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Here is a compilation of essays on the ‘Planning Commission in India’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Planning Commission in India’ especially written for school and college students.
Planning Commission in India
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Origin of Planning Commission in India
- Essay on the Functions Planning Commission in India
- Essay on the Organization of the Planning Commission
- Essay on the Evaluation Planning Commission in India
- Essay on the Research Programme Committee of Planning Commission in India
- Essay on the Procedure of Planning Commission
- Essay on the Planning Commissions at Various Levels
- Essay on the Implementation of Plans
- Essay on the Role of Planning Commission
- Essay on the Planning and Public Administration
- Essay on the Criticisms of the Planning Commission in India
Essay # 1. Origin of Planning Commission in India:
Ever since Dadabhai Naoroji published his paper on Poverty of India in 1876, Indian leaders had urged the necessity of coordinated action in the economic field as a means to the economic development of the country.
As the struggle for national independence progressed, its social and economic aims became more definite. Much useful programme in the field of national planning was adopted by the National Planning Committee which was set up in 1938 by the Indian National Congress, with Shri Nehru as its Chairman.
The work of this Committee was, however, unfortunately interrupted due to the outbreak of the Second World War during which period, many of its members were sent to jails. In 1944, the Government of India set up a separate Department of Planning and Development for the schemes to be undertaken after the war.
Towards the end of 1946, the Advisory Planning Board with Sh. K.C. Neogy as Chairman which was established by the Interim Government of India, recommended the appointment of a Planning Commission to devote continuous attention to the whole field of economic development and to suggest methods and means to rebuild the shattered economy of the country.
Essay # 2. Functions Planning Commission in India:
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(i) To make an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and to investigate the possibilities of augmenting such of those resources as are found to be deficient in relation to the nation’s requirements;
(ii) To formulate a Plan for the most effective and balanced utilization of the country’s resources;
(iii) To define the stages in which the Plan should be carried out and to propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage on a determination of priorities;
(iv) To indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic development, and determine the conditions which, in view of the current social and political situation, should be established for the successful execution of the Plan;
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(v) To determine the nature of the machinery which would be necessary for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the Plan in all its aspects;
(vi) To appraise from time to time the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the Plan and to recommend the adjustments of policy and measures that such appraisal might show to be necessary; and
(vii) To make such interim or ancillary recommendations as might be appropriate on a consideration of the prevailing economic conditions, current policies, measures and development programmes, or an examination of such specific problems as may be referred to it for advice by Central or State Governments or for facilitating the discharge of the duties assigned to it.
Essay # 3. Organization of the Planning Commission:
During over five decades of its functioning the Planning Commission’s composition has been undergoing changes from time to time. To begin with (i.e., in 1951-52) it consisted of four members. In 1964-65 its membership stood at five members. In the seventies of the present century, it was reconstituted. Its functions were also modified to ensure that the shortfalls in production do not recur.
The functions hitherto performed by the Deputy-Chairman Planning Commission were entrusted to the Planning Minister. The post of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission was abolished. Till February 1973 the Commission consisted of Chairman and three other members.
In March 1973 the number was raised to 4. In 1977 the Janata Party reconstituted the Planning Commission. The Finance Minister, the Defence Minister and the Home Minister were added to the Planning Commission as part-time members besides three full-time members.
In January, 1980 Mrs. Indira Gandhi again came to power. She terminated the Sixth Flan formulated under the patronage of the Janata Government and declared that a new plan for 1980-85 would be formulated. With this end in view, the Planning Commission was reconstituted.
Under Rajiv Gandhi, the Planning Commission consisted of eight members including the Deputy Chairman of whom five were full-time and two part-time members.
The National Front Government led by Sh. V.P. Singh changed the membership of Planning Commission to nine. Under the Rao Government, the Planning Commission consisted of eight full time members besides four ministers and a Dy. Chairman. The coalition Governments succeeding Rao Government found little time to give any thought to the organisation and role of the Planning Commission.
As regards the composition of Planning Commission, it may be noted that with the takeover of every new government, a major reshuffle is affected in the Planning Commission. The number of full-time members has varied from time-to-time.
The Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended that the Prime Minister should not be the Chairman of the Commission; of course, he will be continuously informed of the matters coming up for discussion at the meetings of the Commission.
He may attend its meetings and when he so attends, he will preside. The A.R.C. did not also favour the appointment of ministers as members of the Commission. It was of the view that the number of members should not exceed seven to be selected on the basis of their expertise and experience.
