Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog: How India Organised Its Planning (Class 12 Political Science)

Understand Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

• from left to right, planning for development was the most obvious choice for the country after Independence

  NCERT, Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 3: On why a planning body was set up after 1947.

  The one-line answer to why even industrialists backed planning.

• the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good

  Planning Commission resolution, quoted in NCERT Chapter 3: Part of the Directive Principles that defined the Commission's scope.

  Shows planning was tied to constitutional goals.

Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog: key facts

Planning dates

• •Bombay Plan 1944
• •Planning Commission March 1950
• •First Plan document December 1951
• •NDC 6 August 1952
• •NITI Aayog speech 15 August 2014
• •NITI Aayog 1 January 2015

Use for arrange-in-order questions.

Planning Commission

• •Set up by resolution
• •Not constitutional
• •Advisory
• •Cabinet approval needed
• •Prime Minister Chairperson

Four easy marks.

NDC members

• •Prime Minister
• •Union Cabinet Ministers
• •Chief Ministers of all States
• •Union Territory representatives
• •NITI Aayog members

Judges are not members.

NITI Aayog

• •PM ex-officio Chairman
• •PM appoints Vice Chairperson
• •Think tank
• •Bottom-up approach
• •Cooperative federalism

Syllabus note.

How to answer Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog questions

1. 1Fix the order first: Bombay Plan (1944), Planning Commission (1950), NDC (1952), NITI Aayog (2015).
2. 2For the Planning Commission write: resolution, not constitutional, advisory, Cabinet approval.
3. 3For the NDC write: apex forum, Prime Minister presides, Chief Ministers of all States are members, it considers the Plan, it does not draft it.
4. 4For NITI Aayog write: think tank, ex-officio Chairman is the Prime Minister, bottom-up, cooperative federalism.
5. 5For compare questions use a two-column answer on origin, role and approach.
6. 6Keep the wording neutral: say what each body was set up to do, without praising or criticising any government.

Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog in real life

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

Tricks to remember Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog

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

• 44-50-52-15

  Bombay Plan 1944, Planning Commission 1950, NDC 1952, NITI Aayog 2015.

  Use it when: Order and dates of planning bodies.

• Plan, Talk, Replace

  The Commission plans, the NDC talks it over with the states, NITI Aayog replaced the Commission.

  Use it when: Role of each body.

• PM-C-M-U-N

  Prime Minister, Cabinet ministers, Chief Ministers, Union Territory representatives, NITI members.

  Use it when: NDC membership; no judges.

Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Where students lose marks in Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog

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

• ✗Mistake: Calling the Planning Commission a constitutional body

  The word "Commission" suggests the Constitution.

  Wrong working

  The Planning Commission was set up under the Constitution.

  Right working

  It was set up in March 1950 by a simple resolution of the Government of India and was advisory.

  ✓Do this: Say: resolution, advisory, Cabinet approval.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Mixing the NDC with the Planning Commission

  Both deal with Five Year Plans.

  Wrong working

  The NDC prepares the Five Year Plan.

  Right working

  The Planning Commission (later NITI Aayog) formulates the Plan; the NDC considers it, assesses resources and reviews it.

  ✓Do this: Remember: Commission drafts, Council discusses.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong date for NITI Aayog

  Announcement and creation are a few months apart.

  Wrong working

  NITI Aayog was formed on 15 August 2014.

  Right working

  The abolition was spoken of on 15 August 2014; NITI Aayog came into existence on 1 January 2015.

  ✓Do this: Write both dates in a long answer.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Listing features without comparing

  A "distinguish" question needs both sides.

  Wrong working

  NITI Aayog is a think tank.

  Right working

  The Commission drew up the Plans centrally; NITI Aayog is a think tank with a bottom-up approach.

  ✓Do this: Use a two-column table in the answer.

  Usually costs: 1-2 marks.

Practice questions on Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog

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

   The Prime Minister spoke about ending the Planning Commission in a speech on:
   (a) 26 January 2014
   (b) 15 August 2014
   (c) 1 January 2015
   (d) 15 August 2015

   Hint

   Independence Day speech.

   Answer

   (b) 15 August 2014. NITI Aayog came into existence on 1 January 2015.

2. Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level

   The resolution that set up the Planning Commission drew on the Directive Principles. State any two aims it listed. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Livelihood, resources, wealth.

   Answer

   Any two: citizens, men and women equally, should have the right to an adequate means of livelihood; ownership and control of the material resources of the community should be so distributed as best to serve the common good; the economic system should not result in the concentration of wealth and means of production to the common detriment.

3. Q3 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level

   How does the National Development Council link the Union and the state governments in the planning process? Give two points. (2 marks)

   Hint

   Who sits in it; what it secures.

