The NDC has been successful in bridging and linking the Union Government – Essay

The NDC has been successful in bridging and linking the Union Government, the Planning Commission and the various state governments.

It has also served as a good forum for discussions and free exchange of ideas and has created a sense of high responsibility on the part of the State governments for making Plans a success. It has also served as a device for the sharing of responsibility between states and union governments.

However, there are some people who view the growing powers of the council as a danger to the privileges of the Central and State Cabinets.

They charge the NDC for usurping authority and functioning as a ‘virtual super-cabinet. H. M. Patel, retired I.C.S., expressed the view that though NDC is an advisory body to the Planning Commission, factually it is incorrect, as it is clear from its composition. The NDC is a body obviously superior to the Planning Commission.

It is, indeed, a policy-making body and its recommendations are regarded as policy decision and not merely advisory suggestions.

But we should be careful in criticizing NDC because it is neither a constitutional nor a statutory body; rather it is a creation of the Union Cabinet and as such its role is only advisory and its recommendations have no binding character.

By the very nature of its composition, the council is likely to gain more and more influence and prestige but this should not be taken as an alarm to the powers of the Union and State Cabinets. It is only a high-ranking policy-making body and it is for the Cabinet to decide as to the degree of weight to be given to its recommendations.

Arrangement for Co-ordination: The success of a large scheme, like the National Plan, very much depends upon proper machinery for co-ordination.

The need for co-ordination is greater in the Indian National Plan because India’s political structure is federal in nature and the larger part of the Plan is to be implemented by the State Governments.

Therefore, the Planning Commission is in close contact with the State Governments as well as the Central Ministries concerned with the development subjects. It has established a procedure for consultation and co-ordination of its work with them.

In the States, suitable machinery for planning at Secretarial level has been set up. As a rule, this machinery consists of an inter-departmental committee of Secretaries.

One of the Secretaries is the Secretary of the Planning Committee of the Cabinet and also acts as the chairman of the inter-department committee. In most States, the committees work under the direction of the Chief Minister.

Subordinate Establishments: The Community Development Administration has two subordinate organizations, namely (i) Social Education Organizers Training Centre, Nilokheri, established on 1st April, 1953. This Centre has a Director, three senior Instructors, and three Junior Instructors.

The Centre is directly under the supervision of the headquarters Administration, (ii) Development Officers Training Centres at Nilokheri, Ranchi and Hyderabad.

They were established on 1 st April, 1954 for giving training to Block Development Officers. Each Centre consists of a Principal, Vice-Principal and a small clerical establishment.

National Institute of Community Development : To provide training to senior officers engaged in the work of development departments and also to conduct research in Development Administration, there is in Hyderabad the National Institute of Community Development (NICD) which is now an autonomous body registered under the Indian Societies Act but depending for its finances entirely upon the Government of India.