Montek kicks off consultations for consensus on 11th Plan

New Delhi, June 27 (UNI) In a shrewd move aimed at seeking political consenus on the economic model India will pursue in the next five years, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today kicks of a series of Regional Consultations with Chief Ministers as well as civil society groups on the Approach Paper to the Eleventh Plan (2007-11).

The Plan Panel Deputy Chief is to hold a meeting this morning in Mumbai where the Chief Ministers of several states will agree on the broad contours of the Eleventh Plan, as outlined in the draft Approach Paper. The meeting is to be attended by Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajashthan, Daman and Diu and Nagar Haveli.

Tomorrow, Dr Ahluwalia will have an interaction with leading NGOs from these States.

Disregarding protocol, Dr Ahluwalia will meet different groups of Chief Ministers in five State capitals, namely Thiruvanthanthapuram, Kolkatta, Shillong and Delhi on later dates. The Consultations are spread over almost a month.

By meeting the Chief Ministers in different State capitals, Dr Ahluwalia is merely replicating his earlier initiative of achieving a consensus on the Mid-Term Appraisals.

Interestingly, the Approach Paper has yet to be cleared by the Internal Commitee of the Planning Commission.

Along with the meeting with Chief Ministers are also planned in these centres meetings with NGOs and other civil society groups.

Having faced stiff opposition and having got embroiled in a bitter controversy on the foreign consultants issue, Dr Ahluwalia is leaving no stone unturned that the Approach Paper does not get branded as a 'pro-reform model' without adequate considerations to equity.

It is thus not without reason the Approach Paper is entitled 'Inclusive Growth', reflective of the fact that the emphasis in the next plan will shift to 'growth with equity' and not just mere growth.

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