A process of intensive consultation will lead up to the creation of a new body to replace the Planning Commission, considered central to the government’s development efforts since its formation in 1950. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who announced this radical measure during his Independence Day address from the Red Fort, said in a tweet that in a “short span of time” an initiative would be taken to replace the Planning Commission.
Under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the first chairman of the Planning Commission, the commission had a hallowed standing.
A government source said the process of setting up this new institution could take several months.
In a tweet, Minister of State for Power Piyush Goyal said: “He [Mr. Modi] announced creation of a contemporary institution for our priorities of today and goals of tomorrow, in place of the Planning Commission.”
