JAY JOSHI
During his recently delivered Budget speech, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated that the government will be replacing the now-dissolved Goa Planning Board with a body similar to the central NITI Aayog. The new body will be autonomous, and will advise the government regarding formulation, implementation, and evaluation of policy, stated the Chief Minister. He did not however announce a timeline or make any budgetary allocation towards setting up the said body. If such an organisation is formed, what difference will it make, and how could it help the state, is certainly an interesting question, and it brings a mixed response from intelligencia around Goa that spoke to TG Life on this issue.
“There was no need for dissolving the State Planning Board for two reasons,” says economics researcher Manoj Kamat, “ Earlier, the Central Planning Commission used to have members nominated by the state. When it was dissolved and replaced by NITI Aayog, the membership of the organisation was changed. Chief Ministers of all states were made members of the new body. This was done with the goal of strengthening ‘fiscal federalism’. In that light, how can you have a NITI Aayog-type organisation in Goa?,” asks Kamat, hinting at the possibility that the new state body also might end up having nominated members.
Speaking of Goa Planning Board, some experts also observed that the body did not hold regular meetings, did not have an Internet footprint, and very little data is available on membership of the organisation. “Efforts should have been made instead to improve the functioning of Goa Planning Board,” says Kamat, adding that other Indian states have not dissolved their Planning Boards following the formation of NITI Aayog like Goa did, and the Board of Kerala remains one of the best functioning state planning boards in the country.
“Secondly, there is the case of Central Knowledge Commission,” elaborates the economist. “This body was also discontinued with its functions being absorbed into the mandate of NITI Aayog. Goa is already planning to establish a Goa State HIgher Education Council. If such a body is established, it will only look at higher education. Instead, we could have a comprehensive Goa Knowledge Commission,” suggests Kamat. He however observed that the new state-level NITI Aayog should be headed by a person who understands finance, and not become a means to accommodate political interests.
Alaknanda Shringare, assistant professor and teacher of public administration paper at Goa University, also toes a similar line. “It would have been a better idea to extend the mandate of the existing State Planning Board. The membership could comprise of a combination of academic experts, bureaucrats, and members of the civil society. What matters is that the body should function effectively drafting long-term, sustainable plans, and should stick to the plans even in the face of pressure.” It is thus important to make such as body a domain of experts rather than holding it hostage to politics, states the academic.
Datta Kholkar, former vice chairman of the Goa State Planning Board declined to comment on the issue.
