‘Plan panel ignored suggestions’
Accusing that the Planning Commission ignored suggestions of the Working Group while preparing the draft chapter on health, the Union health ministry has sent out its reservations and have suggested major changes in the health chapter to the Commission.
In a recent communication to the Planning Commission, the health ministry has said that certain changes have been made including updating the figures, correcting factual inaccuracies to give positive “overtone” rather than negative connotion. “Changes have been made in the track change mode in the report,” said the comments made by the health ministry on the proposed chapter on health in the 12th plan document.
According to the health ministry, the Planning Commission introduced “ideas and approaches which have never been subjected to any level of consultation or discussion”. “For preparation of plan document, the normal practice is that the approach paper sets the framework approach based on which multi-stakeholder, working groups are constituted by the Planning Commission. These working groups deliberate and provide inputs which are then considered by the steering committee and based on all these inputs, the final chapter on the subject is prepared. However, the draft chapter on health does not seem to have considered most of the suggestions as emerged from the working group reports,” it added.
The health ministry has cited strong reservations and have suggested major changes in the poposed document. According to the health ministry, the draft chapter proposes a omnibus national health mission and the way it has been articulated is fraught with the danger to neglect rural areas which require more attention.
The health ministry has said that the suggested re-structuring of the central sector and the Central sector schemes need a fresh look. The Commission had also suggested that all Central sector programmes would be consolidated to six schemes.
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