Doing away with Planning Commission unfortunate: Chandy

It is unfortunate on the part of the central government to unilaterally do away with the Planning Commission that came into being in 1950, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here Sunday.

Addressing the chief ministers' meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chandy said the commission had played a pivotal role in the country's development.

"Over the years, it has been quite instrumental in ensuring social equality, promotion of decentralised planning and has monitoring human development, especially that of socially and economically backward segments in the country," Chandy said.

"The central government's arbitrary decision to dismantle the Planning Commission, without convening a meeting of the NDC or consulting the states undermines the federal structure," he said.

"The proposal to replace it with a new body is half baked, unwarranted and ignores the need for planned development of the country," Chandy lamented.

"I am not convinced that the wholesale change of a time-tested institution is required, particularly so when we have not progressed even now beyond the conceptual stage of designing an alternative mechanism," he said.

The Planning Commission was conceived by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It was formed March 15, 1950 -- and with it was born the concept of Five-Year Plans.