<'l111p1,.

, I I 1• I
II ky-M11A 1111( I'
- _- • - uw,·r wltl,/11 tltr /ix,,, 11/lvt• ♦ l 85
uit functions, 111dud111g the dcVl'lopinn ,f .
i111plll 1I C' l . . S,. , , t i po 1ILY altc, native,; . II C h.
. )l111h the a J111t.:1 • c<.:n:tannt. lhc dc111 ·1n.. ·11 I • ,1 a intt matters must
•ll t IIll r: M' , S . ' 1011 Klw1:c11 the I wo .1s 1111lu·d .
1101 rigid
!.! thL' p11 n1e 1111stcr s , L"crcta1 1at lakes th. .
\\hl'll . · c 111111at1vc 111 an ·ir.. 1 •
itificatory rngans and many among thl!n 1 1 , · ca, ,,11cr ho<l11.., hc<.:onic
I I' . . l.tVL l:.Yl:.ll hccn J j .
111l•rl''•111 fhl'IL' an! also cases of tmncc.:l!ssary int• 1 •. . . ortc< lo 1cm:11n idle ac; a
rrs\1 1t. · . • . . •• l:I cicn<.:l:. by the PMO 1n , )' . · • •
. . t1Hi Court, f Ol 111sl,1ncc, on 10 November 2005 . r> ' it Y issues. fhe
s1
t)d1\I Ill' :u,dchrn!:-. on cnn:-.truclion and allcration H 0 1'.1(1u_
00
c ' c<l the authonty of the PMO
11, ti.II ~ , > 1c1.1 1 bungalows allc u d l r··
id t,un:nucr,llS in Lutyen s Zone or capital and funher obscrvl!d " . , <.: o pc, Jt1c1:ms
•11 _ lrns or constructions should emanate rrom a sl·Lt · .. · ~ny power to make such
11tc1,111 • • ' uc or 1eg1slat1on in force '
· Rc:tlcct111g on the working of the . PMO, BG. Desh · mu
kh (I 01.merly Cabrnct ·
Secretary
.
., 1 wc, 11 al Sccret,u·y Lo t I1c I nd ian Prune Minister) ob
,111u 11 • serves:
t\t.iny a time, .it hasf usurped
. . . powers
the . of the Cabinet secretanat . .intcrfcred
. . •, and actively
\\ ith the work111g
. o various mm1stncs
. and departments • IL has not on 1y come to represent
the authonty and power o~ the Pnn:e Minister, but people who are part of th PMO h· d
.:icquired power and authority of their own in the name of lhe p nme • M mister.
' . e2,,, a

He furt_her writes th,~t it is a "curious phenomena that even godmen had come to be
associated with the PMO.

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (NDC) AND

THE PLANNING COMMISSION
With the attainment of independence in August 1947, free India has to resort to planned effort
in order to bring about rapid economic and social development. Although efforts for planning
started even with the interim government in 1946, the Constitution did not contain any
provisions relating to the planning machinery, such as the Planning Commission and the
National Development Council (NDC). Nor were these agencies established under a statute.
Following the recommendations of the Advisory Planning Board of 1946, the Planning
Commission was established by a Cabinet resolution of 15 March 1950. The National
Development Council was established in 1952.

National Development Council (NDC)

Below the Parliament, the National Development Council (NDC) is the highest body
responsible for policy matters in Planning. The broad approach to a five year plan, the draft
memorandum indicating its main features, the draft outline and final draft are all placed for
discussion before the National Development Council. The NDC may approve the draft plan
with or without amendments.
In October 1967, on the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission.
the NOC was reconstituted and its functions were redefined to include: (a) prescription

28. Maheswan. op. -~1~43.

19 BG. De~hmukh, Prime Minister's office-we cannot and need not do without it. /11dia11 Juumal of
Public Administration, Vol. XLIII, No. 3, July-Septemher 1997, p. 408.
 ◄
186 ♦ Public Policy: Art and Craft of Policy Analysis

of guidelines for the formulation of national plans, including assessment of resources·

