Read the passage and answer the questions:
Despite the various differences, there was a consensus on one point: that development could not be left to private actors, that there was the need for the government to develop a design or plan for development. In fact the idea of planning as a process of rebuilding economy earned a good deal of public support in the 1940s and 1950s all over the world. 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. Thus, from left to right, planning for development was the most obvious choice for the country after Independence. Soon after India became independent, the Planning Commission came into being. The Prime Minister was its Chairperson. It became the most influential and central machinery for deciding what path and strategy India would adopt for its development.
Which one of the following statements is correct about the Planning Commission?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → It became the most influential central machinery for deciding about the path and strategy of development
Option (1) It became an instrument of the then Prime Minister not to include opposition — Incorrect. Planning had support from left to right; it was not a way to keep out the opposition.
Option (2) Prime Minister Nehru used it to dominate the Congress party — Incorrect. It was a body for planning the economy, not a tool of party control.
Option (3) The Planning Commission planned for the private sectors only — Incorrect. Planning was for the economy as a whole, with the government playing the key role.
Option (4) It became the most influential central machinery for deciding about the path and strategy of development — Correct. With the Prime Minister as its Chairperson, it became the most influential and central machinery for deciding what path and strategy India would adopt for development.
NCERT (2025-26): “Planning Despite the various differences, there was a consensus on one point: that development could not be left to private actors, that there was the need for the government to develop a design or plan for development. … 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. Thus, from left to right, planning for development was the most obvious choice for the country after Independence. Soon after India became independent, the Planning Commission came into being. The Prime Minister was its Chairperson. It became the most influential and central machinery for deciding what path and strategy India would adopt for its development.” |