When was the Planning Commission set up?

Planning is a process which means it is the process of doing something, to fulfill all the Goals and Objectives of our lives. Planning is a process that accelerates and decelerates, change direction and course. Planning must have well defined goals. It is also defined as optimum utilization of all the available resources. It is a method of achieving faster economic growth.

Plans Introduced in India:

In the early stages of 1930, the idea of planning had already entered the domain of intellectual and political decisions in India. In the year 1934, MOKSHAGUNDAM VISWESWARAYYA, a Popular civil engineer and Ex-Diwan of Mysore state, took the credit for proposing the first blueprint of Indian planning. He describes the fundamental ideas behind his plan proposal in his book, The Planned Economy for India. Other ideas were also proposed, such as the plan-making theory by P.S.LOKNATH,  and the Economic Reconstruction of India by K.N SEN in 1936.

By the year 1938, Subhash Chandra Bose, proposed that India needs a plan and planning commission. The NATIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEE, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, was founded in response to his ideas. In 1949, the committee presented its findings. Many plans, such as the MUMBAI PLAN, the GANDHIAN PLAN, and the PEOPLES’ PLAN, have been offered in recent years, but they have all failed. In 1946, the British government formed a temporary advisory planning board, under the chairmanship of K.C. NEYOGI.  

Planning Commission of India:

Once the National Planning Committee published its report in 1949, there was a firm inclusion of the need for” ECONOMIC and  SOCIAL PLANNING” in the constitution. Thus, the stage was set up for the formal launching of Planning in the Country. For the formal planning to begin, for the whole economy at the national level,  there was a need for a permanent expert body that could take over the responsibility of the whole planning. Thus, on 15 March 1950, the Planning Commission was set up by the government by a cabinet resolution.

1. It is an extra-constitutional body.
2. It is an advisory body to the Government of India on an array of issues of economic development.
3. It is a “think tank” on economic development with the Prime Minister as its ex-officio Chairman and with the provision of a Deputy Chairman. The main function of the Deputy Commissioner was to coordinate the work of the commission.
4. It had an open provision for the number of its members other than Six Union Cabinet Ministers as its ex-officio members and a Member Secretary. The minister of Planning is already an ex-officio member of the PC.
5. The Planning Commission is chaired by the Prime Minister of India, and Jawaharlal Nehru was the first chairman of the Planning Commission.
6. Planning Commission is seated at the “Yojana Bhavan”, New Delhi. The commission had a staff of secretaries and advisers, and also a research organization.
7. The planning commission was a technical body with experts and professionals coming from an array of specific areas as per the need of planning.

Functions of the Planning Commission:

1. Assess the country’s material, capital, and human resources, as well as technical staff.
2. Make a plan to use the country’s resources in the most efficient and balanced way possible.
3. On a determination of priorities, define the stages in which the plan should be carried out and the purpose of allocation of resources.
4. Indicate the factors which are tending to retard economic development, and determine the conditions.
5. Determine the nature of the machinery which will be necessary for securing the successful implementation of each stage of the plan.

In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dissolved the planning commission and replaced it with NITI AAYOG. On Aug 15, 2014 bill is introduced and it came into force on JAN 1 2015.

Frequently Asked Questions with Answers:

1. Who introduced the planning commission?

Answer: In 1950, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru formed the Planning Commission on the advice of the NATIONAL PLANNING COMMITTEE.

2. What are the types of Plans?

Answer: Physical plan, Economic plan, Long run plan, Short-run Plan, Five-year plans, centralised plans, decentralised plans, rolling plans, indicative plan, imperative plan.

3. Who proposed Gandhian Plan?

Answer: Gandhian Plan was proposed by Shriman Narayan Agarwal.

4. Who formed High-Level Planning Advisory board?

Answer: This was formed by the then interim government under the chairmanship of Jawaharlal Nehru, vice chairman Gulzarilal Nanda, and secretary V.T. Krishnamurthy.

5. Who introduces plans in the parliament?

Answer: Plans are introduced by the Finance minister in the Parliament.