Rajkumar Porel, M.sc Geography

1. MULTI-LEVEL PLANNING IN INDIA
INTRODUCTION:
Multi-level Planning opposed to centralized planning is an exercise where local
institutions are actively involved not only at the implementation level but MLP is a
more integrative effort that seeks to involve all hierarchies of administrative,
geographical, political and regional levels in the planning process.
It seeks to involve the active participation of the lower hierarchical levels in
information generation, data collection, policy suggestions, plan implementation &
monitoring of all developmental activities.
Since multi-level planning involves the sharing of policy and planning functions
with the sub- national levels following six operational sing principles have been
suggested for devising necessary mechanisms and procedures for effective flows of
information for planning and for frequent interaction with the participating levels
(Sundaram, 1997):
(a) The Principle of function-sharing,
(b) The Principle of financial decentralization,
c) The Principle of administrative decentralization
d) The Principle of public participation
Historical background of MLP:
• Community development programme – 1st and 2nd FYP
• Balwant Rai Mehta (1957) – 3 tier Panchayati Raj
• Dantewala working group (1978) – Block level Planning
• Ashok Mehta Committee (1977) - strengthening of planning at Zila Parishad level
by placing district level officers under DRDA
• Hanumantha Rao Committee (1982) -principle of sharing of resources

2. • Sarkaria Commission (1985) - setting up of state finance commission to transfer
resources to districts.
• 73rd amendment act (1992) - PRIs attained constitutional status
Stages of multi-level planning in India:
1. National Level - inter-state / inter-regional planning.
2. State Level - inter-district / inter-regional planning.
3. District/Metropolitan Level - regional planning.
4. Block Level - area planning .
5. Panchayat Level - village planning.
National Level :-
Upto 2014: Planning Commission National Development Council PC has been
granted constitutional status through 52nd Amendment of the Constitution • The
Commission formulates three types of plans: (a) Perspective plans for 15-25 years,
(b) Five year plans, and (c) Annual plans within the framework of Five Year Plan.
After 2014: PC was replaced by NITI Aayog. The 12th Plan, the last of the Five-Year
Plans, was ended on 31st March, 2017. Now, three-year action plan, which will be
part of a seven-year strategy paper and a 15-year vision document. The Niti Aayog
is launching a three-year action plan from April 1, 2017.
State level:-
The state Planning Board acts like national Planning Commission and coordinates
the development plans. It also has the responsibility of the formulation,
implementation and monitoring of state plan. States enjoy autonomy in certain

3. state subjects and play pivotal role in the implementation of planning
programmes. State level that all sorts of economic and social data are available.
There is a need for more rigorous exercise of planning at state-level.
District Level:-
There are generally three levels below the State level, namely, district, block and
village. The district administration is under the overall charge of the collector, also
known as deputy commissioner in some states). He is responsible for maintaining
law and order in the district.
• Local level planning
• Success of the planning needs greater mobilization and utilization of local
resources
• The District Board consists of elected representatives
• Presently District Planning is supervised through Zila Parishad and its Chairman.
• Its formulation and implementation are looked after by the District Planning
Officer (DPO) or the District Magistrate.
Block Level:-
• Block is an important unit of micro-level planning.
• The general supervision of blocks was made by the Block Samiti or Panchayat
Samiti under the chairmanship of the Block Pramukh or Sabhapati and elected
representatives.
• The main objective of this planning was to absorb local labour surpluses and
greater involvement of people in the formulation and implementation of
development plans.

4. The relevance of block-level planning is based on
- the viable areal and population-size,
- more of to the regional and local problems,
- easier identification of target groups,
- optimum utilization of regional/local resources, and
- greater participation of people in plan formulation and implementation
Block Level planning involves the development of
• agriculture,
• irrigation (mainly minor irrigation),
• soil conservation,
• animal husbandry,
• pisciculture,
• forestry,
• minor processing of agricultural products,
• small and cottage industries,
• creation of local-level infra-structure, and
• development of social services like water supply, health, education, shelter,
sanitation, local transport, and welfare plans.
Panchayat-Level:-
The directive principles of state policy mention the village Panchayat which is an
elected body at village level. Village, here, roughly corresponds to a revenue

5. village (or a group of revenue villages). The Panchayati Raj System involves a three-
tier structure: village-level, block-level and district level.
The first tier at village level is commonly known as Gram Panchayat (village
assembly), the second tier at block-level as Panchayat Samiti and the third tier at
district-level as Zila Parishad.
• The implementation of the plan at the Panchayat-level is the responsibility of the
village development officer (VDO) and the secretary and is supervised by the Gram
Sabha which is headed by the Gram Pradhan.
• Under the existing provisions, funds for the Gram Sabha (Village Panchayat) are
directly being allocated from the centre to execute rural development
programmes.
There are about 2.20 lakh Gram Panchayats, 5,300 Panchayat Samitis and 400 Zila
Parishads in the country.
It is also argued that Gram Panchayat and Development Block are too small to act
as the smallest unit of planning. Also there is complete lack of administrative
framework and data collection system at these two levels. Hence, there would be
a number of difficulties in the formulation and execution of plans at village and
block levels.
Importance of Multi level planning in regional development in India:
1. India is a very diverse country both geographically and culturally; one
plan at the national level can not be suitable for all over India, hence multi-
level planning is very much needed for India.
2. Framing policy at multi-level would be catering to the actual ground level
requirement for the basic necessity. Multi-level planning helps to address
local-level problems. For example, -
i) Some village facing water scarcity hence policy should be for water
conservation

6. ii) Some region has flood problems, that policy should be to avoid the
flood and strengthen infrastructure.
3. It will help to reduce the regional disparity in India.
4. It helps to better utilization of resources because local people participate
more and policy is designated for the regional requirements.
5. It uses local knowledge and techniques from local people experts to solve
local issues.
6. The involvement of local people provides quick and pragmatic feedback to
planners and also provides a solution.
7. Corruption will be minimized as local people audit the implementation.
8. Multilevel planning is more sustainable than single-level planning.