Patna, Dec. 27: The Bihar government’s move to shift to entitlement-based planning has received a pat from T.R. Raghunandan, a former IAS officer who at present is heading Planning Commission’s working group on area development planning.

“It appears to be a very exciting idea and a unique path for planning,” Raghunandan said today while sharing his views on entitlement-based planning.

Entitlement-based planning facilitates fund allocation as per the need of a district and not on the basis of different schemes implemented in the area.

Raghunandan, who is also a consultant of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), was in the state capital to take part in a workshop organised by the planning and development department as part of its preparation for developing handbooks for districts. The handbooks will help the districts in formulating entitlement-based plans.

Apart from officials of state government departments, experts from the Planning Commission and UNDP took part in the two-day workshop which concluded today.

Terming the state government’s entitlement-based planning a bold move, Raghunandan said other states too should follow it. “Unlike the earlier practice, when budgets used to be allotted for district plan, the new move will lead a system where districts would get funds in accordance with their entitlements. It is a good thing,” he added.

Bihar shifted to entitlement based planning from the current fiscal (2011-12).

Raghunandan, however, had some words of caution. “Details of this new plan would be very important and planners should adopt rights-based approach while deciding the entitlements,” he said.

He also suggested that those responsible for formulating the plans at district level should be made aware of the available resources in a given year so that they can fix their priorities in accordance with the resources available at their disposal. “This is a must or else the district plan would appear like a wish list of planners,” added the UNDP consultant.