Five Year Plans
Topic: Regional Planning and Sustainable Development in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Water Resources"; Class 12, Ch 6 "Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context"
Meaning
Five Year Plans were India's medium-term development plans. Each one set the country's goals and spending priorities for five years. There were twelve, from the First Plan (1951-56) to the Twelfth Plan (2012-17). The Planning Commission prepared them. They also changed how India tackled backward regions. The Fourth and Fifth Plans brought in target area and target group programmes. The Fifth Plan (1974-79) added the Hill Area Development Programme and the tribal sub-plan. The Eighth Plan brought special area programmes. After the Twelfth Plan, India dropped Five Year Plans and moved to vision and strategy documents.
Example
The Drought Prone Area Programme began in the Fourth Plan. Under the Fifth Plan, the Hill Area Development Programme covered 15 hill districts, such as Darjeeling in West Bengal and the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu.
Don't confuse with
- NITI Aayog's vision and strategy documents: they came after 2017. They give policy direction, but they do not share out plan funds the way the Five Year Plans did.