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Chidambaram, a senior spokesperson of the Congress party, said he'd always advocated the Planning Commission being a “much more limited body”. The Modi government, according to reports, is keen on downsizing the Commission and clipping its authority.
Describing it as his “personal view” and not that of the party, Chidambaram said, “My personal view is that the Planning Commission should be a much more limited body, tasked with drawing up plans. At the moment, it is too big, flabby and unwieldy.”
The Commission was conceived in 1950 by a cabinet resolution as a policy advocacy body, tasked with formulating five-year Plans and approving grants to state governments. It has over the years been under attack for allegedly overarching authority, adding to red tapism, with even former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calling for a review of its role.
While Chidambaram declined to render any "advice" to his successor in the new regime, Arun Jaitley, he proceeded to do just that when he warned the new government of "head winds" that would be "beyond the control of any government", such as a spike in crude oil prices and inflation. He "advised" the government to take "preparatory steps" to deal with an adverse monsoon.
And, "advised" it to "proceed with caution" on promoting Hindi in social media. Chidambaram warned, "There is a backlash in non-Hindi states, especially Tamil Nadu. The government would be well-advised to proceed with caution in imposing Hindi on states which don't speak Hindi."
Rapping Prime Minister Narendra Modi for accusing the UPA government for "leaving everything empty", Chidambaram advised him to "get out of campaign mode and get on with the business of running the country".
Reeling out figures and numbers on foreign exchange reserves, current account deficit, sectoral achievements in power, roads, etc, Chidambaram reiterated the achievements during the Congress-led UPA's decade in power far exceeded that in the previous regime.
He warned the Modi government of the challenge posed by the Iraq crisis, which could lead to a rise in crude oil prices and consequent inflation. Chidambaram conceded inflation was "one of the reasons" for the Congress' debacle in the Lok Sabha polls.
On the issue of removal of state governors, he said: "If I was Prime Minister, I would respect both views, those who resign voluntarily and those who don't." Adding, "The only ground of intervention is when there is proven misconduct."
Welcoming the Securities and Exchange Board of India's "good suggestion" to increase public shareholding in public sector units from at least 10 per cent to 25 per cent, the former finance minister said he had "nudged Sebi to do that even when I was FM".
Observing the new government had got off to a "fair start", he said he would wait to see what they proposed in the Union budget next month.
On the Vodafone tax issue and the company's move to go for arbitration, Chidambaram said, "Our government's position was if Vodafone came forward and settled the matter in a mutually satisfactory way through conciliation, then that settlement can be reflected by amendment in the Income Tax Act..I do not know what the present government's position is. We will know only when the finance minister speaks in Parliament."