For administrative purposes the Commission has a Secretary who is assisted by a Joint Secretary and a Deputy Secretary. Besides, they are assisted by senior administrative staff, senior and junior research staff, junior administrative and clerical staff, and miscellaneous staff.
The Programme Advisers (Programme Administration):
The Programme Advisers (Programme Administration) have the status of ex-officio Additional Secretaries to the Government of India. Assistance to the members of the Commission in matters requiring field study and observation is provided by a team of four senior officers known as Advisers (Programme Administration).
These officers have considerable experience of administration in the States and they help the Commission in keeping close touch with the progress of planning and its implementation. They also pay specific attention to the problems of finance and public co-operation.
The General Secretariat:
The General Secretariat consists mainly of three branches—Plan Co-ordination, General Co-ordination and Administration, and an Organization and Methods Section. It is staffed by members of the Administrative and Central Clerical and Secretariat Services. The General Secretariat performs both coordinating and house-keeping functions.
It concerns itself primarily with matters of common interest to the Commission and keeps in touch with questions of general policy, bringing to notice and seeking according to the needs of a case the advice of Secretary, Deputy Chairman, or individual members or the Commission as a whole.
The Technical Divisions:
The Technical Divisions perform the most important work and constitute the backbone of the office of the Planning Commission. They vary in size but ordinarily, a head of a research unit is described as Chief and where a less senior officer is in-charge he is known as Director.
Chiefs and Directors are assisted by Assistant Chiefs. Each research unit consists of some research staff like Senior Research Officers, Research Officers and Investigators and some Secretariat staff.
There are in all twenty-six such Technical Units in the Planning Commission. The senior positions in the Technical divisions are occupied by subject-specialists who come from Indian Economic Service. It is in these Divisions that various types of data are collected and processed and put in shape to help in the formulation of plan programmes and policies.
The Technical Divisions are responsible for scrutiny and analysis of schemes and programmes to be included in the Plan, preparation of material for and reports on the Plan, conduct of technical studies and research, follow-up on Plan recommendations, examination of references from Central Ministries, State governments and voluntary agencies in regard to Plan programmes and projects.
Administrative Reforms Commission (A.R.C.) Suggestions on Organization of Commission:
As regards the members of the Commission, they suggested, that the members should be chosen for their expertise, wisdom and knowledge of handling men and affairs.
They said, “what we need is not narrow specialization but wide knowledge and experience in major areas of development such as agriculture and rural economy. The persons chosen should enjoy a reputation in the country as a whole for their wisdom, impartiality, integrity and objectivity.”
Since the administrative staff had increased by 454 per cent and efficiency of its functioning had consequently suffered a setback the Administrative Reforms Commission, through its Study Team, got the working of the Planning Commission examined. The Study Team’s recommendations which are enumerated below were endorsed by the A.R.C. and submitted to the Government of India on March 14, 1968.
Recommendations of A.R.C.:
(A) The commission’s secretariat should be re-organized in order to focus its activities around two principal functions, viz.,
(i) Plan formulation and revision;
(ii) Plan appraisal and evaluation, to reduce waste in money and personnel.
(B) The Planning Commission should be divested of its executive functions so that it may concentrate on the planning and evaluation functions.
Long-term research activities should also be taken away from the Planning Commission. Primary research work should be got organized through other official and non-official agencies. The operating and field agencies of the government should be used for the collection of data.
The Government accepted all these recommendations of the A.R.C. and re-organized the commission and its secretariat in 1969.
The reorganized commission organized itself into two secretariat branches for dealing with the work relating to:
(i) Administrative work in the Planning Commission; and
(ii) Coordination.
National Development Council:
India having a Federal Constitution, it is imperative that there should be close co-operation between the Planning Commission and the States. For this purpose National Development Council was set up as a result of Government resolution on August 6, 1952 which consists of the Prime Minister of India, Chief Ministers of all the States and the members of the Planning Commission.
The Ministers of the Central Government also participate in its meetings and the Council makes recommendations to the Central as well as to the State Governments. The meetings of the Council are held at least twice a year. Decisions in the Council are usually unanimous and conventionally resolutions are not put to vote.
