Which among the following is/are the objective(s) of setting up of Planning Commission in the 1950s in India? 1. To increase production and offering opportunities to all for employment 2. To make assessment of all resources of the country Select the 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. When the Planning Commission was created by the Cabinet Resolution of 15 March 1950, its stated tasks included making a full assessment of the country's material, capital and human resources (statement 2) and formulating a plan to raise production and expand employment opportunities for all (statement 1). Both are genuine objectives of the Commission, so both statements are correct.
- (a)1 only — This drops statement 2, but assessing the country's material, capital and human resources was literally the first task assigned to the Commission in the 1950 resolution — so statement 2 is also correct.
- (b)2 only — This drops statement 1, but raising production and providing employment for all was among the primary purposes of planning — statement 1 is also correct.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both statements paraphrase objectives set out in the 1950 resolution, so 'neither' is wrong.
The Planning Commission was a non-constitutional, non-statutory advisory body set up by a Cabinet Resolution on 15 March 1950 to design and steer India's centralised economic planning. The Prime Minister was its ex-officio Chairman, and it drafted the Five Year Plans. Its founding resolution charged it with assessing national resources and formulating a balanced plan for their most effective use.
Both statements are lifted almost verbatim from the 1950 resolution, so the trap is to doubt one of them. Resource assessment and raising production/employment are both foundational objectives — the safe read is 'Both'. As of the September 2024 exam the body itself no longer exists: the Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog on 1 January 2015.
- Set up by a Cabinet Resolution on 15 March 1950; not mentioned in the Constitution (purely advisory).
- The Prime Minister was ex-officio Chairman; Jawaharlal Nehru was its first Chairman.
- 1950 resolution tasks: assess the country's resources, frame a balanced plan, fix priorities and identify bottlenecks.
- Replaced by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) on 1 January 2015.
- Treating the Planning Commission as a constitutional or statutory body — it was neither.
- Confusing it with the Finance Commission (constitutional, Article 280) or the NDC (the approving body).
Static polity/economy — the status, composition and objectives of the Planning Commission / NITI Aayog.
Consider the following statements: 1. The highest deciding body for planning in India is the Planning Commission of India. 2. The Secretary of the Planning Commission of India is also the Secretary of the National Development Council. 3. The Constitution includes economic and social planning in the Concurrent List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 and 3
- (c) 2 only
- (d) 3 only
Answer(b) 2 and 3
The apex body that finally approves the Plans is the NDC, not the Planning Commission; economic and social planning is in the Concurrent List — same institutional-planning theme as this NDA item.
Consider the following statements: 1. National Development Council is an organ of the Planning Commission. 2. The Economic and Social Planning is kept in the Concurrent List in the Constitution of India. 3. The Constitution of India prescribes that Panchayats should be assigned the task of preparation of plans for economic development and social justice. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(b) 2 and 3 only
Tests the Planning Commission's place in the planning machinery (NDC is not its organ; economic & social planning is Concurrent List Entry 20).
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Planning Commission of India was set up in 1950 through a:
- (a)Constitutional amendment
- (b)Act of Parliament
- (c)Cabinet (executive) resolution
- (d)Presidential order
Answer(c) Cabinet (executive) resolution — it was a non-statutory, non-constitutional advisory body.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who was the ex-officio Chairman of the Planning Commission of India?
- (a)The President
- (b)The Finance Minister
- (c)The Prime Minister
- (d)The Vice-President
Answer(c) The Prime Minister — Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman.