Introduction

The model of development adopted in the First Five Year Plan continues with a little change in emphasis here and there, sometimes putting more stress on growth, sometimes on justice, and sometimes combining the twin goals of growth and justice. For a long time the country experienced a slow growth in the national economy, pejoratively known as the Hindu rate of growth. Economic situation improved a little during 1990s and the success was attributed to reforms. The Eleventh Five Year Plan observes that India entered the Eleventh Plan period (2007-12) with impressive record of economic growth. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at 5.5 percent per year in the Ninth Plan (1997-2002) and at 7.7 percent in the Tenth Plan (2002-07). This was the highest rate of growth observed during any previous plan. The rate of growth was reported to have reached the level of 8.7 percent during the last four years. The savings and investment increased significantly. Despite this the condition of the poor and vulnerable sections of society did not improve to the desired extent. Diffusion process was not at place or was too slow to benefit the poorer sections of society. In some cases their condition deteriorated further as a result of development and modernization of the country. To quote from the Plan:

Thus a need was felt to evolve a new paradigm of development which promotes growth with inclusiveness. In this context, the Eleventh Five Year Plan threw up the paradigm of inclusive growth with an explicit concern for involvement of all in the process of growth and development. It may be said here that growth with justice (i.e., emphasis on poor and vulnerable sections of society) as such has not been a new concept but what is new in the Plan is the detailed discourse on inclusion, basis of inclusion and strategies of inclusion. New groups have been identified. New indicators of development are developed. New targets are fixed. In other words inclusion has been made a real reality.