While the government has lauded itself for making the planning process well-represented by inviting citizens to send suggestions, civil society members have contended that the 'wide consultative process' is far less than what it is touted to be.

Civil society groups have voiced their scepticism even as the government readies a revised approach paper to the 12th five-year plan.

“I am not very hopeful of the 12th plan. What they have done cleverly, they have made their own rule of the game. The civil society groups gave suggestion on planning commission points only,” Dunu Roy, director of the Hazards Centre, told Governance Now.

“For example on the planning of the urban development, the planning commission gave us to frame recommendations on 12 challenges. When we consulted with the civil society groups, everybody rejected it. When we gave our own points, the planning commission has rejected those suggestions saying that this does not fit it their plan process,” Roy added.

Roy also raised concerns about the 12 challenges taken by the commission on writing the draft paper. “We have problem with the 12 suggestions that has been arrived at because they had three–day brain storming and said these are twelve challenges. They have nothing to do with the mid-term appraisal,” he said. However, the planning commission has reduced the 12 challenges to six by merging some of the challenges.

However, Roy is hopeful that even with several disagreements with the commission, the exercise will turn a new leaf in the planning process. Hazards Centre was involved in the giving input on urban poor for the approach to the 12th five year plan. This was for the first time the commission approached civil society groups for inputs on the preparation of the approach paper.

The civil society groups also criticised the deadline for submitting suggestions. “They should have designed it differently. To suddenly open the eyes and said that within a month we want input from the entire country was unrealistic,” says Amitabh Behar convenor, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), Delhi-based civil society group which tracks government policies in the social sector. More than 60 civil society groups representing a diversity of groups including children, youth women, the elderly, education, and health participated in the meeting organised by WNTA in a nation-wide consultation.

WNTA also released the civil society inputs for the approach paper for the 12th five year plan on Tuesday. However, prime minister Manmohan Singh said in the press note, “The commission’s draft paper which is under process could be circulated to Ministries concerned. The approach paper can then be brought to the Cabinet, after which it could go to the National Development Council (NDC).” Last month, the planning commission had submitted the draft approach paper to the PM.

The NDC meeting is most likely to happen in July.

Some of the key concerns and recommendations of the civil society groups:

•    GDP growth alone as a goal of planning is rejected by all civil society groups and suggested instead that a comprehensive real-time database on the marginalization of and violence against the poor and vulnerable must first be created in order to enable more realistic and just planning.

•    Investments for the poor should be increased and programmes like the Public Distribution System, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Swarn Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana, Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana be strengthened.

•    Special steps need to be taken to make cheap credit and other financial services available to the poor who are at present largely unbanked.

•    Transparency, accountability, and monitoring have to increase and mechanisms for people's participation in monitoring should be established.

•    Laws should be strictly followed, especially labour laws, and protection laws enacted for children, dalits, adivasis, women, people with disability, and Muslims.

•    Justice has to be ensured through proper rehabilitation and resettlement for those being voluntarily displaced.

•    Proper registration and enumeration of the migrants, portability of their entitlements, and security of their rights has to be ensured.

•    Improve local governance by initiating information education and communication campaigns along with proper devolution supported by institutional mechanisms, and financial and administrative support.