Critically discuss the achievements and failures of economic planning in the pre-liberalization period.

Model Answer:
Economic planning refers to the process by which key economic decisions with respect to resource allocation is done within an economy. Before independence India suffered badly from woes given by Britishers. There was a need for pluralistic society with proper economic planning at the time of independence. Short term economic planning are generally used in developed countries with capitalist influence. But, at the time of independence the condition demanded for long term socialist based planning and India adopted the USSR based Five Year Planning strategy. This type of economic planning had its own achievements and failures in the pre-liberalization period:
Achievements

• Increase in National Income
• Agricultural Development due to Green Revolution
• Irrigation and Railway Development
• Increase in number of educated and skilled people in the country
• Industrial production and export of goods started earning good forex and improving BOP
• Growth in Power sector and small scale industries

Failures

• Unable to achieve price stability of goods and services
• Very less employment opportunities were generated and problem of unemployment even magnified with increasing population
• Less growth in manufacturing sector
• Unable to reduce the inequality in income and wealth distribution
• Even after 55 Year of planning human development index of the country didn’t reached the satisfactory level

Topics: GS-III: Indian Economy Issues Relating to Planning