A plan spells out how the resources
of a nation should be put to use. It should have some general goals as well as
specific objectives which are to be achieved within a specified period of time;
in India plans are of five years duration and are called five year plans (we
borrowed this from the former Soviet Union, the pioneer in national planning).
Our plan documents not only specify the objectives to be attained in the five
years of a plan but also what is to be achieved over a period of twenty years.
This long-term plan is called ‘perspective plan’. The five year plans are
supposed to provide the basis for the perspective plan. It will be unrealistic
to expect all the goals of a plan to be given equal importance in all the
plans. In fact the goals may actually be in conflict. For example, the goal of
introducing modern technology may be in conflict with the goal of increasing
employment if the technology reduces the need for labour. The planners have to
balance the goals, a very difficult job indeed. We find different goals being
emphasised in different plans in India. Our five year plans do not spell out
how much of each and every good and service is to be produced. This is neither
possible nor necessary (the former Soviet Union tried to do this and failed).
It is enough if the plan is specific about the sectors where it plays a
commanding role, for instance, power generation and irrigation, while leaving
the rest to the market.
