NAC–II unable to strike the right balance
“One of the major reasons for success of NAC-I was the political push the Left parties provided. In NAC-II, Gandhi did her best but none of the UPA allies backed the recommendations,” said a former NAC member, NC Saxena. Chetan Chauhan and Prasad Nichenametla report.
The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi has two contrasting avatars. “One of the major reasons for success of NAC-I was the political push the Left parties provided. In NAC-II, Gandhi did her best but none of the UPA allies backed the recommendations,” said a former NAC member, NC Saxena.
Saxena, an NAC member from 2004 to 2012, said there were fundamental differences in circumstances between the two panels so a comparison of their performance would not be valid. “The economy was growing in UPA-I and during UPA-II it slowed down resulting in fund constraint,” he said. He, however, added that the many schemes originating from NAC-I’s recommendations had not worked because of poor implementation.
Aruna Roy, who opted out of NAC this month, said that there was a balance between growth and social agenda in UPA-I but during UPA-II growth has prevailed over social sector. “In any case, its not a single person be it the Prime Minister or someone else who takes a decision in the government. Every decision is influenced by a set of people whose role we do not even perceive,” she told HT.