UKPSC Prelims 2025 General Studies Paper-I · Question 12 of 149

Correct — D, 11th.

The 11th Five Year Plan, covering 2007 to 2012, was framed around the goal 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth' — the title of its Approach Paper and the phrase by which the plan is identified.

Its argument was that a fast headline growth rate had not reached farmers, the unorganised workforce and disadvantaged social groups. So it fixed targets for poverty, employment, education, health and gender alongside the growth target.

Carry away that a plan's 'theme' is a fixed phrase, so these items are answered from the exact wording rather than from general aims. Equity language runs through several plans; the phrase 'inclusive growth' names this one.

• (a)
  9th — The Ninth Five Year Plan ran from 1997 to 2002 and carried the theme 'Growth with Social Justice and Equality'.

  That is equity language too, which is why it sits close to inclusive growth. Both themes use equity language, so the two are separated by their exact wording rather than by their sentiment.

  It IS the right answer to 'which plan's theme was Growth with Social Justice and Equality?'

• (b)
  10th — The Tenth Five Year Plan covered 2002 to 2007 and is identified with an 8 per cent annual growth target and the aim of doubling per capita income within ten years.

  It also carried socio-economic goals on poverty and literacy, so it reads as equity-minded. The inclusive-growth phrase belongs to the plan that came immediately after it.

  It IS the right answer to 'which plan set an 8 per cent growth target and aimed to double per capita income in a decade?'

• (c)
  8th — The Eighth Five Year Plan ran from 1992 to 1997 and is remembered as the first plan of the liberalisation era, with human resource development as its stated priority.

  Two annual plans covered 1990 to 1992 in the years around the balance-of-payments crisis, which is why the Eighth Plan begins in 1992 and not in 1990.

  It IS the right answer to 'which plan opened the post-1991 phase of Indian planning?'

Inclusive growth is the proposition that how fast an economy grows matters less on its own than who shares in the growth.

Growth counts as inclusive when its gains reach the poor, the unorganised workforce, women and lagging regions, and it is judged on poverty, employment, health, education and gender outcomes rather than on the GDP number alone.

In Indian planning this stopped being a general sentiment and became a fixed phrase. The Eleventh Five Year Plan was built around it, and the Twelfth carried it forward with sustainability added.

• The Eleventh Five Year Plan covered 2007 to 2012 and was framed around the goal 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth', the title of its Approach Paper.
• The Eleventh Plan was prepared by the Planning Commission and approved by the National Development Council.
• The Eleventh Plan set an average annual GDP growth target of 9 per cent.
• Poverty reduction, wider employment opportunities and reduced gender inequality were among the Eleventh Plan's inclusive-growth objectives.
• The Twelfth Five Year Plan covered 2012 to 2017 and was titled 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth'.
• The Ninth Five Year Plan ran from 1997 to 2002 with the theme 'Growth with Social Justice and Equality'.
• The Tenth Five Year Plan ran from 2002 to 2007, targeting 8 per cent annual growth and a doubling of per capita income in ten years.
• The Eighth Five Year Plan ran from 1992 to 1997; two annual plans covered 1990 to 1992 before it.
• NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015, and the Twelfth Plan ended on 31 March 2017.

• Answering from the sentiment of the phrase rather than its exact wording — equity language appears in several plan themes, but 'inclusive growth' names the Eleventh Plan's document.
• The word 'inclusive' sits in both the Eleventh and the Twelfth Plan themes, so a stem offering both is settled by the extra word 'sustainable', which belongs to the Twelfth.
• Mistaking the Tenth Plan's socio-economic goals for the inclusive-growth label; its headline is the 8 per cent growth target and the doubling of per capita income.
• Treating 'Growth with Social Justice and Equality' as the same phrase as inclusive growth; it is the Ninth Plan's theme.
• Dating the Eighth Plan from 1990 because the Seventh ended then, and losing the two annual plans that ran in between.
• Mixing the growth targets: 8 per cent belongs to the Tenth Plan and 9 per cent to the Eleventh.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The theme 'Faster, More Inclusive and Sustainable Growth' belongs to which Five Year Plan?

  • (a)Tenth
  • (b)Eleventh
  • (c)Twelfth
  • (d)Ninth
  Answerc — the Twelfth Plan, covering 2012 to 2017, carried that title, adding sustainability to the phrase its predecessor had used.

  (a) fails because the Tenth Plan is identified with an 8 per cent growth target and the doubling of per capita income.

  (b) fails because the Eleventh Plan's phrase stops at 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth', without the word sustainable.

  (d) fails because the Ninth Plan's theme was 'Growth with Social Justice and Equality'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  'Growth with Social Justice and Equality' was the stated theme of which Five Year Plan?

  • (a)Eighth
  • (b)Ninth
  • (c)Tenth
  • (d)Eleventh
  Answerb — that phrase is the theme of the Ninth Five Year Plan, which ran from 1997 to 2002.

  (a) fails because the Eighth Plan, 1992 to 1997, is identified with human resource development in the first years after liberalisation.

  (c) fails because the Tenth Plan's headline was 8 per cent growth and doubling per capita income in ten years.

  (d) fails because the Eleventh Plan's theme was 'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Eighth Five Year Plan commenced in the year:

  • (a)1990
  • (b)1991
  • (c)1992
  • (d)1993
  Answerc — the Eighth Plan ran from 1992 to 1997. Two annual plans covered the intervening years after the Seventh Plan ended, in the period of the balance-of-payments crisis.

  (a) and (b) fail because 1990-91 and 1991-92 were the annual-plan years, not plan years of the Eighth Plan.

  (d) fails because 1993 falls a year inside a plan that had already begun.