RAS question
Which Five Year Plan was termed the 'Plan Holiday' period?
Correct answer: (A) Between 3rd and 4th Plans (1966-69).
The Plan Holiday refers to the period between the Third and Fourth Five Year Plans, from 1966 to 1969, when India used three Annual Plans instead of a Five Year Plan.
Explanation
The period 1966-69 is called the Plan Holiday because the normal Five Year Plan cycle was interrupted after the Third Plan and before the Fourth Plan. The cited eGyanKosh material says planning was disrupted by hostilities with Pakistan, drought conditions, rupee devaluation and inflationary pressure. As a result, instead of launching the Fourth Five Year Plan immediately, the government prepared three Annual Plans for 1966-67, 1967-68 and 1968-69. The phrase therefore does not mean a complete stop to planning; it means no Five Year Plan was operational, and planning was carried through one-year plans until the Fourth Plan began in 1969.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) After the Twelfth Plan, the Five Year Plan system itself was discontinued, so it was not the historically named Plan Holiday.
- (C) The gap between the Fifth and Sixth Plans is associated with the rolling plan period, not the 1966-69 Plan Holiday.
- (D) There was no Plan Holiday between the First and Second Plans; the term is tied to the annual plans used between the Third and Fourth Plans.
Concept
This tests the history of Indian planning, especially breaks in the Five Year Plan sequence. RAS repeats this theme because planning periods, annual plans and institutional shifts are core facts in Indian Economy.