Planning and NITI Aayog — Practice Questions
UPSC Prelims-pattern practice questions on planning in India with full explanations: Five-Year Plans, plan holiday, pre-independence plans and NITI Aayog.
Questions
These are original UPSC-pattern practice questions. Attempt each one before revealing the answer.
Consider the following pairs:
| Five-Year Plan | Stated objective | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fourth Plan | Growth with stability |
| 2 | Seventh Plan | Food, Work and Productivity |
| 3 | Ninth Plan | Growth with social justice and equality |
| 4 | Eleventh Plan | Faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth |
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Solution
Pairs 1, 2 and 3 are correct. Pair 4 is wrong: the Eleventh Plan (2007-12) was “Towards faster and more inclusive growth”; adding “sustainable” gives the Twelfth Plan (2012-17). So three pairs are correct.
Answer: C
The period of the “Plan holiday” in India, when three Annual Plans were implemented instead of a Five-Year Plan, was:
Solution
The Third Plan was derailed by the 1962 and 1965 wars and the droughts of the mid-1960s, so three Annual Plans were run in 1966-69. 1978-80 was the Rolling Plan; 1990-92 saw Annual Plans during a political and balance of payments crisis; 1962-65 lies inside the Third Plan.
Answer: A
Consider the following statements about NITI Aayog:
- Its Chief Executive Officer is appointed by the Prime Minister in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
- Its Vice-Chairperson is appointed by the Prime Minister.
- It has the power to allocate central plan funds to States.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Solution
Statements 1 and 2 follow the Cabinet resolution of 1 January 2015. Statement 3 is wrong: NITI Aayog is a policy think tank with no fund-allocation role. Tax devolution is decided by the Finance Commission (Article 280), and scheme funds flow through Union ministries.
Answer: D
The People’s Plan of 1945 was prepared by:
Solution
M.N. Roy drew up the People’s Plan (1945). S.N. Agarwal wrote the Gandhian Plan (1944); M. Visvesvaraya wrote Planned Economy for India (1934); Jayaprakash Narayan proposed the Sarvodaya Plan (1950).
Answer: B
Which one of the following is not an index prepared by NITI Aayog?
Solution
The Human Development Index is published by the UNDP in its Human Development Report (first released in 1990). The other three are NITI Aayog indices that rank States, a tool of competitive federalism.
Answer: C
Is there still a case for medium-term planning in a market-driven Indian economy? Discuss.
Solution
Introduction: India ran twelve Five-Year Plans between 1951 and 2017. Since 2015, NITI Aayog has replaced plan-making with policy advice, indices and evaluation. The question is whether markets alone can set priorities.
Body:
- Case for planning: long-gestation infrastructure (power, railways, urban transit) needs multi-year commitments; climate goals and energy transition require coordinated pathways; human capital investment pays off over decades; regional imbalances do not correct themselves.
- Case against old-style planning: top-down, uniform schemes ignored State diversity; plan targets were often missed; resource allocation by a central body crowded out States and markets.
- Middle path: indicative planning that sets direction and builds consensus with States; outcome budgets and independent evaluation; sectoral long-term roadmaps rather than a single all-encompassing plan.
Conclusion: India no longer needs a command plan, but it does need a medium-term strategic framework, built with States, that links budgets to measurable outcomes.