Planning Commission of India : Setup and Functions

  • Planning Commission of India was set up on 15 March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the chairman. Planning Commission is a non statutory as well extra constitutional body and has been brought by an executive order.
  • With the Prime Minister as the ex-officio Chairman, the committee has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who is given the rank of a full Cabinet Minister. Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia is presently the Deputy Chairman of the Commission.
  • Cabinet Ministers with certain important portfolios act as part-time members of the Commission, while the full-time members are experts of various fields like Economics, Industry, Science and General Administration.
The Planning Commission's functions as outlined by the Government's 1950 resolution are 
  • To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting those resources which are found to be deficient in relation to the nation's requirement.
  • To formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilization of country's resources.
  • To define the stages, on the basis of priority, in which the plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage.
  • To indicate the factors that tend to retard economic development.
  • To determine the conditions which need to be established for the successful execution of the plan within the incumbent socio-political situation of the country.
  • To determine the nature of the machinery required for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the plan in all its aspects.
  • To appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the plan etc
Planning Commission's evolving changes
  • From a highly centralised planning system, the Indian economy is gradually moving towards indicative and decentralised planning where the Planning Commission concerns itself with the building of a long-term strategic vision of the future and decide on priorities of nation.
  • It works out sectoral targets and provides promotional stimulus to the economy to grow in the desired direction. It also plays an integrative role in the development of a holistic approach to the policy formulation in critical areas of human and economic development.
  • In the social sector, schemes that require coordination and synthesis like rural health, drinking water, rural energy needs, literacy and environment protection have yet to be subjected to coordinated policy formulation. It has led to multiplicity of agencies. The commission has now been trying to formulate and integrated approach to deal with this issue

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