which reforms and reconstruction are oftenundertaken. Generally, there are two

approaches to planning, i.e., sectoral planningand regional planning. Sectoral planningmeans formulation and implementation of the

sets of schemes or programmes aimed atdevelopment of various sectors of theeconomy, such as agriculture, irrigation,

manufacturing, power, construction,transport, communication, socialinfrastructure and services.

There is no uniform economic developmentover space in any country. Some areas are moredeveloped and some lag behind. This uneven

pattern of development over space necessitatesthat the planners have a spatial perspectiveand draw the plans to reduce regional

imbalance in development. This type ofplanning is termed as regional planning.

Unit III

Chapter 9

PLANNING AND

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT IN

INDIAN CONTEXT

The word ‘planning’ is not new to you as it isa part of everyday usage. You must have usedit with reference to preparation for yourexamination or visit to a hill station. It involvesthe process of thinking, formulation of ascheme or programme and implementation ofa set of actions to achieve some goal. Thoughit is a very broad term, in this chapter, it hasbeen used with reference to the process ofeconomic development. It is, thus differentfrom the traditional hit-and-miss methods by

On 1 January 2015, the NITI Aayog was

formed. India adopted centralised planning

after Independence, but subsequently, it

graduated into decentralised multi-level

planning. The responsibility of plan formulation

was with the Planning Comminssion at the

Centre, State and district levels. But on 1

January 2015, the Planning Commision was

replaced by the NITI Aayog.

NITI Aayog has been set up with the objective

of involving the states in economic policy

making for India for providing strategic and

technical advice to the Central and State

governments.

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plantation, agriculture, animal husbandry,poultry, forestry and small-scale and villageindustry.

Drought Prone Area Programme

This programme was initiated during theFourth Five Year Plan with the objectives ofproviding employment to the people indrought-prone areas and creating productiveassets. Initially, this programme laid emphasison the construction of labour-intensive civilworks. But later on, it emphasised on irrigationprojects, land development programmes,afforestation, grassland development andcreation of basic rural infrastructure, such aselectricity, roads, market, credit and services.

The National Committee on Developmentof Backward Areas reviewed the performanceof this programme. It has been observed thatthis programme is largely confined to thedevelopment of agriculture and allied sectorswith major focus on restoration of ecologicalbalance. Since growing population pressure isforcing the society to utilise the marginal landsfor agriculture, and, thereby causing ecologicaldegradation, there is a need to create alternativeemployment opportunities in the drought-prone areas. The other strategies ofdevelopment of these areas include adoption ofintegrated watershed development approach atthe micro-level. The restoration of ecologicalbalance between water, soil, plants, and humanand animal population should be a basicconsideration in the strategy of development ofdrought-prone areas.

The Planning Commission of India (1967)identified 67 districts (entire or partly) of thecountry prone to drought. The Irrigation

Commission (1972) introduced the criterion of30 per cent irrigated area and demarcated thedrought-prone areas. Broadly, the drought-prone area in India spread over semi-arid andarid tract of Rajasthan, Gujarat, WesternMadhya Pradesh, Marathwada region ofMaharashtra, Rayalseema and Telanganaplateaus of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka plateauand highlands and interior parts of Tamil Nadu.The drought-prone areas of Punjab, Haryanaand north-Rajasthan are largely protected dueto spread of irrigation in these regions.

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 105

Target Area Planning

The planning process has to take special careof those areas which have remainedeconomically backward. As you know, theeconomic development of a region dependsupon its resource base. But sometimesresource-rich region also remain backward.Economic development requires technology, aswell as, investment besides resources. With theplanning experience of about one-and-a-halfdecades, it was realised that regionalimbalances in economic development weregetting accentuated. In order to arrest theaccentuation of regional and social disparties,the Planning Commission introduced the‘target area’ and target group approaches toplanning. Some of the examples ofprogrammes directed towards thedevelopment of target areas are CommandArea Development Programme, Drought ProneArea Development Programme, DesertDevelopment Programme, Hill Area

Development Programme. The Small FarmersDevelopment Agency (SFDA) and MarginalFarmers Development Agency (MFDA) whichare the examples of target group programme.

In the 8th Five Year Plan special areaprogrammes were designed to developinfrastructure in hill areas, north-easternstates, tribal areas and backward areas.

