6th Five Year Plan

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APPENDIX

SIXTH FIVE YEAR PLAN 1980-85 A FRAMEWORK PREFACE by
MINISTER FOR PLANNING AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN

At the first meeting of the reconstituted Planning Commission, held in April 1980 under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Smt. Indira Gandhi, it was decided that there should be no Plan holiday and that the Sixth Five-Year Plan should cover the period 1980—85. Delailed guidelines for the preparation of the Plan have already been sent to State Governments by the then Acting Deputy Chairman and the Member-Secretary. It has since been decided that we should adopt a three-stage process for finalising the Sixth Plan. These are:

A meeting, of the National Development Council sometime preferably towards the end of August, 1980 to consider a Draft Plan-frame, which will indicate the major goals of the Plan, the quantum of resources likely to be available and the programme thrusts.
On the basis of the decision of the National Development Council on Plan priorities and programme thrusts, Central and State Governments wm prepare the detailed Plan proposals by October 15, 1980. These will be integrated in the form of a Draft Sixth Five Year Plan and sent to State Governments in early December, 1980.
A meeting of the National Development Council will be held either towards the end of December, 1980 or in January, 1981 to consider tlie Draft Plan and finalise it. This should then form the basis for Plan allocations, both in the States and at the Centre in the regular budgets for 1981-82.

2. A copy of the draft Plan-frame is attached. While formulating the Programme Thrusts, the 20-point economic programme and the pledges given to the 'people have also been among the principal guiding factors. The document is not intended to be exhaustive covering all sectors of the economy but rather seeks to highlight as an approach paper .the problems and programmes in a few key areas of the economy. Programmes relevant to all sectors of the economy are being worked out by the concerned Ministries in the Central Government and State Governments and these will be considered at the time of the preparation of the Draft Plan later in the year. It is important in designing the programmes for different sectors to build into the 'programmes adequate arrangements for their effective implementation.

3. The formulation and execution of the Five Year Plan is a responsibility both of the Centre and the States. The Draft Plan-frame gives a broad indication of the magnitude of additional resource mobilisation efforts both by Centre and the States as also the measures which will be required for this purpose. I would urge that the mobilisation of additional resources should receive the closest attention of State Governments since without the requisite increase in resources, it may be well nigh impossible to execute the plans which the Government at the Centre and in the States may visualise. It will be necessary to be innovative about resource mobilisation and thought may be given to the possibility of decentralisation, giving district and block authorities scope and encouragement for mobilising local resources for local development. The State Governments have also the responsibility to 'prepare programmes in the fields of agriculture, irrigation, power, education, health, industry, including village and small industries and so on. The prori-ties indicated in the Draft Plan-frame subject to approval by the National Development Council, arc intended to be observed by the Central Ministries and the State Government's.

4. In view of the tight time schedule, I shall be grateful if all St'ate Governments and Central Ministries will extend their maximum cooperation to us in ensuring that a Plan, which will help to take the country forvard in its march towards a more prosperous and egalitarian society, is ready for implementation by early next year.

(NARAYAN DATT TIWARI)
New Delhi: 20th August, 1980

INTRODUCTION

The launching of the Sixth Five Year Plan synchronises with the beginning of a new decade during which our major goal should be the realisation of an economic and social order based on principles of socialism, secularism and self-reliance. During the 30-years of planned development which we have just completed, we have made impressive progress in developing agriculture and industry, science and technology, health and education and the infra-structure for a wide-range of services. Technological change in agriculture has led to improved production and productivity and a greater stability in the output of several crops. The steps taken during the Fifth Five-Year Plan period for building a national food security system enabled us to face the widespread drought of 1979 without food imports. Wide-ranging advances in industry have enabled us to be self-reliant in many critical areas. We now manufacture an impressive array of both capital and consumer goods. At the same time, progress in the development of new skills and technology in the small and village industries sector has also been considerable. The export base of the economy has been widened and strengthened. In science and technology, our scientists have shown that 'they can achieve well-defined goals as has been demonstrated in agricultural, nuclear and space research. We can thus enter the new decade with confidence in our capability to face and solve successfully the complex problems confronting the different sectors of our economy.

2. It must be recognised that the Sixth Five Year Plan is being launched under difficult conditions. The acute inflationary pressures which have prevailed since March 1979, the progressive deterioration in the past three years in the functioning of such critical sectors as power, coal, railways and steel and the steep rise in the prices of petroleum products—an inevitable by-product of the rise in import costs— have adversely affected the overall growth prospects of the economy as well as the scope for mobilising additional resources for sustained development. In the wake of the sharp increases in import costs of petroleum and other imports and the rather uncertain prospects for our exports in the background of prevailing recessionary conditions in the world economy, India's balance of payments prospects have deteriorated significantly and on present reckoning, the country may be faced once again with a very difficult foreign exchange situation.

3. Both the positive and negative aspects of our developmental experience will have to be duly taken into account in drawing up a realistic blue print of Incia's development during the next five years. We must maximise returns from investments already made through a proper use of human and financial resources. A fuller utilisation of capacities already created is a necessary condition for stabilising the aggregate capital-output ratio at a reasonable level. Our development strategy must also acquire in-built flexibility to cope with the highly uncertain international environment for our development as well as with erratic monsoon behaviour. It would, however, be wholly unwise to respond to the present crisis by cutting back on productive investments. It has to be recognised that if our development prospects are not to be irrepairably damaged by the world energy crisis, massive efforts will have to be made to step up programmes for the exploration and development of domestic resources of oil, coal, power and renewable forms of energy. Significant additional investment for modernisation and expansion of transport capacity and development of supplementary means of transport are essential if this sector is not to act as a bottleneck, to further growth. At the same time, sizeable additional outlays will be necessary for agriculture, including irrigation and fertilizer production. The revival of industrial growth will be essential to support development in the rest of the economy and to sustain the export effort. Rural development programmes need to be recast so as to secure faster growth of agricultural and non-farm employment and to raise the standard of living of the economically and socially handicapped sections of our population. Above all, the pattern and extent of investment in different sectors should be structured in such a manner that our vast human resource and youth power fully participate in development and derive benefits from accelerated economic growth. Thus, the task before the nation is to sustain and accelerate the tempo of development notwithstanding a highly unfavourable external environment.

4. It would be wrong to minimise the enormity of the task or the difficulties that lie ahead. However, these difficulties can be overcome if a proper blend of political will, professional skill and people's action can be generated. We must renew our determination to wage an all-out war on poverty and mobilise all our latent energies for the creation of a more dynamic and more equitable society.

II. OBJECTIVES OF THE SIXTH PLAN

5. Tlie main objectives of the Sixth Plan should be the following:—

a significant step up in the rate of growth of the economy, the promotion of efficiency in the use of resources and improved productivity;
strengthening the impulses of modernisation for the achievement of economic and technological self-reliance;
a progressive reduction in the incidence of poverty and unemployment;
a speedy development of indigenous sources of energy, with proper emphasis on conservation and efficiency in energy use;
improving the quality of life of the people in general with special reference to the economically and socially handicapped 'population, through a minimum needs programme whose coverage is so designed as to ensure that all parts of the country attain within a prescribed period nationally accepted standards;
strengthening the redistributive bias of public policies and services in favour of the poor contributing to a reduction in inequalities of income and wealth;
a progressive reduction in regional inequalities in the pace of development and in the diffusion of technological benefits;
'promoting policies for controlling the growth of population through voluntary acceptance of the small family norm;
bringing about harmony between the short and the long term goals of development by promoting the protection and improvement of ecological and environmental assets; and
promoting the active involvement of all sections of the people in the process of development through appropriate education, communication and institutional strategies.

III. THE GROWTH RATE

6. Meaningful solutions to the problems of poverty, under-employment and unemployment can be found only in the frame-work of a ra'p'idly expanding economy. To that end, every effort has to be made to step up the aggregate growth performance of the economy. In the medium term, the growth rate will depend on the combined interaction of a large number of factors of which the following are amenable to control in varying degrees:—

the degree of efficiency in the use of the existing stock of capital;
the rate of investment;
the pattern of investment; and
the balance of payments.

7. As is well known, there is at present considerable idle capacity in several sectors of Indian industry. Even in agriculture, the irrigation potential which has been created is not being fully utilised. Yield levels in most parts of the country are far below what can be attained with known technology. Improved functioning of the infrastructure consisting of coal, power and transport will no doubt help to accelerate the tempo of industrial activity. In the same manner, more efficient utilisation of the irrigation potential which has been created and increase in double cropped area and 'Laid cultivation where relevant will enable us to secure additional agricultural output. In the short run, the extent to which we can activate existing idle capacity will thus be the most important influence on the overall performance of the economy. Thus high priority is to be attached to analysing and identifying the problems which come in the way of greater utilisation of existing capacities and for devising effective remedial steps.

8. As regards the rate of investment, this will depend both on the availability of domestic savings and the expected inflow of external resources. Although the climate for external assistance is not very favourable, the increase in the last six years in tile domestic savings rate, which is currently estimated at about 23 per cent of gross domestic product, is a hopeful feature of the current economic scene. As regards the pattern of investment, particularly the balance between quick yielding and long maturing projects, the effective choice in the next few years is rather limited in view of the large requirements of ongoing projects, and the urgent need to step up investments in relatively capital intensive sectors such as energy and transport in which 'projects have a long gestation lag. Nevertheless, through careful monitoring and timely execution of projects, it may be possible to reverse the current trend in certain sectors of the ecpnomy reflecting regressive capital output ratio.

9. It is the present assessment of the Planning Commission that it will be feasible to plan for an average annual growth rate of 5 per cent during the Sixth Plan. Exercises now in progress in the Planning Commission tentatively indicate the feasibility ot;

obtaining a higher growth rate of 5.3 per cent, and it would soon be possible to take a final view of the matter. In drawing up the profile of investments during the Sixth Plan, it will be assumed that the economy will be able to grow at an annual rate of about 6 per cent during the Seventh Plan.

IV. FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE SIXTH PLAN

10. Savings, Investment and Public Sector Outlays: Preliminary calculation's show that the rate of gross domestic savings expressed as a percentage of gross domestic product at 1979-80 prices will go up from 22.8 per cent in 1979-80 to 25 per cent in 1984-85, yielding a marginal savings rate of 31 per cent. The corresponding estimates for gross domestic investment show that it will rise from 22.9 per cent in 1979-80 to around 25.5 per cent in 1984-85. The estimated aggregate investment in the economy at 1979-80 prices will be Rs. 156,000 crores over the plan period.