The main functions of the National Development Council are as follows:
(i) To review the working of the National Plan from time-to-time;
(ii) To consider important questions of social and economic policy affecting national development;
(iii) To recommend measures for the achievement of the aims and targets set out in the National Plan, including measures to secure the active participation and co-operation of the people, improve the efficiency of the administrative services, ensure the fullest development of the less advanced regions and sections of the community, and, through sacrifice borne equally by all citizens, build up resources for national development.
The National Development Council has been evolved as an administrative agency to achieve the fullest co-operation and co-ordination in planning between the Central Government and State Governments and to bring about uniformity of approach and unanimity in the working of the National Plan. It consists of the policy makers in power, whose opinion cannot be ignored by the Planning Commission and the Cabinet.
Essay # 4. Evaluation Planning Commission in India:
The National Development Council has been quite successful in bridging and linking the Union Government, the Planning Commission and the various State Governments.
Secondly, it has served as a good forum for discussions and free exchange of ideas and has created a sense of high responsibility on the part of the State governments for making plans a success. Thirdly, it has served as a device for the sharing of responsibility between states and union governments.
In the words of V.T. Krishnamachari, “It provides a forum in which the Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of States discuss the Plans at important stages in their formulation. Plans are also approved at its meetings after completion and before they are presented to the Parliaments and State Legislatures. In this way, the national character of the plans is emphasized. The council also considers social and economic policies affecting the country from a national point of view so that where necessary, uniformity may be secured. In this way, it gives a lead to the country on broad issues of policy and promotes collective thinking and joint action on matters of national importance.”
However, there are persons who view the growing powers of the Council as a danger to the privileges of the Central and State Cabinets. They charge the N.D.C. for usurping authority and functioning as a ‘virtual super-cabinet’.
Thus, Brecher writes in the biography of Pt. Nehru:
“The National Development Council was established as a supreme administrative and advisory body on planning……. it lays down policy directives invariably approved by the cabinet. Since their inception the N.D.C. and its Standing Committee have virtually relegated the Planning Commission to the status of a research arm.”
H.M. Patel, retired I.C.S., expressed a similar view, “Among the Advisory Bodies to the Planning Commission is included the N.D.C. This is surely inaccurate, as is clear from its composition. The N.D.C. is a body obviously superior to the Planning Commission. It is, indeed, a policy-making body and its recommendations cannot but be regarded as policy decisions and not merely as advisory suggestions.”
Santhanam is a little more unsympathetic when he says “The position of the N.D.C. has come to approximate to that of a super-cabinet of the entire Indian Federation, a Cabinet functioning for the Government of India as well as for the Government of all States.” Late Mr. A.P. Jain, Food Minister, charged the N.D.C. for acting arbitrarily.
He felt that N.D.C. encroaches upon the functions which constitutionally belong to other bodies—Councils of Ministers at the Central and State levels. Sometimes, it approves too high targets of production even without the prior consultations of the Ministry concerned. Thus, in 1956, the targets of food production in the Second Plan were suddenly raised by the Council without the prior consultation of the Food Ministry.
Similarly, in 1958, the Council decided in favour of State Trading without making sure as to whether the State Governments had the capacity to enforce controls under the State Trading. In Jain’s opinion the Council is incompetent, both by law and by the nature of its composition, to take high-level national decisions. It is suited for deliberation but decisions must be left to the Cabinets at the Centre and the States.
The only defence that can be given to the N.D.C. from the above criticism is that it is neither a constitutional nor a statutory body; rather it is a creature of the Union Cabinet and as such its role is only advisory and its recommendations have no binding character.
By the very nature of its composition, the Council is likely to gain more and more influence and prestige but this should not be taken as an alarm to the powers of the Union and State Cabinets. It is only a high-ranking policy-making body and it is for the Cabinets to decide as to the degree of weight to be given to its recommendations.
It may also be remarked under the era of coalition Government the National Development Council has become the national platform for the regional governments in the states to ventilate their local grievances and complain of discrimination in the allocation of funds and projects.
At the meeting of NDC there is little discussion and deliberation about how to bring co-ordination and integration of state policies and programmes and more hue and cry about the alleged discrimination.
Instead of playing the role of being a deliberative body, it has now become a complaint and grievances forum wherein the chief ministers particularly those belonging to the opposition parties get an opportunity to criticize the Central Government in order to formulate their political agenda.
Programme Evaluation Organisation and Committee on Plan Projects:
In addition to National Development Council there are special bodies:
(i) Programme Evaluation Organization and
(ii) Committee on Plan Projects.
