Question

What were the major achievements and failures of the first four decades of the Indian Economy since independence(1950-1991)? ANSWER IN MORE THAN 1500 WORDS

Answer 1

Post-independence one of the biggest challenges the Indian leaders and government faced was the state of the Indian Economy. And so they set up the system of the Five Year Plans. In the next four decades, they brought about systematic changes to agriculture, trade, and industry

Below were the major achievements in the first four decades of the Indian Economy:

1. Increase in National Income and Per Capita Income- During this period there was a major increase in the national and per capita income ,this increase was recorded to be 3 per cent from 1950 to 2000-01.

2. Development in Agriculture- Agricultural productivity has also marked an upward trend during this period. The production of food-grains which was 510 lakh tones in 1950-51 increased to 176.4 million tones in 1990-91 and further to 211.9 million tones in 2001-02.

3. Development of Industry- In the first five year plan much of the capital was invested to develop the industry and defence. About fifty per cent of the total outlay of the plans was invested for their development. As a result, industrial production has increased to a great extent.

4. Development of Transport and Communication- During the planning period, much attention has been paid towards the development of transport and communication. In the first two plans, more than one-fourth of the total outlay was invested on the development of transport and communication.

Below were the failures in the first four decades of the Indian Economy:

1. At the time of its independence, India was an agricultural dependent economy. And yet the state of Indian agricultural sector was dismal. From the lack of investment, a dearth of technology, low yield per acre and many such problems plagued the industry.

2. Failure to Eliminate Poverty- In spite of years of planning 26% of total population still lies below the poverty line. So, the planning process has lost its relevance to the poor people.

3. Failure to Provide Employment to the Growing Labour Force- In spite of planning it has not been possible to provide employment to India’s growing labour force. What is really distressing is that there is more unemployment at the beginning than at the end of each Plan.

4. Failure to Reduce Inequality of Income and Wealth- Over the entire Plan Period redistribution of income in favour of the less privileged classes has not taken place. Even if the incidence of poverty has gone down to some extent, the incidence of inequality has increased mainly due to undue concentration of income and wealth in few hands.