Previous Year Question

The Prime Minister chaired the National Development Council. Its membership included Union Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of all States, Administrators or representatives of Union Territories and members of the former Planning Commission. The Chairman of the Finance Commission was not an ex-officio member of the National Development Council.

The National Development Council was established on 6 August 1952 through an executive resolution of the Union Government. It is not mentioned in the Constitution and was not created by an Act of Parliament. It was therefore a non-constitutional and non-statutory executive body.

The Council was established to mobilise the country’s resources and efforts in support of national plans, promote common economic policies in important spheres and secure the balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country.

Draft Five-Year Plans were considered by the National Development Council. Because both the Union and the States participated in it, the Council served as an important forum of cooperative federalism in national planning. It also reviewed plan implementation and considered social and economic matters affecting national development.

The Finance Commission is a separate institution. It is constituted by the President under Article 280. Its principal functions include recommending the distribution of taxes between the Union and the States and principles governing grants-in-aid. Its Chairman did not become a member of the National Development Council merely by holding that office.

The Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog in 2015. Since the National Development Council itself had been constituted through an executive resolution rather than the Constitution or a statute, the issue was not one of formal statutory repeal; however, its former role has not remained active under the new planning framework.