District Planning Committees in India

District Planning Committee(DPC) is the committee created as per article 243ZD of the Constitution of India

Constitution of India

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...

at the district level for planning at the district and below. The Committee in each district should consolidate the plans prepared by the Panchayats and the Municipalities in the district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

and prepare a draft development plan for the district.

Functions of DPC

The Constitution of India provides the DPCs two specific responsibilities. In preparing the draft development plan, the DPC shall have regard to matters of common interest between the Panchayats and the Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the integrated development

Regional development

Regional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...

of infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

and environmental conservation and the extent and type of available resources, both financial or otherwise. The DPC in this endeavor, is also mandated to consult such institutions and organizations as may be specified. In order that the plans
at different levels are prepared as envisaged in the previous chapter, there is need to strengthen the system comprising the machinery of planning

Planning

Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...

and the process of consolidation of plans at the district level.

There is confusion in states as to whether the DPC is to be established as a separate and permanent office or whether it denotes only a meeting that is periodically called and which can be serviced by a part-time secretariat. There is a feeling that the DPC ought not to emerge as yet another layer of bureaucracy

Bureaucracy

A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...

to vet people’s plans. At the same time, the fact that the DPC is held intermittently and without permanent support undermines its effectiveness as a constitutional institution and a coordinating mentor. On balance, the DPC merits the status of a permanent institution, with adequate Secretariat to service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

it at the District level. It could also be provided the means of drawing experts to assist it whenever required.

Status of DPCs in the States

All States and Union Territories except Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, J&K and NCT of Delhi are required to set up District Planning Committees in accordance with Article 243ZD of the Constitution of India. But the status is as follows:-
Table : Status of District Planning Committees in the States>

Sl No	States/Union Territories	Status of constitution of DPCs
1	Andra Pradesh	Not yet constituted.
2	Arunachal Pradesh	Not yet constituted.
3	Assam	Not yet constituted.
4	Bihar	Constituted in all 38 districts. Chairman ZP is the Chairman of DPCs.
5	Chattisgarh	Constituted. Minister is Chairpersons of DPC
6	Goa	Constituted. President of ZP is the Chairperson ofDPC
7	Gujarat	Not yet constituted.
8	Haryana	Constituted in all 19 Districts.
9	Himachal Pradesh	Constituted in 12 districts. Minister is Chairperson of DPC.
10	Karnataka	Yes. In all Districts. President, ZP is Chairman of DPC.
11	Jharkhand	Panchayat Elections yet to be held.
12	Kerala	Yes, Chairman of District Panchayat (DP) is Chairman of DPC.
13	Madhyaa Pardesh	Yes. District in-charge Ministers are Chairpersons.
14	Maharashtra	Guardian Minister for the District (Ex-Officio Chairperson)
15	Manipur	Yes in 4 districts. Adhyaksha, DP is Chairperson
16	Orrissa	26 Districts. Minister is Chairperson of DPC.
17	Punjab	Not yet constituted.
18	Rajasthan	Yes. Chairman of DP is Chairman of DPC
19	Sikkim	Yes.
20	Tamil Nadu	Yes. Chairperson, DP is Chairperson
21	Tripura	Not yet constituted.
22	Uttar Pradesh	DPCs are not notified or constituted, even though legal provision exists.
23	Uttaranchal	DPCs are not notified or constituted, even though legal provision exists.
24	West Bengal	Yes. Chairperson, DP is Chairperson of DPC.
25	Andaman Nicobar	Yes. Chairperson of DP is Chairman of DPC
26	Chandigarh	Not yet constituted.
27	D & N Haveli	Yes. Chairman, DP is Chairman of DPC
28	Daman Dieu	Yes. Chairman, DP is Chairman of DPC
29	Lakhshadeep	Yes. Collector cum Dev. Commissioner isChairperson.
30	Pondicherry	Panchayat Elections yet to be held.

It is clear that the steps taken to operationalise the provisions of Article 243 ZD of the Constitution of India by the States have been far from satisfactory. Despite shortcomings. DPC should becomes the fulcrum of the planning effort in the district, and should have the capacity to undertake the tasks expected of it.

An analysis of DPCS

An analysis of the functioning of DPCs and the formulation and implementation of ‘district plans’ in 14 States reveals the following:-

In most States DPCs are yet to function as envisaged in the Constitution. They neither consolidate nor prepare draft district developmental plans.
Very few States are preparing district plans even though some of them allocate funds to the district sector
In several States, where there is no separation of the budget into District and State sectors, allocation of funds to Panchayats does not match the legislative devolution of functions to them.
Funds given to Panchayats are tied down to schemes, thus limiting the scope for determining and addressing local priorities through a planning exercise. In this regard, CSSs pertaining to functions devolved to Panchayats now constitute the largest element of such tied funds.
Actual provision in State budgets also differs from the gross outlays communicated. Some States do not provide matching funds to Centrally Sponsored Schemes, reducing the actual flow of funds for such Schemes to local governments.
Planning
Planning
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...

is of poor quality and is generally a mere collection of schemes and works, many of the works suggested by elected panchayat members themselves is an ad-hoc manner. Integration
Social integration
Social integration, in sociology and other social sciences, is the movement of minority groups such as ethnic minorities, refugees and underprivileged sections of a society into the mainstream of societies...

of Gram and Taluk Panchayat plans into the District plan, even when done, also tends to be mere summation and not a synergistic integration. This is further distorted by placing funds with MPs and MLAs, whose utilization falls outside the pale of any planning.
Since the so-called planning exercise follows certain chain of events at the State level as regards finalisation of budgets and plans, its quality suffers seriously for lack of sufficient time. Thus detailed guidelines regarding consultation, consideration and decision making at different levels remain largely on paper and the planning process does not stir meaningful debate in Panchayats.
In the absence of a well functioning District Planning machinery, taking decisions on the priorities of a district
District
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

is often left to officials, guided by district development committees, which consist largely of elected representatives of legislatures and Members of Parliament and some nominated members, sometimes including elected representatives of Panchayats.
The above table stands corrected and the DPC in Arunachal Pradesh have been constituted with the Zilla Parishad Chairpersons as its head.

