Reflections on India's Five-Year Plan

DURING the period of almost one year since its publication, the Draft Outline of the Five-Year Plan for the economic development of India has been the subject of discussion in the central and state legislatures, state governments, industrial and labour associations, chambers of commerce, committees of political parties, economists, engineers and other sections of the Indian community, many of which have communicated their views to the Planning Commission, its author, in response to a request for criticism and suggestions. Although it is too early to anticipate the exact form of the final Plan, it should be useful to consider some of the suggestions that have been offered, since the Commission intends to take due note of these in preparing the final Plan. The object of the present article, then, is to examine certain of the major criticisms that have been made and to indicate the nature of the conflicts and difficulties that confront the planners under existing circumstances.' At the outset it must be stressed that the Planning Commission had to work under extremely difficult conditions. The country was experiencing strong inflationary pressures, and both the central and the state governments had already embarked upon numerous projects of various kinds on the assumption that ample financial resources therefor would be available. There was no clear or consistent policy governing price control, foreign trade, allocations of resources, or other crucial matters. The activities of the different parts of the public, or government-managed, sector of the economy had not been systematised, nor had there been much effort to coordinate them with those of the private sector. The government's attitude towards the private sector vacillated, and its views regarding nationalisation underwent periodic revision. Projects contemplated both by the public and by the private sectors appeared to exceed greatly the capacity of the country to produce or to acquire the necessary construction and other materials. There was no clear-cut scheme of priorities, and the different state

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