DEVELOPMENT UNDER DIFFERENT POLICY REGIMES- FIVE YEAR PLANS

Development under different policy regimes started to skyrocket after a small revolution in the economic development strategies and modification of economic policies in 1991 in India; this was known as economic reforms. The twelve completed five-year plans and the thirteen ongoing ones, first begun in 1951 under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. They have a major contribution to the stable and strategic growth of India’s Economic, social and agricultural sectors. The new policy regimes which are responsible for a country’s development are Policy of Privatization, Policy of Liberalization, and Policy of Globalization. Thus Development under different policy regimes and the five-year plans were jointly responsible for the betterment and upliftment of the Indian economy.

ECONOMIC PLANNING IN INDIA (THE FIVE YEAR PLANS)

Economic planning in India began during the post Independence era when India slowly started to regain control over its economy and began restructuring its path by strategic planning.  Economic planning in India was aimed to attain certain objectives that not only benefited the economy but also the welfare of the citizens, for example, Reduction in the unemployment rate, inequality of Income, poverty removal, attaining self-reliance, etc. The previous twelve five year plans are listed below:

• The 1st  Five-year plan (1951-1956)

The first five-year plan started in India in 1951, because of the country’s partition the number of refugees started to increase, leading to a shortage of food thus the government mainly focused on the irrigation and agricultural sector. The budget was around ₹2,069 crores and the estimated growth rate was 2.1%p.a. an increase in National income, to everyone’s surprise, the growth rate rose to 3.6% p.a.

• The 2nd  Five-year plan (1956-1961)

After the first five-year plan started in India, the objectives of the second one were set soon. It aimed at the initiation of the Industrialization process, to achieve long term growth. The budget was around ₹48 billion and the estimated growth rate was 4.5%p.a. increase in National income, however, was moderately successful and the growth rate was 4.27% p.a.

• The 3rd  Five-year plan (1961-1966)

The objective was to establish a self-generating and self-reliant economy. The budget was around ₹11,250 crores and the estimated growth rate was 5.6%p.a. increase in National income, however, was a complete failure, and the growth rate was 2.4% p.a.

• Plan holiday (1966-1969)

The plan holiday was announced as a result of failure in the previous plan. Planning exercise was not regularly undertaken for three years.

• The 4th  Five-year plan (1969-1974)

The primary focus was on growth with stability and attainment of self-reliance. The budget was around ₹3,000 crores and the estimated growth rate was 5.6%p.a. increase in National income, however, it was only half successful and the growth rate was 3.3% p.a.

• The 5th  Five-year plan (1974-1979)

The two major objectives were self-reliance attainment and removal of poverty. The budget was around ₹37,250 crores and the estimated growth rate was 4.4%p.a. the increase in National income was fairly successful and the growth rate was 4.8% p.a.

• The 6th  Five year plan (1980-1985)

It aimed at achieving technological self-reliance, reduction of unemployment and poverty. The budget was around ₹1, 58,710 crores and the estimated growth rate was 5.2%p.a. increase in National income was quite reasonably successful and the growth rate was 5.7% p.a.

• The 7th Five year plan (1985-1990)

The plan’s objective was to increase employment opportunities, productivity, and technological improvements. The estimated growth rate was 5.0%p.a. increase in National income, it had a satisfactory growth rate of 6.01% p.a

• The 8th  Five year plan (1992-1997)

It prioritized human resource facilities like education, health care, employment, etc. The estimated growth rate was 5.6%p.a. increase in National income, it had an impressive growth rate of 6.8% p.a

• The 9th  Five-year plan (1997-2002)

The main focus of the plan was the growth of the nation along with equity. The budget was around ₹859,200 crores and the estimated growth rate was 6.5%p.a. increase in National income, it achieved a quite lower growth rate of 5.6% p.a. 

• The 10th  Five year plan (2002-2007)

It aimed at increasing the per capita income and transformation of India into the fastest growing economy. The budget was around ₹19,68,815 crores and the estimated growth rate was 8.0%p.a. increase in National income, whereas it only attained a growth rate of 7.6% p.a.

• The 11th  Five year plan (2007-2012)

Its primary agenda was not only rapid but also inclusive growth. The estimated growth rate was 9.0%p.a. increase in National income, it attained a growth rate 7.5%.p.a

• The 12th  Five-year plan (2012-2017)

The plan aimed at reducing poverty and targeted generating 50 million jobs. It had a growth rate of 7%p.a. 

13TH FIVE-YEAR PLAN IN INDIA (2017-2022)

The 13th Five-year plan in India was mainly focused on the defense system. In the year 2020, India’s Economy faced a lot of unexpected disruption due to the pandemic hit, unemployment rate rose rapidly along with poverty, which caused a decline in the country’s GDP.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, India which is currently a fast-developing economy has been strategically planning its growth over a long period of 70 years and intends to carry on and keep improving its scale and efficiency of operations to become one of the developed nations and earn a place among the world leaders. With the proper execution of the five-year plans and the development under different policy regimes, India has great potential for a bright future.