Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context, Class 12

What Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context is about

Weightage: India: People and Economy, Unit III: Resources and Development carries 10 of the 70 theory marks; this chapter shares them with Land Resources and Agriculture, Water Resources and Mineral and Energy Resources.Source: CBSE Geography (029) syllabus 2026-27, course structure

Key concepts

Sectoral and regional planning; NITI Aayog

NCERT section Introduction

Planning involves thinking, formulating a scheme or programme, and implementing actions to achieve a goal; for economic development it replaces hit-and-miss reforms.

Sectoral planning: schemes for developing sectors of the economy: agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing, power, construction, transport, communication, social infrastructure and services.

Regional planning: since economic development is uneven over space (some areas developed, some lagging), planners need a spatial perspective and plans to reduce regional imbalance.

Institutions:

• After Independence, centralised planning, which later became decentralised multi-level planning with the Planning Commission at Centre, State and district levels.
• NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015; it involves the states in economic policy-making and provides strategic and technical advice to Central and State governments.

Worked example

Distinguish between sectoral planning and regional planning. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Sectoral planning formulates and implements schemes for sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing, power, transport and services.
2. Regional planning is area-specific: because development is uneven over space, planners take a spatial perspective.
3. Its aim is to reduce regional imbalance by giving special attention to lagging areas.

Answer: Sectoral planning targets economic sectors; regional planning targets areas to reduce regional imbalance.

Target area planning

NCERT section Target Area Planning

Planning must take special care of economically backward areas. Development depends on a region's resource base, but even resource-rich regions can stay backward, because development also needs technology and investment.

• After about one-and-a-half decades of planning, regional imbalances were found to be growing. To check regional and social disparities, the Planning Commission introduced 'target area' and 'target group' approaches.
• Target area programmes: Hill Area Development, Desert Development, Drought Prone Area Development and Command Area Development programmes.
• Target group programmes: Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal Farmers Development Agency (MFDA).
• In the 8th Five Year Plan, special area programmes developed infrastructure in hill areas, north-eastern states, tribal areas and backward areas.

Worked example

Why were target area and target group approaches introduced in planning? Give examples. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. After about 15 years of planning, regional imbalances in economic development were getting worse, since even resource-rich regions needed technology and investment.
2. To arrest regional and social disparities, the Planning Commission introduced target area and target group approaches.
3. Target area: Command Area Development, Drought Prone Area, Desert Development, Hill Area Development programmes; target group: SFDA and MFDA.

Answer: To reduce widening regional and social disparities, through area and group programmes like DPAP and SFDA.

Hill Area Development Programme

NCERT section Hill Area Development Programme

Started: during the Fifth Five Year Plan, covering 15 districts: Darjeeling (West Bengal), Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu), the Mikir and North Cachar hills of Assam, and all the hill districts of the then Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand).

Criterion: in 1981 the National Committee on the Development of Backward Areas recommended that all hill areas above 600 m not covered by the tribal sub-plan be treated as backward hill areas.

Approach: detailed plans considered the hills' topographical, ecological, social and economic conditions, aiming to harness indigenous resources through horticulture, plantation, agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry, forestry and small-scale and village industry.

Worked example

Describe the Hill Area Development Programme. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. It began in the Fifth Five Year Plan covering 15 districts: hilly districts of present Uttarakhand, Mikir and North Cachar hills (Assam), Darjeeling and Nilgiri.
2. In 1981 hill areas above 600 m not under the tribal sub-plan were to be treated as backward hill areas.
3. Plans used local resources through horticulture, plantation, agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry, forestry and small-scale and village industry, keeping hill conditions in view.

Answer: A Fifth Plan programme for backward hill areas using local resources suited to hill conditions.

Drought Prone Area Programme

NCERT section Drought Prone Area Programme

Started: during the Fourth Five Year Plan, to provide employment in drought-prone areas and create productive assets.

• Initially emphasised labour-intensive civil works; later irrigation projects, land development, afforestation, grassland development and basic rural infrastructure (electricity, roads, markets, credit, services).

