The Economic Programme Committee, set up by the All India Congress Committee in November 1947 to suggest an economic policy for free India, was chaired by:

The Economic Programme Committee (EPC), set up by the All India Congress Committee in November 1947, was chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru.

About the Economic Programme Committee:

• It was appointed to prepare an economic programme for the Congress and for the government of free India.
• Its report was submitted in January 1948.

Its main recommendations were:

• The establishment of a permanent Planning Commission, to prepare plans for the economic development of the country.
• The public ownership of defence industries, key industries and public utilities.
• Limits on private profit, and a mixed economy in which both the public and private sectors would work.
• The abolition of zamindari and other intermediaries between the state and the tiller.
• The promotion of cottage and small-scale industries.
• The development of cooperatives in agriculture and industry.

Importance:

• The ideas of the EPC influenced the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948.
• They also prepared the ground for the setting up of the Planning Commission in March 1950, with Nehru as its chairman.

Earlier planning efforts:

• The National Planning Committee was set up by the Congress in 1938, under the presidency of Subhas Chandra Bose, with Nehru as its chairman.
• It prepared a number of reports on different sectors of the economy.

Nehru and planning:

• Nehru was greatly impressed by the Soviet Union's Five-Year Plans.
• He believed that planning was necessary for rapid economic growth and social justice.
• Under his leadership, the First Five-Year Plan was launched in 1951.
• He described the large dams and industries as the "temples of modern India".
• The Planning Commission was later replaced by the NITI Aayog.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Kripalani were not the chairman of this committee.