The
economy of India is based in part on
planning through her 'five-year plans', developed, executed and monitored by the
Planning Commission. With the
Prime Minister as the ''
ex officio'' Chaiman, the commission has a nominated Deputy Chairman, who has rank of a
Cabinet minister.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Commission. The tenth plan was completed its term in March 2007; the eleventh plan is currently underway.
First plan (1951-1956)
The first Indian Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru presented the first five-year plan to the
Parliament of India on December 8, 1951. Its total budget of 206.8 billion
INR (23.6 billion
USD in the 1950
exchange rate) was allocated to seven broad areas:
irrigation and
energy (27.2 percent),
agriculture and
community development (17.4 percent),
transport and
communications (24 percent),
industry (8.4 percent),
social services (16.64 percent),
land rehabilitation 4.1 percent), and other (2.5 percent).
The target growth rate was 2.1 percent annual
gross domestic product (GDP) growth; the achieved growth rate was 3.6 percent annual GDP growth. During the first five-year plan the
net domestic product went up by 15 percent. The
monsoons were good and there was relatively high
crop yields, boosting exchange reserves and
per capita income, which went up 8 percent. Lower increase of per capita income as compared to national income was due to rapid
population growth. Many irrigation projects were initiated during this period, including the
Bhakra Dam,
Hirakud Dam, and
Mettur Dam in
South India. The
World Health Organization, with the Indian government addressed children's health and reduced
infant mortality, contributing to population growth.
At the end of the plan period in 1956, five
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were started as major technical institutions.
University Grant Commission was setup to take care of funding and take measures to strengthen the higher education in the country.
Contracts were signed to start five
steel plants; however these plants did not come into existence until the middle of the next five-year plan.
Second plan (1956-1961)
The second five-year plan focused on industry, especially
heavy industry. Domestic production of industrial products was encouraged, particularly in the development of the
public sector. The plan followed the
Mahalanobis model, an
economic development model developed by the Indian
statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in 1953. The plan attempted to determine the optimal allocation of investment between productive sectors in order to maximise long-run economic growth .
Hydroelectric power projects and five steel mills at
Bhilai,
Durgapur, and
Jamshedpur were also established.
Coal production was increased. More
railway lines were added in the north east.
The
Atomic Energy Commission was formed in 1957 with
Homi J. Bhabha as the first chairman. The
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was established as a
research institute. In 1957 a talent search and
scholarship program was begin to find talented young students to train for work in nuclear power.
Third plan (1961-1966)
The planned stress was on agriculture, but the brief
Sino-Indian War (1962) exposed weaknesses in the economy and shifted the focus towards
defense. In 1965-1966, the
Green Revolution advanced agriculture. The wars led to rising prices in India. The priority was thus shifted to
price stabilization. The construction of
dams continued. Many
cement and
fertilizer plants were also built.
Punjab begun producing an abundance of
wheat.
Many
primary schools were started in rural areas. In an effort to bringing democracy,
Panchayat elections were started and the
states were given more development responsibilities.
State electricity boards were formed. State secondary education boards came into existence. States were made responsible for
secondary and
higher education. State road transportation corporations were formed and local road building became a state responsibility.
Fourth plan (1969-1974)
At this time
Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. At this time the
Vietnam War was taking place in
Southeast Asia. The Indira Gandhi government
nationalized 19 major Indian banks. In addition, the situation in
East Pakistan (now independent
Bangladesh) was becoming dire as the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and
Bangladesh Liberation War took place. In 1971 more than 10 million East Pakistani
refugees fled to India during the
Yahya Khan regime who was the military dictator of Pakistan. India sent 300,000 troops surrounding East Pakistan and liberated it in 15 days. The new nation of Bangladesh was declared in December 1971. Pakistan's 93,000 troops surrendered to the
Indian Army; these
prisoners of war were later released after the
Simla Agreement (1972).
Funds earmarked for the industrial development had to be used for the war effort. India also performed the
Smiling Buddha underground nuclear test in 1974, partially in response to the
United States deployment of the
Seventh Fleet in the
Bay of Bengal to warn India against attacking
West Pakistan and widing the war.
Fifth plan (1974-1979)
Stress was laid on
employment, the reduction of
poverty, and
justice. The plan also focused on
swadeshi (
self-reliance) with respect to agricultural production and defense. In 1978 the newly elected
Morarji Desai government rejected the plan.
Sixth plan (1980-1985)
Called the
Janata government plan, the sixth plan marked a reversal of the Nehruvian model..