0') consideration of national plans as formulated by the Comm1ss1on, (c) constderation of
important quest1om, of social and economic policy affecttng naltonal development; an<.1
(d) review of the working of plans from time-to-urne and recommending such measures as
may be necessary for achieving their aims and targets.
The NOC i~ established for the purpose of strengthening and mobilizing the efforts and
resources of the nation in support of five-year plans, and more specifically, to (a) promote
common economic policies in al I vital areas ; and (b) ensure the balanced and rapid
development.
The NOC comprises the following members:
1. Prime Minister (Head/Chairperson of the NDC)
2. Ministers of the Central Cabinet
3. Chief Ministers of all States and Chief Ministers/ Administrators of all Union
Territories
4. Members of the Planning Commission.
The NOC meeting is attended by all the CMs/Govemors/Lt. Governors/Administrators
of the States and UTs, Union Cabinet Ministers/Ministers of State with the independent
charge, RBI Governor and Members of the Planning Commission, besides senior Central
and State officials. The PM is the Chairperson of the Council and the Secretary to the
Commission acts as its Secretary. The Commission furnishes the Council with administrative
information and other assistance. The Council generally meets twice a year. It is interesting to
note that the Council never passes any resolution formally.
The approval of the draft plan by the NDC facilitates work on the preparation of
the development plan for different sectors. It is, thereafter, placed before the Parliament
for consideration and comments. Thus, the NDC provides the framework of cooperation and
partnership for development programmes. On some occasions, the National Development
Council takes decision on behalf of the States and the Government of India.
Given the size of the body and the busy schedule of its members, the NDC has been
appointing committees from time-to-time for a detailed examination of certain problems.
The stature of the NOC has ensured that its recommendations have the prestige of
directives that are generally obeyed. Constitutionally, two aspects of the Planning machinery
are significant; one, its impact on federalism; and two, its impact on parliamentary
democracy.

Planning Commission
As stated earlier, the Planning Commission was constituted in March 1950 by a resolution of
the Government of India, and works under the overall guidance of the National Development
Council. The Planning Commission consults the Central Ministries and the State Governments
while formulating Five Year Plans and Annual Plans, and also oversees their implementation.
The Commission also functions as an advisory body at the apex level.
 ♦ 18 7

----
in the E:cecutfre
C /,ap ter II Pol icy- Ma kin g Pow rr with

Co m m is si on
f11rictioris of th e Pl an ni ng as pe r
e bee n ass ign ed to the Planning Commis~ion (PC)
)ll owin<' funcli ons hav •
'fhC I (rion of c-Bw,rncss • ' •
Rules (1961).
ing
,\l IoCII
ter ial . cap 1La l and hum an res ources of the country. includ
••J. AsM.:ssrncnl of the ma of proposals for augmenting suc
h of these
son nel , and for mu lat ion
1cch11ical per
icient
r~sourccs as arc found Lo be def bal anced utllizat10n of the co un try
's
for the mo st eff ect ive and
2. Fonnularion of Plan
resou rces ermjnation of
of sta ges in wh ich the Pla n should be carried out on a det
J. Definition stage
1es and all oca tio n of res ou rces for completion for each tion of
prront
the nat ure of the ma chi ner y necessary for the implementa
4. Determination of
the Plan rn all aspects ion of each stage
l fro m tim e Lo tim e of the progress achjeved jn the execut
5. Appraisa
of the Plan."
as Hill Ar eas
is en tru ste d wi th the res ponsibility in such matters
r~urthcr, the PC
ve pla nn ing , pu bli c coo per ation in national development,
cti
Development Programme, perspe
rson. who
CIC.JO
iss ion (PC ) is hea ded by the Prime Minister as its Chairpe
The Planning Comm . He, in his capacity as the Ch
airpe~son of
eti ng s of the Co mm iss ion
presides over all the me
sio n to the Co mm iss ion on all major issues of policy. He
dec i
the PC. participates and gives n of the Co mm ission's decision, maintains
lia iso n
ple me nta tio
also keeps a watch on the im ion Co un cil of Ministers, mo nit ors the
plans an d
ND C, the Un
with the members of the
the PC.
coordinates the functioning of iss ion (de fac to exe cutive head) acts as the techn
ical
Co mm
The Deputy Chairman of the app oin ted by the Union Ca bin et for
a fixed
Co mm iss ion . He is
and administrative head of the k-M ini ste r, though he may nol be a me
mb er of the
of a Ca bin et- ran
term and enjoys the status air ma n 1s primarily co nc ern ed wi
th ma tte rs of
et. Th e De pu ty Ch is
Parliament or the Ca bin
ati on . Th e Un ion Mi nis ter of State for Planning, wh o
str
general coordination and admini mm iss ion , 1s allocated certain subjects lik
e an y
Pla nn ing Co
also an ex-officio member of the . Al l ful l-ti me members (usually Jess than
ten ),
Co mm jss ion
other member of the Planning Sta te, are supposed to be technical
or su bje ct
Un ion Mi nis ter of
who are in the rank of the on e or more subjects, and directs the
stu dy of
er ha s a ch arg e of
experts. and each memb
programme in these spheres. has a few Ca bin et Ministers (us ua lly les s tha n
iss ion
In addition, the Planning Comm me eti ng s of the Co mm iss ion .
31
o att end im po rta nt
four) as part-time members wh ion wo rk as a co mp osi te body. Th e Pla nn ing
ing Co mm jss
All the members of the Plann ad vis ory bodies. Th ere are ma inl y thr
ee
res of div isi on s and
Commission works through sco