The Programme Evaluation Organization:
The Programme Evaluation Organization (P.E.O.) was originally set up in 1952 for making a systematic and periodic assessment of the methods and results of the Community Development programmes and National Extension movements. The functions of the organization were later extended so as to cover the field of rural development and to act as eyes and ears of the Planning Commission in rural areas.
The organisation is assisted in technical matters by the Programme Evaluation Board. At the headquarters it consists of a Director and several deputy directors, a number of Research Officers and other staff. There are three regional evaluation offices under the administrative control of P.E.O.
The main functions of the Programme Evaluation Organisation are:
(a) To make a systematic recurring evaluation of the methods and results of the Community Development Programme by keeping all concerned apprised currently of the progress being made towards accomplishing the programme objectives.
(b) To point out those extension methods which are proving effective and which are not.
(c) To furnish an insight into impact of the Community Development Programme upon the economy and culture of India.
(d) To help explaining as to why some recommended practices are adopted while others are rejected by the village.
At Present the P.E.O. Performs Two Main Tasks, viz.:
(i) A general appraisal of the progress of the programme with detailed examination of those aspects which may be of particular interest and
(ii) Field surveys to assess the impact of programme on economic and social conditions. At the outset, greater emphasis was laid on general assessment. Later on, it devoted more time to analytical examination of particular aspects.
The P.E.O. has brought out Annual Evaluation Reports making a general review of the programme and giving a detailed description of its work in certain specified evaluation centres. Moreover, it conducted certain important surveys and enquiries.
The organization not only maintains a record of the suggestions and recommendations made by it, it also checks the action taken by the Community Development Ministry and the State Governments on them. Sometimes it makes an objective test of finding out as to what is actually occurring in the field.
It issues directions to the field officers to see as to what extent the weaknesses in the programme pointed out are remedied or not remedied.
The Committee on Plan Projects:
The Committee on Plan Projects was set up in 1956 in pursuance of a decision of the National Development Council, for exploring the possibility of achieving economy consistent with efficiency in the projects included in the Second Plan.
The Functions of the Committee were:
(a) To organize investigations, including inspections in the fields of important projects both at the Centre and in the States through specially selected teams. The teams are composed of technical personnel and eminent public men with experience of the subjects detailed for study;
(b) To initiate studies with the object of evolving suitable forms of organisation, methods, standards and techniques for achieving economy, avoiding waste and ensuring efficient execution of projects;
(c) To promote the development of suitable machinery for continuous efficiency audit in individual projects and in agencies responsible for their execution;
(d) To secure the implementation of suggestions made in reports submitted to the Committee on Plan Projects and to make the results of studies and investigations generally available; and
(e) To undertake such other tasks as the National Development Council may propose for the promotion of economy and efficiency in the execution of the Second Five-Year Plan.
The COPP was composed of Home Minister—its Chairman—the Ministers for Planning and Finance and the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission as its members. Besides, two Chief Ministers of States for each category of projects are the nominees of the Prime Minister attached to the Committee. Moreover, the Union Minister concerned with the project under investigation is also to be its member.
Although set up in the background of the Second Five-Year Plan, the COPP now devotes its main attention to studies relating to management and administration and to economies in construction costs. It works through several teams and groups, which are composed of technical personnel and eminent public men with experience of the subjects detailed for study.
For proper investigation the committee has divided the projects under certain heads—irrigation and power, public works and buildings, agriculture and communications, public, industrial and universal enterprises and social services. For each set of projects the committee works through groups of ministers, both the Central and of the States.
Reports of investigation teams are discussed with the Chief Ministers of states concerned. Matters of general policy concerning investigation of the projects are considered from time to time in meetings of the Standing Committee of the N.D.C. For instance, the team for the study of Community Projects and National Extension Services rendered a remarkable service under the Chairmanship of Balwantrai Mehta.
It made a detailed study of the working of local bodies and development blocks and recommended a new three-tier organization of local and development administration in the district. These recommendations were implemented with minor modifications in different States.
Thus era of democratic decentralization ushered in. Its report on the working of social welfare agencies in the country was also equally commendable.
Essay # 5. Research Programme Committee of Planning Commission in India:
For the purpose of undertaking research in economic, administrative and social problems, the Planning Commission has set up a special organisation, viz., the Research Committee. The Committee consists of the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and most eminent social scientists.
