Which one among the following was the focus of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan?
- (a)Sustainable and Inclusive Growth
- (b)Social Justice and Equality
- (c)Food, Work and Productivity
- (d)Attainment of Self-reliance
Correct — A, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. The Twelfth Five Year Plan ran from 2012 to 2017 and was published under the title 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth', which is exactly what option (a) restates. It was a continuation of the Eleventh Plan's theme, 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth', with sustainability added as a third leg. The plan targeted an average growth rate of about 8 per cent and set monitorable targets across the same three strands — faster growth, inclusion through jobs, education, nutrition, drinking water and banking access, and sustainability through added green cover and cleaner energy. It was also the last Five Year Plan: the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog in January 2015, and no Thirteenth Plan was drawn up when the Twelfth ended on 31 March 2017.
- (b)Social Justice and Equality — Not a plan title. Social justice language belongs to the Sixth and Seventh Plan era; the Twelfth Plan's inclusion strand is described as inclusive growth, not social justice.
- (c)Food, Work and Productivity — Not a plan title either. Food and employment were the pressing concerns of the Sixth Plan period, not the frame of the Twelfth.
- (d)Attainment of Self-reliance — This is the Fourth Plan (1969-74), whose objective was growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance. It is the classic trap here because self-reliance has re-entered the vocabulary through Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Each Five Year Plan carried a stated theme that summarised its priorities. The Fourth Plan (1969-74) aimed at growth with stability and progress towards self-reliance; the Tenth pushed for doubling per capita income in a decade; the Eleventh (2007-12) was 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth'; the Twelfth (2012-17) was 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth'. The plans were drafted by the Planning Commission and given final approval by the National Development Council.
Plan themes are memorised as a chain, and the chain is what saves you here: Eleventh adds inclusion, Twelfth adds sustainability. The trap is 'self-reliance', which sounds contemporary because of Atmanirbhar Bharat but belongs to the Fourth Plan of 1969-74, when import substitution and food self-sufficiency were the concern. Anchoring the Twelfth Plan to its dates helps too — 2012 to 2017 is squarely the period when inclusive growth and sustainability were the governing vocabulary. Worth flagging: UPSC has not released a key for this paper, and some answer keys in circulation mark (d), attainment of self-reliance. That is the Fourth Plan's objective, not the Twelfth's, and the Twelfth Plan document is published under the title Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth, so this card takes (a).
- The Twelfth Five Year Plan covered 2012-17 and was titled 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth'.
- The Eleventh Plan (2007-12) was titled 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth'.
- The Fourth Plan (1969-74) is the self-reliance plan — growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance.
- The Planning Commission drafted the plans; the National Development Council gave final approval.
- NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015, and the Twelfth Plan was the last Five Year Plan; it ended on 31 March 2017.
- Attaching self-reliance to a recent plan because of Atmanirbhar Bharat; it is the Fourth Plan's phrase.
- Mixing up the Eleventh and Twelfth Plan titles — sustainability is the word the Twelfth adds.
- Assuming plans continued after 2017; the Twelfth was the last.
As a plan-to-theme match or as a single-answer question on the objective of a named plan, sometimes paired with the dates.
Inclusive growth as enunciated in the Eleventh Five Year Plan does NOT include one of the following:
- (a) Reduction of poverty
- (b) Extension of employment opportunities
- (c) Strengthening of capital market
- (d) Reduction of gender inequality
Answer(c) Strengthening of capital market
The same vocabulary one plan earlier. The Eleventh Plan defined inclusive growth as poverty reduction, wider employment and narrower social gaps; the Twelfth Plan kept that frame and added sustainability to it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which Five Year Plan had 'growth with stability and progressive achievement of self-reliance' as its objective?
- (a)Second Plan
- (b)Fourth Plan
- (c)Eighth Plan
- (d)Twelfth Plan
Answer(b) Fourth Plan — the 1969-74 plan built around self-reliance and the Gadgil formula for central assistance.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Twelfth Five Year Plan of India covered which period?
- (a)2007-2012
- (b)2010-2015
- (c)2012-2017
- (d)2015-2020
Answer(c) 2012-2017 — it was the last Five Year Plan, ending on 31 March 2017, the Planning Commission having been replaced by NITI Aayog in January 2015.