National Advisory Council appointments hint at socialist agenda
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COMMENTS 
The Indian government has appointed several intellectuals and social activists to a policy advisory body, signalling the possibility of higher spending on social programmes
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appointed 14 members to the National Advisory Council (NAC). While four members of the previous NAC -- Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze, N C Saxena and A K Shiva Kumar -- have been re-nominated, the rest are new faces and include eminent scientists, academics, intellectuals and civil society activists, the prime minister’s office announced on June 1, 2010.
The new names include agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, technocrat V Krishnamurthy, who is also a member of the Planning Commission, economist Narendra Jadhav, Ahmedabad NGO SEWA’s coordinator of social security Mirai Chatterjee, civil rights activist Farah Naqvi, North-Eastern Hill University vice-chancellor Pramod Tandon, and former IAS officer and social activist Harsh Mander. MP Ram Dayal Munda, Anu Aga of Thermax Ltd, Pune, and Madhav Gadgil of the Agharkar Research Institute, Pune, have also been nominated to the new NAC that is expected to push for inclusive growth and social justice.
In its previous incarnation during the first tenure of the United Progressive Alliance, the NAC became identified with signature social sector reforms such as introduction of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act. NAC-II is expected to prioritise the Food Security Act.
The panel is headed by Sonia Gandhi, chief of the ruling Congress party, and is known to be inclined towards helping the rural poor. The NAC, formed in 2004, initiated social programmes credited with helping return the Congress party to power last year.
Gandhi is credited with creating some of the flagship schemes, including the rural jobs programme that already costs about 1% of GDP. She has overruled ministers to widen a food subsidy Bill and is pushing for a women’s rights Bill in Parliament.
“These are people with impeccable credentials and it signals the seriousness with which the government wants to pursue inclusive economic growth and meet social commitments,” says senior journalist Siddharth Varadarajan of The Hindu.
The NAC will also likely influence domestic security policy in a country fighting a worsening Maoist insurgency. The chair of the NAC holds the rank of a Cabinet minister, allowing Gandhi to call for and work with government officials and documents.
Source: The Economic Times, June 1, 2010
The Hindustan Times, June 1, 2010
IANS, June 1, 2010