11. Dciaiieu analysis or financial resources of the public sector shows that taking into account public sector savings at 1979-80 rates of taxation, domestic market borrowings and net external flows, the total amount of resources may be only about Rs. 67,000 crores. On the other hand, preliminary analysis of needed outlays in key sectors indicates a substantially higher requirement of public sector outlays. Allowing for the limits to the scope for additional resource mobilisation and considering the severity of the balance of payments constraint, it would be prudent to plan initially for an outlay ot Rs. 90,000 crores. In order to finance an outlay of Rs. 90,000 crores without generating uncontrollable inflationary pressures in the economy, additional resource mobilisation by the Centre and the States and their enterprise's will have to be at least Rs. 19,000 crores. Thus hard decisions will be necessary if a viable plan size is to become a practical proposition.

12. Additional Resource Mobilisation: Of the total amount of additional resource mobilisation of Rs. 19,000 crores envisaged in the Sixth Plan, the share of the Central Government is Rs. 13,000 crores. The corresponding share of States is Rs. 6,000 crores.

13. The traditional mechanism tor mobilising additional resources has been to rely on additional taxation. As a result of progressive increases in tax rates, taxation expressed as a percentage of the country's national income now stands at 20 per cent. There is no doubt considerable scope for reducing tax evasion and improving the collection of taxes, and all possible measures for the purpose will need to be taken by the Central and the State Governments. Even so, the Central and State Governments together will have to undertake to mobilise about Rs. 7,500 crores by way of additional taxation during the Sixth Plan. Considering past trends, this is not an unrealistic target.

14. Additional taxation, however, can make only a limited contribution to the additional resource mobilisation eitort, and other ways and means will have to be found to raise resources. It is well known that the resource base of the Indian fiscal system has been considerably eroded, among other things, due to the inability of the public sector enterprises to generate adequate resources for expansion of public sector investment. In our strategy of development, the commanding heights of the economy have rightly been assigned to the public sector and its role will need to be expanded and 'strengthened so as eventually to help create a socialist 'society. However, it has to be recognised that, if the public sector is to play its assigned role, conditions have to be created to enable it to generate larger resources for financing further expansion and development.

15. It has been estimated that in the Central Sector, subsidies on fertilisers, food, exports and other items amounted to Rs. 1,930 crores in 1979-80, and at 1979-80 rates they would absorb Central resources worth Rs. 12,400 crores over the Sixth Five Year Plan period. In order to finance a viable development Plan, determined efforts will have to be made both by the Centre and the States to contain and reduce the extent of subsidies. The Government ot India has already taken a decision in June, 1980 to reduce the net burden of fertilisers subsidy by Rs. 2,100 crores. It is recognised that it may not be 'possible to eliminate wholly the budgetary subsidies now in existence. .Nevertheless, a significant reduction in the amount of •subsidies from the level contained in the budgets for 1980-81 is esseniial Ix the implementation of the Sixth Plan.

16. A large number of Central and State public sectoi enterprises are not yielding the returns which could bs normally expected from them. Deficiencies in management as well as lack of appropriate pricing policies are responsible for this outcome. Major Central public enterprises including railways, steel and coal will have to generate much larger internal resources than they have done in the Past.

17. In the States, determined efforts will need to be made to improve the financial returns of irrigation, StJte Electricity Boards and Road Transport Corpora-lions. It is well known that gross receipts from irrigation ure currently insufficient to cover even working expenses. If irrigation rates are adjusted to achieve the modfcst objective of covering only working expenses, the State exchequer will save nearly Rs. 400 crores over the five year period.

18. Similarly, the commercial losses of State Electricity Boards which amounted to Rs. 103 crores in {973-74 had risen to Rs. 418 crores in 1979-80. At tnis rate, the cumulative loss of electricity Boards during 1980—85 will amount to about Rs. 3,000 crores. Considering the massive investments which are envisaged for the power sector during 1980—85, it is essential to take early steps to eliminate the losses of the State Electricity Boards. The minimum objective minate such losses.

19. The performance, of the State Road Transport Corporations is also not satisfactory. Most of them are making losses. The aggregate loss during 1979-80 was Rs. 62.35 crores and is estimated at about Rs. 600 crores during 1980-85 period. Effective measures, including adjustment in fares, will be necessary to eliminate such losses.

20. To sum up, reduction of budgetary subsidies and higher financial returns from public enterprises both at the Centre and the States offer the only Substantial scope for generating additional resources for financing the investments contemplated in the Sixth Plan. There is a strong case both on grounds of efficiency and equity to reduce these subsidies and to charge economic prices for supply of water, electricity and transport services. Utmost restraint would be required to contain possible increases in non-Plan and unproductive expenditures. More effective mechanisms wo:ild have to be evolved to contain such expenditures.

21. It should also be noted that the magnitude of additional resource mobilisation in nominal terms may have to be higher than indicated in the preceding paragraphs if prices continue to rise leading thereby to a rise in project costs. Studies in the Planning Commission show that the Indian fiscal system does not have adequate built-in elasticity to generate automatically additional resources for financing higher project costs in the wake of inflation. If the real size of ttie Plan is not to be reduced there will be need to step up the outlays in money terms beyond Rs. 90,000 crores, requiring further eftorts at additional resource mobilisation.

22. As already indicated, the aggregate investment in (he economy is estimated at Rs. 156,000 crores over the Plan period. Of the public sector outlay of Rs. 90,000 crores, current outlay will be of the order of Rs. 13,000 crores and public sector investment Rs. 77,000 crores. The balance of investment will be in the private sector, the resources for which will have to be mobilised by the private sector through corporate savings, new issues, and borrowings from the public financial institutions. New investments in the private sector will have to give high priority to exports and production of essential commodities of mass consumption.

23. The Balance of Payments Constraint: As pointed out earlier in this paper, the steep increases in prices of imported petroleum products are likely to lead to a sharp deterioration in India's balance of payments, in the short run, we have no alternative but to finance the growing deficit. Thus, apart from securing such additional external assistance as is available, we shall have to draw down our reserves. However, prudence demands that foreign exchange-reserves should not be reduced below the equivalent of 2i months' imports. Thus reserves can be drawn down only by about Rs. 1,500 crores and this route of financing our deficit will not be available after two years.

24. The climate for concessional aid, both bilateral and multilateral, is also not very favourable. There is undoubtedly considerable excess liquidity in the international capital markets and if we have sound bankable projects it should be possible to mobilise moderate amounts by way of commercial borrowings. However, it must be emphasised that borrowing on commercial terms with relatively short maturities can be resorted to only if the projects yield a return higher than the interest cost of the debt. Moreover, international capital markets usually categorise countries according to country risks and if India's external reserves decline sharply or debt service ratio (debt service expressed as a percentage of our exports) goes up significantly, the attitude ol commercial banking abroad could change suddenly. Thus as of now, it would be prudent to count only on moderate amounts of commercial borrowings. At the same time, efforts will have to be made to secure larger inflows from OPEC countries on mutually beneficial terms. In order to preserve India's credit rating in the international capital market, debt service ratio will have to be stabilised at less than 20 per cent.

25. It is clear that in order to restore 'a measure of viability to our externai payments, India will have to pursue a vigorous export promotion policy. The minimum objective has to be to secure a volume growth rate of about 10 per cent per annum. To achieve thi-, objective, export oriented industrial and agricultural activities will have to be given all possible facilities to expand their capacities. While it is clearly not possibl.:; or desirable to expand the scope of export subsidies, all other measures, including the use of fiscal policy and exchange .rate, will have to assiss actively in enhancing the competitiveness of our exports. Simultaneously, active steps will have to be lak'cn to promote tourism and to m'axunise the inflow of remittances from Indians overseas.

26. Since the rising cost of imported petroleum is the nsosi important factor in the deterioration of India's balance of payments, the long run viability of our external payments is crucially dependent on our ability tu reduce our dependence on imported energy. Measures to conserve energy and to develop domestic substitutes for oil such as coal and electricity will have to be pursued vigorously. At the same time, efforts for exploration and development of the domestic resources of oil will have to receive the highest priority. In order to curb the growth of oil consumption, pricing policies for oil products will have to be so adjusted as to reflect the true opportunity cost.

27. In recent years, there has been a steep increase in imports of vegetable oils, fertilizers, steel and cement. It is necessary to adopt effective steps to reduce our dependence on im'p'orts for these products. Thus increased production of vegetable oils has to receive priority attention in agricultural planning. Capacity utilisation in fertilizers, steel and cement which has been affected for w?nt of power, coal and feedstock will have to be improved on a priority basis.

28. Price Policy: It has to be recognised that the Indian economy has to contend with a highly inflationary international environment. Even though foreign trade is only about 10 per cent of India's national income. imports being of strategic importance to the economy, an increase in import costs lends strong support to cost push elements in inflation. However, given effective monetary and fiscal policies, it should he possible to ensure reasonable price stability. Both fiscal and monetary policies will have to be so designed as to encourage incentives for savings and discourage conspicuous consumption. Farmers will have to be provided with remunerative prices paying due attention to their cost structure, to ensure that they have an adequate incentive to produce more, particularly foodgrains, pulses and oilseeds. In order to minimise the impact of weather fluctuations on prices of foodgrains, a buffer stock of about 15 million tonnes is absolutely necessary.

29. Public Distribution: Public distribution of commodities such as foodgrains, sugar, vegetable oils and kerosene will have to play a major role in ensuring supplies of these commodities to consumer., at reasonable prices. The emphasis has to be on efficient and socially relevant marketing techniques taking advantage of the economies of bulk handling, procurement and distribution. The public distribution system will be so developed that it will hereafter remain a stable and permanent feature of our strategy to control prices and to achieve equitable distribution.

V. PROGRAMME THRUSTS DURING THE SIXTH PLAN

A. Removal of Poverty

30. An increase in the productive potential of the economy is an essential condition for finding effective solutions to the problems of poverty. At the same time, recognising the constraints which limit the scope for higher growth rate in the medium-term, more direct means of reducing the incidence of poverty in the stage of transition would have to be employed. It is well known that the hard core of poverty is to be found in rural areas. The poorest sections belong to the families of landless labour, small and marginal farmers, rural artisans, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and socially and economically backward classes. The household will remain the basic unit of poverty eradication in target group oriented programmes. Families differ in such vital respects as dependency ratios, asset holding, skills and even the ability to perform manual labour on public works. Hence each household below the poverty line will have to be assisted through an appropriate package of technologies, services and asset transfer programmes. Even for those who are already employed as wage-earners the problem may be one of low wages, which makes Strict enforcement of minimum wages legislation all the more essential.

31. The rural and urban poor also require facilities at reasonable costs in many other areas like an efficient public distribution system, public transport system to places ot work, and community kitchens and, other forms of providing clean and nutritious food. Past experience has shown that by lumping the very poor along with the relatively better off sections of the community in development 'projects, the percolation of benefits to the most deprived sections of the commiiiiity is hampered. This is why a household approach is desirable in realising the goal of improving the quality of life among the poor.

