The Journey of Indiaβs Five-Year Plans: From Planning Commission to NITI Aayog
π· Birth of the Planning Commission (1950)
π― Established: 15 March 1950
π€ Headed by: The Prime Minister (ex-officio chairman) and Deputy chairman. ( first Deputy Chairman: Gulzarilal Nanda)
π§ Purpose: Economic & social development through strategic resource allocation
π Role: Assessed human/material resources, formulated plans, set priorities, and removed growth obstacles.ποΈ What Are Five-Year Plans?
π Short-term plans for 5 years, inspired by the Soviet Union (USSR)
π― Goal: Allocate national resources toward socio-economic objectives
π Total: 12 Five-Year Plans launched before the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog in 2015.
π Highlights of Each Five-Year Plan
1οΈβ£ First Plan (1951β56)
Based on Harrod-Domar model
Focus: Agriculture, irrigation, power
β Success: 3.6% growth, IITs & major dams like Bhakra-Nangal started
2οΈβ£ Second Plan (1956β61)
Based on Mahalanobis model
Focus: Industrialization, steel plants
Growth: Target 4.5%, achieved 4.27%
3οΈβ£ Third Plan (1961β66) β Gadgil Yojana
Aim: Boost agriculture & national income
Setback: Wars (China 1962, Pakistan 1965), poor monsoon.
Growth: Target 5.6%, actual 2.4%
π Plan Holidays (1966β69)
Three annual plans due to war & instability
Focus on agriculture and industry balance
4οΈβ£ Fourth Plan (1969β74)
Green Revolution πΎ
14 banks nationalized
Growth: Target 5.6%, actual 3.3%
5οΈβ£ Fifth Plan (1974β78) β Garibi Hatao Era
Focus: Employment, poverty removal, justice
Highway system started
Growth: Target 4.4%, achieved 5%
π Rolling Plan (1978β80)
Introduced by Janata Govt, later dropped
Concept by Gunnar Myrdal
6οΈβ£ Sixth Plan (1980β85)
Start of economic liberalization
Growth: Target 5.2%, achieved 5.4%
7οΈβ£ Seventh Plan (1985β90)
Focus: Food production, productivity, jobs
π± Launched Jawahar Rozgar Yojana
Growth: Target 5%, achieved 6.01%
π Annual Plans (1990β92)
Political instability
β οΈ Forex crisis in 1991 β India adopted Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization (LPG) reforms
8οΈβ£ Eighth Plan (1992β97)
Focus: Modernize industries, control population, build infrastructure
Growth: Target 5.6%, achieved 6.8%
9οΈβ£ Ninth Plan (1997β2002)
"Growth with Justice & Equity"
Focus: Poverty eradication, food security
Growth: Target 6.5%, achieved 5.4%
π Tenth Plan (2002β07)
Aim: 8% GDP growth, create 50M jobs
Launched 20-point program
Growth: Target 8.1%, achieved 7.3%
1οΈβ£1οΈβ£ Eleventh Plan (2007β12)
Accelerated growth: 8% β 10%
Targets: Reduce unemployment, improve sex ratio, double income
Scheme: Rajiv Aarogyasri
1οΈβ£2οΈβ£ Twelfth Plan (2012β17) β Last Plan
Motto: Faster, Inclusive & Sustainable Growth
Focus: Poverty reduction, agriculture (4% growth), skill development, infrastructure
π Why Planning Commission Was Replaced
β Excessive centralization
β Overlap with Finance Commission
β Bureaucratic, not expert-driven
β Political misuse during UPA era
π NITI Aayog β Think Tank of New India
π Formed: 1 Jan 2015
π€ Headed by: The Prime Minister (ex-officio chairman) and Deputy chairman. (first deputy chairman of NITI Aayog: Arvind Panagariya and Current deputy chairman (08/07/2025): Suman K Berry)
π Replaced top-down model with bottom-up approach
π§ Focus: Policy innovation, state involvement, data-driven planning.