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| Planning Commission members to resign today |
| Rituparna Bhuyan / New Delhi May 18, 2009, 01:03 IST |
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All Planning Commission members, including the deputy chairman, will submit their resignations tomorrow when the current Union cabinet meets for the last time.
The Planning Commission’s term runs concurrently with that of the government.
“Things were not clear on when the Cabinet meeting would take place. Hence we drafted and signed the resignation letters on Friday itself. The Planning Commission Secretary will deliver the letters in the Cabinet meeting scheduled on Monday,” said a member of the commission.
The commission, whose inputs are vital on important policy related matters, is likely to have new faces when the new team is announced, said a top government functionary who had earlier worked in the apex planning body.
According to the norms, the new government appoints the deputy chairman, who in consolation with the prime minister selects the members. Members of the current commission include B N Yugandhar, B Mungekar, Abhijit Sen, Kirit Parekh, Anwarul Hoda and Sayeeda Hameed, while Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Deputy Chairman. According to experts, the post of deputy chairman is always occupied by someone who is close to the PM.
“The deputy chairman is a permanent invitee to the Union Cabinet meetings and his views are crucial. He need not be a person who is an expert on economic matters. It is more of a political appointment and the primary role is that of coordination and ensuring coherent views of the members. But members need to be experts on issues related to the economy,” said a Delhi-based government functionary, familiar with functioning of the commission. “There could be some new faces in the commission this time,” he added.
Going by the current political dynamics, one possible change in the composition of the commission could be that of Ahluwalia.
Political observers point out Ahluwalia as one of the candidates for the post of the finance minister, with P Chidambaram being appointed as the home minister.
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