Second Five Year Plan
Topic: Politics of Planned Development · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Politics of Planned Development"
Meaning
The Second Five Year Plan ran from 1956 to 1961. It was drafted under P.C. Mahalanobis, who founded the Indian Statistical Institute in 1931. NCERT calls it a turning point. It stressed rapid industrialisation through heavy industry and capital goods (machines and materials used to make other goods), mostly in the public sector. High import tariffs protected these industries. It reflected the Congress's goal of a socialist pattern of society, adopted at its Avadi session in January 1955.
Example
Beyond NCERT, three steel plants were built in this period: Bhilai with the USSR, Rourkela with West Germany and Durgapur with the UK. The plan also covered electricity, railways, machinery and communication.
Don't confuse with
- First Five Year Plan (1951-56): it put agriculture, irrigation and land reform first, not heavy industry.