NEW DELHI-Mocking at Planning

NEW DELHI Mocking at Planning BM THE official planners in Yojana Bhavan were visibly relieved when they were at last able to persuade the Prime Minister at a meeting of the full Planning Commission to approve without major and unsettling changes the draft of true Seventh Five-Year Plan which they had submitted. Earlier there had been intense lobbying by some Central ministries headed by those close to the Prime Minister for adjustments in sectoral allocations and it appeared that the Prime Minister had come very much under their influence. This became apparent when, after the planners had submitted the draft plan, the Prime Minister chose to convene a meeting of the full Commission and directed that a number of adjustments in sectoral allocations in the draft be made. It appeared that the tight structure of the Plan drawn up by the planners in the face of severe constraints, above all of financial resources in sight, would be tampered with and its balance upset.