Which one of the following was set as a target of average growth of GDP of India over the plan period 2012 – 2017 by the Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan ?
- (a)7 percent
- (b)8 percent
- (c)9 percent
- (d)10 percent
Correct — C, 9 percent. Every Five Year Plan was preceded by an Approach Paper, a shorter discussion document in which the Planning Commission set out the broad strategy and the headline numbers it wanted the coming plan to aim at, and put it before the National Development Council. The Approach Paper written ahead of the Twelfth Plan asked for an average annual growth of gross domestic product of 9 per cent over 2012-17. That figure did not survive to the final Plan — by the time the National Development Council approved the full Twelfth Plan document on 27 December 2012 the world economy and India's own investment cycle had both weakened, and the target was cut to 8 per cent. The stem names the Approach Paper, so 9 per cent is what it is asking for.
- (a)7 percent — Seven per cent was never proposed for 2012-17 in either document. Only two figures belong to the Twelfth Plan's paper trail — the 9 per cent of the Approach Paper and the 8 per cent of the approved Plan.
- (b)8 percent — This is the right number attached to the wrong document, and it is the trap the question is built on. Eight per cent is what the National Development Council settled on when it cleared the full Twelfth Plan in December 2012; the Approach Paper that came before it had asked for nine.
- (d)10 percent — No Indian plan document set a double-digit average growth target for 2012-17. Growth actually recorded over the plan period did not even reach the 8 per cent that was finally adopted, let alone ten.
Indian planning ran in two stages. First the Planning Commission issued an Approach Paper laying out the strategy, the priority sectors and the headline growth target for the coming plan; after debate, a full Plan document was drafted and sent to the National Development Council, chaired by the Prime Minister with all Chief Ministers as members, which gave the final approval. A number can therefore change between the two stages, and examiners like to ask which stage a given number belongs to.
Read the stem for the document it names before you reach for a number. Both 9 and 8 are genuine Twelfth Plan figures — nine in the Approach Paper, eight in the Plan the National Development Council approved on 27 December 2012 — so a student who remembers only 'the Twelfth Plan target' has a fifty-fifty chance of picking the wrong one. As of the 2017 exam this was recent history; note that the Twelfth was India's last Five Year Plan. The Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015, the Plan ran out on 31 March 2017, and India has not had a Five Year Plan since.
- An Approach Paper is the Planning Commission's preliminary strategy document for a plan; the full Plan document follows and can carry different numbers.
- The Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan set an average annual GDP growth target of 9 per cent for 2012-17.
- The National Development Council approved the Twelfth Plan itself with a reduced target of 8 per cent on 27 December 2012.
- The National Development Council, chaired by the Prime Minister and including all Chief Ministers, was the body that gave a Five Year Plan its final approval.
- The Twelfth Plan (2012-17) was India's last; NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015.
Nine per cent belongs to the Approach Paper and eight per cent to the approved Plan — the stem decides which one is wanted.
- Treating the Approach Paper's number and the approved Plan's number as the same thing.
- Assuming a plan target was achieved — the Twelfth Plan's growth outturn fell short of even the reduced target.
- Thinking the Planning Commission approved plans; approval rested with the National Development Council.
NDA asks for a named number tied to a named planning document, so the marks turn on noticing which document the stem is quoting.
A Five Year Plan in India is finally approved by the
- (a) Union Cabinet
- (b) President on the advice of the Prime Minister
- (c) Planning Commission
- (d) National Development Council
Answer(d) National Development Council
Tests the other half of the same machinery — the Planning Commission wrote the Approach Paper and the Plan, but it was the National Development Council that turned the Twelfth Plan's nine per cent into the approved eight.
Consider the following events: 1. Establishment of the Planning Commission 2. Formation of the National Development Council (NDC) 3. Approval of the First Five-Year Plan by the NDC 4. Constitution of the National Planning Committee Which one of the following is the correct sequence of the above events?
- (a) 1-2-3-4
- (b) 2-1-3-4
- (c) 4-1-2-3
- (d) 1-4-2-3
Answer(c) 4-1-2-3
Puts the same institutions in order and makes the point this question depends on: a Plan is drafted by the Commission and approved by the Council, which is why its numbers can change between the two.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The body that gave final approval to a Five Year Plan in India was the
- (a)Planning Commission
- (b)National Development Council
- (c)Finance Commission
- (d)Union Public Service Commission
Answer(b) National Development Council — chaired by the Prime Minister with all Chief Ministers as members, it cleared a Plan after the Planning Commission had drafted it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Planning Commission of India was replaced by
- (a)NITI Aayog
- (b)the Finance Commission
- (c)the National Development Council
- (d)the Economic Advisory Council
Answer(a) NITI Aayog — it took over from the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015, and no Five Year Plan has been drawn up since the Twelfth ended in March 2017.