Five Year Plans — Set 3

Correct Answer: B. Jayaprakash Narayan

• **Jayaprakash Narayan** = Jayaprakash Narayan drafted the Sarvodaya Plan in 1950 based on the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave. • **Gandhian decentralisation** — It emphasised small-scale cottage industries, decentralised governance, and village-level self-sufficiency over heavy industrialisation. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: M. N. Roy: he drafted the People's Plan (1945) based on Marxist principles, not the Sarvodaya Plan; Acharya Vinoba Bhave: his ideas inspired the Sarvodaya Plan but Jayaprakash Narayan was the drafter; Sriman Narayan Agarwal: he drafted the Gandhian Plan (1944), not the Sarvodaya Plan.

Correct Answer: C. Third Plan

• **Third Plan** = The Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) was most severely disrupted by the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. • **2.4% achieved vs 5.6% target** — The plan achieved only 2.4% growth against a target of 5.6%, leading directly to the Plan Holiday of 1966-69. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Fourth Plan: the Fourth Plan came after the Plan Holiday and is associated with bank nationalisation; Second Plan: it was implemented from 1956-61, before the two wars; Fifth Plan: it was terminated early in 1978 by the Janata Government, not disrupted by wars.

Correct Answer: C. Fifth Plan

• **Fifth Plan** = The Twenty Point Programme was launched in July 1975 during the Fifth Five Year Plan under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. • **Emergency period launch** — It was launched during the Emergency period and aimed to eradicate poverty through 20 specific socio-economic goals. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Seventh Plan: the Seventh Plan ran from 1985-90, a decade after the Twenty Point Programme was launched; Fourth Plan: the Twenty Point Programme was introduced in 1975, during the Fifth Plan, not the Fourth; Sixth Plan: the programme was restructured in 1982 but was not originally launched in the Sixth Plan.

Correct Answer: C. Fifth Plan

• **Fifth Plan** = The Fifth Five Year Plan (originally 1974-79) was terminated in 1978, one year before its scheduled end, by the incoming Janata Party government. • **Original schedule 1974-1979** — The Janata Government came to power in 1977 and replaced the Fifth Plan with a Rolling Plan in 1978. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Third Plan: the Third Plan ran its full course but failed to meet targets due to wars; Seventh Plan: the Seventh Plan (1985-90) was completed successfully; Ninth Plan: the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) ran its full five-year course.

Correct Answer: B. M. N. Roy

• **M. N. Roy** = The People's Plan of 1945 was drafted by Manabendra Nath Roy (M. N. Roy) based on radical Marxist principles. • **₹15,000 crore for 10 years** — It proposed a budget of ₹15,000 crore over 10 years, emphasising consumer goods production and nationalisation of industries. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: S. N. Agarwal: he drafted the Gandhian Plan (1944) based on Gandhian economics; G. D. Birla: he was one of the industrialists behind the Bombay Plan (1944), not the People's Plan; Jawaharlal Nehru: Nehru chaired the National Planning Committee but did not draft the People's Plan.

Correct Answer: C. Second Plan

• **Second Plan** = The steel plants at Durgapur (UK), Bhilai (USSR), and Rourkela (West Germany) were all established during the Second Five Year Plan (1956-61). • **Mahalanobis heavy industry strategy** — This was a direct outcome of the Mahalanobis model's strategy to build a strong heavy industrial base in India. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Fourth Plan: the Fourth Plan focused on stability and bank nationalisation, not setting up steel plants; Third Plan: the Third Plan focused on self-reliance but the steel plants were set up in the Second Plan; First Plan: the First Plan focused on agriculture and irrigation.

Correct Answer: A. Eleventh Plan

• **Eleventh Plan** = The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) had 'Faster and More Inclusive Growth' as its core objective. • **9% growth target** — It aimed to achieve a 9% average growth rate and ensure growth benefits reached all citizens, especially backward regions. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Ninth Plan: its theme was 'Growth with Social Justice and Equality'; Twelfth Plan: it added 'Sustainable' to the objective; Tenth Plan: it focused on doubling per capita income and reducing the poverty ratio.

Correct Answer: D. Montek Singh Ahluwalia

• **Montek Singh Ahluwalia** = Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the last Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission before it was dissolved and replaced by NITI Aayog. • **2004-2014 tenure** — He served for a decade from 2004 to 2014, overseeing the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Five Year Plans. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Manmohan Singh: he served as Deputy Chairman in 1985-87 and later became Prime Minister; Madhu Dandavate: he served briefly as Deputy Chairman in 1989-90; Pranab Mukherjee: he served as Deputy Chairman in 1991-92 but was not the last.

Correct Answer: D. USSR

• **USSR** = India borrowed the concept of centralised economic planning from the Soviet Union (USSR), which had successfully used five-year plans for rapid industrialisation. • **Nehru's Soviet admiration** — Jawaharlal Nehru was greatly impressed by the Soviet model of state-led industrialisation and rapid economic transformation. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: USA: the USA follows free-market capitalism and does not use centralised five-year plans; France: France uses indicative planning, which is different from India's Soviet-inspired centralised model; United Kingdom: the UK follows a mixed economy but did not provide India's planning model.

Correct Answer: D. Eighth Plan

• **Eighth Plan** = The Eighth Five Year Plan is associated with the Rao-Manmohan indicative planning model, sometimes referenced as the John Miller approach in economic literature. • **Indicative planning introduced** — It introduced 'indicative planning' where the government sets targets as guidelines for the private sector rather than directives. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Sixth Plan: it focused on direct poverty alleviation through IRDP and anti-poverty programmes; Seventh Plan: it focused on 'Food, Work and Productivity'; Ninth Plan: it focused on 'Growth with Social Justice' after liberalisation.