The Perspective Plan for Tamil Nadu 1974-84

Abstract

From Foreword: Our country has passed through nearly a quarter century of Planned Development. Undoubtedly, India, has achieved significant progress in many fields during the successive Five-Year Plans. However, a few basic problems mass poverty and unemployment - still remain to be solved despite all our planned efforts. Planning in India has so far been rather over - centralised. Though the concept of planning from below has been advocated in the Second and Third Five-Year Plans, not much has been done in that direction. In a vast democratic country like ours with twenty one States functioning as units in a federal structure, it is not possible to draw up a comprehensive overall plan from one end. The resources endowments of the States vary enormously; there is considerable disparity in their levels of development; and the needs and problems and the potentialities for development of one State differ from that of another. It is therefore important that each State makes a careful assessment of its resources, focusses attention on its problems and plans for the optimum exploitation of its development possibilities. Also in the modern age, with increasing complexities of economic problems, it is necessary to take a long range view of the economy and prepare a Perspective Plan, within the framework of which Five-Year Plans and Annual Operational Plans can be prepared. A Perspective Plan worked out in sufficient detail brings out the inter - dependencies between the different sectors of the economy and helps in a clearer understanding of possible obstacles to growth. With these in mind, the Government of Tamil Nadu set up a State Planning Commission in 1971, and entrusted it with the responsibility of preparing a Perspective Plan for Tamil Nadu covering the decade 1974-84, The State Planning Commission has been at work for more than two years to accomplish this task. The Commission has adopted a three - fold strategy, which takes into account the sectoral, spatial and temporal aspects of the State’s economy, in preparing the Perspective Plan.