India -- Sixty Years of Planned Economic Development

The resource base of a country consists of human resources, non-renewable resources which are an endowment of nature and whose total size gets depleted with time and renewable resources which can be continuously created and whose base can be expanded through human efforts. Economic planning is concerned with the effective and optimal utilisation of the potential resources of an economy. This is particularly so in the context of underdeveloped countries which are striving to raise the standard of living of the masses. In fact, planning is a process aiming not merely at the best utilisation of material resources but also at the development of human faculties and institutional framework suitable to the needs and aspirations of the people. The establishment of Planning Commission in 1950 heralded a new era in the economic history of India. It makes an assessment of the material, capital and human resources of the country, including technical personnel, and investigates the possibilities of augmenting such of these resources as are found to be deficient in relation to the nation's requirements. It, then, formulates a Plan for the most effective and balanced utilisation of the country's resources. India's First Five Year Plan was launched on April 1, 1951. Since then, ten Five Year Plans have been completed and the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12) is underway. Part I of the book deals with human and natural resources of India, principles of economic planning, institutional framework of economic planning in India, and assessment of India's experience with economic planning. Part II provides summary of each Five Year Plan (First Plan to Eleventh Plan) under the following 13 common theme headings: Plan at a Glance; Agriculture and Rural Development; Industry and Infrastructure; Mineral Resources; Electricity and Other Renewable Energy Sources; Urban Development and Housing; Transport and Communications; Employment and Labour Welfare; Health, Family Planning and Nutrition; Education, Training and Skill Formation; Science and Technology; Social Welfare; and, Balanced Regional Development. Part III contains sector-wise time-series statistics on the Indian economy from 1950-51 to 2009-10. Part IV of the book comprises glossary of economic planning and a list of English equivalents of select Hindi terms used in Plan Documents.