between NITI Aayog and the Planning Commission

Conclusion

The Planning Commission was founded by the Indian government. In India, the planning commission, also referred to as the five-year planning commission, came into being on March 15, 1950, during the initial tenure of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. This non-constitutional body's primary goal is to create five-year plans for the nation's social and economic growth. NITI Aayog took over the role of the five-year planning commission in 2014.