When
Rajiv Gandhi was elected as the prime minister, the young prime minister aimed for rapid industrial development, especially in the area of
information technology. Progress was slow, however, in part because of the cautiousness of labor and [Communist Party of India|communist]] leaders.
The
Indian national highway system was introduced for the first time and many roads were widened to accommodate the increase in
traffic.
Tourism in India also expanded. After the
devaluation of the rupee it became cheap for foreigners visiting India.
The sixth plan also marked the beginning of
economic liberalization.
Price controls on prices was eliminated and ration shops were closed. This led to an increase in food prices and an increased
cost of living.
Family planning also was expanded in order to prevent
overpopulation. In contrast to China's harshly-enforced
one-child policy, Indian policy did not rely on the threat of force. More prosperous areas of India adopted family planning more rapidly than less prosperous areas, which continued to have a high
birth rate.
Seventh plan (1985-1989)
The Seventh Plan marked the comeback of the
Indian National Congress Party into power. Stress was laid on improving the productivity level of industries by upgradation of
technology.
Period between 1989-91
The 1989-91 years, was a time of political instability in India and hence no five year plan was implemented. Between 1990 and 1992, there were only Annual Plans. In 1991, India faced a crisis in
Foreign Exchange (Forex) reserves, left with reserves of only about $1 billion (US). Thus, under pressure, the country took the risk of reforming the socialist economy. Venkata Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi (popularly known as
P.V. Narasimha Rao or PVN Rao or PV)(28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was the twelfth Prime Minister of the Republic of India and head of
Congress Party, and led one of the most important administrations in India's modern history overseeing a major economic transformation and several incidents affecting national security. At that time At that time Dr.
Manmohan Singh (currently, Prime Minister of India) also called Father of Indian Economic Reforms launched India's free market reforms that brought the nearly bankrupt nation back from the edge.It was the beginning of
privatization and
liberalization in India.
Eighth plan (1992-1997)
Modernization of industries was a major highlight of the Eighth Plan. Under this plan, the gradual opening of the Indian economy was undertaken to correct the burgeoning
deficit and foreign debt. Meanwhile India became a member of the
World Trade Organization on 1 January 1995.
Ninth plan (1997-2002)
During the Ninth Plan period, the growth rate was just 5.35 per cent, more than a percentage point lower than the target GDP growth of 6.5 per cent.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/10/12/stories/2002101200051000.htm
Tenth plan (2002-2007)
The main objectives of the 10th Five-Year Plan are:
★ Reduction of
poverty ratio by 5 percentage points by 2007;
★ Providing gainful and high-quality employment at least to the addition to the labour force;
★ All children in school by 2003; all children to complete 5 years of schooling by 2007;
★ Reduction in gender gaps in literacy and wage rates by at least 50% by 2007;
★ Reduction in the decadal rate of population growth between 2001 and 2011 to 16.2%;
★ Increase in Literacy Rates to 75 per cent within the Tenth Plan period (2002-3 to 2006-7);
★ Reduction of Infant mortality rate (IMR) to 45 per 1000 live births by 2007 and to 28 by 2012;
★ Reduction of Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 2 per 1000 live births by 2007 and to 1 by 2012;
★ Increase in forest and tree cover to 25 per cent by 2007 and 33 per cent by 2012;
★ All villages to have sustained access to potable drinking water within the Plan period;
★ Cleaning of all major polluted rivers by 2007 and other notified stretches by 2012;
★ Economic Growth further accelerated during this period and crosses over 8% by 2006.
Eleventh plan (2007-2012)
The
United Progressive Alliance government issued a paper in the eleventh plan titled "Towards faster and more inclusive growth." According to the approach paper, the monitorable targets of five-year plan are:
★ GDP growth rate to be increased to 10% by the end of the plan;
★
Farm sector growth to be increased to 4%;
★ Creation of seven core job opportunities;
★ Reduce educated unemployed youth to below 5 percent
★
Infant mortality rates to be reduced to 28 per 1000 births;
★
Maternal death rates to be reduced to 1 per 1000 births;
★ Clean
drinking water to all by 2009;
★ Improve
sex ratio to 935 by 2011-12 and to 950 by 2016-17;
★ Ensure electricity connection to all villages and
broadband over powerlines (BPL) households by 2009
★
Roads to all villages that have a population of 1000 and above by 2009;
★ Increase forest and
tree cover by 5%;
★ Achieve the World Health Organization standard
air quality in major cities by 2011-12;
★
Treat all urban
wastewater by 2011-12 to clean
river waters;
★ Increase energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2016-17;
External Links
★
Official website of the Planning Commission of India
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
