[Policy & Planning] Strategy of planning in India since 1951

India has completed Eleventh five Year Plan (FYP) so far, since 1951. While Tenth FYP is under execution. The basic objectives of growth, employment, self-reliance and social Justice are the guiding principles of India’s FYPs.
The main objectives of FYPs collectively are as follows.

• Increase in national income and per capita income.
• Industrialization especially in basic and heavy industries.
• Improvement in agricultural production to be self reliant in food-grains production.
• Eradication of poverty.
• Increment in employment opportunities.
• Equality in income and wealth distribution.

Objectives of the FYPs individually are as follows:

• 1st FYP (1951-1956): It emphasized as its immediate objectives the rehabilitation of refugees, rapid agricultural development so as to achieve food, self-sufficiency in the shortest possible time and inflation control.
• 2nd FYP (1956-61): It was a major step towards industrialization based on Mahalanobis model. It focused on basic and heavy industries on socialistic pattern.
• 3rd FYP (1961-66): It gave top priority to agriculture but it also laid adequate emphasis on the development of basic industries, which were vitally necessary for rapid economic development of the country.
• 4th FYP (1969-74): It primarily to achieve high growth rate with stability and to be self-reliant in food-grains. It is famous for the objectives of ‘growth with justice and ‘Garibi Hatao’.
• 5th FYP (1974-79): It mainly concentrated on poverty eradication and self-reliance. Main focus was to ensure effective public procurement and distribution system, reduction of inequalities in income.
• 6th FYP (1980-85): Its inherent approach was to attack on the problem of poverty by creating conditions of an expanding economy. It included a novel feature of controlling the growth of population through voluntary adoption of small family norms.
• 7th FYP (1985-90): It sought to emphasise policies and programmers which would accelerate the growth in foodgrains production, increase employment opportunity and raise productivity.
• 8th FYP (1992-97): It was implemented with objectives of containment of population growth, universalisation of elementary education, to generate surplus food for exports, to strengthening infrastructure in order to support growth process on a sustainable basis.
• 9th FYP (2002-2007): Its focused on accelerated growth, recognizing a special role for its stronger poverty reducing and employment generating effects.
• 10th FYP (2002-2007): Its objective is to achieve 8% of GDP growth rate, enhancement of human well being and fulfill the requirements of basic social-services.

To fulfill these objectives, 10th FYP sets some targets, which are as follows:

• To increase literacy to 75% by 2007.
• To provide access to potable drinking water to all villages by 2012.
• To reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 45/1000 live births by 2007 and to 28/1000 live births by 2012.
• To reduce Maternal Mortality Ration 70 2/1000 lives births by 2007 and to 1 by 2012.
• To reduce poverty ratio by 5% by 2007 and 15% upto 2012.
• To increase the forest cover to 25% by 2007 and to 33% by 2012.