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N. S. Vageesh

CONSIDERABLE controversy has been generated by the Planning Commission's move to rope in foreign experts for a mid-term appraisal of the Tenth Plan. Leaders of Left parties have gone ballistic in their criticism of the move. Witness the CPI (M) leader, Mr Jyoti Basu, calling Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, a "World Bank man". The CPI leader, Mr Gurudas Dasgupta, argued that the inclusion of foreign experts tantamounts to surrendering a part of India's sovereign rights. A couple of the foreign experts have even offered to resign to end the row.

One cannot figure out what the fuss is all about. This suspicion — that the allowing of foreign experts in the Planning Commission is an invasion of sovereignty and a cover for penetration by scheming multinationals and capitalist governments — is a rhetoric of Cold War vintage.

As was reported in some sections of the media, the number of "foreign" experts was just 15 out of a total of 415 attached to the Planning Commission. And even here the "foreign" tag is not wholly appropriate. For, all the 15 are Indians who represent international organisations — whether it is the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank or McKinsey.

Further, it was made clear that these experts were being brought in as part of a consultative process. They were not there to make policy. Anyway, when has the Planning Commission been that influential? As the late V. K. R. V. Rao, former member of the Planning Commission and founder-director, Delhi School of Economics, put it: "The corridors of decision making did not certainly lie in Yojana Bhawan. It lay elsewhere, in Parliament or the Cabinet or with the Prime Minister." That was said in the 1960s, the heyday of "planning".

Moreover, it is not as though foreign experts are being consulted for the first time. All governments, since Independence, have used them in quite a number of fields. The West Bengal Government is no exception too. Clearly, being in power and being accountable for results can have a more sobering influence.

These parties are now making a big noise about why these experts could not be just hired on an assignment and asked to submit reports, instead of being made part of the Planning Commission itself. Perhaps they should see parallel in the corporate world, where top experts in various fields — law, accountancy, taxes and so on — are invited to be directors on boards. The company stands to benefit from their expertise at a fraction of what it would otherwise cost.

Anyway for parties willing to overlook the foreign origin issue of Ms Sonia Gandhi and support her for prime ministership, barely four months ago, the stance on Plan panel experts seems a bit inexplicable.

Perhaps, they would do well to remember Gandhiji's counsel of being rooted in one's own faith while being fully receptive to the truth of others: "I want my house to have its windows wide open so that the winds may blow freely from all directions. I refuse, however, to be blown off my feet by any of them."

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