DRAFT THIRD FIVE-YEAR PLAN BIHAR Vol. I ( Parts I and II ) PBIKTED BY THE SUPERINTENDENT SECRETARIAT PRESS. BIHAB, PATNA 1960 PART I H O D - ^ l •3:? 2 -' <=^60 ‘ ‘ g,I h-0j,/9^/'/='' V, I / ' 3 «’9 . 2 ' ./I/ /-# i). S S > - '0^T_5'cy;L I CONTENTS P a g e s Chapter I Introduction 1— 4 Chapter II The two Plans in Bihar 5— 26 Chapter III Targets for the Third Plan 27— 43 Chapter IV The size of the Outlay 44— 49 Appendix I Financial Resources for the Third Plan 50— 53 Appendix II Consohdated statements .. c - 54— 65 CHAPTER I. iNTEODUCTIOlir. 1. The principal aim of the Third Five-Year Plan is to secure a marked advanced towards self-sustaining growth of the economy. With the experience of a decade of planning, the following aims have been formulated for the country in the draft outline of the Third Five-Year Plan:— (1) To secure during the Third Plan a rise in national income of over 5 per cent per annum, the pattern of investment being designed also to sustain this rate of growth during sub­ sequent plan Periods; (2) to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains, and increase agri­ cultural production to meet the requirements of industry and exports; (3) to expand basic industries like steel, fuel and power and estab­ lish machine-building capacity, so that the requirements of further industrialisation can be met within a period of ten years or so mainly from the country’s own resources; (4) to utilise to the fullest extent possible the manpower resources of the country and to ensure a substantial expansion in - employment opportunities; and (5) to bring about a reduction of inequalities in incom e. and wealth and a more even distribution of economic power. " The base for an accelerated rate of growth for the country cannot be achieved unless particular attention is devoted to balanced develop­ ment of different parts of the country and different sectors of develop­ ment. It is an accepted, principle that planning should help the back­ ward regions to come up to the average level of development attained by the economy as a whole; for this purpose the structure o f the State plans should keep in view not only the national targets envisaged in the draft outline, but also the deficiencies and imbalances peculiar to the economy of the State. Aoao ig th« impcriant determining consi­ derations for the outlay in a State Plan should be the attempt to remove the causes of economic stagnation. The requirements -of a fast growing population and the scale and worth of the economic effort during the past ten years should naturally be taken into account. 2. The role of the State Plan, therefore, should be to undertake such programmes of development which give immediate possibilities o f increasing production and help in effectively utihsing the potential created by every programme at the various stages of implementation, keeping in view the special needs of the backward areas. Large invest­ ments made in the development of economic overheads, which properly figure in the national plans, do have some efifect on the economic life o f the population of State; in spite of this, it has been widely felt that the rate of growth of the State’s economy does not increase, unless its own economic and social overheads of development are considerably strengthened, mainly by the State’s own efforts. In the light of these considerations, the draft Third Five-Year Plan of Bihar has been formulated, keeping in view the general indication given of the allocations between the Centre and the States, as well as between the different sectors of development, 3. A total outlay of Rs. 11,250 crores has been proposed for the country, consisting of Rs. 10,200 crores of investment. Out of the total outlay, Rs. 7,250 crores would be in the public sector (consisting of Rs. 6,200 crores new investment and Rs. 1,050 crores current outlay) and Rs. 4,000 crores in the private sector. Out of the total outlay of Rs. 7,250 crores in the public sector, the States are expected to have a total outlay of Rs. 3,650 crores, as broken down in the table below:— TABLE 1, Distribution of outlay between the Centre and the States. (Rupees in Crores.) Total. Centre. States. 1. Agriculture, minor ' irrigation and community develop­ 1,025 175 i-LO ment. 2. Major and medium irrigation •• 650 5 645 3. Power •. 925 125 800 4r. Village and small industries .. .. 