Review: the National Committee on Development of Backward Areas found it largely confined to agriculture and allied sectors, focusing on restoring ecological balance. Since population pressure pushes people to farm marginal lands, causing degradation, alternative employment is needed.

Strategies: integrated watershed development at the micro level; restoring the ecological balance between water, soil, plants, and human and animal populations.

Identification: the Planning Commission (1967) identified 67 districts as drought-prone; the Irrigation Commission (1972) used the criterion of 30 per cent irrigated area.

Drought-prone areas: semi-arid and arid tracts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, western MP, Marathwada (Maharashtra), Rayalseema and Telangana plateaus, Karnataka plateau and interior Tamil Nadu. Drought-prone parts of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan are largely protected by irrigation.

Worked example

Write a short note on the Drought Prone Area Programme. How does it help dryland agriculture? (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Started in the Fourth Five Year Plan to provide employment in drought-prone areas and create productive assets.
2. First focused on labour-intensive civil works, later on irrigation, land development, afforestation, grassland development and rural infrastructure (electricity, roads, markets, credit).
3. Drought-prone areas were identified (67 districts in 1967; 30 per cent irrigation criterion in 1972), covering Rajasthan, Gujarat, western MP, Marathwada, Rayalseema, Telangana, Karnataka plateau and interior Tamil Nadu.
4. It helps dryland farming through irrigation, land development and integrated watershed development at the micro level, restoring balance among water, soil, plants, people and animals.
5. Review found it mainly agricultural; alternative employment is needed so that marginal lands are not overused.

Answer: A Fourth Plan programme building irrigation, land and watershed assets to support dryland farming and jobs.

Case study: ITDP in Bharmaur

NCERT section Case Study - Integrated Tribal Development Project in Bharmaur Region

Location: Bharmaur and Holi tehsils of Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh; a notified tribal area since 21 November 1975; about 1,818 sq km, mostly 1,500-3,700 m high; between Pir Panjal (north) and Dhaula Dhar (south), converging near Rohtang Pass; drained by the Ravi and its tributaries Budhil and Tundahen, dividing it into Holi, Khani, Kugti and Tundah areas. Freezing winters with snow (January mean 4 degrees C, July 26 degrees C).

People: home of the Gaddi tribe, with a distinct identity, practising transhumance and speaking Gaddiali. Harsh climate, low resource base and fragile environment; population 39,113 (2011), 21 persons per sq km; among the most backward areas of HP; history of isolation and deprivation; economy of agriculture with sheep and goat rearing.

Development: began in the 1970s when Gaddis became a Scheduled Tribe. Under the Fifth Plan, the tribal sub-plan (1974) made Bharmaur one of five ITDPs in HP, to improve quality of life and narrow the gap with the rest of HP, giving top priority to transport and communications, agriculture and allied activities, and social and community services.

Outcomes:

• Infrastructure: schools, health care, potable water, roads, communications, electricity; but mainly in villages along the Ravi (Holi and Khani); remote Tundah and Kugti still lack enough.
• Social benefits: big rise in literacy (female literacy from 1.88% in 1971 to 65% in 2011), smaller gender gap, better sex ratio, decline in child marriage.
• Economy: more pulses and cash crops, but still traditional technology; pastoralism declining: only about one-tenth of households practise transhumance; many Gaddis migrate to Kangra in winter for wage labour.

Worked example

What are the social benefits of ITDP in the Bharmaur tribal region? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. A tremendous increase in literacy: female literacy rose from 1.88 per cent in 1971 to 65 per cent in 2011.
2. Reduced gender inequality in literacy and an improved sex ratio.
3. A decline in child marriage, along with better schools, health care, water and electricity.

Answer: Higher literacy (especially female), less gender gap, better sex ratio and fewer child marriages.

Sustainable development

NCERT section Sustainable Development

Development describes the state of societies and their changes. For long, the state of societies depended on human-environment interaction, shaped by technology and institutions, which in turn accelerated each other. So development is a multi-dimensional concept meaning positive, irreversible transformation of economy, society and environment.

