Question

Highlight any two objectives of establishing Planning Commission.

Hint:

To remember the core of the Planning Commission: think of the twin pillars of Mixed Economy and Welfare State. Its primary operational tool was the Five-Year Plan (FYP), which was heavily inspired by the Soviet model of centralized economic planning.

Answer 1

Step 1: Historical Context of the Planning Commission:
Established in March 1950 by a simple, non-constitutional resolution of the Government of India, the Planning Commission was designed as an extra-constitutional, advisory body. It was set up in a newly independent nation with a severely depleted colonial economy, with the primary objective of defining and steering India's developmental trajectory through state-led planning.

Step 2: Objective 1 --- Assessment and Balanced Utilization of National Resources:
The foremost objective of the commission was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of all physical, capital, and human resources of the country. Based on this audit, the commission was tasked with formulating systematically designed Five-Year Plans (FYPs) to ensure the most effective, balanced, and rational allocation of these scarce resources across different sectors (agriculture, heavy industries, and infrastructure) to maximize national growth.

Step 3: Objective 2 --- Promoting Socio-Economic Justice and Reducing Disparities:
Rooted in the constitutional ideals of democratic socialism and the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP), the commission aimed to promote a welfare state. Its objective was to design economic policies that actively reduced deep-seated inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity among different sections of society, ensuring that the fruits of developmental growth were equitably distributed and that standard of living was elevated for the marginalized.