With double-digit growth in mind and the twelfth five-year plan period approaching (beginning 2012), the planning commission is taking a second look at the way it functions - to make it work more efficient and faster.

“We need to reinvent the wheel. The main objective is to innovate the way we work,” Arun Maira, planning commission member said on Monday at the CII conference.

In the past years, there have been complaints of the planning process being exclusive, especially from the civil society who have been pushing for a role in it.

The planning commission recently indicated that it was amenable to working with NGOs in drafting the plan. Maira and fellow planning commission member Syeda Hameed will now be cordinating with civil society groups, making it possible for the interests of previously excluded segments be heard.

As Maira puts it, “We have started working with the people."

To do this, a proper structure has been placed in order to get more voices. It is not just civil society groups but planning commission is also talking to industry and private sectors.

“Planning commission has consolidated the 15 challenges into 10 challenges now. Since they are working on the principle of concurrent impact evaluation (learning & changing on the go), these may even get refined/evolve as they move ahead,” Suman Dasgupta of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), which tracks government policies in the social sector told Governance Now.

Last month, it launched a website to make it a more web-based consultative process. “The idea behind the process is to develop an inclusive and participative approach,” the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia had said.

There have been a series of consultations now with the different civil society groups of India. The planning commission even wants to a write basic approach paper of the twelfth plan only after consultation with the civil society groups.

Himanshu Jha, convenor of the National Social Watch Coalition (NSWC), said that there is certainly a change happening in the planning commission.

“They are interested in more grass root voices from the point of national flagship programme,” Jha told Governance Now, adding that the disconnect used be much wider earlier.

Civil societry groups like WNTA, NSWC and Centre for Budget and Government Accountability (CBGA) have been holding a series of consultations with different groups all over India on sectoral needs. These include issues in education, health, water, markets, employment, and not just the traditional social sectors but science & technology. These discussions are expected to be reflected in the plan.

But there is also  caution from the NGOs regarding the inclusionary policy. The next plan to be inclusive - at least heeding of those people's opinion who have access to such sounding boards - but will it deliver?

“Whether the planning commission accepts macro-economic policy views from the civil society groups remains to be seen,” Jha said.