Evolution of the idea:

• Post-World War II: development = economic growth (rise in GNP and per capita income/consumption). But even fast-growing countries saw rising poverty due to unequal distribution.
• 1970s: 'redistribution with growth' and 'growth and equity' were added.
• Development also had to include well-being, living standards, health, education, equality of opportunity, and political and civil rights.
• 1980s: development meant widespread improvement in social and material well-being of all.

Sustainable development:

• Emerged from rising environmental awareness in the late 1960s in the West, reflecting concern about industrial development's effects.
• Ehrlich's 'The Population Bomb' (1968) and Meadows and others' 'The Limits to Growth' (1972) raised fears.
• The UN set up the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) under Norwegian PM Gro Harlem Brundtland; its report 'Our Common Future' (1987) defined sustainable development as development that meets present needs 'without compromising the ability of future generations' to meet their own.
• It covers ecological, social and economic aspects, pleads for conservation so future generations can use resources, and considers the whole of humankind's common future.

Worked example

Define sustainable development. How did the concept emerge? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The Brundtland Report 'Our Common Future' (1987) defined it as development meeting present needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet theirs.
2. It emerged from growing environmental awareness in the late 1960s about the harmful effects of industrial development, heightened by 'The Population Bomb' (1968) and 'The Limits to Growth' (1972).
3. The UN's WCED, headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, gave the report; it covers ecological, social and economic aspects.

Answer: Development that meets today's needs without harming future generations' ability to meet theirs.

Case study: Indira Gandhi Canal command area

NCERT section Case Study: Indira Gandhi Canal (Nahar) Command Area

The canal: formerly the Rajasthan Canal; one of India's largest canal systems; conceived by Kanwar Sain in 1948, launched 31 March 1958. Originates at Harike barrage (Punjab) and runs parallel to the Pakistan border at about 40 km through the Thar Desert (Marusthali).

• Planned length 9,060 km; culturable command area 19.63 lakh ha; about 70 per cent by flow and the rest by lift irrigation. Lift canals start from the left bank; all right-bank canals are flow channels.
• Stage I: Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, northern Bikaner; gently undulating; 5.53 lakh ha; irrigation from the early 1960s.
• Stage II: Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu; desert with shifting sand dunes, temperatures up to 50 degrees C; 14.10 lakh ha; irrigation from the mid-1980s.

Impacts:

• Positive environmental: longer soil moisture plus afforestation and pasture programmes under CAD have greened the land, reducing wind erosion and canal siltation.
• Negative: intensive irrigation and excess water caused waterlogging and soil salinity.
• Agricultural: more cultivated area and cropping intensity; traditional gram, bajra and jowar replaced by wheat, cotton, groundnut and rice; productivity rose sharply at first but waterlogging and salinity threaten long-term sustainability.

Measures for sustainable development (seven; five for ecological balance):
1. Strict water management policy: protective irrigation in Stage I; extensive irrigation of crops and pasture in Stage II.
2. Avoid water-intensive crops; encourage plantation crops like citrus fruits.
3. Implement CAD programmes: lining watercourses, land development and levelling, and warabandi (equal distribution of canal water in an outlet's command area) to reduce conveyance losses.
4. Reclaim waterlogged and saline areas.
5. Eco-development through afforestation, shelterbelts and pasture development, especially in fragile Stage II.
6. Social sustainability: financial and institutional support for poor land allottees.
7. Economic sustainability: develop other sectors alongside agriculture and animal husbandry, diversifying the economy and linking basic villages, agro-service centres and market centres.

Worked example

Suggest measures for promoting sustainable development in the Indira Gandhi Canal command area. (5 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Strictly implement a water management policy: protective irrigation in Stage I and extensive irrigation of crops and pastures in Stage II.
2. Avoid water-intensive crops; encourage plantation crops like citrus fruits.
3. Implement CAD measures (lining of watercourses, land levelling, warabandi) to cut conveyance losses, and reclaim waterlogged and saline land.
4. Promote eco-development through afforestation, shelterbelts and pasture development, especially in Stage II.
5. Support poor allottees financially and institutionally, and diversify the economy linking villages, agro-service centres and market centres.