Hill Area Development Programme

Hill Area Development Programmes wereinitiated during the Fifth Five Year Plan covering15 districts comprising all the hilly districts ofUttar Pradesh (present Uttarakhand), Mikir Hilland North Cachar hills of Assam, Darjeelingdistrict of West Bengal and Nilgiri district of TamilNadu. The National Committee on theDevelopment of Backward Area in 1981recommended that all the hill areas in thecountry having height above 600 m and notcovered under tribal sub-plan be treated asbackward hill areas.

The detailed plans for the development of hillareas were drawn keeping in view theirtopographical, ecological, social and economicconditions. These programmes aimed atharnessing the indigenous resources of the hillareas through development of horticulture,

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106 India : People and Economy

Case Study – Integrated Tribal DevelopmentProject in Bharmaur* Region

Bharmaur tribal area comprises Bharmaur andHoli tehsils of Chamba district of HimachalPradesh. It is a notified tribal area since21 November 1975. Bharmaur is inhabited by‘Gaddi’, a tribal community who havemaintained a distinct identity in the Himalayanregion as they practised transhumance andconversed through Gaddiali dialect.

Bharmaur tribal region has harsh climateconditions, low resource base and fragileenvironment. These factors have influenced thesociety and Economy of the region. Accordingto the 2011 census, the total population ofBharmaur sub-division was 39,113 i.e., 21persons per sq km. It is one of the most

(economically and socially) backward areas of

Himachal Pradesh. Historically, the Gaddis

have experienced geographical and political

isolation and socio-economic deprivation. The

economy is largely based on agriculture and

allied activities such as sheep and goat rearing.

The process of development of tribal areaof Bharmaur started in 1970s when Gaddis

were included among ‘scheduled tribes’. Under

Fig. 9.1

* The name Bharmaur is derived from Sanskrit word Brahmaur. In this book Bharmaur has been used toretain the colloquial flavour.

the Fifth Five Year Plan, the tribal sub-plan wasintroduced in 1974 and Bharmaur wasdesignated as one of the five Integrated TribalDevelopment Projects (ITDP) in HimachalPradesh. This area development plan was aimedat improving the quality of life of the Gaddis

This region lies between 32° 11’ N and

32°41’ N latitudes and 76° 22’ E and 76°

53’E longitudes. Spread over an area of

about 1,818 sq km, the region mostly lies

between 1,500 m to 3,700 m above the

mean sea level. This region popularly

known as the homeland of Gaddis is

surrounded by lofty mountains on all sides.

It has Pir Panjal in the north and Dhaula

Dhar in the south. In the east, the

extension of Dhaula Dhar converges with

Pir Panjal near Rohtang Pass. The river

Ravi and its tributaries– the Budhil and the

Tundahen, drain this territory, and carve

out deep gorges. These rivers divide the

region into four physiographic divisions

called Holi, Khani, Kugti and Tundah areas.

Bharmaur experiences freezing weather

conditions and snowfall in winter. Its mean

monthly temperature in January remains

4°C and in July 26°C.

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Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 107

Fig. 9.2

and narrowing the gap in the level ofdevelopment between Bharmaur and otherareas of Himachal Pradesh. This plan laid thehighest priority on development of transportand communications, agriculture and alliedactivities, and social and community services.

The most significant contribution of tribalsub-plan in Bharmaur region is the developmentof infrastructure in terms of schools, healthcarefacilities, potable water, roads, communicationsand electricity. But the villages located along theriver Ravi in Holi and Khani areas are the main

108 India : People and Economy

beneficiaries of infrastructural development. Theremote villages in Tundah and Kugti areas stilldo not have sufficient infrastructure.

The social benefits derived from ITDPinclude tremendous increase in literacy rate,improvement in sex ratio and decline in childmarriage. The female literacy rate in the regionincreased from 1.88 per cent in 1971 to 65 percent in 2011. The difference between males andfemales in literacy level i.e. gender inequality,has also declined. Traditionally, the Gaddis hadsubsistence agricultural-cum-pastoraleconomy having emphasis on foodgrains andlivestock production. But during the last threedecades of twentieth century, the cultivation ofpulses and other cash crops has increased inBharmaur region. But the crop cultivation isstill done with traditional technology. Thedeclining importance of pastoralism in theeconomy of the region can be gauged from thefact that at present only about one-tenth of thetotal households practise transhumance. Butthe Gaddis are still very mobile as a sizeablesection of them migrate to Kangra andsurrounding areas during winter to earn theirlivings from wage labour.

