Govt. apathy hits Planning Board

By S. K. Ramoo

BANGALORE, MARCH 24. The functioning of the State Planning Board, currently headed by Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Secretary of the AICC, has virtually come to a standstill for a little more than a year. This is mainly because the board has not been reconstituted after Dr. D.M. Nanjundappa resigned as its Deputy Chairman.

Mr. Ramesh, who is appointed Deputy Chairman of the Planning Board, and the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, have not cared to bestow sufficient attention to get the board revamped to enable it to function as an important recommendatory body. The Government apathy or lack of interest on its part, has hit the functioning of the board.

Interestingly, the State Planning Board is not a statutory body, but a creation of the Government. It was established for the first time in 1993 by the then Government headed by Mr. Veerappa Moily to make recommendations to the Government on its annual plans and to review its programmes. It was empowered to sponsor studies on various planning activities of the Government.

Dr. D.M. Nanjundappa, who was the Planning Secretary of the Government, had a longest tenure of six years as the Deputy Chairman of the board from 1994. The board is headed by the Chief Minister, who is in charge of the Planning Department. It was during Dr. Nanjundappa's tenure that a number of important status papers and detailed agenda notes were formulated on various aspects of public issues and on Government planning endeavour.

Although the Additional Planning Secretary serves as its member- Secretary, it was delinked from the State Planning Department. The resignation of Dr. Nanjundappa was accepted two months after it was submitted in January. Shortly afterwards, the Government appointed Mr. Ramesh to succeed him. Things were allowed to drift as the board was not revamped for reasons best known to the Government.

Normally, the Chief Minister has a role in the reconstitution which is done in consultation with the Deputy Chairman. It is customary for it to meet once in three months to conduct its deliberations, a convention established when Dr. Nanjundappa headed the board. Its Deputy Chairman has the status of a Cabinet Minister. In addition, there is an Officer on Special Duty to conduct the business of the board. Mr. Seelan, who is currently holding the post, appears to have no work as the board has not met even once after Mr. Ramesh took charge.

What is dismaying is that the Krishna Government, which appointed half-a-dozen task forces, has sadly been freewheeling on this vital front, without taking a decision. Normally economists and experts in irrigation, agriculture, planning and finance are nominated to the board to make recommendations to the Government on various issues. The Krishna Government, for the last one year, has been deprived of the benefits of the expertise of the Planning Board.

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