The Planning Commission & Parkinson’s Law

By “Touchstone”

Summary

“The Planning Commission & Parkinson’s Law” is a short opinion column by the pseudonymous writer ‘Touchstone,’ reproduced as a two-page leaflet by the Forum of Free Enterprise from The Hindustan Times of 23 June 1960, with the Editor’s permission. Taking the impending retirement of Mr. V. T. Krishnamachari as its occasion, the column argues that the Planning Commission has fallen victim to Parkinson’s Law — the tendency of a body to expand its staff and functions far beyond what its real work requires.

Touchstone makes a case for reform and recasting of the Commission. The membership, the writer argues, should draw on people with practical, first-hand grasp of trade, commerce and industry rather than resting on ‘so-called experts’ and a swollen permanent secretariat; the role and responsibilities of the Minister for Planning are obscure, and Mr. Nanda ‘seems to do no more than make those dull and long-winded speeches in Parliament.’ The column is especially critical of the secretariat’s bigness and of Prof. Mahalanobis, whose statistical ‘hony.’ advice and parallel plan-making are said to function in ‘jealous independence’ of the regular secretariat, sometimes overriding official judgement on issues of economic development.

The writer calls for the functions of the secretariat to be clearly defined and confined, for ad hoc bodies to handle specific planning jobs, and for assertive enthusiasm on the part of some officials to be checked, warning that the Planning Commission ‘should learn to be on guard’ against intrusion into the making of policy. The leaflet carries the Forum’s standard disclaimer that the views are not necessarily its own, and a colophon naming M. R. Pai as publisher for the Forum and dating it July 1960.

Key points

• A two-page FFE leaflet reproducing a ‘Touchstone’ column from The Hindustan Times of 23 June 1960.

• Occasioned by the impending retirement of Mr. V. T. Krishnamachari from the vice-chairmanship of the Planning Commission.

• Central thesis: the Planning Commission has been overtaken by Parkinson’s Law — bureaucratic expansion beyond real need.

• Argues membership should include people with first-hand grasp of trade, commerce and industry, not just ‘so-called experts’.

• Finds the Minister for Planning’s role obscure; pointedly criticises Mr. Nanda’s parliamentary speeches.

• Singles out Prof. Mahalanobis and the statistical adviser’s parallel, semi-independent plan-making.

• Calls for clearly defined secretariat functions, ad hoc bodies for specific jobs, and guarding against bureaucratic intrusion into policy.

• Carries the FFE disclaimer; published by M. R. Pai for the Forum, dated July 1960.

Generated by the v1.5 extraction pipeline. Awaiting editorial review.