Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian ContextClass 12 India - People And Economy Notes

Planning and Development in India

When you prepare for an exam or plan a trip, you are using the concept of planning. It involves thinking, creating a program, and taking actions to reach a specific goal. In the context of a country's economy, planning is a structured way to achieve development, rather than relying on random, "hit-or-miss" methods.

After Independence, India adopted a system of centralized planning, which later evolved into a more decentralized, multi-level system. For many years, the Planning Commission was responsible for creating these plans at the national, state, and district levels. However, on 1 January 2015, the government replaced the Planning Commission with a new body called the NITI Aayog.

The main goal of the NITI Aayog is to involve states more directly in economic policy-making and to provide strategic and technical advice to both the Central and State governments.

There are two main approaches to planning:

• Sectoral Planning: This approach focuses on developing different sectors of the economy separately. Plans are made for agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing, power, transport, and other sectors to help them grow.
• Regional Planning: Economic development is not uniform across any country; some areas are more developed while others lag behind. Regional planning aims to reduce these imbalances by creating specific plans for particular regions to help them develop.

Target Area Planning

Even with planning, it became clear that regional imbalances in India were actually increasing. Some regions, even those rich in natural resources, remained backward because they lacked the necessary technology and investment.

To address this, the Planning Commission introduced the 'target area' and 'target group' approaches. This meant focusing development efforts on specific, economically backward areas or on particular groups of people.

Some examples of target area programmes include:

• Command Area Development Programme
• Drought Prone Area Development Programme
• Desert Development Programme
• Hill Area Development Programme

Examples of target group programmes are the Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and the Marginal Farmers Development Agency (MFDA), which were designed to help specific categories of farmers.

During the 8th Five Year Plan, special programmes were also created to develop infrastructure in hill areas, north-eastern states, tribal areas, and other backward regions.

Hill Area Development Programme

This programme was launched during the Fifth Five Year Plan to develop specific hilly regions. Initially, it covered 15 districts, including:

• All hilly districts of what is now Uttarakhand (formerly part of Uttar Pradesh).
• Mikir Hill and North Cachar hills of Assam.
• Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
• Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu.

In 1981, the National Committee on the Development of Backward Area recommended that all hill areas above 600 meters that were not already covered by the tribal sub-plan should be considered backward hill areas.

The plans for these areas were designed considering their unique topography, ecology, and social conditions. The main goal was to use local resources by promoting horticulture, plantation agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and small-scale village industries.

Drought Prone Area Programme

Initiated during the Fourth Five Year Plan, this programme had two main objectives: providing employment in drought-prone areas and creating productive assets.

• Initial Focus: The programme started by emphasizing labour-intensive civil works.
• Later Shift: It later shifted its focus to irrigation projects, land development, afforestation, grassland development, and building basic rural infrastructure like electricity, roads, and markets.

A review of the programme found that it was largely focused on agriculture and restoring ecological balance. However, with a growing population forcing people to cultivate marginal lands, there is a need to create alternative employment opportunities in these areas.

Identifying Drought-Prone Areas:

• The Planning Commission of India (1967) identified 67 districts as being prone to drought.
• The Irrigation Commission (1972) used the criterion of having less than 30% irrigated area to demarcate these regions.
• These areas are mainly in the semi-arid and arid tracts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Western Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra (Marathwada), Andhra Pradesh (Rayalseema and Telangana), Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Case Study: Integrated Tribal Development Project in Bharmaur Region

The Bharmaur tribal area, located in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, is a notified tribal area and the homeland of the 'Gaddi' tribal community. The Gaddis have a distinct identity, practicing transhumance (seasonal migration of livestock) and speaking the Gaddiali dialect.

Challenges of the Region:

• Geography: The region has a harsh climate, a low resource base, and a fragile environment. It is surrounded by high mountains like the Pir Panjal and Dhaula Dhar ranges.
• Socio-economic Conditions: Historically, the Gaddis faced geographical and political isolation, leading to socio-economic deprivation. Their economy was largely based on subsistence agriculture and raising sheep and goats. It is one of the most economically and socially backward areas of Himachal Pradesh.

The Development Plan: In the 1970s, the development process began when the Gaddis were included among the 'scheduled tribes'. In 1974, under the Fifth Five Year Plan, Bharmaur was designated as one of five Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP) in Himachal Pradesh.

