Govt may appoint Planning Commission Deputy Chairman soon

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to reconstitute the Planning Commission and may appoint its Deputy Chairman shortly.
Those tipped for the top job in the Commission include former union finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
Modi is the Chairman of the Commission, which has been a headless institution after the resignation of Montek Singh Ahluwalia following the change of government last month.
According to information available, the Commission is actively involved in preparation of the budget and will soon have a new team.
The first General Budget of the Narendra Modi government is scheduled to be presented on July 10.
Commission officials today discussed the Gross Budgetary Support or Plan expenditure proposal for the central ministries.

The Commission is expected to continue playing its conventional role as an interface between the Finance Ministry and other ministries for working out Plan expenditure allocations, sources said.
In 2004, the government had taken time to reconstitute the Commission and Ahluwalia took charge as Deputy Chairman just days before the presentation of the Budget for 2004-05.
The United Progressive Alliance came to power in May 2004 and presented the Budget on July 8. Ahluwalia officially took over on July 4.