Question

Give reasons or explain

1. The 10^th Plan failed to eradicate poverty.

2. The basic objective of economic planning in India is to bring about economic development.

Answer 1

1. The 10^th Five-Year Plan started on 1 April, 2002 and ended on 31 March, 2007. One of the important objectives of this five-year plan was reduction in the poverty ratio to at least 19.2 per cent. However, it was estimated that about 300 million people were still below the poverty line in 2004-05. This implies that even after the measures that were adopted to reduce poverty, the poverty ratio is still very high.

2. Economic development has been the primary objective of economic planning in India since independence. Economic development refers to the increase in GDP of an economy along with improvement in health, nutrition and education levels. Like other developing counties, India has faced various economic and social problems such as poverty, poor agricultural productivity, food scarcity, illiteracy and unemployment. To tackle these problems, it is necessary to achieve a high level of economic growth and development through planning.