Planning Comm ission. 2000, p. i.

A1111ual Report 1999 2000, New Delhi: nnino
~- India, Planning Comm ission,
re 48 con trib uto rs com pns rng the structure of the Pla
·~ on_ '· February 2008, there we le, 13 Me mbers (6 + 7), I Se cre tar i,
Chuirma~, l Minister of Sta and FA ., 1 Joi nt
~• ~11 on: C~airman, Depu_ty r Consul~anls, 1 Additional Secretary
~~c~~aJ A~v11ors, 20
4 Advisors_, 2 Scn_io
puty Chairman.
Jomt Advisor, I Advisor to De
- - - , . 1 Duector (IAMR), I
 188 ♦ PubliC' l'oliry: ,\rt uud Cmft 11/ 1'11/iry ,\noly1 ir

important divi,i ons described in the lollowing which help

the Planning Commission in the
fomn1lation. monitoring and evaluation of the plans, policies.
programmes and projects.
Sub ject divi sion s
The Subje ct Divis ions (com prisin g 17 divisi ons) look
after speci fic subje cts (such as
agrn: ultura l divisi on, educa tion divis ion, health and famil
y welfa re divisi on, scien ce and
techn ology divisi on, powe r and energ y divisi on, and so
on). Mem bers of the Planning
Cornm1ss1on provi de advic e and guida nce to subje ct divisi
ons in the various exercises
undertaken for the formulation of the approach to the plan,
the five year plam and the annual
plans They also advise on matters related to the monitoring
and evaluation of the plans. All
cases invol ving polic y are subm itted for consi derat ion
at one of the meeti ngs of the
Comm ission .

Gen eral divi sion s

In addit ion to Subje ct Divisions, there are 11 General Divis
ions (such as devel opme nt policy
divis ion, finan cial resou rces divisi ons, persp ectiv e plann
ing divis ion, plan coordination
divisi on, etc.) which are conce rned with aspec ts of the entire
econo my.

Per spec tive plan nin g divi sion

Besid es Subje ct and Gene ral Divisions, the Plann ing
Comm ission is assist ed by the
Persp ectiv e Plann ing Divis ion (PPD ) in plann ing and polic
y issues. The work of PPD relates
to the overa ll integ ration of the plan into macro -econ omic
frame work delin eating possi bilities
and const raints , and proje cting a long- term vision of devel
opme nt in terms of potentials, and
critic al issue s. The Divis ion assists the Comm ission in plann
ing and in polic y issues which
span acros s multi ple secto rs of the econo my such as
agric ultur e, indus try, infrastructure,
finan cial resou rces, foreig n trade, balan ce of paym ents, socia
l servic es. demo graph y, poverty
and empl oyme nt. This Divis ion, as a part of its regul ar activi
ties:
1. Prepa res an overa lJ frame work for medi um and
long- term plans by analyzing
impli catio n of long- term plan objec tives for the appro priate
strate gy of development
2. Exam ines the curre nt policies and progr amm es in the
inter- temp oral, inter-regional
and inter- secto ral conte xts
3. Studi es the consi stenc y betwe en plan objec tives and
plan alloca tion, effec t of price
rise on consu mptio n level of peopl e in differ ent incom e
group s, trend s in savings.
inves tmen ts, and grow th in the econo my, trend s in forei
gn trade and the impli-
catio ns of vario us devel opme nts in the econo my for publi
c inves tmen t
4. Rend ers advic e on the influ ence of macr o-eco nomi
c deve lopm ent on principal
comm oditi es such as food, crude oil and steel
5 . Assis ts the PC in form ing its view s on techn ical
issue s perta ining to planning
proce ss, shift of a publi c secto r progr amm e from
Non- Plan to Plan side of
Gove rnme nt expen ditur e and vice versa
6. Cont ribut es to the respo nse by PC on issue s perta ining to the ..
Plann ing Process"
raise d by the Parli amen t, the forum of econ omis ts
and econ omic edito rs, the
 l'olicy-1\!!!!:!.">: l'11w,-r within rht• Hxecmll•r ♦ 189
_h' apt':!_}_!__
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _C