32. Land Reforms: An effective land reforms programme designed to redistribute surplus land among the landless and farmers with uneconomic holdings could make a significant contribution to raising the incomes and productivity of the rural poor. However, in spite of the adoption by all States of the ceilings on land holding, all surplus tend has not in fact become available for redistribution. Thus vigorous efforts are necessary to plug the loopholes and ensure more effective implementation of the ceiling legislation and other laws providing security of tenure to the cultivator. Consolidation of holdings for better land and water management and village planning should also be continued vigorously. It will be neces' sary to supplement these measures by several other programme in order to secure a significant reduction ot poverty in the near future. The problem of poverty requires attack on a number of fronts not tne least of which is tne promotion of opportunities for gainful employment. This is dealt witn in a later section.

B. Accelerated Rural Development

33. The First Five Year Plan referred to the need for an integrated development effort in rural areas, "since the peasant's life is not cut into segments in the way the Government's activities are apt to be." Tlie approach to the village has, therefore, to be a coordinated one. While advocating the community development movement, Jawaharlal Nehru said in 1954 : "The Community Projects envisage coordination of a number of activities. They cannot be separated or viewed as isolated activities. The object is to build the human being and the group and to make him and the group advance in many ways. Tlierelore, the activities in the Community Project must be closely coordinated and worked to this end," Inspite or this clear policy enunciation, there has been a proliferation of independantly managed pio-jects over different plan periods.

34. Experience has shown that uncoordinated efforts by a multiplicity of agencies do not lead to the desired results. The unexceptionable concepts underlying many of these programmes have often tended to remain unrealised. It has, therefore, become obvious that the goal of rural development designed to minimise rural proverty can be achieved to any satisfactory extent only through a multi-disciplinary apparatus at the local level. The infusion of extra funds alone may not carry us far, if all overlapping programmes are not made to coalesce functionally and generate a mass flow of developmental activity.

35. The situation thus calls for an operationally integrated strategy which will aim on the one hand at increasing production and productivity in agriculture and allied sectors based on better use of irrigation and improved technology, and on the other, at resource and income development of vulnerable sections of the population in all the blocks of rhe country.

36. For this purpose village communities/pancha-yats will have to be enabled to prepare plans through which they can optimise the returns from their resource endowments in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and allied sectors. The philosophy, purpose and methodology of accelerated rural development programmes can be summed up as below:

Implement vigorously the various plan schemes intended to generate self-employment in rural areas and to help agricultural labourers, share-croppers, marginal an(l small farmers and rural artisans, particularly those designed to assist landless labour families to acquire productive assets like land and livestock and share croppers of security of tenure and fixity of rent.
Improve the agrarian structure speedily in such a way that the optimum utilisation of irrigation facilities and imroved agricultural technology is promoted.
Promote effective credit recycling through suitable insurance schemes
Introduce special programmes for the rehabilitation of bonded labour.
End the current stagnation in rural occupations which has led to the opportunities cost of family labour to remain far below the tote-vailling wage level, through diversified income earning opportunities and prepara-tior of value-added products and develop family income enhancement plans and monitoring systems through family pass books for credit and input supply.
Introduce public policies, including personnel and fiscal policies, which will ensure an expanded flow of financial resources and technical and managerial skills to rural areas.
Promote cooperative organisations which can help to provide the needed services and insulate the rural poof from exploitation in the marketing of their products.
Locate new .technical and vocational colleges and training institutions as well as industries in rural areas.

(i) Ensure that the rural development blueprints lead to:

promotion of gainful employment through the scientific utilisation of local resources;
the programmes being simple in operation and economically viable so that they are quickly capable of achieving self-reliance and self replication; and
the total involvement of local community in all phases of programme implementation.

37. Given the diversity in resource endowments, agro-ecological conditions and socio-cultural milieu of different areas in the country, it is obvious that no uniform model of rural development would be adequate. However, if the basic aim, namely that the real benefit to be derived by the poorest person should be the primary yard-stick for measuring the utility of plan proposals and investment decisions is rigorously adhered to, we would have taken the first step essential for an accelerated rural regeneration movement.

38. Credit for Weaker sections: Credit is a key input in programmes of production and self-employment and in creation of productive assets. While over the years there has undoubtedly been an impressive slep-up in credit availability to the weaker sections, ita dispersal among various strata of the rural poor has been extremely disparate. Among them the main beneficiaries have been the small and marginal farmers, the former distinctly more than the latter. The least to benefit have been the landless and the rural artisans, who as a category account for as much as one-fourth of the rural work force. The present policy of stipulating a minimum percentage for the entire target group of weaker sections has done little to prevent glaring intra-group distortions. It, therefore, appears imperative that the strategy of credit deployment should be so oriented as to equi-tably serve the needs of each category. This will call for more effective credit planning involving earmarking of credit for the landless and the artisans.

39. While attempting to do this, it needs to be stressed that the credit delivery systems, of both cooperative and commercial banks, will require considerable tonning up. Simplification of procedures, systematic identification of the most needy among the target group and preparation of appropriate investment projects for them, and re-orientation from security-based lending to project-based lending arc some of the important aspects of an improved delivery system. Credit-cum-input supply melas or other effective credit and input delivery systems will have to be adopted on a large scale before the onset of kharif and rabi sowings. Full support will also need to be given by the extension agency in building up the awareness and motivation of the rural poor in respect of their production and investment needs. Alongside, fullest emphasis needs also to be given to iccovery disciplines. Pressures which have lately developed in some parts of the country for writing off overdues can only be viewed with extreme concern, for the consequences of this will be disastrous for the credit system as a whole. The aim of the Sixth Plan is to secure n high rate of rural credit expansion to serve the productive needs of all, with priority being given to the credit needs of the various economic groups amone the poor. Re-cycling of credit is an imperative of the process of expansion. Suitable credit insurance schemes mav hence have to be devised for insulating weaker sections from total loss due to factors beyond their control, without disrupting the credit re-cycling system.

C. Promoting Opportunities for Gainful Employment

40. The most challenging task facing the country todav is the generation of adequate opportunities for smnful employment for all sections of the population. Tnadeaiiate purchasing power rather than non-availa-b'litv of food in the imrke*^ has become a major cause of under-nutrition and malnutrition in the country. Therefore, the ability to provide opportunities for the optinum development of the physical and mental potential of children will depend upon the extent to which poverty is reduced. The major aim of both of our developmental and social security strategies should hence be the enhancement of the purchasing power of the rural and urban poor.

41. In the past, special programmes for solving the problem of unemployment and under-employment often tended to be developed and implemented in isolation of the on-going developmental projects, Normally, only that ac'ivity should be regarded as employment which results in value added at least equal to the wage paid. It is, therefore, necessary to view employment as an indivisible component of development and ensure that both in concept and implementation, employment and development become catalysts of each other. During the Sixth Plan period, efforts should be made to end the prevailing operational dichotomy between employment generation and infrastructure and area development programmes so that the benefits to the coinnnmity from the limited resources available can be maximised.

42. Some ol the unique features of our economic and demographic situation are: (a) tor the country as a whole during the 30 years of planned development, there has been no significant change in the proportion of labour force dependent on agriculture, (b) over 60 per cent of our population is below the age of 30, thereby providing enormous opportunitics f6i- capitalising upon the vitality and vers.itiiity of young people "and (c) the country has a large reservoir of educated unemployed persons who

43. During [he Plan period additional opportunities for employment will become available through l!ic large number of developmental projects to be undertaken by State and Central Governments. In addition, industrial growth both in the public and private sector will also help to generate employment opportunities. Such opportunities will, however, by and larg^ confer benefit only upon those who arc qualified to enter the salaried professions as well as organised labour. The large segment of the unorganised rural poor will still need special attention. For this purpose, the rural population who are in need of help could be classified into the following three m:ijor functional groups:---

those engaged in agricultural occupations, including crop and animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry;
rural artisans of various kinds; and
landless labour.

The special needs and potential of each of these major occupational groups will have to be met through appropriate programmes. The following approaches wi'l give an indication of thu broad directions in which employment generation programmes could be developed:

44. (a) Small and Marginal Farmers: Increase in agricultural productivity and introduction of producer-oriented marketing must constitute basic elements in any viable strategy for the reduction of poverty in rural areas. The virtual stagnation in rural occupations has to be ended and rural communities helped to prepare and market value-added products through the introduction of appropriate post-harvest technology and agro-based industries. A majority of farmers cultivate holdings less than one hectare in size. Such small farmers need more area-specific and vocation-specific services rather than subsidies. Hence it is proposed to extend the coverage and content of the on-going small farmers' programme. This programme would cover farmers in all the blocks of the country having two hectares or less in irrigated areas and five hectares or less in unirrigated areas. In irrigated areas, Ihe emphasfs will be on the efficient use of water, better care of the health of the soil, plants and animals and on marketing. Obviously the precise coinposilior of the service package will vary depending upon the farming system, the nature of the terrain, such as hill areas, desert areas, etc., and the stage, of evolution of the marketing infrastructure, including rural communication. Farm level production plans supported by an effective extension service like that envisaged under the Training and Visit system will have to be provided for the farmers covered under the programme. Land levelling and consolidation as well as effective land reform measures will be essential to stimulate a long-term interest in farming on the pai-t of the cultivators. Agro-service centres managed by self-employed rural youth should become the major mechanism of providing the necessary services, so that the concept of self-help can be fostered. The dairy development programme—Operation Flood II already initiated will cover about 10 million imal families. This can be further extended in order to cover in all 15 million families. Among the other projects which are proposed to be introduced for assist'ng farmers and fishermen are: (i) Dryland farmer? Programme in all drought prone and arid and semiarid areas. This will include provisior for individual and community wa'er harves'ing and water shed management, scientific land use planning and contingency production plans to suit different weather conditions; (ii) Projects for promoting dairy. poultry, sheep, goat, piggery, yak and mithup. production; (iii) Intensive Forestry Development Programme and (iv) Inland and coastal aquacullure programmes for promoting inland fish culture and integrated sea farming based on a blend of culture and capture fisheries.

(b) Rural Artisan: Promotion of village and small Industries has been and will continue to be an important element in the national employment generation strategy. In the contribution to the net domestic product bv the manufacturin" sector as a whole, the share of the village and small industries sector

Creation of employment opportunities particularly through projects in the handloom, handicraft, sericulture, apiculture and allied sectors.
Organisation of raw material supply of the needed quantity and quality.
Provision of designs based on consumer pre-y,, ferences and market research.
Establishment of wider entrepreneurial base. and upgrading the skills of the artisans through a system of recurrent training.
Organisation of producer-oriented marketing both within and outside the country.
Expanded efforts in export promotion.

