Say boo to the bogey

Deputy Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia would do well to accept the resignation of the five Left economists from consultative groups for the mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Plan. It should not be difficult to replace them with less intolerant individuals. Inflated beliefs about the role of the Planning Commission and about the importance of the consultative groups set up for the mid-term appraisal of the plan should not be allowed to destroy the democratic process of discussing all shades of opinion. The consultative groups are not decision- making committees, or even advisory committees or task forces. They are indeed more in the nature of “debating societies”, something the Left economists — given their lack of experience with government processes — do not seem to realise.

The groups which accommodate 415 people on different aspects of the plan process are meant to appraise the implementation of the plan. The composition of the groups is very diverse and include NGOs, trade unions, industry associations and donor agencies such as the World Bank and ADB. The notion that this is a step “in the direction of undermining, not just the de facto but even de jure, the autonomy and sovereignty of the Indian State” is completely outlandish. Clearly, as economists, the group of five would be the first to recognise that if sovereignty is undermined, it is done so more by accepting money from foreign donors than in hearing their appraisal of the implementation of the work that was to be done with their money. If autonomy and sovereignty are not compromised when the government of West Bengal takes loans and aid from World Bank, ADB and DFID, why should it be compromised by hearing their assessment of the Tenth Plan? Also, India is no longer a weak post-colonial nation which should curtail its interaction with the world for fear of “domination by powerful foreign states”. The people representing the foreign agencies are also Indians and among the best in their fields. The ADB representative, formerly at the ministry of finance and the National Institute for Public Finance and Policy, is among the best macroeconomists in the country. The UNDP representative, formerly at the University of Bombay, is no less Indian than some of the left economists who have worked on projects for the UNRISD and the Swedish International Development Agency.

The campaign of the left intellectuals is reminiscent of the BJP’s protests about Sonia Gandhi as prime minister. They can claim to have a more valid objection, as she would have been in the top most decision-making position. Here, given the increasing irrelevance of the Planning Commission, the foreign representatives are only part of a few “debating societies”.