Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Economy) – May 12, 2020

On March 9, 1776, “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”—commonly referred to simply as “The Wealth of Nations”—was first published. Smith, a Scottish moral philosopher by trade, wrote the book to describe the industrialized capitalist system that was upending the mercantilist system.

Mixed economy is a golden mixture of capitalism and socialism. Mixed economy has following main features:

• Co-existence of Private and Public Sector
• Personal Freedom
• Private Property is allowed
• Price Mechanism and Controlled Price
• Control of Monopoly Power
• Economic Planning

Gross National Happiness is a term coined by His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the 1970s. The concept implies that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards notions of progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of wellbeing. The concept of GNH has often been explained by its four pillars: good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the then Soviet Union-pioneered model of state sponsored growth, who mooted the idea of placing the government—and within it the state-owned and state-run PSUs—as the commanding heights of the Indian economy. It was documented in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956 and found articulation in the benchmark Second Five Year Plan. Till the beginning of the 1980s, the PSUs continued to be the commanding heights.

The eight core industries, including coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel, cement and electricity, comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).

After converting to a mixed economy by the mid-1940s, France commenced its first six year plan in 1947, which got popularity as the Monnet Plan (he was the first chairman of the General Planning Commission and the then Cabinet Minister for planning in France).

Gandhian plan.

Statement is incorrect: Espousing the spirit of the Gandhian economic thinking, Sriman Narayan Agarwal formulated The Gandhian Plan in 1944.

Statement 2 is correct: The plan laid more emphasis on agriculture. Even if he referred to industrialisation, it was to the level of promoting cottage and village-level industries.

The idea for the need of a planned development of India became more and more popular by the decade of the 1940s. It was under this popular pressure that the Government of India started taking some planned actions in this direction. In the 1940, we see several area-specific reports being published. Area wise Report which associated with planning like Gadgil Report on Rural Credit, Kheragat Report on Agricultural Development, Krishnamachari Report on Agricultural Prices, Saraiya Report on Cooperatives.

The fifth Plan (1974–79) has its focus on poverty alleviation and self-reliance. The Janata Party came to power with a thumping victory in 1977. As the government of the time had then complete say in the central planning in India, how could the new government continue with the Fifth Plan of the last government which had still more than one year to reach its completion.

DRDA.

Statement 1 is correct: The Centre established DRDA in 1980.

Statement 2 is correct: The District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) has traditionally been the principal organ at the District level to oversee the implementation of different poverty alleviation programmes.