250 100 150 5. Industries and minerals 1,500 1,470 30 6. Transport and communications 1,450 1,225 225 7. Social services 1,250 300 950 8. Inventories 200 200 Total 7,250 3,600 3,650 Among the sets of priorities envisaged, emphasis has been given to achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrains, meeting at the ame time, the requirements of industry and exports. Necessarily, there is intimate connection between this aim and the development of the maximum possible irrigation arrangements, both major and minor. A good part o f the programme will also involve utilisation of the large rural man-power available in the country. Priority has also been accorded to the related sectors of industry, power and transport, taking care to see that the development of these sectors is properly co-ordinated. To a limited extent, this may have the effect of removing the large extra population at present engaged in uneconomic agriculture. Success in the task of shifting the population away from agriculture will, how­ ever, lie in equipping them with the necessary skills for an alternative occupation. In this context, the third set o f priorities relate to the growth of social services, particularly education. In a State like Bihar, the emphasis on education has to be all the greater ip view of the fact that more than a third of the population belongs to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other recognised Backward Classes. 4. These priorities and the allocations for the different sectors of development have been kept in view in drawing up the State’s Third Plan. The greatest emphssis has been given to agricultura production, with a large outlay proposed for the development of irrigation facilities. Since results in agricultural production come from the decisions made by the vast rural population engaged in agriculture, the necessity for suitably augmenting the ancillary extension machinery and non-official agencies, has also been kept in j ind. Community Development, Co-operation and the Gram Panchayat sectors have received the necessary empnasis. The base for industrial production will no doubt be established by the Central Plans; on behalf of the State, emphasis next only to agricultural production has been devoted to the establishment of large and small-scale industries. The latter is of primary importance to an agricultural economy where 86 per cent of the population are dependent on agriculture. A recent enquiry into rural unemployment in State revealed that about 47 lakhs of the population engaged in agriculture are redundant, i.e., they are not required for the present effort of agricultural production. Alternative employment for such a large section of the population can come only from the establishment of suitable small-scale indufetries. The development of power and ommunications has also been given high priority. The success of not only the State Plan but the Central plan also in this region will ulti ately depend on the ability of the State to provide the power and transport facilities in time for develop­ ment and functionirtg of these industries. In addition to the develop- n ent of economic overheads, the attention given to raising the levels of social development in the past ten years has been noteworthy. The immensity of the proble n has, howeve , meant that the effort has oiTy been a beginning. In spite of over-reaching our targets, it is estimated that only 52 per cent o f the children of age-group 6 to II would be enrolled by the end of the Second Five-Year Plan. The constitutional obligation of providing universally free and compulsory education has, therefore, been given the greatest attention in these sectors. The special efforts that are needed for the amelioration for the backward communities have also to be stepped up in the Third Plan Period. Economic, educational and other benefits are proposed to be made available to them on a larger scale. The industrialisation of the southern regions of Bihar has also revealed the need for an accelerated programme of housing and planned township and civic amenities for the growing industrial and urban population. 5. In addition to priorities indicated above, another consideration for Bihar would be the need to develop the different regions to come up to a uniform level of development. The density of population in North Bihar is 859 persons per square mile; the relevant figures for South Bihar and Chota Nagpur would be 699 and 328, respectively. If the agricultural population per ; quare mile of net cultivated area is 4 taken as the criterion, the figure o f corrected density for North Bihar is 1,177; in South Bihar and Chota Nagpur the figures are 908 and 862, respectively. The natural resources available in the different regions would determine, to some extent, the technique of development of the area. Apart from Chota Nagpur, which practically accounts for all the minerals found in Bihar, the other two areas are primarily agricultural. While, on the one hand, suitable provision for exploitation of the minerals and provision for gainful employment in the extractive and industrial sectors ar3 necessary for the population of Chota Nagpur, emphasis on intensive agriculture and development of a diversified agricultural economy are extremely essential for North and South Bihar regions.