Body that will replace PlanCom should be better: Kerala CM

On the eve of a meet to discuss Planning Commission's restructuring, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said the existing body is well accepted and any new setup should be more effective in further strengthening the Centre-state relations.
Chandy, who will be attending the meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here tomorrow to give a new shape to the Soviet-era Planning Commission, hoped that the Centre would move ahead with its plan only after reaching a consensus on the issue with the states.
"Planning Commission is a well accepted system. It is an effective mechanism through which states and the Centre coordinate on financial issues including resource allocations. If there is any plan to restructure it, states should be taken into confidence," the senior Congress leader told PTI.

"If there is a plan to restructure the Planning Commission, the body which is being visualised should be more effective than the existing one and it should be an effective tool to further strengthen relations between the Centre and the states," the Chief Minister said.
In his Independence Day address, Modi had announced that a new institution with a new soul will replace the Planning Commission, which is over six decades old.
Modi argues that it has lost its relevance in the contemporary world and to discuss what shape the Planning Commission should have.