The Tamil Nadu government is considering abolishing the State Planning Commission

By convention, the incumbent Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is the ex-officio chairman of the SPC. File | Photo credit: ANI

It is likely to be curtains for the Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission (SPC), a body created 55 years ago.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam-led government did not fill the posts of vice-chairman and full-time SPC members following the resignation of the team appointed by the previous DMK government. By convention, the incumbent Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is the ex-officio chairman of the SPC. General Secretary (M. Sai Kumar) and Finance Secretary (MA Siddique) are among the ex-officio members. At present, the body has only an IAS officer as member-secretary.

The idea is to “abolish” the planning commission concept, says a senior official. Because the Commission’s “only contribution” is to provide policy input, the government is considering specialist committees of experts, he says.

To cite an example, the government set up a committee chaired by former vice-chairman of the now defunct Union Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia to recommend measures to boost own tax and non-tax revenue; improve buoyancy; plug leaks; and increase fiscal self-sufficiency. Instead of a permanent body of experts, the TVK government hopes to get more benefits by using the services of different experts through different committees, according to sources.

After the country moved towards economic liberalization in the early 1990s, the importance of planning commissions, both at the Center and in the states, diminished, and this newspaper even criticized the State Planning Commission in the late 1980s, saying that the body had become “the fifth wheel in the wagon”.

The plan to abolish the SPC was first announced by the AIADMK government in March 2017. At that time, it was stated that the SPC would be replaced by the State Development Policy Council (SDPC), which would advise the government on policy coherence and program formulation to manage the state’s development. The SDPC was formed in April 2020. Three months after the DMK returned to power in May 2021, the SDPC was rechristened the SPC.

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Content published on the SPC website reveals that the SPC serves “as an apex advisory body to provide evidence-based policy guidance to promote holistic growth and development in the state”. In addition to the SPC, the government also uses the services of the Department of Economics and Statistics (DoES) and the Department of Evaluation and Applied Research (DEAR) for policy advice.

When the SPC was conceived in the early 1970s, the country was in the mode of planned development. It was then the task of the new body to assess the state’s resources and formulate a plan for their most efficient and balanced utilization, as reported by The Hindu on 7 April 1971. EP Royappa became the vice-chairman after he was removed from the post of chief secretary. After yet another transfer, Royappa challenged the validity of his transfer in the Supreme Court, but lost his case.

There have been instances of civil servants heading the SPC: V. Karthikeyan in 1983 and CVR Panikar in 1985. However, after DMK’s M. Karunanidhi returned to power in January 1989, the practice of appointing the incumbent Chief Minister as the former head of the office was resumed. It has been a practice ever since. Several leaders such as KA Mathiazhagan (1974), V. Ramaiah (1976), Kovai Chezhian (1978), M. Muthuswami (1983), VR Nedunchezhian (1992 – also the then Finance Minister) and C. Ponnaiyan (2020) were appointed as Vice-Chairmen. In 2011, it was veteran civil servant Santha Sheela Nair’s turn to hold the post of vice-chairman.

Economists M. Naganathan and J. Jeyaranjan also served as Vice-Chairmen of the Planning Commission when the DMK was in power. Mr. Naganathan held the position from 2006-2011 and Mr. Jeyaranjan from 2021-26. At the end of his tenure, Mr. Jeyaranjan was appointed Executive Vice-Chairman.

Published – 06 Sep 2026 16:33 IST