question_answer 1)

Define a plan.

Answer:

A plan lays out how the resources of a nation should be allocated to various alternative uses. It has both general as well as specific objectives which are to be achieved within a specified period of time which in India is of five years duration and our plans arc called Five Year Plans. Our plan documents also provide the basis for the perspective plan which specifies what is to be achieved over a long term period of twenty years. All the goals of a plan cannot be given equal importance in all the plans and sometimes the goals may actually be in conflict, e.g., the goal of modernization by introducing modern technology may be in conflict with the goal of increasing employment as the technology substitutes the labour. The planners have to perform the difficult task of balancing the goals. We find different goals being emphasised in different plans in India. The plan is specific about the sectors where it plays a major role. e.g. power generation and education and the rest .of the sectors are left to the market mechanism.