111 the Stutes. the ddcg ution s from

representatives ~r ccon om,~ P_lanninr agen cies
coun t, 1cs and the trans- natio nal
Nauonal Plan ning Com miss mns from othe r
stt ies ol Gov crnm cnl.
institutions bein g throu gh the respe ctive noda l Mirn
sio11 for thl! "Dev elop men t Plan ning
The PPD functions a~ ac.lCmtniSLrati, e Nod al D1v1
•• . an arm of Plan nmg omm1ss1on.
1
centrt' • s
coo r·di nat ion div isio n
p{aTl
lan Coor dina tion Divi sion coor dina tes· activ ities of all the Divi sion s for the PC In
P ·b·1· r · form ulati ng the Five Year Plan s, the
. . ular, it has the respons1 1 lly 1or coor drna tmg and
The
Sect or,
pJfUC·tl Plans, inclu ding spec ific respo nsibi lity for the secto ral alloc ation of the Cent re
Annu, Report of t he Pl anm. ng C omm.iss1 . . on and coor dina tion of the Parl iame ntary wo1 k.
,\nnUal . . tmg of
ition the internal meet ings of the PC, meet ings of the entir e PC and the mee
In add • . coor dina ted by the Plan
National Deve lopm ent Cou ncil (ND C) are orga nize d and
I
11e ...
Coordination D1v1s1on.

Pro gra mm e eva lua tion org ani zat ion

unde r the Plan ning Com miss ion, unde rtake s
The Programme Eval uation Organization (PEO )
ted Plan prog amm es/sc hem es in orde r to
e\'aluation studies to asses s the impa ct of the selec
ting agen cies. With the rene wed impo rtanc e
provide useful feed back to plan ners and implemen
intro duce d from 2006-2007, a new Cent ral
attached to evalu ation, the Cent ral gove rnme nt 32
city in the gove rnme nt.
plan scheme, nam ely, Stren gthe ning Eval uatio n Capa

Adm inis trat ion

whic h are prim arily conc erne d with Plan
Apart from the Divi sion s me ntion ed earli er,
Com miss ion is supp orted by the serv ices
formulation , mon itori ng and evaluatio n, the Plan ning
ers of estab lishm ent, acco unts , gene ral
of house-keeping bran ches to loo k after the matt
inclu ding train ing requ irem ents of pers onne l
administration, vigil ance and care er man agem ent.
belonging to the Com miss ion.

ING
POLICY-MAKING ROLE OF THE NDC AND THE PLANN
COMMISSION
miss ion has prep ared elev en Five Yea r
Since its cons titut ion in 1950, the Plan ning Com
Plan (197 8-19 83). With wide term s of
Plans.33 besid es Ann ual Plan s and one Roll ing
as an impo rtant polic y-m akin g orga n in the
reference, the Plan ning Com miss ion has eme rged
use of its disti nct com posi tion , and mor e
socio-economic deve lopm ent of the coun try. Beca
m ent, the Com miss ion is ofte n calle d a
importantly, its alloc ative role in reso urce de ploy
230.
32 , P!anning Commission , Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007 -201 2, New Delhi: PC, 2008, p.
33. First Plan (1951-1956), second plan (195 6- 1961), third plan (1961-1966), fourt h plan (1969- 1974 ),
th plan (1985-1990), eighth plan (199 2-19 97),
fi_fth plan (1974-1979), sixth plan (1980- 1985), seven
eleventh plan (2007-2012).
runth plan 0997- 2002), tenth plan (2002 -2007), and
 190 ♦ Publ ic Policy: , \rt ot1d Cro/r "/ Pnlic
J ,\110 /y\ii

