The Planning Commission is dead. Long live the (renamed) commission! Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech announced the closure of India’s centralised planning body, but was accompanied by a decision to replace it with something more appropriate to contemporary requirements.
The following day, the Prime Minister’s Office called for citizens to offer ideas for a replacement to the Planning Commission. An open forum set up on MyGov.in allowed anyone to put forward suggestions for names, logos and taglines for the new agency. Though the government has yet to decide which one to pick, Scroll has assembled a sample of the suggestions on offer.
The Minimalists
Some of the suggestions keep things simple: minimal logos and tiny taglines, to go along with Narendra Modi’s mantra of minimum government.
Title: Bharat Building and Reforms Corporation
Why: Building Better Bharat
Creator: Babasaheb Khodave
Title: Think Tank for Policymaking
Tagline: It’s a ‘think tank’
Creator: Sanjeev Bhadauri
Title: Openmind
Tagline: For the goodness of our nation
Creator: Gagan Deep Chawla
The Money-Minded
A few were unwilling to move away from the precise mandate of this new agency, which is essentially to allocate India’s resources. So they decided to put the rupee symbol at the centre of the logo.
Title: National Building Mission
Tagline: Marching Towards Progress
Why: Rupee symbolise the financial growth of India and the tricolour arrow points the progress of the nation [sic]
Creator: Jayant Gawali
Title: Vikas Darpan
Tagline: Nayi Soch, Nayi Manzil (New thinking, new destination)
Creator: Laxmi Narain Agarwal
Title: Five Year Rupee Management
Tagline: 1917 – Rs 1 = $13; 2014 – Rs 63 = $1; 2017 – Rs 1 = $13
Creator: Prashantkumar Vasava
The Kitchen Sink
The Planning Commission was a large, important body with a number of responsibilities covering practically everything the government does, including apportioning resources to the states. Many would like to see the new body have a similar amount of work, and a new logo to reflect this complexity.
Title: Rashtriya Samavesh Vikas Parishad (National Inclusive Development Commission)
Tagline: Justice, Development, Equality, Good Governance and Democracy
Creator: Manish Kumar Patel
Title: Solar System of India
Tagline: Naye Vicharo Ko Jo Hai Lata Vohi Banta Hai Kise Desh Ka Bhagya Vidhata (He who brings new ideas is responsible for the country’s fate).
Creator: Vikas Malhotra
The Left Field
Some of the suggestions are rather hard to classify, because it’s hard to understand where the idea came from in the first place.
Title: Government House of Development Affairs (GHODA)
Tagline: A movement of planned growth
Why: Because it Auspicious and a Symbol of Positive Forward Movement [sic]
Creator: Huzefa Tapia
Title: Relevant Development Authority
Tagline: Soche kal ki sanwaray aaj ko (Think about tomorrow to develop today)
Creator: Amit Sonkar
Title: Commission for Life
Tagline: Because we believe in living
Why: Commission is working for the survival of the each and every citizen of India therefore new plans were introduced time to time (because we want to live happily) the seven colours of rainbow in the logo symbolizes different plans for different problems. [sic]
Creator: Abhineet Kumar
Title: Vision (Viksit India Safal Aur Niyojan)
Tagline: Bharat Ka Mission
Creator: Radhika Chauhan
Title: Indian Action Center
Tagline: It’s Time to Action, Not To Plan
Creator: Akshay Pal Singh Sisodia
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
The following day, the Prime Minister’s Office called for citizens to offer ideas for a replacement to the Planning Commission. An open forum set up on MyGov.in allowed anyone to put forward suggestions for names, logos and taglines for the new agency. Though the government has yet to decide which one to pick, Scroll has assembled a sample of the suggestions on offer.
The Minimalists
Some of the suggestions keep things simple: minimal logos and tiny taglines, to go along with Narendra Modi’s mantra of minimum government.
Title: Bharat Building and Reforms Corporation
Why: Building Better Bharat
Creator: Babasaheb Khodave
Title: Think Tank for Policymaking
Tagline: It’s a ‘think tank’
Creator: Sanjeev Bhadauri
Title: Openmind
Tagline: For the goodness of our nation
Creator: Gagan Deep Chawla
The Money-Minded
A few were unwilling to move away from the precise mandate of this new agency, which is essentially to allocate India’s resources. So they decided to put the rupee symbol at the centre of the logo.
Title: National Building Mission
Tagline: Marching Towards Progress
Why: Rupee symbolise the financial growth of India and the tricolour arrow points the progress of the nation [sic]
Creator: Jayant Gawali
Title: Vikas Darpan
Tagline: Nayi Soch, Nayi Manzil (New thinking, new destination)
Creator: Laxmi Narain Agarwal
Title: Five Year Rupee Management
Tagline: 1917 – Rs 1 = $13; 2014 – Rs 63 = $1; 2017 – Rs 1 = $13
Creator: Prashantkumar Vasava
The Kitchen Sink
The Planning Commission was a large, important body with a number of responsibilities covering practically everything the government does, including apportioning resources to the states. Many would like to see the new body have a similar amount of work, and a new logo to reflect this complexity.
Title: Rashtriya Samavesh Vikas Parishad (National Inclusive Development Commission)
Tagline: Justice, Development, Equality, Good Governance and Democracy
Creator: Manish Kumar Patel
Title: Solar System of India
Tagline: Naye Vicharo Ko Jo Hai Lata Vohi Banta Hai Kise Desh Ka Bhagya Vidhata (He who brings new ideas is responsible for the country’s fate).
Creator: Vikas Malhotra
The Left Field
Some of the suggestions are rather hard to classify, because it’s hard to understand where the idea came from in the first place.
Title: Government House of Development Affairs (GHODA)
Tagline: A movement of planned growth
Why: Because it Auspicious and a Symbol of Positive Forward Movement [sic]
Creator: Huzefa Tapia
Title: Relevant Development Authority
Tagline: Soche kal ki sanwaray aaj ko (Think about tomorrow to develop today)
Creator: Amit Sonkar
Title: Commission for Life
Tagline: Because we believe in living
Why: Commission is working for the survival of the each and every citizen of India therefore new plans were introduced time to time (because we want to live happily) the seven colours of rainbow in the logo symbolizes different plans for different problems. [sic]
Creator: Abhineet Kumar
Title: Vision (Viksit India Safal Aur Niyojan)
Tagline: Bharat Ka Mission
Creator: Radhika Chauhan
Title: Indian Action Center
Tagline: It’s Time to Action, Not To Plan
Creator: Akshay Pal Singh Sisodia
