Respected Prime Minister,
The Chief Secretary of my State has received a letter from the CEO of
NIT! Ayog that a meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Ayog will be
held on 15" June, 2019 under your Chairmanship in Delhi.
_In this context, | would like to bring the following facts to your kind
attention:
i. On 15" August, 2014 you announced that a new institution will be
‘created to replace the Planning Commission. Since, the Planning
Commission represented the federalist polity of the country with
cooperative federalism in matters of the economy and allocation of
resources as its goal, | was surprised by your unilateral
announcement which was not preceded by any discussion with the
Chief Ministers of the States for their views.
i, You are aware that the predecessor of the Planning Commission
was the National Planning Committee formed by none other than
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 1938. You are also aware that the
Planning Commission formed on 15" March, 1950 was endowed
with financial powers and would play a key role in deciding thé
expenditure plan of the Central Ministries as well as those of the
States. Furthermore, the proposals to the Planning Commission
came from the grassroots of every State, right from the Block level
and then to the District level, inclusive of Panchayati Raj Institutions
and Urban Local Bodies. These proposals were then assimilated
into the State Plans which then was sent to the Planning
Commission. In other words, this was a Bottom-Up exercise across
the country in a spirit of federalism. You may also be aware that
there were frequent conferences and meetings of State Chief
Ministers and Ministers at the Zonal Level to sort out the problems
on resource mobilisation, engaging the Planning Commission.
iii, A meeting was called on 7" December, 2014 by you through a D.O.
letter from you to all Chief Ministers to seek the views of the States’
on a strong institutional mechanism to deepen the engagement with
the States with the Centre, to accelerate the national development
agenda.vi.
vii.
viii.
Prior to this meeting, | wrote you a D.O. letter dated 4" December,
2014 expressing my concern regarding the dissolution of the
Planning Commission and the creation of a new structure. Since
the Planning Commission had played a significant role in working
with the States and in even supporting the restructuring of Centrally
Sponsored Schemes, the States had more flexibility,
In fact, | had proposed in my letter to you that instead of setting up
@ new body in place of the Planning Commission, it may be more
appropriate, to assign the decision making responsibilities of the
Planning Commission to the Inter State Council which is a
constitutional entity created under Article 263 of the Constitution,
formed by a Presidential Order dated 28 May, 1990.
In the'same vein, | had also proposed that the National
Development Council could be subsumed within the new
dispensation.
Unfortunately, a new body called NITI Ayog was formed on 1*
January, 2015 in place of Planning Commission; without assigning
any financial powers to assist the States, based on their need
assessment, as was being done by the erstwhile Planning
Commission. Furthermore, the new body also lacks the power of
supporting the Annual Plan of the States.
| now find that senior officials of the NITI Ayog themselves are
making public statements that they should be given some powers in
allocating development expenditures to States - a role that
Planning Commission had played earlier. We seem to have come a
full circle
| also find that a former Chairman of the Finance Commission of
India, in a recent research paper, has suggested that NITI Ayog be
given financial powers as a part of efforts to address regional
imbalances — something that erstwhile Planning Commission did
and NIT! Ayog lacks.
| have also found that a former Union Minister who is a noted
Economist has also echoed the views that NITI Ayog should have
Powers to allocate funds - similar to the erstwhile Planning
Commission.Given the fact that the NITI Ayog has no financial powers and the power
to support State Plans, it is fruitless for me to attend the meeting of a. body that
is bereft of any financial powers.
The experience of the last four and a half years we had, with the NITI
Ayog, brings me back to my earlier suggestion to you that we focus on the
Inter State Council constituted under Article 263 of the Constitution, with
appropriate modifications, to enable ISC to discharge its augmented range of
functions as the nodal entity of the country. This will deepen cooperative
federalism and strengthen federal polity. May | also reiterate that the National
Development Council which has been given a quiet burial, may also be
subsumed within the broadened constitutional body of Inter State Council
With regards,