Answer: Water management, suitable crops, CAD measures, land reclamation, eco-development, support to poor farmers and economic diversification.

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Concept of Sustainable Development
• Integrated Tribal Development Project in Bharmaur
• Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area
• Sectoral and Regional Planning, Target Area and Target Group Programmes

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context: key facts

Planning approaches

Sectoral (sectors) vs regional (areas, reduce imbalance)

Planning replaces hit-and-miss methods.

NITI Aayog

Replaced Planning Commission on 1 January 2015; involves states; strategic and technical advice

Centralised -> multi-level planning.

Target approaches

Target area: CAD, DPAP, Desert Development, Hill Area Development; Target group: SFDA, MFDA

8th Plan: special area programmes.

Hill Area Development

Fifth Plan; 15 districts (Uttarakhand hills, Mikir and N Cachar, Darjeeling, Nilgiri); >600 m criterion (1981)

Horticulture, plantation, forestry, village industry.

DPAP

Fourth Plan; employment + productive assets; 67 districts (1967); 30% irrigation criterion (1972)

Integrated watershed development.

Bharmaur

Location	Chamba, HP
Notified tribal area	21 Nov 1975
People	Gaddis
Area	1,818 sq km
Density	21 persons/sq km (2011)
ITDP	under tribal sub-plan 1974

Female literacy 1.88% (1971) to 65% (2011).

Evolution of development

Post-WWII: GNP growth -> 1970s: growth with equity -> 1980s: well-being of all -> sustainable development

Population Bomb 1968; Limits to Growth 1972.

Brundtland Report

WCED; 'Our Common Future' (1987); present needs without compromising future generations

Ecological, social, economic.

IGNP canal

Harike barrage; 1958; 9,060 km; 19.63 lakh ha CCA (Stage I 5.53, Stage II 14.10); 70% flow, rest lift

Lift canals on left bank.

IGNP impacts

Greening, less wind erosion vs waterlogging and salinity; gram, bajra, jowar replaced by wheat, cotton, groundnut, rice

Seven measures; five ecological.

How the board asks Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• Plans and programmes

  "4 Drought, 5 Hills, 8 Special".

  Use it when: Which plan started which programme.

• Target area programmes

  "CDDH": Command Area, Drought Prone, Desert, Hill.

  Use it when: Target area list.

• Bharmaur divisions

  "HKKT": Holi, Khani, Kugti, Tundah.

  Use it when: Physiographic divisions.

• IGNP measures

  "Water, Crops, CAD, Reclaim, Eco, Social, Economic".

  Use it when: Seven measures.

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context: board-level solved questions

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Case-study practice (Section E style)

Read the situation, then answer every part. In the board paper this is a 3-mark question split into 1 + 1 + 1 marks.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is split into step marks. Show every step: a right final answer alone rarely earns full marks.

Where students lose marks in Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing up target area and target group programmes

  Similar names.

  ✓Do this: Areas: CAD, DPAP, Desert, Hill; groups: SFDA, MFDA.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong plan for each programme

  Several plans.

  ✓Do this: DPAP: Fourth Plan; Hill Area: Fifth Plan; special area programmes: Eighth Plan.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Only positive impacts of IGNP

  One-sided.

  ✓Do this: Add waterlogging and soil salinity as negative impacts.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Copying the Brundtland definition wrongly

  Memory slips.

  ✓Do this: Present needs met without compromising future generations' ability to meet their needs.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

NCERT exercise guide: Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context

What each exercise in the NCERT chapter tests, how to approach it, and a question of the same kind solved step by step. Questions here are written in our own words.

Practice questions on Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   When was the Planning Commission replaced by NITI Aayog?
   (a) 1 January 2014
   (b) 1 January 2015
   (c) 15 August 2015
   (d) 26 January 2016

   Hint

   2015.

   Answer

   (b).

