The Hindu Business Line : Much ado about the `foreign hand'

THERE is an element of high tragedy involved in the entire controversy about the Planning Commission being contaminated by the presence of consultants from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and other foreign agencies.

The tragic element flows from the argument that while treatises on planning by foreign authors and reports on national economic sectors drawn up by multilateral agencies and consultants do not appear to be "dangerous" to an Indian audience (especially if they are with the Planning Commission), the physical presence of individuals representing western multilateral agencies and consultants in official bodies are deemed to pose a security threat to the economy.

The Prime Minister, an accomplished economist in his own right, is reported to have had misgivings about the invitations extended to foreign agencies by the Planning Commission, perhaps on the ground that the latter would have to be given "confidential" information about the economy as inputs for effective consultancy at a decision-making level.

Indeed, as yet, no one knows accurately the Dr Manmohan Singh's mind on the issue although the surmise is that his perceived stand on the controversy flows directly from his aversion to having the boat of the UPA Government rocked too severely on an "inconsequential" issue at this juncture.

In fact, as is well-known, the Left has made known clearly its unambiguous stand — namely, that foreign consultants have no place on decision-making bodies (in this case) within the portals of the Planning Commission, where development plans are discussed and framed for the national economy — a stand that will not be music to the ears of those who would like the UPA Government to last its full term.

Perhaps what has blown up the "foreign consultants" issue out of all proportion is the fact that it has come at a time when the political atmosphere in New Delhi is already murky, mainly because of the FDI issue, more so in view of the signals that the Congress Party has sent out that it is willing to take the Left by its horns on the telecom and aviation aspects of the subject.

The current reading seems to be that, given the existing difficulties on the FDI issue, among other things, why make the situation even more intractable by introducing the "foreign consultants" subject at this point in time, especially when it is not all that important from the economic development point of view.

If the Prime Minister is looking at the problem from this perspective, he cannot be blamed for doing so because of the scale of priorities he has to maintain and observe if he is going to tackle the problems of coalition governance effectively.

Now, where does all this leave Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, who has been handpicked for the job by Dr Manmohan Singh and whose brainchild is the idea to involve foreign consultants in the mid-term review process of the Tenth Plan? Certainly not in a comfortable position, especially if he has to retrace his steps and downgrade or perhaps even terminate that involvement.

What makes the situation rather absurd is that, on grounds of the actual planning process, there can be no objection to the involvement of any credible and respectable foreign consultant, whose only contribution would be to enrich the process of discussion and thereby help in arriving at a more sensible conclusion.

After all, even if the level of discussion is skewed in an unwanted direction because of the presence of the "foreign consultants", the final decision to either accept or reject the "foreign" input would rest on the Deputy Chairman himself, if not with the Chairman of the Planning Commission — the Prime Minister.

Even so, in view of the existing circumstances, it appears that the compulsions of coalition governance must take precedence over the nuances of efficiency which Mr Ahluwalia may want to underscore in the working of the Planning Commission.

After all, the advice which will be proffered by the World Bank, et al, may be sound and first-rate. But it cannot be described as being indispensable, and that is all that matters now for Mr Ahluwalia to get on with his onerous task of improving the functioning of the Planning Commission, which he is eminently capable of accomplishing.

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