Indian Planning: Issues and Policies

In Indian Economy government adopted nearly full-scale planning. It sought to plan investment for both public and private sectors. The objectives of all the five year plans in our economy have been basically the national allocation of resources, economic stability, and equitable distribution of wealth and income. As a result of the development plans, some distinct progress has been made in the course of the last three decades, despite the Chinese aggressien and Pakistan onslaught. A very extensive infrastructure has been built. The industrial base has been strengthened and diversitied, and almost a self-sufficiency has been attained in foodgrains production. Real national income has increased an average at the rate of about four percent during last three decades as compared to its average growth rate of little less than one per cent in the first fifty years at the last century. Agricultural production has almost doubled as contrasted with its stagnation during the first half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless the growth of agriculture, industry, employment, gross national product, and foreign trade has not been commensurate with the developmental efforts as indicated by the successive five year plans. Inflation has have with the economy, and inequalities of wealth and income in urban and rural sectors have been on the increase. In this volume an attempt is made to find out what has gone wrong with Indian planning at its various stages of plan formulation, resources mobilisation and plans execution.