· t. Fun
Supe r Ca Im1e • ctio
· ns such · g a pan
as 'formulatin 1 •, ' deten ·nin g and allo cati n° reso
in lhe pla n' of the Commission clearly deli m 0 urces
neates its policy-making role.
Similarly. in terms of reference and pow .
th e Pla nni ng Commission . 11 ers. the NOC has emer~ed a-; a _bod)'
M Patel observes: ''It is indeed a poh
sup eno r _to
rec om men dat ion s may be regarded cy- mak rng body an_d its
as policy dec1s1on s and not mer
sug ges tion s. "3-i ely as advisory
K . San than am also observes. regardin
g NDC
Tl1c• pos1·t1on
· of the NO C has com e to app roxi mat
ln_dian fede ratio n, a cab inet func tion e to th at o f ·a ·sup er-c abin et of the enti re
ing for the gov ernm ent of Indi a and th
ot all the Statcs.-'5 e govemmenL<;

Thu s. the ND C 1s said to be the ape

x policy-making institution in the cou
It is obs erv ed, in the first place. that ntry .
the Indian eco nom y has mo ved fro
cen tral ized plan nin g system towards ~ a hig~ly
the bui ldm g of indicative planning. where the PC con
a long-term strategic vision of the futu ce~ s _i~self with
nati on. The PC works out sec toral targ re and dec ides on the pno ntie s of the
ets. and provides promotional stim ulu
to gro w in the desired direction. Alth s to th e economy
ough the formulatton of secloral polices
are mai nly the resp ons ibil ity of and pro gra mm es
the con cern ed min istr ies and the
gov ern men t, the PC still plays an imp dep artm ent s of the
ortant role in indicating the mitiatives
nee d to tak e, both in terms of investm tha t dep artm ents
ents and poh cy changes. to realize thei
Sec ond ly, the PC plays an integrative r obj ecti ves .
role in the dev elop men t of a hol isti c
the pol icy form ulat ion in critical area app roa ch to
s of human and eco nom ic dev elo pm
fram ewo rk, an integrated approach ent . In a federal
can be developed by the PC by mai
bet wee n the Uni on ministries and the nta inin g clo se links
State government~.
Sim ilar ly, in the social sector, scheme
s which require coo rdin atio n and syn
rura l hea lth, drin kin g water, rural ene thes is like
rgy needs, literacy and env iron men t
to be sub ject ed to coo rdin ated policy pro tect ion hav e yet
formulation . This inte gra ted app roa ch
Com mis sio n can lead to bett er results by the Pla nni ng
at much low er costs.
Thi rd, the PC plays a facilitating role
in policy matters bet wee n the Sta te
and the Uni on ministries. Its effo rt is gov ern men ts
focussed on usin g limited reso urc es opt
me dia tory role kee pin g in view the ima lly. It plays a
best interest of the Uni on. Sta te and
Fou rth, the PC exa min es the curren the priv ate sector.
t policies and pro gra mm es, esp ecia lly
tem por al, inte r-re gio nal, and inter-se in the inter-
ctroal contexts. Bes ides , it has bee n
cha nge role and pro vid es consultanc pla yin g a sys tem s
y within the gov ern men t for dev elo pin
ord er to spr ead the gains of policy g bet ter pol icie s. In
experiences more widely, the PC also
info rma tion diss emi nato r. pla ys the role of an
Loo kin g at the functioning of the ND
C. and especially the Pla nni ng Com mis
be obs erv ed tha t the y exe rcis e con sion , it can
side rab le deg ree of infl uen ce ove r
pro ces s in Ind ia. The PC, view ing the the pol icy -ma kin g
question in th~ ~onte_xt of the eco nom
ein g sad dle d with eve ryd ay pro blem y as a who le and
not b s of admimstrat1on, can giv e use ful
min istr ies in the form ulat ion of pro . d r.
Jects an po ic1es.
ass ista nce to

. J urnal r Public Admi11istratio11. Oct

34 . Q uo ted from III dU,all. OStat 0'J B b obe r-D ecem ber 1959 p
35. K. Santhanam. mon- e Relations m India. om ay.· Asia • . 460.
• . . ' ·
Pub hsh mg Hou se 196 0 p 47
• • · ·
 Chopf,•r I I /'olf M kl 11 ♦ 191
-..!!.:.._ a J: l'owrr within Ilic Executive