The programme for improving the economic conditions of the handloom weavers and other artisans will be revitalised. Measures would be taken to improve the levels of capacity utilisation and capital efficiency in this sector. Steps would be taken to check me growing phenomenon of sickness in the sector and to revive the potentially viable units through a package of assistance to be provided in cooperation with financial institutions. Measures would be taken to augment the flow of ins'itutional finance to the village and small industries sector as a whole and in particular in favour of the cottage units. The facilities of the proposed National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development would be utilised for the benefit of ihe rural artisans. Steps would also be taken to rationalise the interest structure in relation to the economic status of the beneficiaries. Legislative support will need to be extended to facilitate the flow of risk capital into the sector through innovations like 'limited partnerships'. The traditional skills of rural women constitute a national asset of inestimable value. Every effort should be made for taking advantage of the growing opportunities for international trade in hand-made products and for ensuring that the profits from such enterprises go to the actual workers. The Industrial'Eastates Programme will be revitalised and new functional estates set up for groups of artisans and craftsmen. Suitable incentives and facilities would be provided to widen the entreprepenrial base including induction of first generation entrepreneurs. For this purpose, the Entrepreneur Development Programme (EDP) meant for the technically qualified and educated unemployed persons would be strengthened further. Steps will also be taken to impart training in improved methods and technologies to upgrade the skills, productivity and earnings of the artisans through the national programme for Training Rural Youth for Self-Employment (TRYSEM).

(c) Landless Labour: Agricultural labour constitutes aoout one-fifth of the rural work force and fifty percent of ttie agricultural labour households are landless and h'ave as such no asset base. The landless labourers are the most under-privileged and malnourished sections of the population and for them, it is a compounded problem of unemployment, low and uncertain income and nutritional deficiencies. Even a target of 5 percent rate of overall economic growth will not by itself help to cope with the problem of providing full employment to _this category of population unless there is a very carefully planned tie-up between programmes for rural asset formation and development. It is proposed to initiate a National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) where development projects and target group-oriented employment generation projects will be closely intertwined. In this project employment will be viewed as an integral component of development and hence it should be ensured that both in concept and implementation, employment and development become catalysts of each other. NREP will be implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on a 50:50 sharing basis between the Centre and the States. State Govtrnments could use some of the procedures adopted in Maharashtra for raising the Employment Guarantee Fund for generating the additional resources needed for implementing such a project. Wages could, depending upon possibilities, be paid partly as cash and partly as grain. Mobile fair price shops may be organised at the centres where rural works are in progress so that cloth, vegetable oil, salt and other principal requirements of the families can be made available. Block Development Committees and the Village or Community (Tribal) Panchayats along with the Village Yuvak Mangal Dais (Rural Youth Clubs) could be entrusted the responsibilities to plan and execute such programmes of self-sufficiency at the village and block level to ensure peoples' participation and grassroot leadership. Even if this programme initially covers on an average one thousand unemployed in every block, about five million people could be involved in a nation-wide developmental and production endeavour in about five thousand blocks. There would be other millions who would be working in projects of multi-village, multi-block, multi-district and State-level development. Thus,' the National Rural Employment Programme will aim at achieving concurrently (a) employment opportunities which will help to provide to all citizens their daily bread, (b) planned ut;lisation of manpower for economic development, and (c) an efficient 'p'ublic distribution system for the essential commodities needed by rural poor.

Further, the National Rural [Employment Programme will help to promote a much more aggressive approach to rural public works. If the wage rate is properly set it will pull slack season agricultural wages up, another desirable objective. Attendencs will fall off automatically in the busy season. Rural works should act in this manner as a residual category of employment, absorbing over a period of time able-bodied persons seeking work. The wage thus earned could help to supplement the income derived irom self-employment avenues, as in animal husbandry, sericulture, village and small industries projects, etc., where members of landless labour households will be preferentially inducted. In order to ensure appropriate technological back-up for this programme, it is proposed to initiate an all-India coordinated research project for technologies for landless labour families to be jointly undertaken by major scientific agencies, State Universities, colleges and technical institutions and mobilise professionally qualified young persons for service in rural areas.

(d) Urban Poor: The various programmes for enlarging the opportunities for gainful employment in rural areas so far outlined, if implemented speedily and effectively will check the unplanned migration of the rural poor to urban areas. There are, however, already varying numbers of unorganised labour looking for daily employment in many towns and cities. Therefore, wherever appropriate, suitable urban works programme with the highest priority for environmental sanitation, slum improvement, tree planting and community housing should be undertaken. The programme should be so developed that infructuous and non-essential expenditure is not incurred. For this purpose, a shelf of projects in conformity with the master plan of the town or city should be prepared by \\\s/ Municipal Corporation with special emphasis on eliminating various forms of air, water and environmental pollution.

(e) Physically and Mentally Handicapped: Programmes of training, rehabilitation and employment for those unfortunately afflicted by physical and mental deformities as well as diseases like leprosy will be considerably expanded. Specia^tax incentives will be given to promote interest in the employment of blind and other physically handicapped persons.

(f) Educated Unemployed: The issue of unemployment among the educated needs to be viewed in the medium term context of the Five Year Plan as also in the long term perspective so that a mutually beneficial relationship can be promoted among education, employment and development. The nature of the problem is such that no single pattern would provide the! needed solution. A decentralised approach is called for and a District Development Centre could become the focal point for employment planning. It is necessary to set up at the district level an Employment Generation Council consisting of peoples' representatives, concerned government functionaries and representatives of credit institutions and of professional and academic bodies in the district. This Council should prepare an integrated district employment plan which •will help to provide jobs in the industrial, agricultural and services sectors and which will also ensure that the district employment plan and the district credit plan are mutually supportive of each other. In the district employment plan, there should be special component plans for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and women.

Besides linking the provision Of credit with self-em-' ployment projects for the educated youth, it will be necessary to provide relevant training on the model of TRYSEM programme. The success of self-employment projects will ultimately depend upon the elfi-ciency of marketing. Therefore, the projects should be taken up only on the basis of a careful analysis of marketing opportunities.

(g) Inter gated Rural Urban Employment Strategy: Through the multi-pronged strategy outlined above, it should ultimately be possible to ensure gainful employment to at least one adult member per family. With the active involvement of Universities, industrial undertakings, scientific establishments and lo::al training and educational organisation, it should be possible for the Gram Panchayats, Municipal Corporations and local administration to utilise the funds available both with developmental departments and institutional financmg organisations in such a manner that essential social security measures also serve as instruments of rapid economic growth.

D. Agriculture and Allied Activities

45. The achievement of an overall annual rate of growth of the economy at around 5 per cent during the 1980-85 Plan is crucially dependent upon an acceleration in the performance of the agricultural sector. From the broad inter-sectoral linkages observed in tlic past, it would appear that a rate of growth of agricultural production of around 4 per cent would need to be aimed at. This is also necessary considering the fact that the medium term possibilities of labour absorption in sectors other than agriculture are somewhat limited and bulk of the backlog of the unemployed/under-employed and net additions to labour force would have to be provided with productive employment within agriculture and allied sectors. This apart, for the country to be able to fulfil a volume growth rate of about 10 per cent in exports, there is utmost need to tap the export potentialities of primary products.

46. Agricultural production during 1967-68-1978-79 has grown at an annual compound rate of 2.8 per cent. The task is one of moving on to a new trend line and this will require a determined effort considering that it will involve programmes extending to difficult crop segments and also difficult agro-climatic regions/locations. Moreover the increase has to accrue mainly from a substantial step up in the yield levels and from multiple-cropping in view of the virtual exhaustion of the scope for increases in the net cropped area. This is apart from the problem of inter-year fluctuations and the need to stabilise yield levels and production performance.

47. Unevenness in technological progress in different regions, crops and farming systems, slow pace of implementation of land reforms, inadequacies in the arrangements for assisting small and marginal farmers to take to new technology, lack of effort in land consolidation and levelling, poor soil health care and on-farm management of water, lack of an area approach in fighting the triple alliance of weeds, pests and pathogens and inadequate arrangements tor producer-oriented marketing are some ot the factors responsible for the growing gap between potential and actual farm yields. In addition, the prevailing mismatch between production and post-harvest technologies is leading to situations where not only post harvest food losses may be high but also where small differences in production lead to either an uncomfortable glut or an acute scarcity. Lack of progress in the production of oilseeds, which are predominantly grown under rainfed conditions, has necessitated the import of large quantities of edible oil. Special stress also needs to be laid on improving the production of pulses by introducing pulse crops in all irrigated crop rotations. It is clear that further progress in agriculture will depend upon the introduction of appropriate location-specific, remedies to the maladies prevailing in each farming system. Adequate investment in the following sectors will hence be necessary during the Sixth Plan period.

48. Food Production targets: Detailed production targets for different agricultural commodities arc being prepared. It should, however, be emphasised that the increased production will largely have to come. from improvements in productivity and cropping intensity. For this purpose, there has to be greater emphasis on improved farm management with as much attention being paid to non-cash inputs as to cash in'p'uts. In particular group/community endeavour in the areas of water management, pest control and post-harvest technology will have to be promoted. The step up in the production of pulses and oilseeds of the order necessary for meeting our needs may be attainable only if these crops cou'd also be included in irrigated farm rotations. In addition, the twin maladies of inadequate plant population and plant protection will have to be remedied through stepping up efforts in seed production and pest proofing on an area basis.

49. Oilseed Production: We can meet our requirement of oils and fats from the following four major sources:

Perennial oilseed plants like coconut and oilpalm.
Annual oi'seeds like groundnut, rape, mustard, sesamum, safflower, niger, sunflower, soyabean, castor and linseed.
Minor oilseeds like sal, nccm, karanja, kusum, mahua, etc.
Oil obtained through technological process such as extraction from rice bran, maize germ, cotton seed and mango kernel.

We are at present tapping less than 25 per cent of the available potential for production in the above sources. The availability of a vast untapped production reservoir even at current levels of tcchno'ogy is thus the major strength of our oilseed economy. Plans should be developed to become self-reliant in our edible oil requirements within the shortest possible time-

50. Water utilisation and management: Uptu 1979-80 we have created an irrigation potential of 56.7 million hectares consisting of 26.7 million hectares under major and medium projects and 30 million hectares covered by minor surface and ground water sources. According to the best available estimates we have scope for bringing about 38 milliAl hectares more under surface water irrigation and 18 million hectares through ground water use. The return from the investment made in the irrigation sector so fur is, however, disappointing. With our sunshine resources, an irrigated land should yield at least 5 lonnes of grain equivalent per hectare per year. The high' est priority during the Sixth Plan period should hence go to the improvement of productivity per unit of water in the areas already covered with irrigation arrangements, including attention to the problems arising from salinity, alkalinity and waster logging. Command area development, the introduction of the warabandhi system of water distribution and the popularisation of an integrated set of soil-crop-water management practices will be necessary to get the best out of our past investment in irrigation. In the area of minor irrigation, particularly from ground water and lift irrigation sources, there has to be a proper tie-up with energy supply. For areas likely to be brought under irrigation, advance action should be taken for research by Agricultural Universities for developing cropping arid land management systems for effective use of irrigation water, so that water could become a blessing and not a curse.

