Should Planning Commission dictate chief ministers?

ashishs

Ashish Sharma | May 18, 2010



The Planning Commission has reportedly refused to finalise Centre’s annual allocation to Uttar Pradesh unless the state chief minister Mayawati attends the meeting called for the purpose. Hindustan Times has reported that the Planning Commission has decided to hold back funds to the states in all cases where the chief ministers do not attend the meetings called by the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

While chief ministers routinely attend such meetings, Mayawati has not attended a single such meeting ever since she took over as chief minister. For the past three years, the annual plan for Uttar Pradesh has been finalised in her absence, in meetings chaired by the Planning Commission’s member in-charge for Uttar Pradesh and attended by the secretaries of the state. Mayawati doesn’t just skip the meetings called by Ahluwalia, though. She refuses to turn up at meetings called by the prime minister, too.

Of course, Mayawati is doing a disservice to Uttar Pradesh by not lobbying for her state in person. Her political equation with the central government notwithstanding, she should be seen to be serving the interests of her electorate by garnering as much as she can from the Centre.

On the other hand, however, the Planning Commission has no business to demand the presence of the chief ministers. It is an extra-constitutional relic of a bygone era that is scarcely in sync with either contemporary economic requirements or federal democratic aspirations. It is neither accountable to Parliament nor guided by the will of the people.

Should the Planning Commission, then, dictate chief ministers?

Comments

 

Other News

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Delhi moves to real-time traffic management

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, has approved implementation of the ITMS Project by Delhi Police at an estimated cost of Rs.1,789.52 crore, inclusive of taxes. The project will cover 42 identified traffic corridors and will be implemented in three

MDR on UPI: Can sustainability come without weakening the network?

The extraordinary transaction volumes and value (₹29.82 Lakh crore in August 2026 alone) of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have made it not only an Indian success story, but a global one. In 2024, UPI accounted for nearly 49% of the world’s real-time payment transaction volume, with more th

The Xi-Trump summit: The unending rivalry

Diplomacy is akin to an art, wherein the summitry, conflict resolution and negotiations form apt constituents of the entire context of deal making and “playing for keeps” in the international arena. The Xi-Trump summit in Washington last week, in which the American president broke all conside

“Indians, yet treated like outsiders”

Moving to Delhi-NCR for education can be an exciting experience for students from Northeast India. It gives us a chance to meet new people, experience a different culture and become more independent. But living away from home also comes with challenges that people who have not experienced them may not al

Import duty on major edible oils cut

The government has reduced the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on major imported crude edible oils with a view to moderating domestic edible oil prices, providing relief to consumers and mitigating inflationary pressures arising from the sharp increase in international edible oil prices.  

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter