Plan panel to invite feedback for 12th Plan….Sangeeta Singh
The Planning Commission will invite comments from stakeholders as well as the public on its approach paper for the 12th Five-Year Plan, which will guide Indias economic development in the period 2012-17.
Feedback will be sought online after the Plan panel meets on 21 April to approve the approach paper under the chairman of the commission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
We are redesigning the website of the 12th Plan to get para-wise and chapter-wise feedback from various stakeholders, including relevant ministries, and the general public, said an official at the Plan panel, asking not to be identified.
An approach paper carries general guidelines on which the Plan is based. Once readied and made public, the details of Plan programmes and sector-specific strategies are worked out.
The idea is to get as much feedback as possible in areas such as governance, climate change and environment protection, market conditions with special reference to entrepreneurship, which has been added in a (five-year) Plan for the first time, capacity for growth and employment, and innovation and technology, the official said.
The consultation would help the commission finalize the 12th Plan as well as decide sector-wise allocation of money for the plan period.
The panel had also sought comments from civil society groups, experts and the public during the preparation of the approach paper through its website, meetings and online social media. Stakeholders were consulted on 12 critical areas around which the 12th Plan will revolve, including enhancing skills and employment generation, transport infrastructure, climate change, inclusiveness, energy security, rural transformation and agriculture growth, education and preventive healthcare.
We are also creating awareness about the Plan process through conclaves being organized in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry, said Arun Maira, a member of the Planning Commission who is closely associated with the making of the Plan. Two such seminars have already happened in Chennai and Chandigrah and we plan to have more.
Consultation with stakeholders and the public will help make the Plan more meaningful, said N.R. Bhanumurthy, professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
We have already seen the Planning Commission has got good feedback on various issues that it sought opinion on, he said. I believe further consultation will add value to the Plan document.
The Planning Commission meeting will include finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and rural development minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. The approach paper, after being approved at the meeting, will go to the National Development Council of chief ministers for endorsement, before the preparation of Plan documents begins.