Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday announced that his government will completely overhaul the existing planning process, and that it will be implemented after the election. Khandu announced that the new planning process will extensively involve stakeholders at the ground level, and that the process will start from the bottom. This is a very encouraging announcement and hopefully it will be implemented in the future. One of the main problems involving misuse of government funds is parachuting of schemes from the top. It is often alleged that schemes, selected based on the needs of the districts, which are sent to the civil secretariat are not reflected in the budget and other government programmes.
Most of the schemes are parachuted from the top. These schemes are mostly individual-based and do not serve the purposes of the public. If the government starts the planning process from the ground, it will massively help the people. In the true sense, it will benefit the people of the state. Those at the ground know the ground realities. They are aware of the actual needs of the people. The government money will be used properly in the true sense if the planning process starts from the bottom to the top. The announcement of the CM has given a ray of hope. One can only hope that he keeps his promise if he returns as CM after the election.