It invites research projects from interested research workers, gives necessary technical guidance to the research workers and provides them with financial assistance. It organizes research on problems of social and economic growth.
Besides, the Planning Commission is also assisted by a number of Advisory and Associated bodies such as Advisory Committee on Irrigation; Flood Control and Power Projects; Coordination Committee for Planning Forums ; National Advisory Committee on Public Co-operation; Capital Goods Committee; Foreign Agreements Committee etc.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Indian Statistical Organization are also closely associated with the work of Planning Commission.
The system of appointing a number of working groups at the stage of the formulation of a plan is also a very important part of the Indian Planning procedure. In connection with the formulation of a Plan a number of working groups are set up. Some of the important working groups are on Resources, Agriculture, Steel, Industrial Machinery, Community Development, Fuel, Fertilizers, and General Education etc.
The reports of these working groups form the basic material for the formulation of the Plan.
The Planning Commission also consults the representatives of some of the important organisations in the private sector such as Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, All India Manufacturers’ Organisation, etc.
It also meets separately the representatives of important private sector industries. Thus attempt is made to secure the co-operation of the private sector enterprises also in the formulation of Plan.
Essay # 6. Procedure of Planning Commission:
The Planning Commission has Evolved a Certain Planning Procedure which may be Explained briefly as follows:
In the light of the basic political, social and economic objectives of the Government of India, the Planning Commission lays down tentatively certain general goals to be achieved over a relatively long period, say, 15 or 20 years, after a careful survey of the economic resources of the country and in the light of various technical possibilities.
After these tentatively long-term objectives are approved by the Government of India, the Planning Commission formulates certain broad five-year targets, keeping this long-term picture in view. These broad five-year targets are purely guidelines and are given for detailed discussions to various working groups, one for each important sector.
These groups consist of economists, technicians and high-level administrators who work out the details of the policies and programmes needed for achieving these targets. On the report of these working groups, the Planning Commission prepares a short memorandum of the Five-Year Plan which it places before the Cabinet and the National Development Council.
After the approval of the Cabinet and the National Development Council, the outlines of the Plan are prepared and published. The Draft Outline of the Plan which lays down the objectives, aims and estimates of the resources is placed before the Parliament for approval. The Draft is also widely discussed in the press, universities and other interested political and economic circles.
At the same time, the Planning Commission invites comments from the State Governments and the Central Ministries. In the light of these discussions, debates and comments, the Planning Commission re-drafts the Plan and submits it to the Cabinet, National Development Council and the Parliament for final approval.
At the same time the States, districts and the blocks prepare their own plans keeping in view the Draft Outline. These are modified later in the light of the Final Plan approved by the Parliament.
Unlike many other countries, the approval of the Plan by the Parliament is considered to be sufficient and no separate enactment is thought essential for giving statutory authority to the Plan. The Plan as approved by the Parliament becomes the final plan, and is sent to all concerned authorities and organisations for implementation.
As five-year term is a relatively long period it is a practice in India to break up the five- year plan into a series of annual plans. After each year of Plan the Planning Commission along with the Central Ministries and the State Governments reviews the progress of the Plan during the previous years, re-assesses the resources and formulates an annual plan for the next year.
This links the plan with the budget. “An annual plan introduces on the one hand, a much- needed flexibility in the implementation of the Five-Year Plan and, on the other, sets out the programme of development to be implemented every year with sufficient details.”
Essay # 7. Planning Commission at Various Levels:
Planning Machinery at the State Level:
At the State level there is no Planning Commission but there is a State Planning Department. The department keeps close touch with the Central Planning Commission and the various departments of the State, coordinating their programmes for development and formulating the development plan for the State as a whole.
The Plan prepared by it is put first to the Council of Ministers of the State, then to a State Development Board or Planning Advisory Committee which usually consists of State Ministers and important non-official representatives and finally to the State Legislatures.
The suggestions made by the Planning Commission are generally kept in view, otherwise the procedure of Planning at the State level is practically similar to that at the Centre.
Planning Boards for States:
The Planning Commission has suggested to State Governments that every, one of them should establish a State Planning Board. These Boards, it has been suggested, could be set up, more or less, on the lines of the Planning Commission and they could assist the State Governments in the formulation of the main policies and solution of the basic problems of implementation.
These boards, in the view of the Planning Commission, could have the Chief Ministers of the States as their Chairmen and could also include the State Finance Ministers as members. Like the Central Planning Commission, the State Boards could each have two or three full-time members who possess special experience and knowledge of planning and economic problems.
