Why did the Planning Commission introduce the ‘target area’ and target group approaches to planning?

In order to arrest the accentuation of regional and social disparities in India.

The planning process has to take special care of those areas which have remained economically backward. As you know, the economic development of a region depends upon its resource base. But sometimes resource-rich region also remains backward. Economic development requires technology, as well as, investment besides resources. With the planning experience of about one-and-a-half decades, it was realised that regional imbalances in economic development were getting accentuated. In order to arrest the accentuation of regional and social disparities, the Planning Commission introduced the ‘target area’ and target group approaches to planning.