What is NOT a goal of Five-Year Plans?

🔑 Key Points
🏛 Indian Five-Year Plan :
→ 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 a ‘perspective plan’.
→ The five-year plans are supposed to provide the basis for the perspective plan.

📝 Additional Information
→ First Five-year Plan (1951-1956):
The aim of this plan is to rehabilitate refugees, promote rapid agricultural development to achieve food self-sufficiency in the shortest possible time, and control inflation.
This plan achieved its targets and objectives more or less, with the active role of the state in all economic sectors. Five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) were started as major technical institutions.
→ Second Five-year Plan (1956-1961):
The aim of this plan was to adopt the Nehru-Mahalanobis model, focusing on rapid industrialization with particular emphasis on the development of basic and heavy industries. The Industrial Policy of 1956 accepted the establishment of a socialistic pattern of society as the goal of economic policy.
However, it could not be implemented fully due to the shortage of foreign exchange, and targets had to be pruned. Yet, hydroelectric power projects and five steel mills at Bhilai, Durgapur, and Rourkela were established.
→ Third Five-year Plan (1961-1966):
The aim of this plan was to establish a self-reliant and self-generating economy.
However, this plan also failed due to wars and droughts. Yet, Panchayat elections were started and state electricity boards and state secondary education boards were formed.
→ Fourth Five-year Plan (1969-1974):
This plan aimed for growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance, with a focus on "Garibi Hatao" (removal of poverty).
However, it was very ambitious, and it failed. It achieved a growth of 3.5 percent but was marred by inflation. The Indira Gandhi government nationalized 14 major Indian banks and the Green Revolution in India advanced agriculture.
→ Fifth Five-year Plan (1974-1979):
Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi aimed for the ‘removal of poverty and attainment of self-reliance.
The first four five-year plans were focused on growth only. Now, Prime Minister Gandhi wanted to remove poverty and inflation in the country. Hence, statement 3) is correct.