Union Minister Arun Jaitley after the first round of meetings on plan panel revamp on Sunday.
Most chief ministers have favoured an alternative structure that would replace the Planning Commission, in which states would have more participation, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday after the first round of meetings to arrive at a consensus on the subject.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding meetings today with all chief ministers and his aides for a consensus on the name, structure and mandate of the new body that would replace Planning Commission.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the need for a relook at the Planning Commission has been raised since 1992. It was also the wish of his predecessor Manmohan Singh, who stressed on it before the end of his term, he added.
"Most people (chief ministers attending the meeting) were in favor of a structure in which besides the Centre, states are also represented," M Jaitley said. "The central government will take a consultative view after today's meeting."
The Prime Minister himself had stressed on the fact that the process of policy planning has to now change from top to bottom to bottom to top, Mr Jaitley said. There was a need to decentralize both power & planning and states have to be strengthened, he quoted PM Modi as saying.
Currently, the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers are having an informal meeting where no bureaucrats are present, only political leaders, Mr Jaitley added.
In his speech on the Independence Day, PM Modi had indicated that the 64-year-old Commission had run its course. The government is considering a stronger institution that would be a combination of three-four divisions or departments. Each department or division may be headed by a secretary.
The divisions may include the inter-state council, the planning division, the evaluation division, the Unique Identification Authority of India and the Direct Benefit Transfer department.
Besides the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers, the meeting was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Home Minister Rajnath Singh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah have skipped the meet.