UPSC Prelims 2009 · General Studies
Question 92: Economy and Social Development
Consider the following statements regarding Indian Planning :
- 1.The Second Five-Year Plan emphasised on the establishment of heavy industries.
- 2.The Third Five-Year Plan introduced the concept of import substitution as a strategy for industrialisation.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
AnswerThe answer is (a).
Statement 1 is correct: the Second Plan (1956-61), based on the Mahalanobis model, emphasised heavy and capital goods industries, such as steel. The key marks statement 2 wrong because import substitution as a route to industrialisation began with the Second Plan's heavy-industry push, so the Third Plan (1961-66), which stressed agriculture and self-reliance after food shortages, did not introduce it.
- 1. The Second Plan emphasised heavy industries.
- 2. Import substitution began with the Second Plan; the Third did not introduce it.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 1 is correct, (b) and (d) go: each of them leaves 1 out.
What you needed to know: The Second Plan emphasised heavy industries.
- Then, if you were sure statement 2 is not correct, (c) goes: it includes 2.
What you needed to know: Import substitution began with the Second Plan; the Third did not introduce it.
Only (a) is left. This one needs every statement.
This follows an unofficial answer: UPSC has not published its key for this year, and if that answer is wrong, so is this path.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Right: only statement 1 is correct.
- (b) Wrong: statement 1 is correct.
- (c) Wrong: statement 2 is not accepted by the key.
- (d) Wrong: statement 1 is correct.
Worth knowing: The Third Plan did stress import substitution and self-reliance, so statement 2 hinges on the word 'introduced'; the key treats it as false because the strategy began with the Second Plan.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2009, General Studies. UPSC's own paper isn't online; the words are from a published compilation. The paper on upsc.gov.in.