Sustainable DevelopmentSustainable DevelopmentSustainable DevelopmentSustainable DevelopmentSustainable Development

The term development is generally used todescribe the state of particular societies and theprocess of changes experienced by them.During a fairly large period of human history,the state of the societies has largely beendetermined by the interaction processesbetween human societies and their bio-physicalenvironment. The processes of human-environment interaction depend upon the levelof technology and institutions nurtured by asociety. While the technology and institutionshave helped in increasing the pace of human-environment interaction, the momentum thus,generated in return has acceleratedtechnological progress and transformation andcreation of institutions. Hence, development isa multi-dimensional concept and signifies thepositive, irreversible transformation of theeconomy, society and environment.

The concept of development is dynamic andhas evolved during the second half of twentieth

century. In the post World War II era, the conceptof development was synonymous to economicgrowth which is measured in terms of temporalincrease in gross national product (GNP) and percapita income/per capita consumption. But,even the countries having high economic growth,experienced speedy rise in poverty because ofits unequal distribution. So, in 1970s, thephrases such as redistribution with growth andgrowth and equity were incorporated in thedefinition of development. While dealing with thequestions related to redistribution and equity,it was realised that the concept of developmentcannot be restricted to the economic spherealone. It also includes the issues such asimproving the well-being and living standard ofpeople, availing of the health, education andequality of opportunity and ensuring politicaland civil rights. By 1980s, development emergedas a concept encapsulating wide-spreadimprovement in social as well as material well-being of all in a society.

The notion of sustainable developmentemerged in the wake of general rise in theawareness of environmental issues in the late1960s in Western World. It reflected the concernof people about undesirable effects of industrialdevelopment on the environment. The publicationof ‘The Population Bomb’ by Ehrlich in 1968and ‘The Limits to Growth’ by Meadows andothers in 1972 further raised the level of fearamong environmentalists in particular and peoplein general. This sets the scenario for theemergence of new models of development undera broad phrase ‘sustainable development.’

Concerned with the growing opinion of worldcommunity on the environmental issues, theUnited Nations established a World Commission

on Environment and Development (WCED)headed by the Norwegian Prime Minister GroHarlem Brundtland. The Commission gave itsreport (also known as Brundtland Report) entitled‘Our Common Future’ in 1987. The report definessustainable development as a “development that

meets the needs of the present without

compromising the ability of future generations

to meet their own needs.”Sustainable development takes care of

ecological, social and economic aspects ofdevelopment during the present times and pleads

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Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 109

Fig. 9.3

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110 India : People and Economy

for conservation of resources to enable the futuregenerations to use these resources. It takes intoaccount the development of whole human kindwhich have common future.

Case Study

Indira Gandhi Canal (Nahar) CommandArea

Indira Gandhi Canal, previously known as theRajasthan Canal, is one of the largest canal

systems in India. Conceived by Kanwar Sainin 1948, the canal project was launched on 31March, 1958. The canal originates at Harike

barrage in Punjab and runs parallel toPakistan border at an average distance of 40km in Thar Desert (Marusthali) of Rajasthan.

The total planned length of the system is 9,060km catering to the irrigation needs of a totalculturable command area of 19.63 lakh

hectares. Out of the total command area, about70 per cent was envisaged to be irrigated byflow system and the rest by lift system. The

construction work of the canal system has beencarried out through two stages. The commandarea of Stage-I lies in Ganganagar,

Hanumangarh and northern part of Bikanerdistricts. It has a gently undulating topographyand its culturable command area is 5.53 lakh

hectares. The command area of Stage-II is spreadover Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur,Nagaur and Churu districts covering culturable

command area of 14.10 lakh ha. It comprisesdesert land dotted with shifting sand dunes andtemperature soaring to 50ºC in summers. In the

lift canal, the water is lifted up to make it to flow

against the slope of the land. All the lift canals

of Indira Gandhi Canal system originate at theleft bank of main canal while all the canals onthe right bank of main canal are flow channels.

