The formal approval of the Tenth Plan (2002-07) by the National Development Council comes towards the end of the first year of the five-year period of the Plan. While this is a commentary on the seriousness with which the Government and the Planning Commission view the planning process, this is still a shade better than the approval of the Ninth Plan which came nearly half way through its five-year term. But there is the larger issue of the role of planning when most of the controls and regulations, which made the process possible, have long since been removed. More than a decade after the beginning of deregulation, the Planning Commission is yet to redefine its role and that of the Central Plans...editorial