Previous Year Question
Which of the following gave the final approval to India's Five-Year Plans?
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
Under India's former planning system, the National Development Council (NDC) provided the final political and federal-level approval to the Five-Year Plans. A direct example is the Tenth Five-Year Plan, which, according to the Government of India's PIB, was approved by the National Development Council on 21 December 2002.
In the plan-formulation process, the Planning Commission prepared the draft Plan, which was discussed between the Union and the States and then placed before the NDC. An official record in the NITI Aayog Digital Library states that the 54th meeting of the NDC was held on 19 December 2007 to consider and approve the Draft Eleventh Five-Year Plan.
The role of the NDC was not limited to formal approval; it also served as an important forum for developing consensus between the Centre and the States on national development priorities. For example, at the 2006 NDC meeting, after approving the Approach to the Eleventh Plan, the Council directed the Planning Commission to prepare the Plan on that basis and place it again before the NDC.