Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER
DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
Planning in India
Planning in India derives its objective and
social promises from the Directive Principles
of the State Policy enshrined in the
Constitution. Public and Private Sectors are
viewed as complementary.
HISTORY
OF
PLANNING
140
Development Planning
141
Plan Implementation
ACHIEVEMENTS
Growth in Net National Products: The
Indian economy made several strides during
the last fifty years (1950-51 to 2000-01) under
planned regime. As a result of this, the Net
National Product increased 7.6 times
registering a compound growth rate of 4.2 per
cent per annum. During the same period, per
capita income increased by 2.8 times,
registering a compound growth rate of 2.1 per
cent per annum. However, there has been
wide variation in annual growth rates during
different plans.
In terms of compound annual growth rate,
the First Plan was successful, especially in
respect of achieving self-sufficiency in food.
The Second Plan made further strides not only
in agriculture but also in industry. The Third
Plan and the subsequent three annual plans
were period of stagnation with lowest growth
in net domestic product. It was due to wars,
droughts and devaluation of Indian currency.
Situation did not improve much even during
the Fourth Plan. The Fifth Plan, however,
recorded substantial improvement in spite of
drought of 1979-80. Achievements during the
142
Development Planning
REGIONAL DISPARITY
There is marked regional disparity in the level
of development within the country. For
instance, per capita income ranges from
Rs 6328 in Bihar to Rs 35,705 in Delhi in 19992000. Thus, the ratio between states with the
lowest and highest income is 1:5.6. Only in 14
out of 29 states and union territories per capita
income is above Rs. 15,000 per annum.
Similarly, proportion of population below
poverty line ranges from 3.48 per cent in
Jammu and Kashmir to 47.15 per cent in
Orissa in 1999-2000. Ratio between lowest and
highest values is thus 1: 13.5. Urbanisation is
another indicator of development. Proportion
of urban population among states varies from
5.50 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh to 49.77
per cent in Goa. Again the magnitude of
difference is 1:9. Still more than one-third of
the total population above 6 years of age is
illiterate. Situation is worse in female literacy.
Slightly more than half (54.2%) of them were
literate in 2001. This proportion ranges from
33.6 per cent in Bihar to 87.9 per cent in
Kerala. Human Development Index already
discussed earlier is as low as 0.367 for Bihar
and as high as 0.638 for Kerala among major
states of the country.
143
to
Reduce
Regional
144
Development Planning
Intensive
Agricultural
Development
Programme: This was adopted in the third
plan period. The essence of this policy was to
select a few districts where the prospects of
agricultural development were bright. The
districts selected had assured water supply
by irrigation. In these districts the farmers
were provided with full package services
improved seeds, fertilisers, plant protection
and short-term credit. Due to high cost of
inputs and high risk involved, this programme
was restricted within certain section of
farmers in limited areas.
The outcome of Indias planned
development is a mixed bag. On the success
145
FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
EXERCISES
Review Questions
1. Answer the following briefly:
(a) What is planning?
(b) Why is planning required for the development of a country?
(c) What were the aims of the Second Five Year plan?
(d) What were the special features of the Annual Plans during 1966-69?
(e) What is the employment situation in India?
( f ) Mention the areas where Tribal Area Development Programmes were
implemented.
(g) Write salient features of the Drought Prone Area Programmes.
(h) When was the Intensive Agricultural Development Programme adopted?
2. Write short notes:
(a) Objective of the Tenth Five Year Plan
(b) Need for sustainable developmened.
3. Describe the main achievements of the Five Year Plans in India.
4. Describe the growth in the different sectors of Indian economy.
146
Development Planning
147