There have been several missing links in the recent debate on the future of the Planning and Finance Commissions. First, it is not clear whether the debate was more about the future of planning or about the future of the Planning Commission. How do the proposals for institutional reform fix the problems relating to the process of planning and implementation? Second, there are emerging new realities of economic management that the new institution has to grasp and address, requiring new skills and, perhaps, a new set of instruments.

The proposed legislation for regulation of the for-profit microfinance sector has a number of problems. It makes the Reserve Bank of India the sole regulator of the sector when this is the domain of the states rather than the central bank. The proposal will permit a back-door entry for the MFIs to collect savings which is not a healthy idea. Any proposal should be drawn on the experience of the states and the for-profit MFIs should be regulated as moneylenders.

The article “Prospects and Policy Challenges in the Twelfth Plan” by Montek S Ahluwalia (EPW, 21 May 2011) offers a comprehensive overview of the subject, but what is missing is a discussion of the risks to the economy. An enumeration and discussion of the many risks that must be taken into account while framing the Twelfth Plan.