THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Decentralisation through People’s planning has brought in a paradigm shift in development in the state, says former finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, one of the architects of People’s Planning.
How do you assess People’s Planning, 25 years later?
In all domains transferred to local bodies, there was remarkable improvement. Service delivery has tremendously improved. Look at the number of people making use of public health sector services. Now, they have moved up to income-generation programmes. Kerala is the only place where decentralisation has sustained, despite regular change of governments.
What’s the reason for its success, when similar experiments failed?
It is the brainchild of EMS. A fundamental break in existing power structure was mooted to get such a mass movement going. Setting aside 40% of funds was a revolutionary idea then. A conducive environment for decentralisation was created. In spite of severe financial crunch, no government will dare to cut plan-fund for local bodies.
What is the utilisation pattern of local bodies?
Initially, only 20-25% was spent in the financial year. The remaining, we asked them to spend the next year. On average, about 80% of the plan funds are utilised. The rest are carried over to next year.
How skeptical was the political leadership when PP was launched in 1996?
A few like EMS were convinced that this was the way forward. Since EMS was a political heavyweight, no one dared to oppose. But many were skeptical.
Whose role was most crucial in conceptualising PP?
Initially, when EMS suggested such an initiative, it was decided to set up the Sen Committee. But EMS said it won’t do and a programme to mobilise people was the need of the hour. That’s when we thought that such planning could be made into a programme. The idea was that of EMS and we worked out the actual framework of planning.
Were there attempts to sabotage it?
A section in the Congress was not keen. They lack the kind of organisation and capability required for this. Since People’s Planning involved planning from below, they felt they would be elbowed out. Their most sinister move came when they alleged corrupt motives. But for A K Antony, we would have been in serious trouble.
Do you think any corrective steps were needed in the plan?
We underestimated the time required for implementation of the programme. Initially, we thought one extensive training will be enough. We did not factor in the time needed for institutional changes.
Which sectors couldn’t yield desired results?
Agriculture and industry production are sectors that have scope for improvement. Challenges in sanitation need to be overcome.