Govt. of India invites you (yes, You) to Help Plan India Better

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The Government of India’s Planning Commission has setup an online discussion forum for citizens to be a part of the making of the 12th Five Year Plan. Citizens can register and voice their opinions, views and analysis.

The website, www.12thplan.gov.in, has been setup to seek “consultation from interested stake holders via the Commission’s web-site.” This is the first-time the Planning Commission has gone beyond the communities that they directly interact with.

In this introduction piece written on the website, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, states:

Based on an intensive process within the Commission, “Twelve Strategy Challenges” have been identified to initiate these consultations. The “strategy challenges” refer to some core areas that require new approaches to produce the desired results. These should not be viewed as chapters of the Twelfth Plan, nor the layout of the Approach Paper, which will be decided only after the consultations are complete. They are only a way of organizing thinking in critical areas.

I believe this is a fantastic platform created for citizens like you and me to voice our views on various aspects that directly impact our country’s growth and development. All you need to do is sign-up for an account (a one-time, minor procedure) and then you can browse through any of the twelve forums that have been created. You can leave your comments, replies or even suggest sub-topics within the broad framework of twelve subjects.

The list of Twelve Strategy Challenges, explained here in more detail, are:

• Enhancing the Capacity for Growth
• Enhancing Skills and Faster Generation of Employment
• Managing the Environment
• Markets for Efficiency and Inclusion
• Decentralisation, Empowerment and Information
• Technology and Innovation
• Securing the Energy Future for India
• Accelerated Development of Transport Infrastructure
• Rural Transformation and Sustained Growth of Agriculture
• Managing Urbanization
• Improved Access to Quality Education
• Better Preventive and Curative Health Care

If you have views on how any of the above can be improved, the government is willing to listen. Go ahead, sign up and be a part of this “Planning India Better” exercise.

PS: Ok, the last part of the headline of this article might require a re-arrangement of words considering that you are on The Better India and hence it might not make much orderly sense to say India Better. Later.