   Answer

   First, the Chief Ministers of all States (or their substitutes) are members along with the Prime Minister and Union Cabinet Ministers, so states take part in considering the National Plan. Second, one of its objectives is to secure the cooperation of the states in executing the Plan, and it promotes common economic policies and balanced development of all parts of the country.

4. Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

   Assertion (A): Under the present planning machinery, Chief Ministers have no place in national-level discussions on development.
   Reason (R): The National Development Council includes the Chief Ministers of all States.
   (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
   (b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
   (c) A is true but R is false.
   (d) A is false but R is true.

   Hint

   Check who is a member of the Council.

   Answer

   (d) A is false but R is true: the Council includes the Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, so they do take part.

5. Q5 · 4 marks · Short answerHarder board level

   NCERT says that the task of poverty alleviation and redistribution was seen mainly as the government's responsibility. How did this view, and the nationalist idea of the colonial state, lead to a planning body? (4 marks)

   Hint

   Colonial state's commercial functions; private actors.

   Answer

   Nationalist leaders were clear that the economic concerns of free India's government must differ from the narrowly defined commercial functions of the colonial government. Poverty alleviation and social and economic redistribution were seen primarily as the government's responsibility. There was consensus that development could not be left to private actors, so the government needed a design or plan. The Planning Commission was set up in March 1950 to provide it, and the Prime Minister chaired it. Support from different quarters, including the Bombay Plan of big industrialists in 1944, made planning acceptable from left to right.

6. Q6 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   A Chief Minister says that her state's needs never reach the national plan. Using the National Development Council and the bottom-up approach of NITI Aayog, advise her where she can raise the issue, and note one thing the Council does not do. (4 marks)

   Hint

   Member of the Council; it considers, not drafts.

   Answer

   She is a member of the National Development Council and can raise the issue there, where the Prime Minister, Union Cabinet Ministers and all Chief Ministers consider the National Plan, assess resources and suggest measures to achieve its targets. One of the Council's objectives is to ensure balanced and rapid development of all parts of the country. NITI Aayog follows a bottom-up approach in the spirit of cooperative federalism, which ensures equal participation of all states, so the state's needs can also be put forward there. The Council considers the National Plan as formulated by NITI Aayog; it does not itself formulate it, so the state's case must also reach NITI Aayog.

7. Q7 · 6 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

   Explain the roles of the Planning Commission, the Union Cabinet and the National Development Council in India's Five Year Plans, as described in NCERT and the syllabus note, and explain why the Commission's advisory status mattered. (6 marks)

   Hint

   Who prepares, who decides, who considers and reviews; plan and non-plan budget.

   Answer

   The Planning Commission, set up in March 1950 by a simple resolution of the Government of India and chaired by the Prime Minister, prepared the Five Year Plan: a document with a plan for all the income and expenditure of the Government of India for the next five years. NCERT calls it the most influential and central machinery for deciding what path and strategy India would adopt for its development.

   The Commission was not a constitutional body. It had an advisory role, and its recommendations became effective only when the Union Cabinet approved them. This mattered because the final decision on the Plan rested with the elected political executive, not with the planners, which is why NCERT treats development choices as political choices.

   The National Development Council, set up on 6 August 1952, brings together the Prime Minister, Union Cabinet Ministers, the Chief Ministers of all States or their substitutes, representatives of the Union Territories and members of NITI Aayog (earlier the Planning Commission). According to the syllabus note it prescribes guidelines for formulating the National Plan, considers the Plan as formulated, assesses the resources needed and suggests ways to raise them, and reviews the working of the Plan from time to time; one of its objectives is to secure the cooperation of the States in executing the Plan.

   Once a plan was adopted, the budgets of the Centre and all the States were divided into a plan budget, spent on a five-year basis according to the priorities fixed by the plan, and a non-plan budget, spent on routine items every year. The arrangement thus combined expert planning, the authority of the Union Cabinet and the participation of the States.

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.On which date was the National Development Council set up?Show answer

   6 August 1952.

2. 2.Who was the first Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog?Show answer

   Arvind Panagariya.

3. 3.Which approach does NITI Aayog follow?Show answer

   A bottom-up approach, in the spirit of cooperative federalism.

4. 4.In which year did a section of big industrialists draft the Bombay Plan?Show answer

   1944.

5. 5.Who presides over the National Development Council?Show answer

   The Prime Minister.

6. 6.How does the plan budget differ from the non-plan budget?Show answer

   The plan budget is spent on a five-year basis according to the plan's priorities; the non-plan budget is spent on routine items every year.

Planning Commission, Bombay Plan and NITI Aayog: frequently asked questions