Book: India — People and Economy | Unit-III | Chapter 6
Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context
1. Learning Objectives
After reading these notes, you will be able to:
1
Understand sectoral vs regional planning and India’s institutional shift to NITI Aayog.2
Know target area/target group planning approaches — Hill Area & Drought Prone Area Programmes.3
Study the Bharmaur Tribal Region case study.4
Understand sustainable development and the Indira Gandhi Canal case study.2. Planning: Approaches & Institutions
Planning involves thinking, formulating a scheme, and implementing actions to achieve a goal — in this context, applied to economic development, distinct from hit-and-miss reform methods.
🏭 Sectoral Planning
Formulation & implementation of schemes for development of specific sectors — agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing, power, construction, transport, communication, social infrastructure, services.
🗺️ Regional Planning
Since development is uneven over space, planners take a spatial perspective to reduce regional imbalance in development.
📌 NITI Aayog (1 January 2015)
Replaced the Planning Commission. India moved from centralised planning (post-Independence) to decentralised, multi-level planning. NITI Aayog involves states in economic policymaking, offering strategic and technical advice to Central & State governments.3. Target Area Planning
Even resource-rich regions can remain backward without adequate technology and investment. To address growing regional/social disparities, the Planning Commission introduced ‘target area’ and ‘target group’ approaches.
- Target area programmes: Command Area Development Programme, Drought Prone Area Development Programme, Desert Development Programme, Hill Area Development Programme.
- Target group programmes: Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA), Marginal Farmers Development Agency (MFDA).
- 8th Five Year Plan: Special area programmes for hill areas, north-eastern states, tribal areas and backward areas.
⛰️ Hill Area Development Programme
- Initiated in the Fifth Five Year Plan, covering 15 districts — hilly districts of U.P. (now Uttarakhand), Mikir Hill & North Cachar hills (Assam), Darjeeling (W. Bengal), Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu).
- 1981 recommendation: hill areas above 600 m height, not under tribal sub-plan, be treated as backward hill areas.
- Aimed at harnessing local resources through horticulture, plantation, animal husbandry, poultry, forestry, small-scale/village industry.
🌵 Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)
- Initiated in the Fourth Five Year Plan — initially focused on labour-intensive civil works; later on irrigation, land development, afforestation, grassland development, rural infrastructure.
- Planning Commission (1967) identified 67 drought-prone districts; the Irrigation Commission (1972) used the criterion of <30% irrigated area to demarcate drought-prone zones.
- Drought-prone belt: semi-arid/arid Rajasthan, Gujarat, W. M.P., Marathwada (Maharashtra), Rayalseema & Telangana (A.P.), Karnataka plateau, interior Tamil Nadu. Punjab, Haryana, N. Rajasthan are largely protected due to irrigation.
- Strategy now emphasises integrated watershed development and alternative employment to reduce ecological degradation from marginal land use.
4. Case Study — Bharmaur Tribal Region (ITDP)
Bharmaur (Bharmaur & Holi tehsils, Chamba district, Himachal Pradesh) is home to the Gaddi tribal community (transhumance practitioners, speaking the Gaddiali dialect). It’s a notified tribal area since 21 Nov 1975, with harsh climate, low resource base and a fragile environment.
39,113
Population (2011) — 21/km²
1.88% → 65%
Female Literacy Rise (1971-2011)
- 1970s: Gaddis included among Scheduled Tribes; Tribal sub-plan (1974) introduced — Bharmaur designated one of five Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP) in Himachal Pradesh.
- Priorities: transport & communications, agriculture and allied activities, social/community services.
- Infrastructure gains: schools, healthcare, potable water, roads, electricity — but villages along the Ravi in Holi/Khani benefited most; remote Tundah & Kugti areas still lack infrastructure.
- Social benefits: higher literacy, improved sex ratio, decline in child marriage, reduced gender inequality.
- Economic shift: from subsistence agro-pastoral economy toward pulses/cash crops — but still using traditional technology; only ~1/10th of households now practise transhumance, though many still migrate seasonally for wage labour.
