ECONOMIC

PLANNING

IT REFERS TO THE CONSCIOUSLY DIRECTED EFFORTS OF ORGANISING

AND USING RESOURCES FOR PRODUCTIVE PURPOSES BY A

CENTRAL AUTHORITY FOR ACHIEVING CERTAIN

PREDETERMINED AND WELL DEFINED OBJECTIVES OR

GOALS WITHING A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME.

THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE PERIOD IN INDIA WAS A PERIOD OF ECONOMIC

STAGNATION.AT THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE, INDIA WAS

AN UNDEVELOPED COUNTRY CHARACTERISED

BY LOW PER CAPITA INCOME, ABJECT POVERTY AND VERY POOR QUALITY

OF LIFE.

THEREFORE, THE GOVERNMENT

UNDERTOOK THE TASK OF

PROMOTING ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT THROUGH ECONOMIC PLANNING.

THE PLANNING COMMISSION WAS SET UP IN MARCH 1950 AND HEREBY

INDIA ADOPTED FIVE YEAR PLANS

FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIAN ECONOMY.

FIRST FIVE YEAR PLAN : LAUNCHED ON 1ST

APRIL 1951 FOR THE PERIOD 1951-1956.

CURRENTLY ELEVENTH PLAN IS IN

OPERATION SINCE 1ST APRIL 2007-2012.

LONG TERM

OBJECTIVES OF

THESE PLANS

ECONOMIC

GROWTH

oFIRST AND FOREMOST OBJECTIVE.

oECONOMIC GROWTH TRADITIONALLY MEASURED AND EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF PER CAPITA INCOME.

oAIM TO BRING ABOUT RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH DEVELOPMENT IN ALL THE MAJOR SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY.

o “MAJOR THRUST”OF ECONOMIC PLANNING IN INDIA IS ECONOMIC GROWTH.

o HIGH PRIORITY TO GDP GROWTH SEEMS TO BE JUSTIFIED KEEPING IN VIEW THE LONG PERIOD OF STAGNATION DURING 19TH CENTURY AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

o IT WAS EXPECTED THAT THE FRUITS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH WOULD BENEFIT DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE PEOPLE AS THIS WAS TERMED AS“TRICKLE DOWN THEORY”.

REMOVAL OF UNEMPLOYM

ENT

o UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT ARE IMPORTANT FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR LOW LEVEL OF INCOME AND POVERTY IN THE COUNTRY.

o NO SERIOUS ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO WORK OUT A STRATERGY FOR EMPLOYMENT GENERATION.

o PLANNING COMMISSION BELIEVED THAT INCREASE IN INVESTMENT AND INCREASE IN NATIONAL INCOME WOULD AUTOMATICALLY GENERATE MORE EMPLOYMENT.o EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE TOWARDS CREATION OF MORE EMPLOYMENT THROUGH INCREASE IN INVESTMENT AND INCOME EXPANSION OF SMALL SCALE LABOUR INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES.

SPECIFIC SCHEMES UNDERTAKEN:

MGNREGA

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

JRY Jawahar Razgar Yojana.

PMIUPEP

Prime Ministers Integrated Urban Poverty

SELF RELIAN

CE

REDUCTION OF

INCOME INEQUALIT

IES

o INDIAN ECONOMY IS CHARACTERISED BY GLARING INEQUALITES OF INCOME AND WEALTH.

o PRESENT DEGREE OF INEQUALITY OF INCOME – UNDESIRABLE – NEEDS TO BE REDUCED.o FRUITS OF GROWTH SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.

o PROCESS OF REDUCING INEQUALITIES IS TWO FOLD:

1.IT MUST RAISE INCOME AT LOW LEVEL.

2.IT MUST REDUCE CONCENTRATION OF WEALTH AT HIGHER LEVELS.

o INCOME EQUALITY ALSO DUE TO DISPARITY IN THE LEVEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ATTAINED BY DIFFERENT STATE AND REGIONS.

o RECOGNITION OF THE NEED FOR GIVING SPECIAL ATTENTION TO BACKWARD STATES AND HILLY AREAS.

o NOT MUCH PRIORITY GIVEN TO THIS OBJECTIVE – BELIEVING ECONOMIC GROWTH WILL AUTOMATICALLY REDUCE INCOME INEQUALITY.

o THERE HAS BEEN A SLOW DECREASE IN INCOME INEQUALITY DURING THE PERIOD OF ECONOMIC PLANNING.

o ABOLITION OF ZAMINDARI SYSTEM, IMPOSING CEILING ON LAND HOLDINGS, DISTRIBUTING SURPLUS LAND AMONG LANDLESS.o INCOME INEQUALITY ARISING OUT OF INDUSTRIALISATION AND GROWTH WERE FAR MORE COMPLEX.REGIONAL INEQUALITY – LARGE DISPARITY BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN INCOME.

ELIMINATION OF

POVERTY

o ONE OF THE FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES.

o REMOVAL OF POVERTY TAKEN AS SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE FROM FIFTH PLAN (1974-1979)

o IT WAS BELIEVED THAT BENEFITS OF DEVELOPMENT WOULD AUTOMATICALLY REACH THE POOR MASSES.

o THIS EXPECTATION WAS NOT REALISED – INFACT INCREASE IN NATIONAL INCOME WAS ACCOMPANIED BY INCREASE IN THE DEGREE OF POVERTY.

o IN THE FIFTH PLAN, THERE WAS A VISIBLE SHIFT IN PLANNING THE ISSUE OF POVERTY.

GARIBI HATAOMINIMUM NEEDS

PROGRAMMEGROWTH WITH JUSTICE.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A

SOCIALISTIC SOCIETY

THIS IMPLIES:

1. EQUAL OPPORTUNITES TO ALL IN THE MATTER OF EDUCATION, PUBLIC HEALTH, OCCUPATION, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, ETC.2. JUST AND EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND ABSENCE OF CONCENTRATION OF ECONOMIC POWER.3. SOCIALISTIC SOCIETY CHARACTERISED BY ABSENCE OF EXPLOITATION OF MAN BY MAN.

MODERNISATION