CHENNAI: Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday defended the new economic policy and poverty alleviation schemes of the Eleventh Plan saying it was too early to state that the policy had failed.“We have to look at the data of recent years before we declare that the performance of the XI plan’s poverty alleviation schemes failed. The data will be available only two years later,” said Ahluwalia while delivering the V Sankar Aiyar Memorial Lecture here on Wednesday. Ahluwalia, however, added that not enough had been done to reduce poverty in the country.Defending the market economy, which was undergoing a churn as growth had collapsed in western economies, he said, while there was a growing protest against market economy in the globe, in the emerging nations such as India it was paying dividends as it allowed us to show how competitive the country was.Stating the serious dangers of crony capitalism in market economy, he said a strong economy should not encourage crony capitalism and government should be more transparent so that nobody went away with undeserved gains.He also stressed the need for devolution of powers in urban local bodies so that other half of the population who were devoid of basic infrastructure could access it.Reacting to the criticism of Mani Shankar Aiyar on lack of powers to panchayats, Ahluwalia said that the onus lay with the State government which had to fulfil the State Finance Commission (SFC) recommendations.“The State never takes the recommendation of the SFC seriously and the Centre doesn’t have any powers to intervene,” he said.He also highlighted the need for a greater flexibility on labour laws to boost industrial growth saying that it should be done only with the consenus of labour unions with a promise of strong social security.Interestingly, the lecture also highlighted a difference of opinion and exchanges in a lighter vein between Ahluwalia and Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is also the elder son of V Sankar Aiyar.
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