The States have been also given the hint that the Statistical Bureaus in the States could function in close association with the State Planning Boards which could gradually develop their own expertise on planning.
Case for Boards:
The Planning Commission seems to be of the view that State Planning Boards would be able to tackle planning problems more comprehensively than individual Departments of State Governments who are mainly concerned with implementation of specific projects and solution of particular problems.
The State Planning Boards, it is felt, could also assess the proposals of individual departments and help them to plan in a more systematic way and with better perspective. The State Planning Boards could also coordinate the developmental schemes of the State better.
The formation of the State Boards, in the opinion of the Planning Commission, will also facilitate improvement in the quality of planning and help in the evolution of more flexible procedures on matters like Central assistance and annual planning.
It is also felt that the State Planning Boards could contribute much in bringing about closer collaboration between the Planning Commission and the States in drawing up the Plan for long-term development.
Planning at District and Block Levels:
Below the State level an attempt is made to undertake the work of planning at the District and Block levels. This is done jointly by the officers of the various development departments and the members of the District Councils or Block Councils and/or the non-official representatives. The District Collectors and the Block Development Officers are responsible for co-ordination at the district and block levels, respectively.
Planning at Village Level:
An experiment is being made to carry the process of planning to the village level. The village plan is to be prepared by the Village Panchayats or Councils and Co-operatives with the help of the development and extension staff at the block and the village levels.
Essay # 8. Implementation of Plans:
The Plan, as finally adopted, is implemented by the administrative ministries of the Central Government and of the State Governments in their respective spheres. Planning Commission is an advisory body and has no executive function. It is a staff agency to aid and advise the government and as such it has no direct responsibility for the administration of plan programmes.
The plan is implemented on annual basis. This is because the Five-Year Plan cannot be implemented as a whole. Every state draws an annual plan on the basis of targets and allocations for the Five-Year Plan. Annual planning provides for flexibility in the implementation of the Plan Programmes in accordance with the economic and fiscal situation from time-to-time.
The annual plan sets out the programmes of development to be implemented every year in relation to the Five-Year Plan.
However, the Commission does keep itself informed about the implementation of various plan projects. Its Advisers tour the states and assess progress on a continuing basis and make recommendations necessary to move the programmes ahead.
The Commission also undertakes publicity and information work to acquaint the people with the plan and stimulate their cooperation in its implementation. The Committee on Plan Projects and Programme Evaluation Organization assists the Commission in the implementation and evaluation of the Plan.
Essay # 9. Role of the Planning Commission:
For a country like India, the Planning Commission occupies a key position. “In some ways, Planning Commission is a unique institution, and in the sphere of governmental organisation, there has hardly been any recent development comparable, in its practical importance or in its general significance, from the point of view of the ‘Science of Public Administration’, to the growth of the Planning Commission.”
It is mainly a staff agency of the Government of India and acts as nerve centre of national thinking.
Although it has neither constitutional nor statutory authority yet it has come to exercise significant influence over the formulation of public policies even in matters other than those of economic development. It mostly relies on consultation and agreement.
“While the Planning Commission itself often takes the initiative in suggesting new policies or programmes, one of its main functions is to coordinate policies or programmes originating from other agencies of Government. It seems to perform this function through arranging a large number of consultations between various interested agencies and by making the fullest use of knowledge and experience available with them for the purposes of formulation as well as evaluation of the Plan. One notable achievement of Planning Commission is that it has developed the process of planning into great cooperative endeavour and in this process conventions and formal understanding play no less an important role than formal legislation and order.”
Unlike a research institute which works in an ivory tower and is out of touch with the various political, economic and social problems, the Planning Commission makes a realistic approach and devotes itself almost entirely to the formulation of the Plan and evaluation of the progress achieved in the execution of each stage of the Plan.
It maintains a liaison between the various Ministries of the Government of India and the State Governments. The Planning Commission has so far submitted eleven Five-Year Plans to Parliament.
A Brief Synopsis of these Plans is as below:
First Five-Year Plan:
First Five-Year Plan, 1951-56, emphasized on development of agriculture and transportation and communications, rehabilitation of refugees and control of inflation. The investment projected was Rs. 1960 crores.