, com mis sion -A Critical Appraisal

ptaJ\xun9 • .
. •t·1c1sm
•. b' t o1. en
hrnent in 1950, lhc Plann ing much incry has bcco,nc ·t< .-.u Jee
. .l!i cs·t·•blis
u .
th
• .
1 11
. . _. .
an execu tive resolution has
srrrcc :rcsuon rs whc th cr c P an? ~~ m.ich ,ncry cstubl1shcd by!
not'
rt1c ll · consutuuorntl 1c:,;po ns1brl11y of the exccu trvc or
~,ice1cd ihc
I f C'
, Chanda, t 1e onnc r ornpl ro er and Audit m-Ge ncral of India ' regar ded the PC as
11
,,,o,.. C· b' f I comm ents about its
. the Econo mic a incl O tie country and made the followrng
, 1r1u:11l)

1,rti<lll: ally
r nu~. undclincd position of the commission and iL'i wide term s of reference have gradu
· I E conom,c. C ab'incl, not merely for the Union but also for the
d its growth as l lC
le
10
•. The policies of Ia welfa re .state embar ked on a programme of planned development
s,., er dm,tnal slrcngl 1 an socia services have necessarily an economic orientation. The
1c:, . d I .
() f II
111 • d I 1. .. activities to
ss1on has seize upon t 1 s pos1l1on and extended the scope of its
1111 d 'b'I' . . and otherw jse belong
race functions an respons136 1 1l1es which must both traditionally
clHll .
Clll b
the con:,tituted government.
10
nce accor ded to the Plann ing
Chanda further comm ented : "The positi on of pre-e mine
of gover nmen t".37
~swn 1s incon sisten. t .with the conce ption of a Cabin et form
Comn ·' U
has becom e an anach ronis m
In the recent years , It IS alJeg ed that Plann ing Comm ission
k tank" and that it has over-
d an orphanage for the medi ocriti es. It is no more a "thin
n execu tive funct ions. It is argue d
:pped its prescribed funct ions by arrog ating to itself certai
s under the feder al struct ure. This
that the PC has encro ached upon the auton omy of the State
on or rejec tion of the State s'
could be obser ved in terms of its accep tance , modi ficati
s are sough t and which can be
proposaJs for proje cts and progr amme s for which centr al grant
oned here, as obser ved by Basu ,
eranted only on its recom mend ation s. But it may be menti
US, canno t be consi dered to be a
tllal the central grant s in India like the grant s-in-a id in the
38
subversion of the feder al syste m.
exten ds not only over the
Altho ugh the PC is the chief staff agenc y, its influ ence
It has been alleg ed that the PC
formation of public polic ies but also the entire admin istrat ion.
bodie s, such as the Finan ce
bas even encro ached upon the funct ions of const itutio nal
(not being a const itutio nal or
Commission, and yet it is not accou ntabl e to the Parlia ment
finan cial outpl ays in the state
statutory body) . Since the PC has estab lished the maxi mum
ble centr al grant s, by and large ,
plans and has indic ated the states ' own resou rces and availa
to fillin g the gaps betw een the two
the functio n of the Finan ce Comm ission has been reduc ed
derat ion the need s and reven ue
sums. In other word s, the Com missi on, takin g into consi
share d taxes and statu tory grant s
capacity of the State s, must recom mend the amou nt of
and plans . Cons equen tly, it is noted
required by the State s to carry out the polic y progr amme s
ed in its funct ionin g to an extra -
that the const itutio nal comm issio n has been subor dinat
f Mini sters of certa in State s have
constitutional comm ission . On sever al occas ions, the Chie
of deve lopm ent progr amm es
accused the PC of creat ing burea ucrat ic hurdl es in the initia tion
That the Com missi on is
and policies. They feel that its style of work ing is anti-d emoc ratic.

