5.8            ndian  onom
         (iii) While there should be balanced                  Constitution of India. From the margins of the
                 development in all sectors of the economy,    ripening nationalist movement, as well as taking
                 the establishment of basic industries was     clues from the Soviet and the French styles of
                 specially important. In this, state-owned     planning, the NPC articulated the objectives of
                 and state-managed enterprises have            planning in India. The process of planning in India
                 an important role to play. There were,        tried to include all the aspirations of the nationalist
                 however, differences of approach with         movement as well as of the future generations. But
                 regard to the specific fields to be allocated this will be a highly general comment upon the
                 to the public and private sectors.            objectives of planning in India. We need to delve
           It is highly interesting and important to note      into the specific and objective goals of planning
     that all the above agreements and opinions were           in India to further our discussions. Some of the
     reached through an evolutionary manner in the             historic deliberations regarding planning will
     last two-decades before Independence in the               serve our purpose:
     deliberations and exercises regarding the need for              (i) Reviewing the entire situation, in the
     economic planning in the country.                                     light of the social philosophy evolved
           “The plans prepared by the Governmnt of                         over decades, the Constituent Assembly
     India, the Bombay Plan and other above-discussed                      came to the conclusion that to guide this
     plans (except the NPC and the Sarvodaya Plan)                         ‘revolution of rising expectations’ into
     suffered from serious limitations. When they were                     constructive channels, India should make
     prepared, it was known that transfer of power was                     determined efforts through carefully
     to take place quite soon; but the exact form of                       planned large-scale social and economic
     the future government was not known, the plans                        development and the application of
     consisted largely of proposals of experts, which                      modern scientific and technological
     were not effectively co-ordinated. They had no                        improvements, to bring about a rapid and
     social philosophy behind them. With the advent                        appreciable rise in the standard of living
     of Independence, they became inadequate, though                       of the people, with the maximum measure
     the thinking that had taken place on planning                         of social justice attainable. On the whole
     generally and its techniques proved useful for the                    it was a call for India becoming a welfare
     future.”30                                                            state.31 This important deliberation does
                                                                           not only call for the necessity of planning
        MAjor oBjEctIVES oF pLAnnInG                                       for the country, but it also outlines the
     Planning for India was an instrument to realise the                   broader objectives of planning.
     aspirations and dreams of the future. We know                 (ii) There are three important features
     that the foundations of future India were not laid                    included in the constitutional provisions,
     in one day. The cherished dream about future                          which pertain to the objectives of
     India had evolved through a long-drawn process                        planning in the country:32
     of the entire period of the freedom struggle. These                   (a) ‘Economic and social planning’ is
     aspirations and goals got their proper places and                          a concurrent subject. Also, while
     due importance in the reports of the National                              framing the ‘Union’, ‘State’ and
     Planning Committee (NPC), in the deliberations                             ‘Concurrent’ lists, allocating subjects
     of the Constituent Assembly and finally in the
                                                                 31.    Ibid.
       30.    Ibid., p. 5.                                       32.    Ibid., pp. 7–10