Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implied that his predecessor Manmohan Singh felt that the Planning Commission had no “futuristic vision”, but a close reading of Dr. Singh’s April 30 remarks suggest otherwise.
An official statement quoted Mr. Modi as saying, “Dr. Manmohan Singh, who had been associated for a long time with the Planning Commission, had noted that the body had no futuristic vision in the post-reform period.”
In fact, Dr. Singh had said, “With an increasingly open and liberalised economy with a greater reliance on market mechanisms, we need to reflect on what the role of the Planning Commission needs to be in this new world.”
In his remarks at this last meeting of the plan panel, of which he was Chairman for 10 years, Dr. Singh had said: “What the Planning Commission has achieved over the last decade gives me confidence that it can address these challenges and questions. I am sure it will subject itself to a critical review and will continue to play a leading role in the policy debate in government and in the development of our nation.”
Mr. Modi’s remarks about Dr. Singh’s views, according to an official release, came at the Chief Ministers meeting he had convened on the future of the Planning Commission.