a, Indian Administration, 2nd ed., London: George Allen

& Unwin . 1967, p. 96.
~~-:b~c,td.,.k Chand
p 96
Delhi : Prcnli ce-IlaJl, 1997. p. 330.
'~ 0
· D Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of /11dia, I 8th ed., New
 ~1~9~2~•~!_P~ub~l~ic_!_P~o'!!_li5!cy~
: ~A ~r t~a ~1 ~1 d~ C~ r~
afi (!_ t~o f~P ~o l~i c~ y.!
.Ar ~•~ al~
y~ s-i ~s --- --- --- --- --- ---
morc guided by political pre
ssure of the Central governm
judgement, with passage of ent or expediency· lha n by
tune, the PC has turned int its expen
On the contrary, the estab o a central gov_ern me nt de
hsbment of the present pla pa nmem.
on the grounds that a statut nning ma ch ine ~ ~a y be
e might have made it more defended
experts totally detached fro ng id. that a C~mrrussion co
m the government mi gh t mp osed of
wo uld have thought in a ha ve be en an ineffective
vacuum, that the pre sen t body. for it
between the oovernment an me mb ers ~ip pr o~ ot es mu
d the Commission and ass tual respect
constitute th ; membership ure s realistic planning. lhat th
of the Commission in their e ministers
capable of actino and in fac personal ca pa cit y, tha t anyh
t do act in a dual role, an ow the) are
Since the ;a in functions of d so forth. 39
the PC are advisory and co
and in view of the constitu ord ina tin g rather than execu
tional, political, and econom tive,
as well that the PC should ic sit ua tion tha t ob tai ns m India,
rely more on consultation "it is
ne ce ssa ry san cti on op era and ag ree me nt tha n o~ san
tes through the co ns tit uti ction" ."0 The
legislatures, the council of on al bo di es -th e pa rli am en
ministers at the centre and t, the state
and so on. Moreover, it in the states, the Fi na nc e Co
should no t be forgotten tha mmission,
approved by the Parliamen t the pla n is ex am ine d, dis
t and thereafter, adopted ag cussed, and
opportunities fo r debate an ain in the an nu al bu dg ets
d criticism. Th e PC 's activ , with ample
of the Pa rli am en t and its ities are also wi thi n the ov
various co erall scrutiny
In its defence, the PC is ce mmittees.
ntral to Ind.la's federal str
me dia tes be tw ee n the Ce ucture. It is the on ly agen
ntr e and the States and ha cy which
ap ex federal agency, it is s a total pic tur e of the econ
expected to integrate the om y. As an
fo cu s to de ve lop me nt, to national ec on om y, to pro
define public investment po vid e a national
ref or ms res tru ctu rin g and licy, mo nit or the pu bli c sec
privatization to plan fur the tor, oversee
these, the re can be no dis r gr ow th, an d fo r da ta co
pute. It has to ac t as a noda lle ction. On
St ate pla ns and monitoring l ag en cy for co or din ati ng
their implementauon. the Ce ntral and
In this way, the Co mm iss
ion is assigned to pla ) an
an d so cia l development. In im po rta nt po lic y ro le in
this way, the Planrung Co economic
in the co un try 's po lic y-m mm iss ion als o ex erc ise s mu
ak ing process. ch influence
Ho we ve r, wi th the cu rre nt
trends toward s hberalizat.J.o
the PC 's rol e in the po lic n, glo ba liz ati on an d priva
y-m ak ing 1s un de r constra tization,
pla nn ing ma ch ine ry (m ain int s. Th e sig nif ica nc e of the outgr
ly the ND C and the PC ) owth of
(1 ) its eff ec tiv en es s in sh ou ld be ex am in ed on
ac hie vin g the objectives tw o grounds:
wi th the co ns tit uti on al fra of na tio n's po lic ies , an d
me wo rk (preserving the pa (2) its conformity
co un ts, by an d lar ge , rli am en tar y de mo cra cy ).
the pr es en t pr oc ed ur es On both these
co ns tit uti on al str uc tur e ha ha ve fu nc tio ne d eff ec tiv
s no t be en cru cia lly dis tur ely , and the
fo r ch an gin g the co mp os be d an d un de rm ine d. Bu t
iti on an d im pr ov ing the the re is the need
za tio n co mp ris ing ex pe rts fu nc tio nin g of th e PC . W
of vis ion an d ex pe rie nc e, ith its reorgani-
th e Ce ntr al Ca bin et as its an d by no t as so cia tin g th
me mb ers , bu t inv iti ng the e mi nis ters of
ne ce ss ar y, an d wi th the m to att en d the ir me eti ng
pr oc ed ur es pr ov idi ng fo r s to the ex.tent
th e pla n in St ate leg isl atu an eff ec tiv e dis cu ssi on
res as we ll as in Pa rli am en an d ad op tio n of
t, the ma in co ns tit uti on al
ob jec tio ns to the
39. These views in favour of
the existing arrangements are
Report, pp 7-8. cited in the Estimates Comm
ittee, Twenty-First
40. S.R. Sen, Planning madu. . . .
nery m India, Indian Joumal
p. 221 of Public Admi11istra1ion, Vo
l.VII, No. 3, 1961,
 Cha pter 1J ~ .
olic,-Malcing Power wiJhin the E.x ecutive ♦ 193
~
~
s should 1
. ·on acquired by the PC ma y be clea red. Thi a so make the PC more effective in
p0s111. its assigne d task .
folfiJhng
ENT
aoLr Of THE SECRETARIAT-DEPARTM AND THE MINISTRY
l\ ~
di·in constitution es tabli she d a par liam enta ry ty pe of executive (gov )
'fhc!C1nntrc ' S b by sec reta riat d d . emm ent both at
and in the tates to e assis ted an epartments m the discharge of
ihe C., tary resp ons ibil ity.
,115. pJr1tame n artm ent s 0 f h C entr al/S tate gove
The secretariats of the min istr ies and. dep . t e mm en~
· h h d qua rters. The m1ms tries/departments f th G
tiler con stitute t e ea rnm ent of India
reatc d by the Pre side nt on the adv ice of the Prim e Mi . to un de er ove the Gov ernm ent of
iogc ) R rus er . .
:ire c . f B . th
1es, 1961. The bus ine ss of e Oove rnm ent of India 1s
d'a (Allocation o usr nes s u
h . . t • /d ces (ref erre d t . "D "
In I sec reta riat s and offi
nsacted in t e rrum s nes epa rtm ents , thes e rules · Eac h of th e rrum ~ ~stry(~p ~e ntbe)
tion of sub ject s spe cifi ed in 1es) will
tra ""r the distribu h . e Min .
is t Ea h d
• . ice of the Prim c epartment
minister by t e Preside nt on the adv
05 ,,- er.
as~l·gned 10 a cha rge of a sec reta ry to assi st the min iste r 00 poli cy matters and
will be gene_ra_lly u_n der the
general adm1mstrat1on.

