The Seventh Five-Year Plan ended on March 31, 1990. In the normal course the Eighth Plan should have begun on April 1, 1990. However, due to some unavoidable circumstances including the changes in party in power at the Centre, the Plan document could not be finalised. It was only when the new Government assumed office that the plan was finalised and implemented with effect from April 1, 1992. The duration of the Eighth Plan is thus from April 1, 1992 to March 31, 1997.
Objectives : The Eighth Plan sought to give priority to the following set of six objectives:
(i) Generation of adequate employment to achieve near full employment level by the turn of the century.
(ii) Containment of population growth through active people’s cooperation and an effective scheme of incentives and disincentives.
(iii) Universalisation of elementary education and complete eradication of illiteracy among the people of the age group of 15 to 35 years.
(iv) Provision of safe drinking water and primary health care facilities, including immunisation to the entire population and complete elimination of scaveanging.
(v) Growth and diversification of agriculture to achieve self-sufficiency in food and generate surpluses for exports.
(vi) Strengthening the infrastructure (energy, transport communication, irrigation) in order support growth process on a sustainable basis.
The Eighth Plan was to concentrate on these objectives keeping in view the need for q continuous reliance on domestic resources for financing investment, q increasing the technical capabilities for the development of science and technology, q moder-nisation and comptitive efficiency so that the Indian economy could keep pace with and take advantage of the global developments.
Growth Rate: The Eighth Plan aimed at achieving a growth rate of 5.6 per cent per annum in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the five-year period 1992-97. This growth target had been set against the backdrop of 5.8 per cent GDP growth rate achieved during the Seventh plan period 1985-90. In view of this encouraging performance of Seventh Plan, some people advocated for a 6 per cent growth target. But due to resources crunch that the public sector was facing, the growth target was fixed at 5.6 per cent.
Outlay and Investment: The Eighth Plan evisaged a total outlay of Rs. 7,98,000 crores in both public and private sectors taken together of which public sector outlay was Rs. 4,34,100 crores. This means that the share of public sector in total Plan outlay under the Eighth Plan was 45.2 per cent as against 52.9 per cent in the Sixth and 47.8 per cent in the Seventh Plan. Of the total public sector outlay of Rs. 4,34,100 crores, Rs. 3,61,000 crores was public sector investment and Rs. 73,100 crores current outlay i.e. outlay of recurring and non-investment nature.
The share of outlay for rural development in the Eighth Plan was larger than any other preceding Plan and thus signified the emphasis of rural development and poverty alleviation that the Plan sought to place on it in the context of overall development of the economy. Industry sector was allocated around 11 per cent of the total public sector outlay.
Sectoral development Profile
Agriculture
The Eighth Plan for agricultural develoment aimed at generating surplus for exports in foodgrains and attaining self-sufficiency in respect of pulses and oilseeds. The agricultural sector was expected to grow at an average annual rate of a little more than 4 per cent in terms of gross value of output and 3 per cent in terms of value added.
In order to attain the desired growth in agriculture special efforts were made for enhancing the productivity and reducing the instability of production. Since about two-thirds of the area was still unirrigated and largely rainfed, greater stress was laid on dry land farming. Efforts were made a spread the benefits of the Green Revolution to other parts of the country, particularly to the eastern regions which have adeqate rainfall and fertile soil. Investment was made in expansion or irrigation potential and improve efficiency of irrigation system to reduce water wastage.
Industry and Minerals
The output in mining and manufacturing sector during the Eighth Plan period was expected to grow at an annual rate of 8 per cent. The private sector was expected to play an increasing role in industrial activities during the Eighth Plan. The series of reforms introduced by the Government in the industrial sector were intended to deregulate or unshackle the industry and enable it to take decisions on its own without the need for government approval. It was then believed that the private sector had come to age and needed independence in decision making to meet the needs of the dynamic market. The role of the public sector, on the other hand, was sought to be limited. The new industrial Policy of July 1991 brought down the areas reserved for the public sector from 29 to 8 industries and now the public sector would concentrate on basic and core sector alone. The Policy laid great reliance on competitiveness to improve efficiency and hence sought greater share for the private sector.
Employment
The Eighth Plan aimed at reducing unemployment to negligible levels within the next 10 years. The labour force was projected to increase by about 35 million during 1992-97 and by another 36 million during 1997-2002. In view around 23 million, the total number of persons requiring employment was estimated at 58 million during 1992-97 and 94 million during 1997-2002. In view of the backlog of unemployed persons numbering around 23 million, the total number of persons requiring employment was estimated at 58 million during 1992-97 and 94 million during 1997-2002. This called for an employment growth rate of 4 per cent per annum over the ten year period, if employment to all was to be provided by the and of the Eighth Plan. The Eighth Plan, therefore, had set a target of 2.6 to 2.8 per cent per annum growth in employment, which, if achieved, would have reduced unemployment to negligible levels by 2002 A.D. The Plan focussed not only on the creation of new jobs but also on augmenting productivity and income in the existing jobs because it was realised that larger and efficient use of available human resources was the most effective way of human resources was the most effective way of poverty alleviation, reduction of inequalities and for high pace of economic growth. It, however, was able to achieve actual employment growth of only 2 per cent.
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