51. Extension of Irrigation: During the Sixth Plan every effort will have to be made to mobilise resources for expanding the area under irrigation and to initiate action for future development of water resources so as to bring about 125 million hectares under irrigation by the beginning of the 21st century. For this purpose, it is proposed to develop a National Water Plan consisting of the following components:

(i) Effort should be to bring 15 million hectares under irrigation during 1980-85, consisting of 8 million hectares from surface water sources and 7 million hectares under ground water sources. For this purpose, the highest priority should be given to the completion of all unfinished irrigation projects as speedily as possible. Investments in subsequent plans should be of an order which would help in realising the presently assessed utilisable potential of 113.5 million hectares by 2000 AD. Tn this context it should be emphasised that the relatively simpler schemes for harnessing surface wa'er have already been undertaken. The more difficult ones wil have to be taken up during this decade. A systems approach to project formulation and implementation will be essential for success so that all the links are tied up properly. Also, all inter-S;ate differences of opinion in relation to the use of river water should be speedily resolved. To facilitate speedier utilisation of the ground water resources, particularly in the neglected areas, it' is proposed to develop an effective institutional structure, in addition, the on-going programmes of ground water survey and monitoring will be strengthened.

(ii) The total surface water resources of the country have been assessed at about 178 million hectare-metres. We are now utilising only about 31 milion hectare-metres, the rest flowing into the sea. We should make a" beginning in preparing plans for harnessing some of the water which now goes to the sea for irrigating drought-prons and rain shadow regions through inter-basin transfer of water, to begin with, in the peninsultif river system.

(iii) The R and D effort in the field of solar desalination of sea water will be stepped up through Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Department of Atomic Energy 'and other suitable scientific organisations.

52. Unirngated areas: Attention to rainfed farming will be one of the major thrusts ot the Sixth Plan since improved technology which can help to elevate and stabilise production in most rainfed areas except during years of drought of unusual severity is becoming available. It is hence proposed to initiate appropriate programmes in dry land farming consisting of the following components:

Provision of water-shed based services in land preparation, water harvesting, crop life saving irrigation and management and pest control;
Arrangements for better care of soil, plant and animal health;
Arrangements for the timely supply of credit in the form of inputs for which the credit is intended through mobile credit-ciwi-input supply melas;
Producer-oriented marketing to avoid distress sales by poor farmers; and
Suitable public policy measures particularly in the matter of providing remunerative price and package of incentives to promote scientific crop and land use planning.

53. Flood Control: It has been broadly assessed that the total flood-prone area in the country is '34 million hectares. Till 1979-80, an area of about 11 million hectares has been provided with reasonable protection. Keeping in view the recent recommenda-lions of the National Floods Commission, a broad pro-eramme will need to be evolved consisting of flood forecasting and warning systems, new embankments, drainage improvement, soil conservation, reclamation of saline and alkaline soils, afforestation etc.

54. Contingency plans and disaster preparedness'-Both in flood and drought prone areas, contingency plans to suit different whether probabilities will have to be developed. Such plans should be supported by appropriate seed and fertilizer reserves. The preparation and the implementation of these plans should be monitored by the State Land Use Boards. It is proposed to make arrangements for training in disaster preparedness at a suitable existing centre.

55. Fertilisers: The consumption of chemical fertilisers is expected to go up from 5.4 milion tonnes in terms of NPK nutrients in 1979-80 to about 9 million tonnes by 1984-85. It wll, therefore, be necessary to plan our investment in the fertiliser sector accordingly. Simultaneously, steps will have to be taken to promote the conservation and use of all organic wastes and biological sources of nitrogen fixation and supply. Bio-fertilizers programme involving the popularisation of blue-green algae, azoTIa, azotobacter and other sources wil have to be greatly expanded. In addition, steps to improve soil fertility and to reduce leaching losses fertilizer will have to be promoted. Training in soil testing and soil care will need to be provided at the village level. Reclamation ot saline, alkaline and acidic soils should receive high priority.

56. Systems approach to agricultural development: It is only by linking production, conservation, consumption and trade into an integrated system that we can accelerate agricultural progress. Therefore, during the Sixth Plan period an integrated agricultural strategy should be developed which would include steps for improving production on the lines indicated above. A net work of rural godowns-cum-post-harvest technology centres will have to be established for avoidng distress sales by poor farmers, and these can be linked to the public distribution net work. It should be our endeavour to give an export orientation to agriculture, after ensuring that the basic needs of our popualtion for various food items are fully met. Full advantage should be taken of growing opportunities for international grain trade. For this purpose, it will be necessary to strengthen arrangements for transport and shippii^g in addition to packaging and forwarding. Simultaneously steps should be taken to improve our export earnings from all the traditional agricultural items. Stability of supply, quality of produce and price competitiveness will determine our success in becoming an important country in international agricultural trade.

57. Horticulture: The cultivation of fruits, vegetable and flowers should receive much greater attention, since they can be sources of nutrition, better soiF management and employment and income generation. In fact a very significant aspect of the Sixth Plan proposal in agriculture should be an emphasis on horticulture with proper arrangements for the multiplication and distribution of appropriate seeds and planting material. Fruit trees can be introduced in all agro-forestry programmes and in other projects such as hill, desert and tribal area programmes. The potential for the export of fresh and processed vegetable and fruits should be fully exploited.

58. Forestry: An Intensive Forestry Development (Programme in all the districts of the country would help meet the following three major groups of need if the programme is drawn up and implemented carefully;

ecological security;
fuel, fodder and other domestic needs ot the population; and
the needs of small and large-scale industries.

It is proposed to develop such a project in which on-going schemes like social forestry and farm forestry programmes, commercial forestry projects, village fuel wood plantation, etc. will be functionally integrated. The restoration of the Himalayan and Western Ghats eco-systems through a massive afforestation programme will receive high priority. Steps will be initiated for organising the supply of fuel and fodder to the rural poor through the social forestry programme.

59. Animal Husbandry: Mixed farming involving crop-livestock integration should 'be promoted in all parts of the country. There is need for co-operateive development projects in dairying, sheep, goat and poultry tn cover the entire country. Camel, yak and mithun should also receive attention from the point of view of genetic improvement, heal.h care and nutrition.

60. Fisheries: The enormous opportunities available both in capture and culture fisheries in inland and marine waters need to be capitalised fully. More intensive efforts and appropriate public policy measures are needed to take a advantage of our Exclusive Economic Zone. It will be necessary to expand and strengthen programmes for improving inland fish production as well as for promoting coastal aquaculture or mari-culture involving the culture of prawns, mussels, oysters, eels, marine algae and other organisms. A Fishery Survey of India should be organised for the purpose of cataloguing, conserving ond monitoring our vast fisheries resources. Timely information on weather conditions and other facilit'es should be provided to small fishermen.

E. Industry and Infrastructure

61. Industry: A major challenge to be faced in the Sixth Plan is to secure a substantial acceleration in the rate of industrial growth. It is envisaged that industrial production in the country will grow at an average annual rate of 8-9 per cent during the Plan psriod. This^is not going to be an easy task considering the energy constraint facing the country. Nevertheless, the substantial step up in public sector investment and the more hopeful prospects for agricultural growth suggest that it is feasible to realise an industrial growth rate of 8-9 per cent. This order of increase is in any case necessary to secure an increase of about 10 per cent per annum in exports.

62. Also, improved functioning of the infrastructure, particularly coal, power and railways, is an essential condition for the realisation of the industrial growth target. In addition, in order to make efficient use of scarce capital, much greater attention will have to be paid to securing greater efficiency and competitiveness in the functioning of our industry. In order to protect employment, all encouragement wil have to be given to the growth of cottage, village and small industries. Sectors where efficient production can be secured on a small scale will continue to be reserved for future expansion only by the small-scale units. However, if social costs of protection of the decentralised sector are to be contatined within reasonable limits, there must be a greater play of competition in the remaining sectors which are not reserved exclusively for small-scale industry. In industries where the economies of scale are not important, dispersal of industries to secure greater regional balance is both .economically efficient as well as socially desirable. However, wherever economies of scale exercise an important influence on the cost of production, expansion of existing enterprises is to be preferred to setting up new plants of uneconomic size. This aoplies particularly to the expansion of capacities with an eye on export markets. In particular, in specified high priority industries, normal and automatic growth in existing industrial capacities upto a specified percentage should be permitted. Licensing regulations would need to be relaxed to the extent necessary to assist production for export. The leading role of the public sector in the industrial development of the country w'll be further strengthened. The challenge ahead is to make use of the efficient, the modern large scale public enterprises as pace setters in a giant technological leap forward for industry and the entire economy. Moreover, consistent with the emphasis on technological self-reliance, adequate stress must also be laid on keeping the technology in use uoto-date. To that end, import •of technology particularly for export oriented and key industries may need to b; liberalised.

63. The objective of self-reliance would require that the pattern of investment in the industrial sector should continue to give high priority in the creation of adequate capacity in basic industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, capital goods, fertilizers and petrochemicals. The public sector will have to assume the major role in the expansion of these industries. The Sixth Five Year Plan will provide increased outlay for this purpose in the public sector. In the consumer and intermed'ate industires. the potential for expansion in the private sector would be fully exploited.

64. The production programmes tentatively under consideration envisage substantial increase in production in kev industries. Steel production is proposed to be stepped up from 7.4 million tonnes in 1979-80 to 11.7 million tonnes in 1984-85. aluminium from 190-000 tonnes to 300.000 tonnes, cement from 18 million tonnes to 34 million tonnes, nitrogenous fertilizers from 2.2 million tonnes to 4.3 million tonnes, phosphatic fertilizers from 0.75 million tonnes to 1.3 million tonnes. Considerable increase in output in consumer goods like sugar, vanaspati, cloth and drugs is also envisaged.

65. Village and Small Industries: The plan will give a high priority to the speedy development of small, tiny and village industries with a view to enhance employment opportunities in these industries on a large scale. Existing traditional industries will need to be revitalised and their productivity raised 'by upgradation of skills and techniques. A positive effort will be made to disperse these industries ovsr a wider area, particularly in the rural and semi-urban areas. The programme of ancillarisations and establishment of proper linkages between large, medium and small scale will be specially encouraged. Particular a tention will be paid to intensify the efforts for the development of handloom industry with emphasis on the North Eastern Region wherein an Institute of Handloom Technology is proposed to be established.

66. Transport: The importance of transport infa-structure for the industrial sector and the general development of the economy can hardly be over-emphasised. Transport capacity should remain ahead of the demand to avoid bottlenecks in the movement of industrial and agricultural commodities. Among the objectives of the national transport policy would be the provision of adequate arrangements for passenger and freight demands at a minimum resource cost, an integrated perspective comprising available transport facilities, special emphasis for remote and isolated areas like the North-Eastern Region, mass transit and para transit systems in urban areas and so on. Transport policy should also aim at an optimum inter-model mix and conservation of energy. Encouragement will need to be given to coastal shipping, inland water transport, pipeline transportation and ropeways. The plan will particularly provide for substantial additional outlays for roads, railways and ports.

