Planning for socio-economic progress

Bangladesh has a long history of planning for socio-economic development, which dates back to the pre-independence era. As a sequel to its liberation war, the country inherited a devastated economy at birth. The nation was initially politically inclined towards socialism, and it was with this ideology in mind that the First Five Year Plan was drawn up and launched in 1973.

However, the macro-policies underwent a transformation with successive changes in government since 1975 and the basis for development planning shifted from a socialist to a non-socialist one. From a more or less nationalised economy in the early years when emphasis was placed mainly on the public sector, there had been a gradual tilt towards a liberalised, mixed and private sector-oriented economy. Gradual denationalisation or privatisation of public enterprises, end of government monopoly in some sectors and market liberalisation measures enabling the private sector to function more freely demonstrated that development planners of the later years did not have the socialist bias of the earlier times. However, development planning in Bangladesh has continued to retain its indicative character during all these phases of evolution and change.

CENTRAL PLANNING APPARATUS: The central planning agency of Bangladesh is the Planning Commission. Different ministries and divisions are primarily responsible for initiation and execution of government plans and policies relating to only their respective areas of responsibility. The Planning Commission, on the other hand, is responsible for planning the overall socio-economic development of the country by covering all sectors.

Following the structural transformation of the Planning Commission after 1975, it became necessary to strengthen the technical capabilities of the ministries and divisions in order to enable them to discharge their enhanced responsibilities in the planning function efficiently and effectively. With this end in view, the planning cells were created in various ministries and divisions in 1979.

The Planning Commission has a threefold involvement in development planning, viz. advisory, executive, and coordination. Broad functions of the Planning Commission include: (a) macro-planning for the country in the short, medium and long-term; (b) priority determination and resource allocation for development; (c) economic research; (d) study and formulation of economic policies and strategies; (e) evaluation of the economy and development plans/programmes on a periodic basis; (f) development budgeting; (g) monitoring of plan implementation; (h) project simulation and processing; (i) synchronisation between sectors and sub-sectors; (j) appraisal and evaluation of individual projects.

National Economic Council (NEC) and the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) are two bodies which stand above Planning Commission as approving authorities for development plans, projects and programmes. NEC is composed of all members of the Council of Ministers and is headed by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is also the chairperson of ECNEC, while the Finance Minister chairs the body in his/her absence.

National Plans in Bangladesh fall into three main categories: (a) short-term Annual Development Programmes; (b) medium-term Five Year Plans; (c) long-term Perspective Plans. The medium-term plans since independence have been as follows: First Five Year Plan (1973-78); Two Year Plan (1978-80); Second Five Year Plan (1980-85); Third Five Year Plan (1985-90); Fourth Five Year Plan (1990-95); Fifth Five Year Plan (1997-2002);  'Unlocking the Potential: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction' (NSAPR I, 2003-8); 'Steps Towards Change: National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction' (NSAPR II, 2009-11); Sixth Five Year Plan (2011-15); and the ongoing Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-20). Till now, the output and outcome of all these plans have fallen far short of their targets and there remained an unbridgeable gap between planned goals and actual achievements.

UNSATISFACTORY OUTCOME: Let us now analyse the reasons for this unsatisfactory outcome and take a look at the pros and cons of development planning in Bangladesh. In addition to the arguments that can be presented for and against development planning in general, the following can be specifically cited in the context of Bangladesh:

The main difficulty in plan implementation in Bangladesh arises from the fact that decisions are not readily forthcoming due to over-bureaucratisation. The number of layers in the bureaucratic hierarchy is seven (apart from the innumerable posts that exist within the same layer), and this results in delay in decision-making, slow progress of projects and ultimately under-utilised funds, incomplete projects, achievements far below targets, and even complete failures. The human factor and the human frailties are quite relevant in the context of Bangladesh;

Plan implementation becomes very difficult due to excessive centralised control as well as non-availability of funds and other resources in time;

It has been often observed that even foreign funds placed at the disposal of the government cannot always be utilised due to non-availability of domestic support fund. This sometimes results in achievement falling far short of target;

Another sorry feature of development planning in Bangladesh is that the planners lose sight of too many eventualities while drawing up medium and long-term plans. The plans are often over-ambitious, the targets are too high and the ultimate results are often big disappointments. It has been observed that many unforeseeable events and interventions - social, political, economic, natural and otherwise - changes the very nature and purpose of Five Year Plans, and consequently the very need and justification for these plans can be questioned. Instead of focusing attention on the immediate environment and immediate solutions, the planners devise far-fetched plans which appear doomed to fail at the very outset.

The most important variable in the dynamics and mechanics of development planning is an appropriate political environment and stable democratic system. Unfortunately, this has been lacking in Bangladesh and has resulted in a lack of accountability in the bureaucratic machinery responsible for implementing the plans. The development plans have mostly remained bureaucratic or technocratic exercises without participation of the masses due to lack of political will and commitment of successive governments. Until stable democratic institutions flourish in the country, it is unlikely that development plans will bring about desired benefits for the common man. Welfare of the common and underprivileged segments of the population have not been generally given due importance by successive regimes, which led to plans without equality and implementation without welfare for the grassroots people. The bureaucrats and vested political cliques appear to get a free hand in sharing the spoils of development projects among themselves. The same can be said of local-level plans, where decentralisation of important decisions to local bodies entail handing over power to local elites who indulge in decentralised corruption and grind the faces of the poor.

STREAMLINING PLANNING: The recommendations that can be put forward for reforming the practice and application of development planning in Bangladesh can be easily derived from the preceding arguments. However, for the sake of precision, a few are presented below in a concise form:

(a) The need for medium and long-term plans should be reassessed considering the futility of these plans. Focus should mainly be on short-term rolling plans or Annual Development Programmes (ADPs), which take into account the immediate realities and put emphasis on immediate actions required for providing prompt redress to the immediate socio-economic problems. Far-fetched plans may be theoretically excellent in quality and good to listen to, but they may be difficult to implement and control in practice and may even end up as mere day-dreaming.

(b) Development of stable democratic institutions is a must if development plans are to succeed in meeting the demands of time and people. Only political goodwill and commitment, political accountability, a bureaucracy which is respectful of political authority, an appropriate balance between local-level and central planning, and genuine empowerment-cum-participation of the target group of people can lead to socio-economic progress and emancipation of the masses.

Dr. Helal Uddin Ahmed is a retired Additional Secretary and former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly.

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