PLANNING COMMISSION OF INDIA

The Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 on the recommendation of the Advisory Planning Board constituted in 1946, under the chairmanship of K C Neogi. It was established in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. The Planning Commission was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilization of resources and determining priorities.

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.


COMPOSITION
The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Planning Commission, which works under the overall guidance of the National Development Council. The Deputy Chairman and the full time Members of the Commission, as a composite body, provide advice and guidance to the subject Divisions for the formulation of Five Year Plans, Annual Plans, State Plans, Monitoring Plan Programmes, Projects and Schemes.Some central ministers are appointed as part-time members of the commission. The finance minister and planning minister are the ex-officio members of the commission. The state governments are not represented in the commission in any way. Thus it is a wholly Centre-constituted body.

FUNCTIONS 
The 1950 resolution setting up the Planning Commission outlined its functions as to:

• Make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigate the possibilities of augmenting such of these resources as are found to be deficient in relation to the nation’s requirement;
• formulate a Plan for the most effective and balanced utilization of country's resources;
• On a determination of priorities, define the stages in which the Plan should be carried out and propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage;
• Indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic development, and determine the conditions which, in view of the current social and political situation, should be established for the successful execution of the Plan;
• Determine the nature of the machinery which will be necessary for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the Plan in all its aspects;
• Appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the Plan and recommend the adjustments of policy and measures that such appraisal may show to be necessary; and
• Make such interim or ancillary recommendations as appear to it to be appropriate either for facilitating the discharge of the duties assigned to it, or on a consideration of prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures and development programmes or on an examination of such specific problems as may be referred to it for advice by Central or State Governments.

From a highly centralized planning system, the Indian economy is gradually moving towards indicative planning where Planning Commission concerns itself with the building of a long term strategic vision of the future and decide on priorities of the nation. The emphasis of the Commission is on maximizing the output by using our limited resources optimally.