67. Railways will continue to be the backbone of the country's transport infrastructure in the foreseeable future, more so in view of the emerging energy situation. Keeping in view the vital importance of railway transport to the economy of the country, special efforts will need to be made to enhance the capacity of the Railway system through (a) better utilisation of existing assets by greater productivity (b) measures for modernisation necessary for the growing size of operations, like running of heavier and loneer trains, greater pace of electrification, containerization and use of modern methods of freight controlling. and (c) adequate investment for creation of additional capacity to match, and to be ahead of the anticipated levels of demand.

68. Energy: Tn an earner section, brief mention has been made of the balance of payment effects of steeoly rising import costs of petroleum. In addition, we have to reckon wth the possibility that the requisite supply of imported oil may not simply be available even if we can find ways and means to pay for it. As of now, it is reasonable to assume that the world will be faced with a growing shortage of oil and countries like India, poor as they are, are in no position to compete with developed countries for available scarce supplies of oil. The means that reduced dependence on imported oil has to be a key element of our development strategy in years to come. The broad outlines of such a strategy are as follows:—

Through the pursuit of appropriate pricing policies and other related measures, the rate of growth of consumption of oil products must be curbed, particularly of diesel and kerosene which have shown un-acceptably high rates of growth in recent years. Utmost economy and maximum efficiency in the proper use of petrol, diesel and petroleum products should be effected and public opinion should be made more aware of the exact nature of the oil crisis and whatever it means for the average citizen.
Efforts for the exploration and development of domestic resources of oil have to be greatly intensified.
Expansion of the production of coal and electricity and faster exploitation of India's considerable hydro potential and further development of nuclear power have to be pursued with greater vigour.
In order to economise in the use of kerosene and diesel in rural areas, setting up of biogas plants and energy plantations under the intensive Forestry Development Programme, using waste land and appropriate timber species which grow rapdily, have to be pushed ahead.
There is a considerable scope for conservation and economy in the use of several industrial processes. An energy audit should invariably become an annual feature of the activi ies of all major industrial enterprises in the public and private sectors.
Research on the development of renewable sources of energy, particularly use of solar energy, must receive greater attention than in the past. A minimum objective should be to develop extensive use of solar energy by the end of the decade for irrigation.

69. In view of the severity of the energy constraint, massive investments will be necessary in sectors such as coal, elecricity generation and distribution and petroleum exolora'ion and development. Coal production target for 1984-85 will involve a substantial steo un over the production of 104 million tonnes in 1979-80. The Plan will increase the installed generating capaic'y of electricity by nearly 20,000 M.W. For this purpose, it will be necessary to establish Super Thermal Power Stations in the Central sector and also to strengthen the regional grids and move to a national grid so as to secure optimum utilisation of generating capacity in different parts of the country. This investment in transmission and distribution and efforts to reduce transmission losses will have to be given a high priority. Moreover, significant outays will also be incurred on coal and power projects which will fructify in the Seventh Plan. The production of crude oil is expected to go up from 11.8 million tonnes in 1979-80 to around 22 million tonnes by 1984-85. The outlays in this sector have 1o take into account expenditure on exploration as well as expansion of refining capacity in the country.

70. Efficiency in resource use: Because of the paramount need to devote a large proportion of in-vestible resources in such capital intensive sectors as oil, coal and electricity, 'there will inevitably be a limit on resources which can be devoted to other ectors. However, in many of these sectors, there is considerable excess capacity. Part of it is no doubt •the result of shortages of critical inputs such as power. There is urgent need to revamp and strengthen the management structure in such critical sectors as coal, power, transport and other enterprises so 'that the management has the motivation to give. its very best to the enterprise. With the accountability of public sector for higher production and generation of fiscal resources, a strong and effective scheme of delegation of power :o public sector management will be ensured; and its functional autonomy safeguarded. Except for policy issues, the operational autonomy of individual public sector managements will be protected. Central and Stale Governments will have to exercise the utmost care in choosing the personnel of top management so that a professional approach to management is encouraged. For the public sector, it is necessary to arrange for proper induction and training of senior managers.

71. In the State sector, there is urgent need to have a look at ihe working of the State Electricity Boards and other State Corporations and Boards. In many States, there is growing mismanagement in the administration of power generation and distribu:ion. Effective measures will have to be taken to secure greater capacity utilisation in the vital power sector.

72. In recent years, strained industrial relations have also contributed to inadequate capacity utilisation in several key sectors. It is necessary to devise an effective strategy for reducing the incidence of industrial unrest which causes hardships to the community and also leads to loss of output. As part of this strategy, workers' participation in industry should be encouraged and stress laid on augmenting product! vi;y. Early constipations' with representatives of workers and employees will be necessary to work out an acceptable strategy.

F. Human Resource Development

73. Since human welfare has to be the supreme consideration of all developmental plans and programmes, a high priority during the Sixth Plan period should go 'to the improvement of the quality of life of our people. This needs to be achieved by enabling the participation of all our citizens in the developmental process. The stress during the plan period would be on the impovement in the living and working facilities in the small and medium towns and otner growth centres in order to enable them to serve the rural hinterland and the rural economy in a more efficient and effective manner and with a view to minimise migration to metropolitan and other large cities. Some important components of an integrated approach to human resousce development will be the following:

(a) Population stabilisation

74. India's population is currently increasing at the rate of 1.9 per cent per annum. It is anticipated that tnc population which is estimated at 659 million as on 1.3. 1980 will rise to 913 million by 2000. Rapid increases in population become a continuing drag on the resources of the country. Urgent step's are necessary to moderate and reduce the rate of population growth. Unfortunately, in the last few years, the family planning programme has lost the momentum built-up in earlier years. It is necessary to reverse this dismal trend. It should be the objective of our population policy to reduce the net reproduction rate to 1 per cent by 1995. To that end, it will be necessary to dr'aw u'p' an effective family planning programme. Such a programme must be built up as part of an integrated package consisting of measures in health care, water supply, sanitation, infant nutrition; care for the aged, education and extension. The emphasis must be on proper motivation and an "Open-choice''' in the promotion of different methods of family planning. Coercion in any form must be ruled out.

75. The State and Central agencies should jointly work out such an integrated population stabilisation programme with built-in-flexibility, so that the contents of the programme and the socio-cultural features of the area to be covered by the action plan are mutually compatible. The programme should concentrate on educating the people of the small family norms, while making the necessary services available 'on the scale commensurate with the magnitude of the programme.

(b) Mininum needs programme

76. The Minimum Needs Programme which was introduced in the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) included the following components:

Elementary education
Rural health
Rural water supply
Rural roads
Rural electrification
House sites for the landless labourers
Environmental improvement of urban slums; and
Nutrition.

77. The nlimmuni needs programme should receive priority in the allocation of resources. The activities covered under the programme will be supplemented by the wider programmes in the various social services sectors. It will be desirable, where possible, to adopt a systems approach in dealing with these social services programmes. Special mention may be made of the following:—

Provision of safe drinking water: Clean drinking water will be provided in all the problem villages in the country. It will be ensured that at least one source of potable water is available throughout the year in every such village. The approach will be to have low cost schemes and the widest coverage with simple arrangements for maintenance which should be left, as far as possible, to the local level. Care will be taken to ensure that drinking water is available to all weaker sections of the community, particularly scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

Elementary Education', Education should be viewed as one aspect, though a very important one, of human resource development at every age-level. Education and other developmental inputs 'particularly health, environmental sanitation and nutrition should constitute an integrated system of human resource development (vide Section G below). Some groups 'and levels will have to receive priority in such a programme. The means adopted may be either formal (through the school system) or non-formal (through other available systems and media). If however the objective has to be 'stated in quantified terms, the guiding principle should be that no child below the age of 14 should be deprived of elementary education. " Those above 14 must take second place.

Health: While the coverage under minimum needs programme has necessarily to be limited, health care as such should be viewed as a total system consisting of appropriate steps in—

environmental sanitation
supply of safe drinking water
nutrition
health education
immunization
family-planning

It would be useful to promote integrated voluntary health service organisations with support from Government. If each village community could organise a voluntary health service to pay particular attention to environmental sanitation and preventive medicine, it should be possible to achieve the World Health Organisation (WHO) objective of "Health for all by 2000 AD'', within this decade itself.

Housing and Urban Slums: In rural areas, provision of house-sites and dwelling houses for landless labour would be undertaken as a time-bound programme accompanied by a low cost rural housing programme on a nationwide scale. In the urban areas, the economically weaker sections and the low income group will need to be given special care. The stress wculd be on housing facilities based on low cost locally available building materials and socio-cJtuirl and ecological requirements. Group and community housing as well as housing for the homeless v.'ould be one of the priority programmes. Special eflons would be made to tackle the problem of slums on a more enduring basis. Conscious efforts will have to be made to check migration from rural to urban areas and plan the location of industries and other economic activities in such a way that economic opportunities and jo6 opportunities are distributed in a way that promotes population dispersal. Efforts will also have to be made to develop small and medium towns which can act as countermagnets to the metropolitan areas.

(c) Special Programmes for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, weaker section and backward areas

78. From the Fifth Five Year Plan onwards, special emphasis has been given to the economic development of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes through programmes of land reforms, agriculture, animal husbandry, village and small industries, education and other social services. For the scheduled tribes and tribal areas, an area-based approach for their development was taken up. Since 1979-80, formulation of special component plans for scheduled castes has been initiated particularly for States and Union Territories having large scheduled caste popula:ion and this approach will be continued.

79. The Sixth Plan approach to the development of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other weaker sections and backward classes will be to intensify the existing efforts and keeping in view their basic needs, evolve family and household oriented programmes to ensure that scheduled castes and scheduled tribes derive benefits from plan investments directly. For the scheduled tribes, economic 'programmes will be enlarged to make them self-reliant without interfering with their traditional ways of life and culture. For other economically backward communities, minorities, women and the socially and educationally handicapped, suitable provisions would be made for educational facilities and other economic programmes.

80. Hill Areas. The development focus in these areas has to compensate for the difficulties imposed by topography including transportation and need for ecological and environmental protection. The approach should b; consistent with the maintenance of the cultural identity of the people. There is need to develop infrastructure of transport, communication and power. Large scale afforestation to cover the hills made barren by indiscriminate felling is necessary. Since many ex-Servicemen come from the Himalayan region, their services could particularly be utilised for afforestation, soil conservation and watershed management in the hills. Alternative land management systems will have to be introduced to make shifting cultivation unnecessary. There is need for introducing high value low volume crops backed by processing and marketing to include horticulture, tea. coffee, spices, etc. in the North-Eastern region. There has to be a considerable extension of plantation crop cultivation in this region. Industry, based on local raw materials to minimise transportation cost and on the locational advantage of cool climate will also need to be developed. A National Hill Areas Development Programme will be launched to ensure planned integrated development of the hill areas of the country.

