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'Growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance' was the main objective of which Five-Year Plan?
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Answer: Option A — Fourth Five-Year Plan
Detailed Solution
The Fourth Five-Year Plan covered the period from 1969 to 1974. It began after the "Plan Holiday" of 1966-69, when three Annual Plans were followed because of the failure of the Third Plan, the wars with China (1962) and Pakistan (1965), droughts and the devaluation of the rupee in 1966.
The two main objectives of the Fourth Plan were "growth with stability" and "progressive achievement of self-reliance". The Plan was prepared under the Planning Commission headed by D.R. Gadgil as Deputy Chairman (with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as Chairperson). It aimed at a growth rate of 5.7%, but achieved only about 3.3%.
Important developments during the Fourth Plan:
- Nationalisation of 14 major commercial banks on 19 July 1969, to direct credit to agriculture, small industries and weaker sections.
- The Green Revolution spread, increasing the production of wheat and, later, rice.
- The Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP, 1973) and the Small Farmers Development Agency were started.
- The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act was passed in 1969.
- The Plan suffered from setbacks such as the Bangladesh refugee crisis and the war with Pakistan in 1971, droughts in 1972-73 and the oil price shock of 1973, which caused high inflation.
Objectives of other plans:
- Third Plan (1961-66): self-reliance and a self-generating economy (Gadgil Yojana).
- Fifth Plan (1974-79): removal of poverty (Garibi Hatao) and attainment of self-reliance.
- Sixth Plan (1980-85): removal of poverty, with the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP).
- Seventh Plan (1985-90): "Food, Work and Productivity"; Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (1989).
- Eighth Plan (1992-97): human development, after the economic reforms of 1991.
- Ninth Plan (1997-2002): "growth with social justice and equality".
- Eleventh Plan (2007-12): "faster and more inclusive growth".
- Twelfth Plan (2012-17): "faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth".
Why not the other options?
- ✗The Third Plan aimed at self-reliance and a self-generating economy.
- ✗The Fifth Plan aimed at removing poverty.
- ✗The Sixth Plan also focused on poverty removal through IRDP.
Quick tip
Remember: Fourth Plan (1969-74) = growth with stability and progressive self-reliance (bank nationalisation 1969); Fifth = Garibi Hatao; Eleventh = inclusive growth; Twelfth = sustainable growth.
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Planning in India & NITI Aayog — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Planning in India & NITI Aayog, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers economic planning in India: the Planning Commission and the twelve Five-Year Plans, their models, targets and achievements, the plan holidays, the National Development Council, and NITI Aayog, which replaced the Planning Commission in 2015. Exams test the focus of each plan: the First Plan focused on agriculture, the Second Plan was based on the Mahalanobis model and focused on heavy industry, and the Eleventh Plan aimed at 'faster and more inclusive growth'. Other questions ask who chairs NITI Aayog (the Prime Minister) and when the Planning Commission was set up (1950). Practise the planning in India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.