Revised draft amendments to the Motion on the Fourth Five Year Plan given notice of by the Prime Minister in the Lok Sabha

Summary

This two-page parliamentary draft proposes replacing the original motion on the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969/74) with a strongly critical assessment of the Plan’s assumptions and performance. It argues that the earlier emphasis on heavy industry came at the expense of agriculture, that state enterprises had failed to provide reasonable returns, that employment creation had been neglected, and that inflationary policies had continued despite the failure of the Second and Third Plans. The draft notes that employment had not recovered, exports had declined, and industrial production had lagged, undermining the Plan’s underlying rationale.

The proposed amendments centre on employment-led growth, private enterprise, agricultural expansion, and monetary and fiscal discipline. They call for Rs. 1,000 crores in additional expenditure on massive rural works, a corporation to help educated unemployed people establish small businesses, a nationwide adult-literacy programme, and a Department of Economic Opportunities. The draft also urges accelerated major and medium irrigation projects, priority for water management, and a shift away from deficit financing and inflationary policies toward stable prices, reasonable taxes, reduced red tape, and remuneration linked progressively to productivity.

Key points

• The draft describes the Fourth Five Year Plan as repeating the earlier Plans’ excessive emphasis on heavy industry and inadequate attention to agriculture.
• It criticises state enterprises for failing to provide reasonable returns and argues that employment creation should be the primary economic objective.
• It links employment growth to a broader expansion of agriculture, trade, and industry supported by stable currency, reasonable taxation, and less red tape.
• It proposes Rs. 1,000 crores for large-scale rural works intended to provide remunerative employment to job-seekers.
• It recommends support for educated unemployed people to establish small enterprises, alongside adult literacy and a new Department of Economic Opportunities.
• It calls for accelerated irrigation and water-management programmes to improve agricultural self-sufficiency, exports, farm incomes, and economic development.
• It attributes persistent price rises and near economic stagnation to loose fiscal, monetary, and credit policies, and makes price stability a central consideration of economic management.