State any four failures of the Indian plans.
1. Alleviation of poverty was the central theme of planning. On an average, a normal healthy person needs 2508 calories of food per day, but in India, it provides only 2400 calories. In India, 21.8% of the population still lives below the poverty line. These are those people who are not getting even the basics of life including food, shelter and clothing.
2. Owing to mounting inflation, the real income of the people has tended to shrink and economic divide between haves and have-nots has tended to swell over time. First plan is the only exception when price level came down; in all other plans, the price recorded a steep rise.
3. While more and more opportunities of employment have been generated, the challenge of unemployment has not subsided.
4. Development of infrastructure continues to be inadequate; despite 60 years of planning. Consequently, actual growth has failed to match the targets of growth.