Montek likely to remain Plan panel dy chairman

Despite his overwhelming involvement in finalising the Union Cabinet,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to be already working to constitute the new Planning Commission with indications that Montek Singh Ahluwalia,his trusted lieutenant,all set to continue as its deputy chairman. However,in the new set-up,the Prime Minister is working on a list of several sectoral experts to replace a majority of the present Plan panel members. Except for Kirit N Parikh,B K Chaturvedi and Anwarul Hoda all the sitting members are expected to be replaced, sources said. But it is understood that the concurrence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi would be crucial to the appointment of the new members.

Singh is understood to be actively considering names for this exercise suggested by his office. However,Ahluwalia has emerged as a common choice for all constituents of the UPA as he has displayed considerable ability in extending fruitful suggestions on contra-cyclical measures to offset the fallout of the global economic downturn on the country. This proposition has more or less been confirmed with Ahluwalia making a visit to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday on directions from the Prime Minister.

The key reason why Parikh,Hoda and Chaturvedi are being retained in their current positions is that they worked in tandem with Ahluwalia in formulating strategies to contain the impact of recessionary trends. With energy being a major challenge for the new government,Parikh is credited with finalising the Integrated Energy Policy,while Hoda was instrumental in promoting the concept of Public Private Partnership. Similarly,Chaturvedi,being a favourite of the Prime Minister,has also worked tirelessly to ensure raw material security for power plants and enhancing the plant load factor of the NTPC plants.

New names doing the rounds include former Union minister and former vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University Y K Alagh and educationist and former UGC chairman Prof Yash Pal,who are likely to replace member agriculture Abhijit Sen and member education Bhalchandra Mungekar respectively. The search is specially on for the member rural development as the UPA government has laid considerable thrust in the area.