Irrigation in Stage-I command area of thecanal was introduced in early 1960s,whereas, the command area of Stage-II began

receiving irrigation in mid-1980s. Theintroduction of canal irrigation in this dryland has transformed its ecology, economy

and society. It has influenced theenvironmental conditions of the region bothpositively as well as negatively. The

availability of soil moisture for a longer periodof time and various afforestation and pasturedevelopment programmes under CAD have

resulted in greening the land. This has alsohelped in reducing wind erosion and siltationof canal systems. But the intensive irrigation

and excessive use of water has led to theemergence of twin environmental problemsof waterlogging and soil salinity.

Introduction of canal irrigation hasbrought about a perceptible transformation inthe agricultural economy of the region. Soil

moisture has been a limiting factor insuccessful growing of crops in this area.Spread of canal irrigation has led to increase

in cultivated area and intensity of cropping.The traditional crops sown in the area, gram,bajra and jowar have been replaced by wheat,

cotton, groundnut and rice. This is the resultof intensive irrigation. This intensive irrigation,no doubt, initially has led to tremendous

increase in agricultural and livestockproductivity. This has also caused waterlogging

Fig. 9.5 : Indira Gandhi Canal and its adjoining areasFig. 9.4: Indira Gandhi Canal

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Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 111

and soil salinity, and thus, in the long run, ithampers the sustainability of agriculture.

Measures for Promotion of SustainableDevelopment

The ecological sustainability of Indira GandhiCanal Project has been questioned by variousscholars. Their point of view has also largelybeen validated by the course of developmentthis region has taken during the last fourdecades, which has resulted in degradationof physical environment. It is a hard fact thatattaining sustainable development in thecommand area requires major thrust uponthe measures to achieve ecologicalsustainability. Hence, five of the sevenmeasures proposed to promote sustainabledevelopment in the command area are meantto restore ecological balance.

(i) The first requirement is strictimplementation of water managementpolicy. The canal project envisagesprotective irrigation in Stage-I andextensive irrigation of crops and pasturedevelopment in Stage-II.

(ii) In general, the cropping pattern shall notinclude water intensive crops. It shall beadhered to and people shall beencouraged to grow plantation crops suchas citrus fruits.

(iii) The CAD programmes such as lining ofwater courses, land development andlevelling and warabandi system (equaldistribution of canal water in thecommand area of outlet) shall beeffectively implemented to reduce theconveyance loss of water.

(iv) The areas affected by water logging andsoil salinity shall be reclaimed.

(v) The eco-development throughafforestation, shelterbelt plantation andpasture development is necessaryparticularly in the fragile environment ofStage-II.

(vi) The social sustainability in the region canbe achieved only if the land allotteeshaving poor economic background areprovided adequate financial andinstitutional support for cultivation ofland.

(vii) The economic sustainability in the regioncannot be attained only throughdevelopment of agriculture and animalhusbandry. The agricultural and alliedactivities have to develop alongwith othersectors of economy. This shall lead todiversification of economic base andestablishment of functional linkagesbetween basic villages, agro-servicecentres and market centres.

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112 India : People and Economy

EXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISESEXERCISES

1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.

(i) Regional planning relates to :

(a) Development of various sectors of economy.

(b) Area specific approach of development.

(c) Area differences in transportation network.

(d) Development of rural areas.

(ii) ITDP refers to which one of the following?

(a) Integrated Tourism Development Programme

(b) Integrated Travel Development Programme

(c) Integrated Tribal Development Programme

(d) Integrated Transport Development Programme

(iii) Which one of the following is the most crucial factor for sustainabledevelopment in Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area?

(a) Agricultural development

(b) Eco-development

(c) Transport development

(d) Colonisation of land

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) What are the social benefits of ITDP in the Bharmaur tribal region?

(ii) Define the concept of sustainable development.

(iii) What are the positive impacts of irrigation on Indira Gandhi CanalCommand Area?

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) Write short notes on drought-prone area programme. How does thisprogramme help in the development of dryland agriculture in India?

(ii) Suggest the measures of promotion of sustainability in Indira GandhiCanal Command Area.

ProjectProjectProjectProjectProject

(i) Find out the area development programmes being implemented in yourregion. Assess the impact of such programmes on the society and economyin your locality.

(ii) Select your own area or identify an area facing severe environmentaland socio-economic problems. Make an assessment of its resources andprepare their inventory. Suggest the measures for its sustainabledevelopment as it has been done in the case of Indira Gandhi CanalCommand Area.

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