5. Sustainable Development — Concept
Development is a multi-dimensional concept — the positive, irreversible transformation of economy, society and environment, shaped by human-environment interaction, technology, and institutions.
📈 Evolution of the Concept
- Post-WWII: Development = economic growth, measured by rising GNP/per capita income.
- 1970s: Phrases like “redistribution with growth” and “growth and equity” emerged as high-growth countries still saw rising poverty from unequal distribution.
- 1980s: Development broadened to include well-being, health, education, equality of opportunity, political/civil rights.
- Late 1960s onward: Rising environmental awareness — The Population Bomb (Ehrlich, 1968) and The Limits to Growth (Meadows et al., 1972) fuelled the emergence of “sustainable development”.
📌 Brundtland Report (1987)
The UN’s World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), headed by Gro Harlem Brundtland, published Our Common Future, defining sustainable development as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”Sustainable development balances ecological, social and economic aspects, taking care of resource conservation for future generations.
6. Case Study — Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area
Previously the Rajasthan Canal — conceived by Kanwar Sain (1948), launched 31 March 1958. Originates at Harike Barrage (Punjab), runs ~40 km parallel to the Pakistan border through the Thar Desert (Marusthali). Total planned length: 9,060 km; culturable command area: 19.63 lakh hectares (~70% by flow, rest by lift system).
5.53 lakh ha
Stage-I Command Area (Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, N. Bikaner)
14.10 lakh ha
Stage-II Command Area (Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu)
- Stage-I irrigation began early 1960s; Stage-II began mid-1980s.
- Positive impacts: greening the land, reduced wind erosion & canal siltation; traditional crops (gram, bajra, jowar) replaced by wheat, cotton, groundnut, rice, boosting agricultural & livestock productivity.
- Negative impacts: intensive irrigation and excessive water use caused waterlogging and soil salinity, threatening long-term agricultural sustainability.
✅ Seven Measures for Sustainable Development (5 focus on ecological balance)
- (i) Strict implementation of the water management policy — protective irrigation in Stage-I, extensive irrigation/pasture development in Stage-II.
- (ii) Avoid water-intensive crops; encourage plantation crops like citrus fruits.
- (iii) Effective CAD programmes — lining water courses, land levelling, warabandi (equal water distribution).
- (iv) Reclaim areas affected by waterlogging & soil salinity.
- (v) Eco-development via afforestation, shelterbelt plantation, pasture development (especially fragile Stage-II).
- (vi) Social sustainability — financial & institutional support for poor land allottees.
- (vii) Economic sustainability — diversify beyond agriculture; build linkages between villages, agro-service centres and market centres.
Summary — Quick Revision
1
Planning Types: Sectoral (economic sectors) vs Regional (spatial balance); NITI Aayog replaced Planning Commission in 2015.
2
Target Approaches: Target Area (Hill, Drought Prone, Desert, Command Area programmes) vs Target Group (SFDA, MFDA).
3
Bharmaur ITDP: Gaddi tribal region — improved infrastructure, literacy, sex ratio; economy shifting from pastoral to agriculture.
4
Sustainable Development: Defined by Brundtland Report (1987) — meets present needs without compromising future generations.
5
Indira Gandhi Canal: Transformed the Thar Desert agriculturally but caused waterlogging/salinity — needs ecological, social & economic sustainability measures.
Important Terms to Remember
- Sectoral Planning: Planning focused on developing specific sectors of the economy.
- Regional Planning: Planning with a spatial perspective to reduce regional imbalance.
- NITI Aayog: Body that replaced the Planning Commission on 1 January 2015.
- Target Area / Target Group Approach: Planning directed at specific backward areas or specific vulnerable groups.
- ITDP: Integrated Tribal Development Project.
- Transhumance: Seasonal migration of people with their livestock between pastures.
- Sustainable Development: Development that meets present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs (Brundtland Report, 1987).
- Command Area: The area that can be irrigated by a canal/irrigation system.
- Warabandi: Equal distribution system of canal water among users.
- Waterlogging & Soil Salinity: Twin environmental problems from over-irrigation without proper drainage.