India at the time of independence was left with crippling economy by British, which needed attention and well planned strategies to boom again in the global market. The pioneers of the Indian government at then times formulated 5 years plan to develop the Indian economy.
The five years plan in India is framed, executed and monitored by the PlanningCommission of India. Jawahar Lal Nehru was the chairman of the first PlanningCommission of India.
The duty of the chairman of the planning commission in India is served by the Prime Minister of the country. The tenth plan finished its term in March 2007 and the eleventh plan is currently underway.
Objectives and success of different Five Year Plans in India:
• 1st Five Year Plan (1951-56)
It aimed towards the improvement in the fields of agriculture, irrigation and power and the plan projected to decrease the countries reliance on food grain imports, resolve the food crisis and ease the raw material problem especially in jute and cotton.
Nearly 45% of the resources were designated for agriculture, while industry got a modest 4.9%.The focus was to maximize the output from agriculture, which would then provide the momentum for industrial growth.
1st five year plan proved dramatic success as agriculture production hiked, national income went up by 18%, per capita income by 11% and per capita consumption by 9%.
• 2nd Five Year Plan (1956-61)
It projected towards the agriculture programs and to meet the raw material needs of industry, besides covering the food needs of the increasing population. The Industrial Policy of 1956 was socialistic in nature. The planaimed at 25% increase in national income.
Second Five Year Plan showed a moderate success. Agricultural production was greatly affected by the unfavorable monsoon in 1957-58 and 1959-60 and also the Suez crisis blocked International Trading increasing commodity prices.
• 3rd Five Year