81. Desert Areas: The Desert Development Programme will be implemented both in the hot and cold 'arid zones of the country. The emphasis will be on arresting desertification through activities which restore ecological balance, stabilise sand dunes, and facilitate soil and water conservation. Plantation of shelter belts, adoption of water harvesting techniques and developing pastures to sustain livestock economy will be vigorously pursued. Exploitation of natural resources of these areas will be closely linked to replenishing of these resources. It is proposed to encourage innovative use of land for fodder crops, pastures and fuel and fodder plantations. This diversification can substantially improve the economy of the desert areas in keeping with the ecological requirements of the area. In the cold arid zones of Ladakh and Spiti, irrigated agriculture and improved animal husbandry pnictice would be encouraged among other activities.

G. Education

82. The main objectives of education development will be:

(i) to ensure essential minimum education to all children upto the age of 14 years within the next ten years, particular attention being paid to school drop-outs and to those groups which are in danger of getting left behind because of their special circumstances through appropriate programmes such as those designed to promote "learning while earning";

(ii) to provide for all citizens, literacy, numeracy, basic understanding of the surrounding world and functional skills of relevance to" daily life and to local environment;

(iii) to promote the values of secularism, democracy, national integration and dignity of labour throughout the educational system;

(iv) to provide relevant technical skills through the agency of Krishi, Udyog and Van Vigyan Kendras, and other centres where learning should be by doing;

(v) to lay stres's in the creation of new facilities on technical and vocational institutes end locate them to the maximum extent possible in the rural areas;

(vi) to improve secondary and higher education courses so as to increase the component of learning from real life situations through
participation in socially relevant activities;

(vii) to consolidate existing facilities for higher education and programmes with minimum additional inputs for quality improvement and
physical infrastructure and to coordinate higher education with opportunities for employment, specially self-employment and developmental
goals;

(viii) to promote selective growth in educational fields of national importance and social relevance such as the pursuit of scholarship and excellence in basic sciences and humanities, development of scientific and technical manpower, human resources development among weaker sections, socially handicapped groups and women; and to provide essential commodities needed by students at controlled prices;

(ix) to sensitise academic communities to the problems of poverty, illiteracy and environmental degradation through organised participation in poverty reduction and environment improvement programmes;

(x) to facilitate development, mobilisation organisation and utilisation of the youth to involve and participate in the process of national development; and

(xi) to support the growth of arts, music, poetry, dance, drama including folk art as instruments of culture, education and national integration,

83. The approach to achieve these objectives will be characterised by its flexibility for orientation to tasks to be performed and results to be achieved, diversity of models to suit varying needs and circumstances within the framework of priorities and integration of efforts to effect participation and coordination of many sectors and agencies. The means to be adopted will be either formal or non-formal, making full use of all available institutions, systems and media. Inter-sectoral cooperation will be brought about and parallel streams harmonised into a system network at various points and levels so as to achieve beneficial linkages among education, employment and development. For this purpose, it will be desirable to introduce provisions in University Acts which can elp to provide structured linkages between general universities and development departments of Government, as has already been done in the Acts of Agricultural Universities.

84. Sports: An area which needs particular attention is the provision of adequate facilities for sports and games to students from the young age. Depending on local preferences, adequate facilities far indoor and outdoor games should be provided. Promotion of team work and striving towards excellance should be the major goals of our programmes in sports and games. It is also necessary to generate wider interest in physical education and nature exploration.

H. Ecology and Environment

85. It is imperative that we carefully husband our renewable resources of soil, waier, plant and animal lire to sustain our economic development. Over-exploitation of tliese is reflected in soil erosion, siltation, Hoods, and rapid destruction 01 our forest, lloral and wild life resources. The depletion of these resources often tends 10 be irreversible; and since the bulk of our population depends on these natural resources to meet their basic needs, particularly of fuel, fodder and housing material, it has meant a deterioration in their quality of life.

86. There are a number of causes of this state of affairs:

(i) There is no consideration of costs of environmental degradation at the policy planning level; e.g., construction of roads, mining activities and placement of pylons for the high tension power lines cause large-scale landslides destroying fertile fields in the valleys. Similar is ihe situation with regard to several hydcl projects.

(ii) There is lack of long-term perspective in our development planning; e.g., soils are tending to get saline or alkaline due to improper use of irrigation and soil organic matter and fertility are tending to get depleted due to use of organic wastes as fuel rather than as manuis.

(iii) All agencies lend to maximise their uwn profits and ignore the costs they impose on the society at large, including costs of environmental degradation. For example, studies by the Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution have shown that the discharge of community wastes and industrial effluents is the major cause of water pollution. At present, 56 per cent of class I cities and 87 per cent of Class II towns do not possess sawerage facilities.

iv) While a community depending on a resource for its subsistence generation after generation has a stake in its conservation, an entrepreneur with the option of shifting his investment is only interested in quick profits even if it leads to the destruction of the resource base. The inshore prawn fisheries of Goa, sustainably exploited for centuries by local fishermen, are now being overfished and depleted through the exploitation by trawlers largely owned by entrepreneurs from non-fishing communities. Similarly, with the growth of the fruit industry in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, felling of trees for making packing cases is proceeding in an indiscriminate manner.

(v) A large fraction of our population is today being lorced to eke out a subsistence by culnvating marginal land, overgrazing depleted pastures, cutting wood from dwindling lorests and destroying the base of our natural resources in many other ways.

(vi) Mining, brick-making and similar activities create scars on the eaith and do considerable damage both to soil productivity and scenic beauty. It is important that rehabilitation measures should be strictly enforced in areas subjected to mining, brick-making and similar activities.

87. The situation calls for a bold new approach to development which will be based on technu-environ-menlai and socio-economic evaluation 01 each development project. Major lacunae in our environmental legislation include measures to prevent air and noisa pollution, over-exploitation of fisheries, control of impact of mining on environment, a provision lor taking over the treatment of industrial effluents by the Government and preservation of landscapes of special significance. Our general public as well as policy makers should be effectively exposed to environmental issues.

I. Science and Technology

88. India has had a long and distinguished tradition in science from ancient times to grcJt accomplishments during this century. But it is essentially since independence largely through the vision and support 01 Jawaharlal Mchiu that an organised effort was made to develop a capability and infrastructure, covering a wide spectrum of science and technology (S and T), to develop a strong and self-reliant nation. In the little over three decades that have gone by, such an infrastructure and capability largely commensurate with meeting national needs has been created. The first objective during .the Sixth Plan period will be to strengthen and consolidate this base and ensure work on an inter-disciplinary, inter-agency manner to meet major well defined objectives. As an integral part ot this process, facilities for work and housing in t) existing scientific institutions will have to be improve

89. Given dear-cut objectives and defined time-frames. Indian science has demonstrated that it can meet the goals that have been set. With this experience, it is now crucial that in all the important and major sectors of national endeavour clear-cut objectives are laid down for science and technology.

90. There is a tendency to view science and technology as a separate component of the Five-Year Plan. A major effort of this Plan must be to ensure that science and technology permeate and subserve every sector of the national effort and help to achieve development targets at minimum costs and maximum benefits in terms of energy conservation and employment generation. Science and technology must become an essential and integral part of this development process. The scientific community through its academies and professional associations and particularly the younger scientists and organisations for them must be energised towards this objective. Appropriate assistance will need to be given to science academies and professional societies for this purpose. At the same, industry, both in the public and privati sectors, should build strong in-house R and D facilities.

91. Techanology must help to speedily improve production. It should help to crea'e more employment and reduce drudgery, particularly in the occupations of hill and rural women. Location-spcc'lic research will be needed for this purpose. Besides these materi;il goals, science through proper communication should be made a powerful force to eradicate olil irrational attitudes. A Science Information Bureau may be established for this purpose. Aho "Science Sammelans" may be organised at frequent intervals by all stations of the All India Radio and Doordarshnn in local languages. Steps will have to be taken to bring scientists and society together through appropriate 'feed-back mechanisms.

92. Self-reliance must be at the very heart of the S and T planning. There can be no other strategy for a country of our size and its endowments. It mu'st. however, be recognised that science and technology in general have a long gestation period to fructify. It is the infra-structure and capabilities built over the past three decades that has to be made use of for obtaining immediate results in the Sixth Plan. The further base buiit over the Sixth Plan will largely be of value for meeting the objectives of the following Plans. It. therefore, needs *o be emphasized that the support for S and T is related not only to the objectives of 1980-85 but to time horizons extending for a further 5—10 years.

93. In addition to strengthening the existing infrastructure and correcting its imbalances, a significant effort over the Sixth Plan period will have to be devoted to new areas of thrust. This will include/work on: new energy sources; ocean science and technoloey; new thrusts in agriculture, particularly to develop less energy-intensive strategies; new horizons in maerial science; eradication of communicable diseases; belter nnd more diversified utilisation of coal; newly emcr"-'ng areas in the life sciences based on recent developments in molecular and cell biology; and safe and socially acceptable techniques of family plannins. Continued growth and development in the high technology areas of nuclear science, space science and electronics will be needed to meet the various objectives of energy, diversified applications in many ureas and the necessity for self-reliance.

94. Manpower of appropria'e quality and in adequate number forms the base for any scientific development. Indiq fortunately already has a large community of trained scientists and technologists. To ensure the continued generation of such manpower, education, both at higher and school levels, in the 'areas of science and technology, will need considerable strengthening. A,Iso basic research in selected areas will have to be supported to enable India to fulfil itself at the frontiers of scientific development, and to create self-confidence in the community as a whole through such achievements.

95. There is need for close attention to organisational and institutional matters, and to fiscal policy, import policy and industrial policy to ensure that these are in consonance with the objectives and directions given to �he S and T effort. Careful attention to these, and implementation of the necessary measure in relation to these will ensure much higher returns tiom the S and T effort than has been possible in the past.

96. State Governments will have to pay particular attention to the following:

(i) Stale Councils of S and T: All States (excepting those like Karnntaka, Kcrala, and Maliara

(ii) A ssodiition of Young Scientists: The organisation of Associations of Young Scientists would be helpful in involving the younger' generation of students ;'nd scholars in promo'ins an interest in science and in spreading a culture of science tailored to the needs of economic development. Havin'2 regard to the conditions in our country, this should focus on the age group 18-24.

(iii) Woniei. fciem'isis: There is greater need for paving attention to the problems of women scientists. Suitable facilities will have to be created for working women engaged in S and T activities. Women trained in home science should he assisted in organising the lecycline of all wastes and proper preservation of food material.

(iv) Involvement in development: Wherever appro-pria^, institutional devices should be fostered for in-volvina the S and T community in block level plannine and in programmes designed to promote opportunities for gainful employment.

