Five Year Plan And A Socialistic Pattern Of Society

What is Five Years Plan?

The Five Year Plans were planned, developed, and executed under the Planning Commission, from 1951 to 2014 and after it from 2015-2017 under NITI Aayog. Montek Singh Ahluwalia was represented as the last deputy chairman of the Five-year Planning Commission. He laid his resignation on the date 26th May in the year 2014. However, in the year 2014, Then Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi made an announcement about the dissolution of the Planning Commission and the establishment of the NITI Aayog.

The five-years plans were started between the years 1951 to 2017. The first five-year plan was commenced in the year 1951. The major achievement of the first five-year plan was the setup of five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). This was followed by the development of the second-year plan in the year 1956, which aimed at rapid industrialization based on the socialistic pattern of society. The third five-year plan came as a means to establish and setup of a self-reliant economy. The plan holidays were developed between the years 1966 to the year 1969. It highlighted the issue of agricultural and food shortage crises across the nation. After this, a large number of five-year plans were developed. Garibi Hatao Target and development of a self-reliant economy was the major target for several years. The issue of poverty was focused on during the sixth five-year plan. Consequently, during the later years, power generation increase and enhance productivity. Similarly, over a period of years, the twelfth plan was developed to achieve sustainable and economical development. 

What is the Meaning of the Socialistic Pattern of Society:

The Socialist Pattern of Society was introduced by Karl Marx in collaboration with Friedrich Engels. The Socialist pattern of society involves the role of central planning for decision-making. 

According to the Planning Commission of our country, the Socialistic Pattern of Society implies, that the foremost and basic aspect in order to determine the advance lines should be social gain. It should not be a private profit gain. It also indicates that the socio-economic relations, as well as the developmental patterns, should be keenly planned. They should be such that larger equality in terms of income and wealth of the people is visible, and the employment disparities should be reduced as much as possible.

Some of the major features of the socialist pattern of society were : 

• Equal distribution of wealth among all the people
• Unlimited access to good
• Free access to services
• Selling not for profit, but use
• Restriction to competitive trading in the market
• Social Welfare

Under which ‘Five year Plan’ was the Decision to Establish a Socialistic Pattern of Society Taken?

The decision to establish a socialist pattern of society was undertaken under the authority of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, during the years 1956 to 1961 respectively. The second five-year plan was based on the P.C. Mahalanobis Model. A long-term strategy was developed keeping the process of rapid industrialization in mind. The target predicted growth rate was to be 4.5%, but only the growth rate of 4.27% was achieved. Due to the lag achieved in the growth rate, the second five-year plan faced a huge amount of criticism in society. The experts highlighted that the nation faced a large payment crisis in the year of 1957. 

Second Five-Year Plan:

The second five-year plan was designed and developed keeping in mind the success of the first five-year plan. The growth of the first-year plan leads to a boost in the confidence of the government nationwide. Since the growth target was met up, the government decided to shift its focus to another domain apart from agriculture. 

The major focus behind the second five-year plan was the set up of the industries, particularly, heavy industries in nature. The goal was to achieve a total of about nearly 25% increase in national income which could be achieved by laying hands on the process of rapid industrialization. The second five-year plan is based on the Mahalanobis model, which was founded by PC Mahalanobis, who is also the founder of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI). The Indianization was carried out by the USSR model. 

The second five-year plan provided statistical foundations for state-directed investments. This was simulated using the input-output model. Also, the underpinnings of the licensing raj were developed. The license raj rose and the public sector also reached heights. Through the concept of this plan, the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 was established. 

Conclusively, the second five-year plan focused on the fact that long-term growth can be achieved using a greater emphasis on heavy industries. 

Overview of Second Five-Year Plan:

The second five-year plan resulted in an increase in the production of coal. In addition to this, steel factories were also set up in the areas of Rourkela, Bhilai, and Durgapur. Scholarships were started in order to teach and train young students in the nuclear power industry. It was started in the year 1957. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was also established during this year. 

Conclusion:

The second five-year plan emphasized about 25% increase in the GDP. This can be achieved using fast industrialization. Industrialization is referred to as the establishment and development of heavy and stable industries. There was a major focus on industrialization during the second five-year plan. The major plan behind this idea was to lay down the expansion of a public enterprise covering the arenas of both industrial and mineral development. The only drawback of the second-year plan was that the large imports, as well as both the forward and backward linkages, lead to the shortage of set targets.

Related Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:

1Q. What is the implication of the name “Five Year Plan”?

Solution:

Five-Year plans also known as the FYPs are necessarily the national economic programmes that are integrated. The first five-year plan was devised by Joseph Stalin in the year 1928. The concept of five-year plans is known in a large number of communist countries. India’s first five-year plan was formulated by the then prime minister of the country, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the year 1951. The plan was developed under the socialist influence after independence was achieved. 

2Q. What was Mahalanobis Model?

Solution:

India’s second five-year plan was also termed as the Mahalanobis Plan. It was formulated between the years 1956-61. The plan aimed to achieve rapid industrialization and prioritize the production of investment goods in order to increase economical growth of the nation. The Mahalanobis model was planned and developed by  Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis., who aimed at expanding the domain of investment observed in various different sectors of the economy. 

3Q. State some of the achievements of the Second Five Year Plan?

Solution:

• Rise in Domestic industrial product manufacturing
• 20% rise in national income
• 8% rise in per capita income
• rapid industrialisation

4Q. Briefly discuss about how socialism affects society?

Solution:

Socialism is supposed to be a major goal in the domain of commonwealth. Socialism is based on the concept of public benefits. It reduces the differences in terms of wealth and income of the people, which is observed in different areas, and societal ranks as well as classes respectively. A major control over society’s events is in the government’s hands, therefore, it can make optimum usage of the resources, labours as well as Country’s land.