The principal component(s) of Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy of economic development was/were 1. Restructuring economic dependency on metropolitan capitalism into independent economic development. 2. Transition from semi-feudal agriculture to capitalist farming. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. The Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy, embodied in the Second Five Year Plan (1956-61), had two linked planks. Statement 1 is right: by building heavy and capital-goods industries in the public sector, the plan aimed to end India's dependence on the industrialised (metropolitan) West and set the economy on a self-reliant, independent path. Statement 2 is also right: the strategy paired industrialisation with an agrarian transition — land reforms and modernisation meant to move Indian agriculture out of semi-feudal relations toward productive, market-oriented (capitalist) farming.
- (a)1 only — Self-reliant industrialisation was a component, but the strategy also targeted transforming semi-feudal agriculture, so statement 2 is not excluded.
- (b)2 only — The agrarian transition was part of it, but the central thrust — breaking dependence on metropolitan capitalism through heavy industry — is statement 1, which is equally valid.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both statements capture genuine pillars of the Nehru-Mahalanobis model, so 'neither' is wrong.
Statistician P. C. Mahalanobis designed the analytical core of the Second Five Year Plan, giving India its 'heavy-industry-first' development strategy. Under Nehru's political direction it sought rapid, self-reliant industrialisation led by the public sector, alongside land reform to modernise a backward agrarian base.
The model is remembered for heavy industry, but the question tests its wider aims. Read each plank as a break from the colonial economy — dependence on the West replaced by self-reliant industry, and semi-feudal agriculture replaced by modern productive farming.
- The Mahalanobis model shaped India's Second Five Year Plan (1956-61).
- It prioritised heavy and capital-goods industries in the public sector for self-reliance.
- It aimed to reduce dependence on the industrialised West (metropolitan capitalism).
- It was paired with land reforms to modernise India's agrarian structure.
Both planks — industrial self-reliance and agrarian transformation — belong to the strategy, so the answer is 'Both 1 and 2'.
- Reducing the strategy to 'heavy industry only' and missing its agrarian and self-reliance aims.
- Confusing the Second Plan (Mahalanobis) with the growth-and-agriculture focus of the First Plan (Harrod-Domar).
Statement-based on the Second Plan's aims, or 'which plan is the Mahalanobis Plan' and matching plans to objectives.
Consider the following statements regarding Indian Planning: 1. The Second Five-Year Plan emphasised on the establishment of heavy industries. 2. The Third Five-Year Plan introduced the concept of import substitution as a strategy for industrialisation. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) 1 only
Directly on the Mahalanobis Second Plan's heavy-industry thrust — the same self-reliant industrialisation plank this NDA item calls statement 1.
With reference to India's Five-Year Plans, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. From the Second Five-Year Plan, there was a determined thrust towards substitution of basic and capital good industries. 2. The Fourth Five-Year Plan adopted the objective of correcting the earlier trend of increased concentration of wealth and economic power. 3. In the Fifth Five-Year Plan, for the first time, the financial sector was included as an integral part of the Plan. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a) 1 and 2 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(a) 1 and 2 only
Confirms the Second Plan's push for basic and capital-goods industries — the Mahalanobis self-reliance strategy tested here.
Which one among the following plans is also known as Mahalanobis Plan?
- (a) First Five Year Plan
- (b) Second Five Year Plan
- (c) Third Five Year Plan
- (d) Sixth Five Year Plan
Answer(b) Second Five Year Plan
Names the plan that carried the Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy — the Second Five Year Plan — the framework whose components this item dissects.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Mahalanobis model formed the analytical basis of which Five Year Plan?
- (a)First Plan
- (b)Second Plan
- (c)Third Plan
- (d)Fourth Plan
Answer(b) Second Plan — the 1956-61 plan built around heavy-industry development.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy placed primary emphasis on the development of
- (a)consumer goods industries
- (b)agriculture and irrigation
- (c)heavy and capital goods industries
- (d)the services sector
Answer(c) heavy and capital goods industries — to build a self-reliant industrial base.