INDIAN PLANNING OBJECTIVES

SUCCESS OR RHETORIC
 Long Term Objectives of
Indian Planning
 Economic Growth
 Self Reliance
 Removal of Unemployment
 Reduction in Income Inequalities
 Elimination of poverty
 Modernisation
 Inclusiveness and Sustainability of Growth
 ECONOMIC GROWTH

 Phase I (1951 – 80)

 1951 – 65 : Building up of a strong industrial
base
 1965 – 80 : Industrial deceleration and
Structural retrogression
 GDP grew at a rate of 3.5% per annum
 Phase II (1981 – present)
 Average GDP growth rate of about 5.9% per
annum
 SELF RELIANCE

 At the time of Independence India was dependent on

foreign countries for
 Food grain imports
 Capital goods imports
 Foreign Aid to supplement Investment in the face of
low rate of Savings
 Two achievements in this respect
 Almost self sufficient in food
 Major advances towards self reliance in capital
equipment
 SELF RELIANCE

 An elusive goal because

 Highly volatile petrol prices

 Hot Money
 REMOVAL OF UNEMPLOYMENT

 A direct focal point of policy in the 8th Plan

 It was believed that as investment increased, so would
employment
 For that, choice of technique is important
 At the end of each plan period, the employment backlog
was greater than at the beginning of the plan
 Despite high rates of growth, annual employment
growth has been considerably less than addition to
workforce
 The unemployment rate increased from 7.3% in 1999-
2000 to 9.8% in 2016 (10.3% Urban and 9.5% Rural)
 REDUCTION IN INCOME
INEQUALITIES
 One of the objectives in all plans but received very
low priority in practice
 4th Plan – Fiscal policy can only reduce disposable
income at the top, but to reduce Income inequalities,
accelerating the pace of growth will go a long way
 An OECD report (2011) pointed out that inequalities
in earnings in India have doubled over the past two
decades ( the period of economic reforms)
 2011 – The Net worth of the 100 richest Indians was as
high as 1/6th of the country’s GDP
 ELIMINATION OF POVERTY

 Explicitly mentioned in the 5th FYP

 Until late 1970s, it was assumed that the ‘trickle-
down’ effects would be sufficient to eliminate
poverty without any additional measures
 Tendulkar Committee – 2004 -05 – Poverty line
defined as ₨. 446.68 per capita per month for
rural areas and Rs. 578.80 per capita per
month for urban areas – 41.8% of rural
population and 25.7% of urban population
was below the poverty line
 POVERTY

 In 2010, over 32% of Indians were below the

poverty line, which is set internationally at
US$ 1.25 daily – UNDP Report
 As the latest data of UNICEF has shown, 1 out
of 3 malnourished children around the globe
can be found in the country
 2015 - Estimated that about 53 million people
are still living in extreme poverty.
 MODERNISATION

 Considerable success in terms of

diversification of industrial sector
 Advances in technical capabilities
 Technological advances in agriculture –
fertilizers, HYV seeds, irrigation and water
management, greater mechanisation
 Conflict between mechanisation and
employment goals
 INCLUSIVENESS &
SUSTAINABILITY OF GROWTH
 Social as well as Financial Inclusion

 Inclusiveness of the poor and marginalised

sections – SC, ST, OBCs, minorities, women
as well as correction of regional imbalances

 Environmental sustainability goals