Opinion Forty Years Ago, September 01, 1980: Sixth plan prep begins

The National Development Council asked the Planning Commission to proceed with the preparation of the final draft of the Sixth Five Year Plan. A resolution adopted at the end of the two-day meeting of the council said that the basis of the draft plan will be the objectives, programmes, targets and thrusts for growth and additional resource mobilisation outlined in an earlier draft framework. The Planning Commission and state governments will discuss the suggestions made at the meeting. The draft will also be considered at another meeting of the council in January next year. One decision taken at the meeting was to scrap the 10 per cent provision in Central Assistance to states under the Gadgil formula for ongoing power and irrigation projects. Finance Minister N D Tiwari said this 10 per cent will be only allocated to states whose income is below the national income.

Congress-I crisis

The crisis in the Andhra Pradesh Congress-I is likely to be resolved by the end of this week. Chief Minister M Chenna Reddy had a meeting with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bhisham Narain Singh who is also the Congress-I observer for Andhra Pradesh had met Reddy earlier. The high command is keen that the crisis is over soon.

Another CPI

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An All India convention to launch another CPI is expected to take place end of September or early October. Roza Deshpande, the organiser of a communist convention at Calcutta, said the party would follow genuine communism. She warned of recrimination if the CPI attacked the new group or SA Dange. She also said that it was uncertain if Moscow had blessed the CPI’s line on nationalism.