Second Five-Year Plan:
Second Five-Year Plan, 1956-61, laid emphasis on rapid industrialisation with particular emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries, large expansion of employment opportunities and reduction of inequalities of income and wealth. The total investment was Rs.4, 600 crores.
Third Five-Year Plan:
Third Five-Year Plan, 1961-66, aimed at securing a marked advance towards self-sustaining growth by securing an increase in the national income by over 5 percent, achieving self- sufficiency in food grains, expanding basic industries and utilizing fully the man-power resources of the country. The total projected investment was Rs. 11,600 crores.
Fourth Five-Year Plan:
Fourth Five-Year Plan, 1969-1974. The period 1966-69 was a period of plan holiday due to the situation created by the Indo-Pakistan conflict, two successive years of severe drought, devaluation of currency and erosion of resources available for plan progress.
The Fourth Plan set before itself two main objectives, viz. ‘growth with stability’ and ‘progressive achievement of self-reliance.’ It laid particular emphasis on the improvement of the conditions of the less privileged and weaker sections of the society. It envisaged an aggregate outlay of Rs. 24,882 crores.
Fifth Five-Year Plan:
Fifth Five-Year Plan, 1974-1979, carried forward the goals of the fourth plan with the additional emphasis on self-reliance. The total outlay was Rs. 53,411 crores.
Sixth Five-Year Plan:
Sixth Five-Year Plan, there were two Sixth Five-Year Plans. The Janata Government which came to power in 1977 terminated the Fifth Five-Year Plan at the end of the financial year 1977-78 and formulated the Sixth Five-Year Plan for the period 1978-83 which emphasized higher rate of growth, reduction in the disparity of income and wealth, removal of unemployment and appreciable rise in the standard of living of the poorest section of the population. The total outlay was Rs. 1, 41, 377 crores.
After the fall of Janata Government in 1979, the Congress (I) Government which came to power in January 1980 terminated the Sixth Five-Year Plan and put up another new plan for the period 1980-85 which sought to strengthen the infrastructure for both agriculture and industry, laid emphasis on a speedy development of indigenous sources of energy, and progressive reduction of social, economic and regional disparities in the field of development.
It also sought to meet the minimum basic needs of the people and provide opportunities for employment. The new Sixth Plan had a total outlay of Rs. 1,58110 crores.
Seventh Five-Year Plan:
Seventh Five-Year Plan, 1985-90, sought to achieve an overall growth rate of five per cent for the economy with the growth rate of agriculture fixed at four percent and that of industry at eight percent.
It laid special emphasis on self-sufficiency in food, modernisation and updating of technology in all sectors, both industry and agriculture, rural employment, anti- poverty programmes reducing the number of people below the poverty line from 272.7 million to 210.8 million. The total plan outlay was Rs. 3, 22,366 crores.
Eighth Five-Year Plan, 1992-97:
Again there were two Annual Plans for the year 1990- 91 and 1991-92 due to political changes in the country. The National Front Government due to its short life could not decide on plan priorities and present a plan to the nation. The Rao Government on assumption of power in June 1991 began its exercise on the Eighth Five-Year Plan and approved the Eighth Plan in May 1992 with a total outlay of Rs. 7, 98,000 crores.
The focus of the plan was on employment generation in the rural areas. It sought to achieve an annual growth rate of 5.6 percent. The main thrust, was towards the alleviation of poverty, creation of new jobs and technological innovation. Stress was laid on participatory planning and role of private sector.
Of the total investment, the share of the public sector was to be 45 per cent. The role of public sector had not been “downgraded”, but the private sector, as its relative contribution to the total investments envisaged shows, had been decisively “upgraded.”
The Ninth Plan (1997-2002) envisaged a public outlay of Rs. 859200 crores. It was approved by NDC on Feb. 19, 1999, 2 years behind schedule.
The 10th Plan (2002-07) targeting 8 percent growth annually during 2002-07 was approved by the Union Cabinet on October 29, 2002. It envisaged an outlay of Rs. 15,92,300 crore the central plan outlay being Rs. 9,21,291 crores whereas the outlay for the states and the Union Territories was fixed at Rs. 6,71,009 crores.
However, with the new UPA Government led by the Congress Party and supported by the Leftist group in power, and changes in the composition of Planning Commission Sri Montek Singh Ahluwalia the renowned economist being the new vice-chairman, the Plan formulated by the earlier NDA Government was revised to fulfill the promises made by the Congress Party to the voters.
