Breaking from the tradition, the Planning Commission is all set to give specific suggestion in relation to policy initiatives required, and the laws, rules and regulations and institutional mechanisms to be adopted for growth. The 12th Plan document, being finalised by the commission, will give sector-specific policies that need to be followed by the government, provide details of global best practices on a variety of subjects and also suggest the course of action to be taken by governments to adopt the changes.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told FE that the 12th Plan document would break from the norm and become a compendium of specific policy initiatives that are needed in a host of areas of governance to step up the growth momentum in the economy.
?This time, the 12th Five-Year Plan will be different as we will not just present the status report of various sectors and set monitorable targets and analyse achievements but will also suggest the ways and means to achieve them through specific policy intervention,? Ahluwalia said.
The previous Plan documents prepared by the Plan panel had laid focus on broad diagnosis of various sectors of the economy without offering specific solution in relation of policy intervention and legislative changes. Whatever solutions it offered also remained as mere suggestions.
The specifics has been broken down into a set of strategy challenges before the country that is needed to be overcome through a set of policy intervention given in the Plan. These challenges include ways to enhance the growth capacity, means to increase skills and faster generation of employment, how to manage environment, information technology and innovation, energy security, improving development in transport infrastructure, enhancement of trade, sustained growth of agriculture, improving access to quality education and better health care, etc.
It is also understood that since energy being one of the major areas of concern, the commission will look at addressing how to expand domestic energy resource base, how to increase efficiency of the existing energy infrastructure, how to achieve universal access to electric power and LPG, how to deepen markets in power generation and distribution and promote private investment in power sector.
A major highlight might also be how to tackle issues related to land, mining, and forest rights.
Sources said in the run up to the finalisation of the 12th Plan document, the commission has also taken commitments from the state governments that its remedy would be adopted by them through the necessary legislative changes. The Centre has also given mandate to Plan Panel to engage expert groups in the formulation of policies for various sectors that would model to be adopted by government ministries and departments.
The 12th Plan document, which is under finalisation in the commission, is expected to get approval from the full Planning Commission by September and the document is expected to be adopted by the National development Council late this year.
?Our entire focus is now to finalise the 12th Plan document,? Ahluwalia said. The focus of the commission was shifted in between when there were changes in the finance ministry with Pranab Mukherjee moving out of the North Block to become country?s 13th President and the prime minister finally installing P Chidambaram as the new finance minister of the country.
