Virbhadra lauds role of Plan panel in hill states' development

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today lauded the role of Planning Commission in development of hill states and flagged concerns over the proposed move to distribute the planning functions among the Ministry of Finance and respective Ministries saying it would result in loss of perspective and long term view.
At a meeting convened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Chief Ministers here to seek their views on the structure and functioning of the revamped Planning Commission, Singh, a Congress veteran said the plan panel over the years helped the hill states of India in accelerating the pace of development by providing financial and technical assistance, recognised problems faced by them and made appropriate recommendations based on different studies to compensate the hill states for cost disabilities being experienced by them.

"The functioning of Planning Commission in its present form should be strengthened by giving additional functions to it so as to meet the challenges of economy and aspirations of the states as it had played a pioneering role during last six decades besides assisting the states in formulation of plans in a consultative manner," he said.
He also felt that the present 15 per cent of allocation of total plan funds as block grants to the states was too less to meet their development needs and should be enhanced to at least 50 per cent.
"The Commission should also continue to mediate in resolving issues that the states have with the central ministries," he said.