(Online Course) Public Administration for IAS Mains Exams
Topic: Plans and Priorities: Indicative Planning
The Indian experiment in Planning for a socialist society through democratic process is unique in the contemporary world. Russia and China are both attempting to achieve socialism through planning but they do not use the democratic process. The Labour Party in Britain aims at bringing about a socialist society through democratic procures but has no centralized planning machinery. The U.S.A. is a democracy but believes neither in socialism nor in planning. It is only India which has attempted to combine all the three-planning, socialism and democracy. We want to bring about democratic, cooperative, socialistic pattern of society with mixed economy under a parliamentary system without modifying traditions a great deal. This is a challenging, albeit difficult task.
The advent of planning, since 1950, has affected the nature, scope and scale of administration of the Union and State Administrations in India. This impact has mainly arisen as a consequence of three major forces at work: (1) the assumption by the Government of developmental functions including those in the field of welfare; (2) the increase in the scale and variety of administrative operations ; (3) the need for the greater association of the people with, and their participation in, the administrative process to facilitate planning from below and effective implementation of the Plans.