The Draft of 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012) has also been approved by the National Development Council.
Essay # 10. Planning and Public Administration:
Public Administration in its earliest stage was concerned with maintenance of law and order, but as the society enhanced and its structure became complex public administration assumed wider functions and acquired pivotal importance particularly in developing countries like India which are engaged in a massive effort to free the people of poverty, squalor and disease.
It acquired new terminology like New Public Administration, Development Administration, and Comparative Public Administration and got divided into specialized types like Rural Administration and Urban Administration. New tools and techniques and new theories were propounded to explain its subject matter and make administration in action successful.
India has adopted the system of achieving socialism through democratic process which had great impact on the nature, scope and scale of administration. This impact has arisen due to three major forces at work.
First, the Government assumed developmental functions including those in the field of welfare; Second, there was increase in the scale and variety of administrative operations and third, India having a democratic government felt the need of associating people and their participation in the administrative process in order to facilitate planning and effective implementation of the Plans and programmes.
The various Plans have recognized the significance and role of public administration in the successful implementation of plans. As a matter of fact, the successful implementation of a plan depends on the integrity, honesty, leadership quality, administration skill, creativeness sense of responsibility and service of the employees and top level officers.
The First Plan said “In all directions, the pace of development will depend largely upon the quality of public administration, the efficiency with which it works and the cooperation which it evokes”.
In the words of Second Plan, “If the administrative machinery both at the centre and in the states does its work with efficiency integrity and with a sense of urgency and concern for the community the success of the Second Plan would be assured”.
It is thus clear that effective public administration is of great significance in all fields of planning economic and social. Both the formulation and implementation of Plans require talented and trained staff free from the evils of corruption and dedicated to public welfare.
Essay # 11. Criticisms of the Planning Commission in India:
The Planning Commission has been criticised on the following grounds:
1. The estimates of the Five-Year Plans which it prepares are mostly unrealistic. It is usually found that the targets fixed are too high for achievement by the administration. It does not consider what is practicable or workable but what is desirable. It is on account of this reason that achievements have always far lagged behind the targets.
Moreover, the plans are not finalized well in time. Their finalization and cabinet approval are delayed The Ninth plan draft (1997-2002) for instance, was approved by the cabinet on Jan 10, 1999.
2. It is losing its character as a ‘staff agency’ of the Government of India in so far as it is getting on an authoritarian pattern. Whatever it recommends is taken for granted not only by the Central but also by the State Governments. This is not a healthy sign to let a ‘staff agency’ acquire lordship over the administration of the whole of the country.
3. Its staff strength has been continuously increasing without any proportionate increase in the volume of work. Being a staff agency, it should have kept itself free from over-staffing. In fact, Parkinson’s Law has been in full operation in its ‘red bricks’ building.
4. Planning is highly centralized. The Grass-roots planning has not yet acquired any significance. The village machinery hardly plays any important role in the planning process. The centralized nature of Indian planning acquires arresting nature in the background of the federal system of policy.
5. Along with centralization, bureaucratization is another defect of Indian planning. The Planning Commission is a huge bureaucratic structure which mainly depends upon government bureaucracy for plan formulation and implementation. People’s participation is missing at both the formulation and implementation stages.
6. Planning is sectorial rather than spatial. The concept of area or regional planning has not found a place in the country so far. The various plan programmes are no more than schemes of departments in terms of quantitative targets.
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7. The planning machinery is divorced from operational responsibility. Planning of plan implementation is not undertaken at national level. The ground realities are ignored while fixing targets. Plans have failed because of defective and half-hearted efforts of an inadequate plan implementation machinery.
The most cherished goals of full employment, eradication of illiteracy and poverty and creation of a more equal society are as distant today as they were when we set out on the road to planned development.
The above criticism only emphasizes the need of evolving suitable administrative set-up and modes of functioning to meet the challenge of planned development. The Planning Commission while fixing the targets does not appear to bestow sufficient thought on administrative imperatives and implications of what it sets out to outline as the basic objectives of the plan.
It probably feels that the existing administrative machinery is capable of achieving the various objectives visualized in the plan. It tends to overtook that public administration itself might be a limiting factor in the successful operation of the plan.
Therefore, while formulating the plan, the administrative aspects, issues and implications of a programme should be more carefully analyzed and taken care of in the Plan. India has embarked upon the unique experiment of large-scale democratic planning and the world’s eyes are turned towards it to watch its success.