2. Q2 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

   The Drought Prone Area Programme was initiated during the:
   (a) Third Five Year Plan
   (b) Fourth Five Year Plan
   (c) Fifth Five Year Plan
   (d) Eighth Five Year Plan

   Hint

   Hill Areas came in the Fifth.

   Answer

   (b).

3. Q3 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): Drought-prone areas of Punjab, Haryana and north Rajasthan are largely protected.
   Reason (R): Irrigation has spread in these regions.
   Choose (a)-(d).

   Hint

   Irrigation criterion.

   Answer

   (a) Both are true and R explains A.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · MCQHarder board level

   Which of the following is a target group programme?
   (a) Hill Area Development Programme
   (b) Desert Development Programme
   (c) Small Farmers Development Agency
   (d) Command Area Development Programme

   Hint

   Groups vs areas.

   Answer

   (c).

5. Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

   What changes have occurred in the economy of the Gaddis of Bharmaur? (3 marks)

   Hint

   Crops and pastoralism.

   Answer

   Traditionally they had a subsistence agricultural-cum-pastoral economy based on foodgrains and livestock. In the last three decades of the 20th century, cultivation of pulses and cash crops increased, though with traditional technology. Pastoralism declined: only about one-tenth of households practise transhumance, but many Gaddis migrate to Kangra in winter for wage labour.

6. Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Suppose a desert district gets a new canal and farmers switch from bajra to rice. Within ten years parts of the land become waterlogged and salty. Using the IGNP case, suggest corrective steps. (3 marks)

   Hint

   Seven measures.

   Answer

   Follow a strict water management policy and avoid water-intensive crops like rice, encouraging citrus or other suitable plantation crops; line watercourses, level land and use warabandi to reduce water loss; reclaim waterlogged and saline land; and promote afforestation, shelterbelts and pastures for eco-development.

7. Q7 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   Why did the Planning Commission adopt special area programmes in the 8th Plan? (3 marks)

   Hint

   Infrastructure gaps.

   Answer

   Because regional imbalances persisted and certain areas lagged in infrastructure. So the 8th Five Year Plan designed special area programmes to build infrastructure in tribal, hill, backward and north-eastern areas, continuing the target area approach to reduce regional and social disparities.

8. Q8 · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   Compare the Stage I and Stage II command areas of the Indira Gandhi Canal. (5 marks)

   Hint

   Location, terrain, area, time, measures.

   Answer

   Location: Stage I in Ganganagar, Hanumangarh and northern Bikaner; Stage II in Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur and Churu. Terrain: Stage I gently undulating; Stage II desert with shifting sand dunes and summer temperatures up to 50 degrees C. Area: Stage I 5.53 lakh ha; Stage II 14.10 lakh ha culturable command area. Timing: irrigation in Stage I from the early 1960s; Stage II from the mid-1980s. Policy: protective irrigation in Stage I; extensive irrigation of crops and pastures in Stage II, where eco-development (afforestation, shelterbelts, pastures) is especially needed because of its fragile environment.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Who conceived the Indira Gandhi Canal and when?Show answer

   Kanwar Sain, in 1948.

2. 2.When was the canal project launched?Show answer

   On 31 March 1958.

3. 3.What is the planned length of the IGNP system?Show answer

   9,060 km.

4. 4.How many districts did the Planning Commission identify as drought-prone in 1967?Show answer

   67.

5. 5.What is the height criterion for backward hill areas?Show answer

   Above 600 m, not covered by the tribal sub-plan.

6. 6.Who headed the World Commission on Environment and Development?Show answer

   Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you distinguish sectoral and regional planning?
• ☐Can you state NITI Aayog's objectives?
• ☐Can you explain target area and target group approaches?
• ☐Can you describe the Hill Area Development Programme?
• ☐Can you describe the Drought Prone Area Programme and drought-prone areas?
• ☐Can you describe Bharmaur's setting and ITDP outcomes?
• ☐Can you trace the evolution of the concept of development?
• ☐Can you define sustainable development?
• ☐Can you describe IGNP stages and impacts?
• ☐Can you list seven measures for sustainability in IGNP?

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context: frequently asked questions