functions of the Secretariat

s a
stru ctu re of the cen tral adm inis trat ion , the Central Secretariat occupie
In the hierarchical adth of
e. It is the cen tre of pow er and its wri t runs thro ugh out the length and bre
distinct plac , and it is the
of the gov ern men t orig inat e from here
the country. Policies and pro gra mm es ants . It is also the
wee n the min iste rs and the civil serv
centre of conflicts and coo per atio n bet
al and inte rest gro up pressures.
centre of all kinds of pol itic al, sec tion of Ind ia and
cut ive inst rum ent of the Gov ern men t
The Central Sec reta riat is the mai n exe s activities of
sub ject s, coo rdin atin g the mul tifa riou
is responsible for man agi ng the cen tral and
nce and ass isti ng in the form ula tion of fore ign , eco nom ic, soc ial,
national importa the ministries
poli cies . The Sec reta riat per form s the foll owi ng functions relating to
financial
and departments:
s of pol icy- mak ing
l. Assisting the min iste r in the pro ces
tion , rule s and reg ulat ion s
2. Assisting in the fram ing of Jeg isla con trol of
and pro gra mm es and bud geti ng, and
3. Formulation of sec toral pla nni ng
expenditure l
and sec urin g of adm inis trat ive and fina nci al app rov al to ope rati ona
4. According
seq uen t mod ific atio ns
programmes and pla ns, and the ir sub or sem i-
ing sup erv isio n and con tro] ove r the exe cut ive dep artm ent s
5. Exe rcis mm es as
nom ous fiel d age nci es reg ard ing the exe cut ion of pol icie s and pro gra
auto
well as thei r eva lua tion of gov ern men t
atin g and ass isti ng oth er bra nch es
6. Interpretation of pol icies, coo rdin .
inis trat ion s
and maintaining con tact wit h stat e adm org aniz atio nal com pete nce ,
10
7· Initiating mea sur es to dev elo p gre ater per son nel and
its exe cut ive age nci es . ...
the mfoistry, dep artm ent , as wel l as resp ons ibib ties .
8· Helpfog the min iste r in the disc har ge of his par liam ent ary