NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science - Politics of Planned Development

Q1: Which of these statements about the Bombay Plan is incorrect?
(a) It was a blueprint for India’s economic future.
(b) It supported state-ownership of industry.
(c) It was made by some leading industrialists.
(d) It strongly supported the idea of planning.
Ans: (a) It was a blueprint for India’s economic future.

Q2: Which of the following ideas did not form part of the early phase of India’s development policy?
(a) Planning
(b) Liberalisation
(c) Cooperative farming
(d) Self-sufficiency
Ans: (b) Liberalisation.

Q3: The idea of planning in India was drawn from
(a) The Bombay plan
(b) Experiences of the Soviet bloc countries
(c) Gandhian vision of society
(d) Demand by peasant organisations
(i) (b) and (d) only
(ii) (d) and (c) only
(iii) (a) and (b) only
(iv) All the above
Ans: (iv) All of the above.

Q4:  Match the following:
Ans: (a)-(iii), (b)-(i), (c)-(ii), (d)-(iv)

Q5: What were the major differences in the approach towards development at the time of Independence? Has the debate been resolved?
Ans: At the time of independence, development was about becoming more like the industrialised countries of the West, to be involved with the breakdown of traditional social structure as well as the rise of capitalism and liberalism.

• Modernisation referred to growth, material progress and scientific rationality.
• India had two models of modern development at the time of independence, with considerations to be adopted, i.e. the liberal capitalist model like Europe and the US, and the socialist model like the USSR.
• There was a debate on which development model to adopt. Communists, socialists, and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru supported the socialist model, reflecting a broad consensus formed during the national movement
• These intentions clarified that the government made the priority of poverty alleviation, along with social and economic redistribution.
• At the same time, these leaders differed and debated:
  (a) Industrialisation should be the preferred path or
  (b) Agricultural development should take place or
  (c) Rural poverty should be alleviated.

Q6: What was the major thrust of the First Five-Year Plan? In which ways did the Second Plan differ from the first one?
Ans: The First Five-Year Plan was commenced in 1951, drafted by Young Economist K.N. Roy with the emphasis on poverty alleviation. Its main thrusts were as follows:

• To invest in dams and irrigation to improve the agricultural sector with urgent attention.
• Huge allocations were made for large-scale projects like the Bhakra-Nangal Dam.
• It focused on land reforms for the development in rural areas.
• It aimed to increase the level of National Income.
  

The first five-year plan differed from the second five-year plan:

• The Second Five-Year Plan stressed heavy industrialisation.
• Second Five-Year Plan aimed to bring quick structural transformation in all possible directions in place of slow and steady growth like the First Five-Year Plan.

Q7: 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, regulation 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 were 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 was Congress 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?
Ans: 
(a) The author is talking about the contradiction regarding the adoption of development models, either socialist or capitalist. Political implications of this contradiction may result in the differences among party members, themselves and the government can issue licensing and permits in a more complicated manner.
(b) Congress was pursuing this policy as the sole criterion for achieving maximum increase in production. Yes, it was partly influenced by the nature of opposition parties that favoured liberal economic policies
(c) No, the contradiction was not between the central and state-level Congress leaders. The contradiction was within the central leadership itself between the Congress Party's official support for socialist policies and the national government's actual practice of promoting private investment and liberal economic policies.