Plan panel revamp: report in August

Bhubaneswar: Taking a leaf out of the Centre’s recent revamp of Planning Commission and the birth of Niti Ayog, the Odisha government has formed a committee to restructure its own plan panel to effectively implement its developmental agendas.

Official sources said State Planning Commission advisor Rabi Narayan Dash has been appointed as the chairman of the committee which will convene its first meeting on July 16. The development commissioner and the Revenue additional secretary will be the other members of the committee.

The panel is expected to submit its report to the State government in the first week of August.

Speaking on the development, Dash said, “Our focus will be to merge the grassroot level developmental projects with the State level so that attention can be drawn on the progress of all the projects. Besides, we will soon chalk out a plan for resource management.”

The aims and objectives of the reformed body will be an integrated approach to rural as well as urban projects run by the State government, official sources said.

According to financial analysts, the State government will study the report and accordingly design its mobilisation of resources. “There is a need to create an effective mechanism to implement the plans based on local needs,” an analyst explained.

Notably, the State Planning Commission had convened its last meeting in 2007.