The Plans
At the time of preparation of the First Five Year Plan there was a lack of detailed data, required for making plans in different sectors. There was also a lack of resources. India was a poor and partition-hit country. It was difficult to mobilize resources. Yet, Nehru was clear in his vision. In this context, it is worth quoting the opening paragraph of the First Five Year Plan:
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The central objective of planning in India at the present stage is to initiate a process of development which will raise living standards and open out to the people new opportunities for a richer and more varied life. The problem of development of an under developed economy is one of utilising more effectively the potential resources available to the community, and it is this which involves economic planning. But the economic condition of a country at any given time is a product of the broader social environment, and economic planning has to be viewed as an integral part of a wider process aiming not merely at the development of resources in a narrow technical sense, but at the development of human faculties and the building up of an institutional framework adequate to the needs and aspirations of the people. |
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