Previous Year Question

The Gandhian Plan was presented in 1944 by Shriman Narayan Agarwal. It was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's economic ideas and emphasised a decentralised, village-centred economic structure for India's development.

The Plan placed major emphasis on agriculture and cottage and village industries. Its central idea was that economic development should not depend only on large-scale industrialisation but should also strengthen production, employment and self-reliance in villages.

The major ideas of the Gandhian Plan included—

decentralisation of economic activity,
village self-sufficiency,
development of agriculture,
cottage and small-scale industries, and
employment-oriented production.

The approach did not completely reject machinery or large-scale industry, but it gave priority to a production structure that could provide employment, utilise local resources and reduce excessive centralisation.

An important distinction should be remembered—

Gandhian Plan, 1944 → Shriman Narayan Agarwal

People's Plan → M. N. Roy

Sarvodaya Plan → Jayaprakash Narayan

Bombay Plan → Group of leading Indian industrialists