CAPF AC 2023 Q25: Indian Economy – Economic Planning & Five - Year Plans
- (a) establishment of a self-reliant and self-generating economy with emphasis on agriculture.
- (b) rapid industrialization with emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries.
- (c) removal of poverty and attainment of self-reliance.
- (d) acceleration of food-grain production and increase in employment opportunities and overall productivity.
Answer: (b) rapid industrialization with emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries.
Explanation
Second Five Year Plan
How to think: remember the plans by their nicknames and focus.
The First Plan was for agriculture.
The Second Plan was for heavy industry, based on the model of P. C. Mahalanobis.
| Plan | Period | Focus | In the options |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | 1951-56 | Agriculture and irrigation (Harrod-Domar model) | Not listed |
| Second | 1956-61 | Rapid industrialisation; basic and heavy industries (Mahalanobis model) | (b) |
| Third | 1961-66 | Self-reliant, self-generating economy; agriculture | (a) |
| Fifth | 1974-79 | Removal of poverty (Garibi Hatao) and self-reliance | (c) |
| Seventh | 1985-90 | Food grains, employment and productivity | (d) |
Results of the Second Plan: steel plants at Bhilai, Rourkela and Durgapur were set up.
The Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956 came the same year.
Answer: (b).
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incorrect. A self-reliant, self-generating economy was the aim of the Third Plan.
- (b) CORRECT. The Second Plan stressed rapid industrialisation through basic and heavy industries.
- (c) Incorrect. Removal of poverty and self-reliance were the aims of the Fifth Plan.
- (d) Incorrect. Food, work and productivity was the slogan of the Seventh Plan.
Key point
Second Plan (1956-61): Mahalanobis model, heavy industry, Bhilai (USSR), Rourkela (West Germany), Durgapur (UK), Industrial Policy Resolution 1956. First Plan: Harrod-Domar, agriculture. Planning Commission: 1950; replaced by NITI Aayog in 2015.
Remember
Second Plan: Mahalanobis, heavy industry.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up the First Plan (agriculture) with the Second (industry).
- Linking Garibi Hatao with the Second Plan; it belongs to the Fifth.
- Forgetting the name Mahalanobis for the Second Plan.
Exam tip
Educated guess: Nehru called dams and steel plants the temples of modern India, and those steel plants came up in the late 1950s, the years of the Second Plan.
Sources
- NCERT Class XI Economics — Indian Economic Development, Chapter 2: Indian Economy 1950-1990
- NCERT Class XII Political Science — Politics in India Since Independence, Chapter 3: Politics of Planned Development