The party’s Department of Policy Planning and Co-ordination (DEPCO) revived recently after having been downgraded to a “research & reference” cell about two years ago, has been asked by party president Sonia Gandhi to take a look at all bills pending in the Parliament and prioritise them according to their importance.
The department headed by senior party leader Veerappa Moily, has also been asked to go through sensitive issues like the Sachar Panel report and the Sethusamudram project and, develop strategies and policy papers on them.
It will also review the implementation of the UPA government’s flagship — National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and evolve suggestions to plug off loopholes.
The DEPCO decided to go ahead with this agenda at its recent meeting, which was attended by all its members, including AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. The next meeting on November 16, to be held a day after the Winter Session of Parliament begins, is expected to prioritise the pending bills.
“DEPCO will critically analyse the bills and prioritise them. We will also prepare status reports on issues like Sethusamudram, the Sachar Committee report, UPA government’s various achievements and schemes like NREG programme,” Mr Moily said here.
Incidentally, DEPCO had played a crucial role in the 2004 general elections, giving the Congress a background to effectively counter the BJP-led NDA’s ‘India Shining’ slogan.
However, after the UPA government was formed, its wings were cropped. With the next elections nearly one-and-a-half-years away, the party leadership seems to have woken up again.

CWC meet on wedNesday
New Delhi, dhns: The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is to meet on Wednesday to review preparations for the one-day All India Congress Committee session scheduled for November 17.
The meeting would take stock of the political situation in the country, in the backdrop of the Left’s opposition to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, particularly as the matter is expected to figure prominently in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament.
The CWC will again meet on November 16, a day before the AICC session that is expected to turn into a Rahul Gandhi show as it will be the first session after he became party general secretary, to formally clear the draft resolutions to be passed at the session.