Yojana Bhavan and 'Public Reasoning'

The Planning Commission has recently sought the engagement of civil society in drafting the Twelfth Plan, asking them to identify the challenges and areas that require special focus, so that the Plan document is more holistic in nature and could help in yielding the desired results.

It is apt to recall that the Planning Commission has been doing this for several decades now. Extraordinarily well organised, both regional as well as special, specific consultations with civil society have been held in the preparation of every one of the last Five or Six Plans. However, the experience has revealed that these consultations and especially the hard work put in by the NGOs, civil society groups with such optimism are of no avail in how the final document and the proposals emerge.