The move by the Planning Commission to initiate the mid-term appraisal process for the Twelfth Five-Year Plan at a time when the plan document is not even fully printed has irked central and state government departments.
While the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period began in April 2012, the strategy document was finalised and approved by National Development Council only in late December 2012 and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh prepared the foreword for the Plan document only in May 2013.
During this time, various ministries and state planning departments were not clear about their annual budgets under the plan. Under this circumstance, the commission initiated the mid-term appraisal for the plan.
Ministries argue that the commission must give sufficient time to implement the plan before initiating mid-term appraisal.
It is learnt that a Plan’s mid-term appraisal is usually kicked off in the second year. The appraisal usually has to start by the September of the second year so that it can be completed in the third year, leaving enough time for course corrections, some observers feel.
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