People's Planning in Kerala - Stages in People's Planning

Stages in People's Planning

Need identification, situation analysis, strategy setting, projectisation, plan finalisation, plan vetting and plan approval were the stages in peoples planning.

In the first phase, Gram Sabhas(village constituencies) were convened and people at the local level were mobilised to assess felt needs.

In the second phase,development seminars were held in every village panchayat, followed by formation of ‘task forces’ for the preparation of development projects. 12,000 task forces were formed that worked out to around 12 task forces per village panchayat. Close to 120,000 people participated in these task forces.

In the third phase, development projects were prepared according to a format suggested by the Kerala State Planning Board, giving details such as the nature of activities envisaged and financial and organisational aspects. Despite such quantitative achievements, a review by the state planning board showed that ‘the task forces' did not function as effectively as was expected. The main weakness was that adequate number of experts could not be attracted to the task forces. The participation of officials was also far from satisfactory. The training given to the task force members was also inadequate. An interim review of the projects prepared revealed numerous weaknesses, particularly with respect to technical details and financial analysis. Accordingly, a number of rectification measures like project clinics, reorientation conferences, etc. were organised. All these created unforeseen delays in the final plan preparation’

By the time the fourth phase started, the financial year 1996-97 was over. This phase, from March to May 1997, was expected to prepare five year plans for the panchayats based on their development projects. This was no easy task since it involved prioritising projects, assessing resources and institutional capacity, weaving the plan into the development strategy of the state, coordinating it with other village panchayats within the block (intermediary tier) and district level developmental framework and spelling out mechanisms for supervision and monitoring.

The fifth and final phase was meant for the preparation of annual plans for block and district panchayats by integrating the lower level plans and, presumably, to developing their own plans that would be complementary to the village panchayat plans. Due to the delays and inadequacies in the preparation of village panchayat plans, this exercise could not be undertaken. To quote the Kerala State Planning Board, the lead agency: ‘As a result, there were many instances of duplication of planning activities and also critical gaps between the various tiers’. Even when projects and plans were available, it was realised that most of them had to be examined closely for their ‘technical soundness and viability.’ This led to another phase leading to the formation of expert committees and project appraisal teams to scrutinise and approve the projects and plans.