The planning commission had a historic tie with the drafting up of the constitution of India. It was first created in 1950. The Planning Commission had the task of drafting and enforcing plans and strategies that were best suited for the nation and its people. Its main objective was to increase technological advancement in all sectors of life to promote an increased living standard. The goal was to achieve this standard for all people irrespective of social and economic differences. The Planning Commission also aimed to reduce the gap in inequalities amongst various classes of people in the nation. 

Planning Commission

The planning commission in India is an institution with old historical ties and an intrinsic tie to the political and constitutional developments in the country. The planning commission had been dissolved by the current Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi in 2014. The Planning Commission of India had the following objectives:

• To increase the living standard of the citizen
• To promote welfare and wellbeing as well as technological advancements in all sectors
• Increase the availability of opportunities
• Raising employment
• Utilising the resources and their proper management
• Deficient resource augmentations
• Determining and formulating policies

The Planning Commission was essentially meant to be a tool for the government to serve public interests shortly after India gained independence.. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of our country, chaired the Planning Commission. The planning commission during his leadership reflected his ideals and beliefs very closely. 

Members of  Planning Commission

The organisational structure of the planning commission was divided into sections arranged in a hierarchy with many divisions. The following was the organisational structure of the Planning Commission:

• Chairman (Prime Minister)
• National Development Council
• Deputy Chairman
• Committee members
• Senior Officers (Divisional Heads)

The Planning Commission used to work by creating plans for the coming 5 years term in different divisions they had under them. Each plan would have its objectives and deadline. The commission would also plan for other kinds of plans. The different types of plans were:

• State Plans
• Five Years Plan
• Monitoring Plan, 
• Annual Plan
• Schemes
• State Plan
• Projects

The Plans

The planning commission had functioned through setting up different kinds of plans. There were 31 divisions that were the scope of these five years plans. Some of them are:

• Industries
• Human resources
• Research Division
• Minerals
• Village and Small Enterprise
• International Economics

Non-Constitutional Bodies Planning Commission

With the decision of dissolving the planning commission, the governing of the country was diluted to statutory bodies. This expanded the authority and introduced complex chains of commands. The non-constitutional bodies planning commission is a fragmented part of the previous institution. The statutory body is essentially the non-constitutional body. The constitutional bodies are still in place functioning in a limited capacity. Its power source is the Parliamentary Act. There are two classifications of non-constitutional bodies:

• Non-statutory- Source is an executive order, the example is NITI Aayog
• Statutory- Source is Parliamentary acts, an example is National Human Rights Commission

Conclusion

     The First chairman of the planning commission was Jawaharlal Nehru during his term(1950-1964). For chairing the planning commission a prime minister would be chosen during their term. The last chairman essentially was Narendra Modi before the commission was dissolved(2014-present). The successor institution of the planning commission is the NITI Aayog  introduced by the Government of India. It was implemented and started to function in 2015.