Shinde-Fadnavis government to revive state planning board, rename it as state advisory board

The newly-constituted board will be composed of experts from various fields and will function as a think-tank to aid the government on development issues in key areas including agriculture, irrigation, health, education, and environment among others

Mumbai: The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government has planned to revive the State Planning Board and rename it the State Advisory Board (SAB), a senior minister in the government said.

New Delhi, India - July 9, 2022: Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis during a press conference at Maharashtra Sadan, in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, July 09, 2022. (HT Photo)

The newly-constituted board will be composed of experts from various fields and will function as a think-tank to aid the government on development issues in key areas including agriculture, irrigation, health, education, and environment among others. The CM is expected to hold review meetings with the board every fortnight, the minister mentioned above and who did not wish to be named, said.

“Our focus areas would be agriculture, healthcare, employment generation and education. We also want to focus on other key areas that will help the government leave its imprint on citizens. We have started identifying the experts from various fields and will confirm their names soon. CM Shinde will hold review meetings with the board every 15 days. The recommendations by the board will be taken up seriously for implementation,” the senior minister said, adding that a formal announcement will be made in the coming days.

The experts will include retired bureaucrats, retired judges, entrepreneurs and leading personalities in various fields.

Maharashtra had its own state planning board in existence till 2014 until the BJP-led union government dissolved. Previous Thackeray government had announced plans to appoint Shiv Sena MLA Rajesh Kshirsagar as executive chairman of the Board but it was never fully constituted.

In 2014, after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre dissolved the national planning commission, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state dissolved the state planning board as well.

The board formulated five-year plan as well as annual plans. It also held financial reviews, monitored project implementation and coordinated between government departments. It also provided inputs and recommendations on Centre-aided or Centre-sponsored programme and schemes, and prepared policy briefs for its chairperson – a position held by the CM.

The Board, which used to work in tandem with the planning commission, had statutory status. However, it is unclear if the newly-constituted state advisory board will have a similar status.

“The BJP-led central government dissolved the planning commission and constituted the NITI Ayog to replace it. The State Advisory Board would be along the lines of the planning commission, but we will not officially draw a parallel between the two since the planning commission was dissolved by the BJP. It is not important whether it will have the statutory status as our focus will be on the visible results in key areas,” a Mantralaya official said.

Ratnakar Mahajan, Congress leader who was executive chairman of the state planning board from 1999 to 2009 said, “The state planning board would advise state government on nine key areas and help it to utilise central funds and take steps to plug the gaps. After the national planning commission was dissolved the state level boards became irrelevant. Even if the Shinde government has decided to revive the board, I don’t think they will have any impact in the absence of year-wise planning and outlay for them,” he said.