Establishment of DPCs:Efforts

The first step is to ensure that DPCs are set up in all States in accordance with Article 243 ZD of the Constitution. In spite of the resolutions of the Second Round Table to set up DPCs as mandated by the Constitution and efforts by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to persuade all States, some States are still dragging their feet in this regard. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj addressed all Secretaries of Panchayati Raj in States on 30th May, 2005 requesting them to constitute DPCs in their respective States if the same had not been constituted. Their attention was also drawn to the meeting of the Committee of Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of Panchayati Raj in the States/Union Territories held on 11th April, 2005 wherein the Ministry of Panchayati Raj http://panchayat.gov.in/ had communicated that the States that had not constituted DPCs in accordance with Article 243ZD of the Constitution should do so before 31st October, 2005. However, this was not achieved. The steps taken by this Expert Group and the circular issued by the Planning Commission to all States regarding formulation of the Annual plans of States has already been referred to in Chapter 2.
While the circular marked an important step forward and would give an impetus to the endeavor to establish and strengthen District Planning Committees, detailed instructions were issued to all States and Central Ministries prior to Eleventh plan discussions on the following points:

CSS guidelines that entrust the task of district level planning and implementation to parallel bodies, such as DRDAs and District Health Societies, need to be modified to incorporate the District Planning Committee in the process of District level planning.
The Planning Commission could inform States that the DPC would be the sole body that is entrusted with the task of consolidating plans at the district level.
The Planning Commission
Planning Commission
Planning Commission may refer to:*Planning Commission , economic institution of India that formulates its five-year plans*Planning Commission , similar institution in Pakistan that formulates its five-year plans...

could specify a time frame within which States will need to issue detailed instructions covering the manner in which the DPC would perform its functions.

Support to DPCs

The need to provide professional support to the DPC cannot be overstated. Though several States have provided staff from the State level on deputation to District Panchayats for the purpose of undertaking planning

Planning

, such Staff are overburdened and ill equipped. There is a need to create, preferably within the District Panchayat, a separate cell to service the District Planning Committee. The Cell could have five separate and distinct sections, namely, dealing with Municipal Plans, District Panchayat Plans, Intermediate Panchayat Plans, Village Panchayat Plans and one for maintenance of data and undertake research, with the necessary
support in terms of IT and qualified research assistants.

There must be a full time professionally qualified District Planning Officer to head the District Planning Unit. If such persons are unavailable in the government, appointments of professionals on contract or outsourcing are options to be considered and acted upon.
Institutional support through universities and research institutions, both at the District and State level, could be identified for assisting the DPC in planning, monitoring and evaluation.
The Planning Commission should continue to provide the required support for district planning as was done earlier, except that this would now be provided to the DPC.

Enabling DPC functioning

The aim of drawing experts is to assist the local governments concerned (Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies) in both forming a vision and designing strategies to attain that vision.
Advice of the experts would be based on experience, expertise and the field position, as revealed from ground data. Special efforts ought to be made by States to ensure that the best talent and the most motivated are invited to participate as experts. The following points are recommended by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is a branch of the Government of India looking after the ongoing process of decentralization and local governance in the States....

, Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

, to guide the drawing of experts to support the DPC:

Experts could be assigned to work either individually or in teams. They could be taken on a part time basis, an assignment basis or full time, if the need arises.
It is for the State to determine the number of experts that can be drawn to assist the DPC. This could depend upon the extent of devolution in each State.
Though ideally they are best drawn locally, experts can be drawn even from outside the jurisdiction of the district, if required. Care must be taken to ensure that participation is voluntary, above partisan politics and able to respect different points of view.
With growing urbanization of smaller and intermediate sized towns, there is need to especially draw in experts on municipal matters and the urban rural interphase to assist the DPC in planning for local resource sharing, area planning, solid waste and sewage disposal and other such matters which call for close coordination between Panchayats and Municipalities.

The DPC could also constitute a few sectoral sub-committees for both the envisioning and the consolidation processes. The task of sectoral Sub Committees is to go into the details of each development

Regional development

Regional development is the provision of aid and other assistance to regions which are less economically developed. Regional development may be domestic or international in nature...

sector assigned, such as proper quantification and description of service available in the sector, whether these meet the norms prescribed, the gaps that
need to be filled and track data availability, in consultation with local Bodies, public and private organizations before finalizing the vision of that Sector. Once the Sectoral Vision document is prepared, it shall be submitted to the DPC. Sectoral sub-committees could also give suggestions for innovative plans and integrated projects, which local governments may accept if they so desire.

One of the primary tasks of the DPC would be to build capacity for decentralized planning in the district. A major impediment to proper planning is the lack of personnel providing planning support and availability of good and comprehensible information at the
Intermediate and Gram Panchayat levels.
Provision of support for planning at the Intermediate Panchayat level:
Each Intermediate Panchayat should be provided a planning and data unit, which could also be integrated into the larger concept of having a Resource Centre at each Intermediate Panchayat level, to provide a basket of pooled services, such as for engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

, agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, watershed development, women and child care, public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

etc., which Gram Panchayats can draw upon for support in planning and implementation.

External links

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