Objectives, Strategy and Perspective of Development
Introduction || Objectives of Ninth Plan || Population Growth and Demographic Profile : Perspective || Growth Target for Full employment : Perspective || Growth Performance and Poverty : Perspective || Food Requirement and Agricultural growth : Perspective || Energy and Natural Resources : Perspective || Annexures

Introduction

1.1 The Ninth Five Year Plan, launched in the 50th year of India’s Independence, will take the country into the new millennium. Much has happened in the fifty years since independence. The people of India have conclusively demonstrated their ability to forge a nation united despite its diversity, and their commitment to pursue development within the framework of a functioning, vibrant and highly pluralistic democracy. In this process democratic institutions have put down firm roots and flourished and development has also taken place on a wide front. As the millennium draws to a close, the time has come to redouble our efforts at development, especially in the social and economic spheres, so that the country will realise its full economic potential and the poorest and the weakest will be able to shape their destiny in an unfettered manner. This will require not only higher rates of growth of output and employment, but also a special emphasis on all-round human development, with stress on social sectors and a thrust on eradication of poverty.

1.2 The Approach Paper to the Ninth Five Year Plan, adopted by the National Development Council, had accorded priority to agriculture and rural development with a view to generating adequate productive employment and eradication of poverty; accelerating the growth rate of the economy with stable prices; ensuring food and nutritional security for all, particularly the vulnerable sections of society; providing the basic minimum services of safe drinking water, primary health care facilities, universal primary education, shelter, and connectivity to all in a time bound manner; containing the growth rate of population; ensuring environmental sustainability of the development process through social mobilization and participation of people at all levels; empowerment of women and socially disadvantaged groups such as Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and Minorities as agents of socio-economic change and development; promoting and developing people’s participatory bodies like Panchayati Raj institutions, co-operatives and self-help groups; and strengthening efforts to build self-reliance. These very priorities constitute the objectives of the Ninth Plan.

1.3 Some specific areas from within the broad objectives of the Plan as laid down by the NDC have been selected for special focus. For these areas, Special Action Plans (SAPs) have been evolved in order to provide actionable, time-bound targets with adequate resources. Broadly, the SAPs cover specific aspects of social and physical infrastructure, agriculture, information technology and water policy.

1.4 The Ninth Plan is based on a careful stock taking of the strength of our past development strategy as well as its weakness, and seeks to provide appropriate direction and balance to the socio-economic development of the country. The principal task of the Ninth Plan will be to usher in a new era of growth with social justice and participation in which not only the Governments at the Centre and the States, but the people at large, particularly the poor, can become effective instruments of a participatory planning process. In such a process, the participation of public and private sectors and all tiers of government will be vital for ensuring growth with justice and equity.