How the pruning of a two year time for the reconsideration of our financial planning can cast a profound impact on our holistic development approach, is currently the rage of the moment in the pecuniary lobbies around the nation. With the jettisoning of the Five-Year plan approaches and the influx of Three Year Action Agenda, Seven Year Strategy and Fifteen Year Vision Plan, the Indian policy-making progress is on the verge of a whole new revolution and we are certainly fortunate enough to adulate its vitality.
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru derived his motivation behind the induction of the Five Year Plans in the Indian financial planning from the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin had implemented the respective approach in the 1920s and ensuing this, India as well as the People’s Republic of China adopted the same strategy. India saw the dawn in the year 1951 when the then-Indian Prime Minister Pt. Nehru tabled it in the Parliament.
The adoption of the Five-Year Action Plans in the 1950s was a top-notch idea at that time. The Indian economy almost amounted to nothing and we had just breathed less than four years of freedom. Stability, agile approach to identification as well as resolution of the impediments in the way to financial upsurge and garnering international confidence in the prospects of Indian policy makers were the crucial issues at that time and the Five-Year Action Plans have certainly given a stellar performance in accommodating a robust pedestal for the Indian economy to stand upon.
But with the increasing advancement in the gamut of India’s financial success as well as the needs to inure oneself with the ever changing technology in the world, one must be focused on tapping any change in the system. If we are unable to accustom with the rapidly changing scenarios of the global economics, we will get nothing as a consequence but calamities. Owing to the exigent needs of the economy, finally, there has been a much needed and desired overhaul of the planning measures as well as goals by switching on to Three Year Action Agendas.
The Twelfth Five Year Action Plan is the last of its category and soon we will commence counting from the beginning for the new Three-year Action agendas. The first Action Agenda will cover the financial years 2017-20- the final years of the 14th Finance Commission.
The first and foremost reason behind the transmutation of our financial approach is a political one. The Five Year action plans are not at all synchronised with the political timeline of the nation. Usually, after the shifting of power from one party to another following the general elections, the new government is made to bear the brunt of the lacunae in the planning its predecessor which ultimately leads to unwanted confusion because of different approaches of different parties. If there is a shift in power, the state governments also face challenges in coping up with new policies that the new Government fetches with itself. This ultimately leads to poor coordination between various levels of governments, and the process of execution of the guidelines prescribed by the Five Year plans are completely botched up. One more reason in the same section is that the five-year plans are not allocating any room for rectification of mistakes. Once a plan is formulated, it will last longer than a government’s valid time in the parliament and hence if something goes wrong, you have to let it unfold the way it is.
Five-year plans have also been opaque to the economy. It is very hard to scrutinise whether the intended progress has actually materialised or not. The huge dimensions of the Indian economy make it impossible for any auditor or economist to arbitrate whether the expected change has been effected or not. This sense of opaqueness leads to further problems in the formulation, promulgation and the execution of the other financial policies.
The Three Year Action agenda will be quite successful in ameliorating the transparency of the planning and help us in conceptualising the development process. Thus this framework will be a handy tool in better aligning our systems with the changing ground level reality of the Indian Inc.
The first Three Year Action agenda will focus on: health, education, agriculture, rural development, defence, railway, roads and other categories of capital expenditure.
AGRICULTURE
The main focus is to double the farmer’s income by the year 2022 by providing enhanced irrigation as well as storage chains. Measures have also been suggested to the GoI (Government of India) in order to expedite the process of formation of cold storage chains and issuing of proper water supply to the farmers around the nation.
TRANSPORT AND DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY
Special emphasis has been laid on strengthening infrastructure in roadways, railways, civil aviation, marine navigation and inland waterways. Suggestions have been made regarding the invocation of Public-Private Partnerships by reorienting Indian Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) and issues of proper funds for operationalising the National Investment Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
EDUCATIONAL AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Suggestions have been provided regarding improvement of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) in order to facilitate skill development to extirpate unemployment in various genres of society. Moreover, stress on foundation learning as well as output-based assessments have also been tendered.
HEALTH
Focus on public health and endowment of proper healthcare system is proffered. Formulation of requisite policies to bridge the gap between the available and required number of medical practitioners is also much needed. Launching of National Nutrition Mission and development of comprehensive Nutrition information database is also a crucial thing to look out for.
These are the initial draft suggestions of the Three Year Action agenda and certainly they look very promising. Curtailing of the Five Year Action Plans to the Three Year Action agenda is certainly a much needed respite to the Indian economy and certainly the best is yet to come.
JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT
JAI MA BHARTI
