Two years ago, the State government announced in the Legislative Assembly that it would replace the State Planning Commission with a State Development Policy Council. But the plan is yet to materialise.

In line with the Centre’s action of replacing the Planning Commission PC with NITI Aayog, the Tamil Nadu government too favoured such an idea. In March 2017, the then Finance Minister D. Jayakumar made the announcement in the State Assembly and said such a council would advise the government on policy coherence and formulation of programmes to guide the development.

Without a full-time planning body, allocation in the budget sessions are largely made based on the preferences of the political leadership and clout of the various influential groups among Ministers and MLAs.

Often, department secretaries decide the allocation to various schemes and the jurisdiction of their implementation.

Economist Venkatesh Athreya said it was unfortunate that the Centre abolished the Planning Commission and that the State government merely followed suit. But at least the council should come about, he said.

“Though the economy is largely dependent on markets, some amount of macro planning is needed. I don’t think the State government is serious on this. It has not kept its own commitment,” Mr. Athreya said.

‘Empower the council’

J. Jeyaranjan, director of the Institute of Development Alternatives, said the State Planning Commission did not have powers and establishing a State Development Policy Council on the same lines would not be of much use. “Without adequate powers, the proposed council would be of no use. It should be vested with powers to make changes in the policy directions of the State government. It should be able to make resource allocation. Otherwise, it will remain a symbolic body,” Mr. Jeyaranjan said.

He recalled that former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj had opposed the idea of the Planning Commission and in a strongly-worded letter to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he contended that the Finance Commission alone was a Constitutional provision and that the Planning Commission was an extra-Constitutional body.

A senior official in the Finance department said work was on to establish the council.