THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State Finance Minister K N  Balagopal has criticised the reports that the Planning Board in Kerala will be disbanded and replaced by Niti Aayog.

On Tuesday, Balagopal claimed that the State Planning Board is a tried-and-true organisation that provides excellent services.

This body must exist for the sake of the state, according to Balagopal. "All know what the State Planning Board here has been doing as this is one that has been doing the planning for the years ahead for a period of five years."
In response to news that the Center would be disbanding State Planning Boards in the upcoming years, he spoke out. First off, the Center is getting ready to dissolve these boards in around 10 states, and the remaining states will do the same.

The BJP-led NDA government quickly abolished the Planning Commission and replaced it with Niti Aayog after taking office in 2014. For state boards, similar arrangements are also being established.

The Chief Minister of the state serves as the chairman of the state boards, and in Kerala, the selection of the board members is a major political contest in which academics affiliated with the political parties in power make every effort to be appointed to the board.

The position of vice-chairman of the Board is likewise hotly fought because it carries the same significance as that of a State Minister, and when the Left was in power, well-known academics like I.S. Gulati and Prabhath Patnaik currently hold the position; when the Congress assumes power, this position would be filled by former IAS officers.

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