The objective of the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74) was “growth with stability” and “progressive achievement of self reliance”. The original draft outline of the plan was prepared in 1966 under the stewardship of Ashok Mehta. Popular economic slogan during this time was Garibi Hatao (Removal of poverty). The Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) was introduced at a time when the country was under severe economic crisis arising out of inflation. There was increase in oil price. But the plan was dropped at the end of the fourth year of the plan in March 1978 by the Janata Government.

The Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) aimed at strengthening the infrastructure for both agriculture and industry and meet the minimum basic needs of the people. The Seventh Five Year Plan (1985 – 90) emphasized on accelerating the growth of food grains production, increasing employment opportunities and raising productivity. The Eighth Five Year Plan (1992 – 97) aimed to achieve the goals, namely, improvement in the levels of living, health and education of the people, full employment, and elimination of poverty and planned growth of population. The main objectives of the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997 – 2002) were to give priority to agricultural sector, to remove poverty, to control prices, to provide food to the weaker sections, population control, to develop panchayat administration and to uplift the depressed classes as well as tribal people.

The Green Revolution

Despite creditable growth of agricultural output in the 1950s India faced food shortage in the mid sixties. The increase in population and the huge outlay to the plan of industrialization put pressures on agricultural growth. India was forced to import millions of tons of food grains. The two wars with China (1962) and Pakistan (1965) and two successive drought years (1965-66) brought enormous pressures to food production. In this background the Green Revolution was launched in India with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in food production.

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