15-year vision plan launch slated for ’20

Could be extended by 5 yrs

Having put its muchtouted ‘15-year vision document’ — which was supposed to eclipse the Five Year Plan period’s legacy soon after the culmination of the 12th Plan period in March 2017 — on the backburner, the NDA government has now decided to formally launch it in 2020. However, now there is a probability that it could be a 20-year draft covering the period between 2015 and 2035.

Highly placed sources informed The Asian Age that the government think tank Niti Aayog has already begun holding parleys on issues such as the circular economy, governance, data & public policy, ease of living and manufacturing — which the Centre plans to include in the vision document.

The sudden surge in reviving the vision document, sources said, has come after the nudge from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), with the directive that it has to be launched in 2020.

Also, with the economy facing a downturn and lack of jobs having become a burgeoning concern, the government is keen to give a message that it is working towards addressing these issues by including them in the document, sources said.

They added that though the 15-year vision document was for the 2015-2030 period and it was first envisaged in 2016, the loss of more than two crucial years between 2017 and 2019 when the priorities of the government were fixed more on propagating the idea of “New India” and shaping the Prime Minister’s fiveyear initiative on promoting good governance called “Sankalp se Siddhi” (from 20172022), it may now expand its ambit to a 20year time frame.