The objective of planning in India has been to achieve rapid and balanced economic development while addressing the country's social and economic challenges. India is a diverse country with a large population and varied economic and social conditions. Planning has been crucial in ensuring that the benefits of economic development reach all sections of the society.The planning process in India started with the adoption of the First Five-Year Plan in 1951. Since then, India has had a series of Five-Year Plans that have set targets for various sectors of the economy. The objective of these plans has been to accelerate economic growth, reduce poverty, increase employment, and improve the standard of living of the people. Over the years, India's planning process has evolved to incorporate new challenges and opportunities. The planning process has been decentralized, with greater involvement of the states and local bodies. There has also been a shift towards a more market-oriented approach, with a focus on private sector-led growth. The objective of planning in India has been to create a self-reliant and self-sustaining economy that can meet the needs of its citizens. The planning process has helped India to achieve significant progress in various sectors, including agriculture, industry, and infrastructure. However, there are still challenges that need to be addressed, such as reducing regional disparities and ensuring inclusive growth.Overall, the objective of planning in India has been to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic development that benefits all sections of society. The planning process has been instrumental in shaping India's economic and social landscape, and continues to be an important tool for achieving the country's development goals.
1. Economic Development:The main objective of Indian planning is to achieve the goal of economic development economic development is necessary for under developed countries because they can solve the problems of general poverty, unemployment and backwardness through it. Economic development is concerned with the increase in per capita income and causes behind this increase.In order to calculate the economic development of a country, we should take into consideration not only increase in its total production capacity and consumption but also increase in its population. Economic development refers to the raising of the people from inhuman elements like poverty unemployment and ill heath etc.
Attainment of higher rate of economic growth received topmost priority in almost all the Five Year Plans of the country. As the economy of the country was suffering from acute poverty thus by attaining a higher rate of economic growth eradication of poverty is possible and the standard of living of our people can be improved.
The First Plan envisaged a target of 11 per cent increase in national income against which 18 per cent growth in national income was achieved. The Second, Third and Fourth Plan envisaged targets for annual growth rate of 5 per cent. 5.6 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively against which the achievements were 4 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
Again the Fifth and Sixth Plan also proposed the annual growth rate of 4.37 per cent and 5.2 per cent against which the achievements were 5.0 per cent and 5.2 per cent respectively. The Seventh Plan also set the target of 5 per cent in respect of annual growth rate of national income.The Eighth Plan and the Ninth Plan set the target of 5.6 per cent and 7.0 per cent annual growth rate of national income against which the achievements were 6.5 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively. The Tenth and Eleventh Plan set the target of 8.0 per cent and 9.0 per cent in its annual average growth rate of GDP. Thus attaining higher rate of economic growth is found as a common objective for all the Five Year Plans of our country.