The plan's main goals were to improve the quality of life for the Gaddis and reduce the development gap between Bharmaur and the rest of the state. It prioritized:

• Transport and communications
• Agriculture and allied activities
• Social and community services

Impact of the ITDP: The ITDP has brought significant changes to the Bharmaur region.

• Infrastructure: There has been major development of schools, healthcare facilities, potable water, roads, and electricity. However, this development has been uneven, with villages along the Ravi river benefiting the most, while remote villages still lack sufficient infrastructure.
• Social Benefits:
  • Literacy rates increased tremendously. Female literacy, which was just 1.88% in 1971, rose to 65% by 2011.
  • The literacy gap between men and women has declined.
  • The sex ratio improved, and child marriage declined.
• Economic Changes:
  • The traditional subsistence economy has shifted towards the cultivation of pulses and other cash crops.
  • The importance of pastoralism has declined, with only about one-tenth of households now practicing transhumance.
  • However, many Gaddis still migrate to Kangra and nearby areas during winter for wage labour.

Sustainable Development

The concept of development has evolved over time.

• Post-World War II: Development was seen simply as economic growth, measured by Gross National Product (GNP) and per capita income.
• 1970s: It became clear that high economic growth did not always reduce poverty. So, ideas like "redistribution with growth" and "growth and equity" were added. Development started to include improving the well-being and living standards of all people.
• 1980s: Development was understood as a broad concept that included widespread improvement in social and material well-being for everyone in a society.

The idea of sustainable development emerged in the late 1960s, driven by growing awareness of the negative environmental effects of industrial development. Influential books like 'The Population Bomb' (1968) and 'The Limits to Growth' (1972) highlighted these concerns.

In response, the United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), headed by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. In 1987, the commission released its report, 'Our Common Future' (also known as the Brundtland Report).

Sustainable development considers the ecological, social, and economic aspects of development together. It emphasizes conserving resources so that future generations can also use them.

Case Study: Indira Gandhi Canal (Nahar) Command Area

The Indira Gandhi Canal, formerly the Rajasthan Canal, is one of the largest canal systems in India. Conceived by Kanwar Sain in 1948 and launched in 1958, it originates at the Harike barrage in Punjab and flows through the Thar Desert in Rajasthan.

The project was built in two stages:

• Stage-I: Began providing irrigation in the early 1960s to areas in Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, and northern Bikaner districts.
• Stage-II: Began irrigation in the mid-1980s, covering a much larger, harsher desert area in districts like Bikaner, Jaisalmer, and Jodhpur.

Impact of the Canal: The introduction of canal irrigation transformed this dry land, but it had both positive and negative effects.

Positive Impacts:

• The availability of soil moisture and programmes for afforestation and pasture development have led to the greening of the land.
• This has helped reduce wind erosion and the siltation of the canal system.
• Agriculture has changed dramatically. The cultivated area has increased, and farmers have shifted from traditional crops like gram, bajra, and jowar to water-intensive cash crops like wheat, cotton, groundnut, and rice.

Negative Impacts:

• Intensive irrigation and the excessive use of water have led to two major environmental problems: waterlogging and soil salinity.
• While these changes initially led to a huge increase in agricultural productivity, in the long run, waterlogging and salinity threaten the sustainability of agriculture in the region.

Measures for Promotion of Sustainable Development

To ensure the long-term ecological sustainability of the Indira Gandhi Canal command area, several measures have been proposed.

1. Strict Water Management: A clear water management policy must be implemented. This includes protective irrigation in Stage-I and extensive irrigation for crops and pastures in Stage-II.
2. Change in Cropping Patterns: Farmers should be discouraged from growing water-intensive crops and encouraged to grow plantation crops like citrus fruits, which require less water.
3. Reduce Water Loss: Command Area Development (CAD) programmes, such as lining water channels and implementing the warabandi system (a policy of equal water distribution to all farmers), should be effectively used to reduce water loss during transport.
4. Reclaim Damaged Land: Areas already affected by waterlogging and soil salinity need to be reclaimed and restored.
5. Eco-development: Afforestation, planting shelterbelts (rows of trees to block wind), and developing pastures are essential, especially in the fragile environment of Stage-II.
6. Social Sustainability: Land allottees from poor economic backgrounds must be given financial and institutional support to help them cultivate their land successfully.
7. Economic Diversification: The region cannot depend only on agriculture and animal husbandry. The economy needs to be diversified by developing other sectors and creating links between villages, agro-service centres, and market towns.