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Politics of Planned Development
Question
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Study the cartoon given below carefully and answer the questions that follow:


(i) Identify and name the person who is holding the balancing beam between the public sector and the private sector.
(ii) Why has a big tilt towards the public sector been shown in the cartoon?
(iii) How did the over-emphasis on public sector adversely affect the Indian economy ?

Answer

i) Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru

ii) A big tilt towards the public sector has been shown because the state controlled key heavy industries, provided industrial infrastructure, regulated trade and made some crucial interventions in agriculture.
iii) a) The state intervened only in those areas where the private sector was not prepared to go. Thus the state helped the private sector to make profit.
b) Also, instead of helping the poor, the state intervention ended up creating a
new ‘middle class’ that enjoyed the privileges of high salaries without much accountability 
c) The state controlled more things than were necessary and this led to inefficiency and corruption.

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Some More Questions From Politics of Planned Development Chapter

Which of these statements about the Bombay Plan is incorrect ?

Which of the following ideas did not form part of the early phase India’s development policy ?

The idea of planning in India was drawn from

(a) the Bombay plan (c) experiences of the Soviet bloc countries

(b) Gandhian vision of society (d) Demand by peasant organisations

Match the following:

What were the major differences in the approach towards development at the time of Independence ? Has the debate been resolved ?

What was the major thrust of the First Five Year Plan ? In which ways did the Second Plan differ from the first one?

What was the Green Revolution ? Mention two positive and two negative consequences of the Green Revolution.

State the main arguments in the debate that ensued between industrialisation and agricultural development at the time of the Second Five Year Plan.

“Indian policy makers made a mistake by emphasising the role of state in the economy. India could have developed much better if private sector was allowed a free play right from the beginning”. Give arguments for or against thisproposition.

Read the following passage and answer the questions below:

“In the early years of Independence, two contradictory tendencies were already well advanced inside the Congress party. On the one hand, the national party executive endorsed socialist principles of state ownership, regulat ion and control over key sectors of the economy in order to improve productivity and at the same time curb economic concentration. On the other hand, the national Congress government pursued liberal economic policies and incentives to private investment that was justified in terms of the sole criterion of achieving maximum increase in production. ” — Francine Frankel

(a) What is the contradiction that the author is talking about ? What would be the political implications of a contradiction like this ?

(b) If the author is correct, why is it that the Congress was pursuing this policy ? Was it related to the nature of the opposition parties ?

(c) Was there also a contradiction between the central leadership of the Congress party and its State level leaders ?