The idea of Planning in India was drawn from:-
A. The Bombay Plan
B. Experiences of the Soviet bloc countries
C. Gandhian vision of Society
D. Demand by Peasant Organisation
E. Self Sufficiency
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A only
Note: The given answer, Option (4), is as per the official NTA Answer Key. However, this answer appears to be wrong. As per the NCERT book, only A and B are correct, which is Option (3), as explained below.
A. The Bombay Plan Correct. In 1944 a section of the big industrialists drafted a joint proposal for setting up a planned economy, called the Bombay Plan.
B. Experiences of the Soviet bloc countries Correct. The economic growth of the Soviet Union, with the Great Depression in Europe and the reconstruction of Japan and Germany, contributed to the consensus in favour of planning, and India’s Planning Commission opted for five year plans as in the USSR.
C. Gandhian vision of Society Incorrect. Gandhian economists like J. C. Kumarappa proposed an alternative blueprint with greater emphasis on rural industrialisation, as a criticism of the Second Plan, not as the source of the idea of planning.
D. Demand by Peasant Organisation Incorrect.
E. Self Sufficiency Incorrect. Self-sufficiency in food became the first priority of the planners after the food crisis; it was a goal of planning, not a source of the idea.
NCERT (2026-27): “Planning … The experience of Great Depression in Europe, the inter-war reconstruction of Japan and Germany, and most of all the spectacular economic growth against heavy odds in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s contributed to this consensus.… …Thus the Planning Commission was not a sudden invention. In fact, it has a very interesting history. We commonly assume that private investors, such as industrialists and big business entrepreneurs, are averse to ideas of planning: they seek an open economy without any state control in the flow of capital. That was not what happened here. Rather, a section of the big industrialists got together in 1944 and drafted a joint proposal for setting up a planned economy in the country. It was called the Bombay Plan. The Bombay Plan wanted the state to take major initiatives in industrial and other economic investments.… The Early Initiatives As in the USSR, the Planning Commission of India opted for five year plans (FYP). The idea is very simple: the Government of India prepares a document that has a plan for all its income and expenditure for the next five years.…” |