J. Other Areas of National Endeavour

97. The above paragraphs have dealt with the key areas of the economy deservins priority attention during the Sixth Plan. Effort in other areas will have to continue for completing and strenithcninc the nro-pramme already developed, introdncinp innovations ns become recessary in th" li"ht of experience. Mention may be made of the devlopment of civil aviation, tourism, communications and information media as also of the social services not covered under the Minimum Needs Programmes. Programmes in these areas as in others are under preparation by various Working Groups and the concerned Ministries.

K. Plan Implementation

98. A successful implementation of the Sixth Plan will require a significant strengthening of the planning machinery at all levels. Arrangements for the preparation and implementation of projects both at the Centre and in the States will need to be revamped. It will also be necessary to provide for regular monitoring of the progress of the projects and programmes and even current as well as post-evaluation. There has to be much greater awareness of the social costs of delay and rules and procedures which come in the way of timely completion of plan schemes and projects must be done away with. The Sixth Plan assigns vast responsibilities to the development administration at the grass roots. This will require augmentation of the capabilities of development administration both at the district level as well as the block level. Finally, planning for rapid economic and social development in a democratic polity can succeed only if there is a conscious and willing acceptance on the part of the common people of various structural changes inevitably associated with a fast changing economy. In the final analysis planning is for the human being and it involves essentially an investment in man. People's participation and their sense of purpose are crucial to an effective implementation of the Plan. Thus arrangements for the people's involvement in the planning process will have to be reviewed and strengthened. The role of the Panchayati Raj Institutions will need to be reviewed in the licht of experience and conditions prevailing in various States.

99. Special emphasis will be placed on involving the youth of the nation as the pivot of public participation. More imaginative ways will have to be found to tap the reservoir of idealism and potential for constructive action that the country's youth represents. Rural youth clubs have been found to be a particularly effective means of promoting a variety of village developed activities in the past. These will be strengthened and linked to similar clubs or centres in the urban areas through appropriate organisational links at all levels.

100. In particular, attention needs to 'be paid to the following:

(a) There are far too many procedural restrictions; authority and accountability frequently tend to get separated so that no one ultimately
becomes accountable. A new management methodology, where authority and accountability are linked at every level, will need to be
introduced. A carefully designed concurrent performance audit system should enable personnel in key positions to be deployed effectively in
order to secure speedy implementation of projects.

(b) Frequent shifts of top management personnel needs to be avoided. Those who are doing well in a particular post could be given the higher scales of pay for which they become eligible without having to shift them to other Departments. For example, in some of the command area projects, the project Administrator has been changed almost once in six months. Since the persons appointed to such posts are generalists, it will take some time for them to get to know the nature and complexities of the job. Unfortunately, by the time an officer settles down in the job, he gets transferred to a totally different position.

(c) Current personnel policies tend to penalise those posted in the rural, tribal and neglected areas with regard to allowances and amenities, instead of providing incentives. These policies need to be reviewed with a view to remove such urban bias.

(d) The tendency to proliferate formal staff positions will need to be avoided. Non-formal staffing pattern involving the mobilisation of suitable members of the local village community on the basis of a fixed monthly honorarium can be introduced wherever possible and without adversely affecting the position of existing staff in the rural development projects. The Minimum Needs Programme, including drinking water supply, elementary education, environmental sanitation, preventive medicine and family plannig are all areas which lend themselves to this approach. This would also generate greater avenues for additional income to the families below the poverty line. Appropriate pre-develop-ment training could be given under Training of Rural Youth in Self Employment (TRYSEM) and other projects.

(e) It is desirable to change substantially the present arrangement for delegation of powers for sanctioning investments and clearing contracts in order to facilitate speedy implementation.

VI. SUMMARY AND ISSUES

1. Because of the nationally and internationally difficult economic conditions under which the Sixth Plan is being launched, it would be necessary to ensure that plan priorities and programme thrusts are chosen very carelully. Equally important is adequate attention to all aspects relating to bridging the gap between plan and performance (paras 1-4).

2. The objectives of the Sixth Plan should be as listed in para 5.

3. On present assessment, an avearge growth rate of 5 per cent in annual national income would be aimed at during the plan period. Consideration will be given to the feasibility of a higher growth rate of 5.3 per cent. A growth rate of a minimum of about 10 per cent in exports will be aimed at (paras 9 and 253.

4. Considering the resource position and the balance of payments constraint, it would be prudent to plan initially for an outlay of Rs. 90,000 crores (para 11).

5. To finance a plan involving an outlay of Rs. 90,000 crores without generating undersirable inflationary pressures in the economy, it would be necessary to undertake an additional resource mobilisation of Rs. 19,000 crores. The share of the Central and State Governments in such an effort would be of the order of Rs. 13,000 and Rs. 6,000 crores respectively (paras 11-12).

6. Apart from the need to mobilise about Rs. 7500 crores by way of additional taxation, during the Sixth Plan, it would be necessary to reduce budgetary subsidies and secure higher financial returns from public enterprises both at the Centre and in the S'ates (paras 13—21).

7. Removal of poverty and unemployment will be the major thrust of all plan programmes. The ongoing rural development programmes will be integrated functionally, so that maximum returns can be obtained from the available Government and institutional financial resources (paras 30—39).

8. The programmes of promotion of employment will be aimed at specific target groups. In the case of small and marginal farmers as well as those engaged in fishing, the objective must be to assist them for increasing their productivity. For this purpose, the on-going small farmers programme, the national dairy project, dryland farmers programme and inland and coastal aquaculture programmes will be expanded and strengthened.

For assisting rural artisans more effectively, numerous small on-going programmes will be functionally integrated.

A National Rural Employment programme will be estabilished in which development projects and target group oriented employment generation will be closely inter-twined.

An Employment Generation Council will be established at the district level to coordinate activities for promotion of employment among the educated unemployed (paras 40—44).

9. The agricultural plan should be so developed that productivity bf all major farming systems is improved both in irrigated and rainfed areas. Special attention should be paid to increasing the production of pulses ;md oilseeds. Horticulture should receive higher pricrity. The pattern of agricultural growth should be such that an export orientation can be given to agriculture after ensuring that the basic needs of our population for various food items are fully met (paras 45'- 49).

10. A national water plan for fuller and speedier utilisation of surface and ground water resources should be implemented. Effort should be to bring 15 million hectares under irrigation during 198ft-85, 8 million hectares from surface water sources and 7 million hectares from ground water sources. (paras 50-51).

11. Fertilizer production will be increased, so that a consumption level of about 9 million tonnes of NPK nutrients can be achieved by 1984—85. Organic recycling and biofertilizers will also be popularised extensively (para 55).

12. An intensive Forestry Development Programme has to be drawn up and implemented carefully for ensuring ecological security and meeting the fuel. fodder and other domestic needs of the population as also the requirements of small and large industries (para 58).

13. Mixed farming involving crop-livestock integration should be promoted in all parts of the country. There is need for similar cooperative development projects in the case of sheep, goat and poultry (para 59).

14. Programmes for inland fisheries and coastal aquaculture will be introduced. Steps will be taken to derive maximum benefit from the exclusive economic zone (para 60).

15. Improved functioning of and higher outlays for the infrastructure particularly coal, power, railways and ports will be necessary for the realisation of the industrial growth target (para 62).

16. Significant amounts of outlays will have to be provided for expansion of capacity in steel, non-ferrous metals, capital goods, fertilizers and petrochemicals (paras 63—65).

17. In order to protect employment, all encouragement will need to be given to the growth of cottage, village and small industries (para 65).

18. The broad objectives of national transport policy will be as indicated in para 66.

19. In view of the severity of the energy constraint, massive investmen's will be necessary in the sectors of coal, electricity generation and distribution and petroleum exploration and development (para 68).

20. There is an urgent need to revamp and strengthen the management structure in the critical sectors of coal, power, transport and other enterprises. (para 70).

21. The major aim of the plan should be to optimise the benefits from our vast human resource and to improve the quality of life of our people and more specifically those suffering to-day from different forms of economic, social and ecological handicaps. The major com'ionents of the human resource development programme will be:

population stabilisation (para 74).
minimum needs programme (para 76).

22. Policies for controlling the growth of population should receive a high priority (paras 74-75).

23. The minimum needs programme should aim, among other things, at providing safe drinking water in ail the needy villages oT the country by 1985. Special attention will also be given to elementary education, health care, housing and the needs of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, socially and economically backward classes and women (paras 76-77).

24. Special programmes will be developed to deal with the problems faced by the hill areas and desert areas (para 80).

25. The main objective of education development will be to ensure essential minimum education to all children upto the age of 14 years in the next 10 'years; other objectives of education development will be as listed in para 82 (paras 82-83).

26. Science and Technology should be promoted and made more relevant to local needs by the organisation of State level science and technology councils and by involving scientific academies and professional societies in preparing reports on themes of local and national relevance. Associations of young scientists should be organised for involving youth more actively in promoting the culture of science (paras 88—96).

27. The key to success in achieving the socio-economic goals of the Sixth Plan will be the generation of the necessary degree of coordination in the formulation and implementation of plan schemes. Personnel policies of Government Departments will need to be reviewed and the constraints imposed by needlessly inelastic procedures removed. Non-formal staffing patterns involving the mobilisation of suitable members of the local village community should be introduced wherever possible ('paras 98—100).

Annexure I Estimate of Gross Domestic Saving Investment and Aggregate Resources—1980—85
(Rs. crores at 1979-80 prices)

Sl.No.	Item	Amount
1	Public Saving	30259
	(i) Budgetary Resources	11252
	(ii) Public Enterprises	19007
2	Saving of Private Non-Financial Corporate Sector including Cooperatives	9495
3	Saving of Financial Institutions	3618
	(i) Public Sector	2525
	(ii) Private Sector	1093
4	Saving of Household Sector	106275
	(i) Financial Assets	44085
	(ii) Physical Assets	62190
5	Aggregate Gross Domestic Saving	149647
6	Net Inflow from Abroad	6698
7	Total Saving available for Gross Investment	156345
8	Provision for Current Development Outlay in the Public Sector	13500
9	Aggregate Resources	169845

Annexure II Estimate of Financial Resources for the Sixth Plan—1980—85 : Public Sector
(Rs. crores at 1979-80 prices)

Sl. No.	Item	Amount
1	Balance from Current Revenues at 1979-80 rates of taxes	13602
2	Contribution of Public Enterprises	11007
3	Market Borrowings	18500
4	Small Savings	6337
5	Prov.dent Funds	3564
6.	Term Loans from Financial Institutions (Net)	3003
7	Miscellaneous Capital Receipts	3072
8	External Assistance and borrowings frum other sources (Net)	7765
9	Additional resource mobilisation	19150
10	Uncyyered gap/deficit financing	4003
11	Aggregate resources	90000

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