Class 12 Geography Notes Chapter 9 (Planning and sustainable development in indian context) – India - People and Economy Book

Alright class, let's delve into Chapter 9: Planning and Sustainable Development in the Indian Context. This is a crucial chapter, not just for your board exams but also for understanding the development trajectory of our country, which is often tested in government exams.

1. Introduction: Planning and Development

• Planning: A systematic process involving forethought, setting goals, formulating programmes and policies, and allocating resources to achieve specific socio-economic objectives within a given timeframe.
• Development: A multi-dimensional concept encompassing not just economic growth (increase in GDP/GNP) but also improvements in quality of life, social justice, equity, and environmental sustainability.
• Indian Context: After independence, India adopted a planned development model to overcome colonial economic backwardness, reduce regional disparities, and achieve self-reliance.

2. Approaches to Planning in India

• Sectoral Planning:
  • Focuses on developing specific sectors of the economy like agriculture, industry, infrastructure (transport, communication, power), social services (health, education).
  • Involves formulating and implementing schemes for these sectors.
  • Example: Five-Year Plans in India traditionally had strong sectoral components.
• Regional Planning:
  • Aims at reducing regional imbalances and promoting balanced development across different geographical areas.
  • Recognizes that development should address the specific needs and potentials of different regions.
  • Necessary because economic growth often doesn't automatically spread evenly, leading to disparities between developed and underdeveloped regions.

3. Target Area and Target Group Planning

• Target Area Planning:
  • Focuses on planning for specific geographical areas facing particular problems or possessing unique potentials.
  • Examples:
    • Command Area Development Programme: To optimize irrigation potential and agricultural development in areas served by major irrigation projects.
    • Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP): To mitigate the adverse effects of drought and develop drought-prone areas.
    • Hill Area Development Programme (HADP): To ensure ecologically sustainable development of hill areas, considering their unique topography, fragility, and socio-economic conditions.
    • Desert Development Programme (DDP): Focused on controlling desertification and developing desert areas.
• Target Group Planning:
  • Focuses on specific socio-economic groups facing disadvantages.
  • Examples:
    • Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA)
    • Marginal Farmers Development Agency (MFDA)
    • Plans aimed at Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), women, etc.

4. Case Study: Hill Area Development Programme (HADP)

• Initiation: Started during the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79).
• Coverage: Included 15 districts comprising all hilly districts of Uttar Pradesh (present Uttarakhand), Mikir Hill and North Cachar Hills (Assam), Darjeeling district (West Bengal), and Nilgiri district (Tamil Nadu).
• Criteria (National Committee on the Development of Backward Area, 1981): Recommended that all hill areas above 600 m height, not covered under tribal sub-plan, be treated as backward hill areas.
• Objectives:
  • Harnessing indigenous resources through horticulture, plantation agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry, forestry, small-scale industries.
  • Ensuring eco-preservation and ecological balance.
  • Developing infrastructure (roads, power, etc.) suited to hill areas.
  • Improving the quality of life for hill communities.
  • Emphasized community participation and leveraging local knowledge.

5. Case Study: Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)

• Initiation: Started during the Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74).
• Objective: To provide employment and create productive assets in drought-prone areas, mitigating drought impact in the long run.
• Focus Shift: Initially focused on labour-intensive civil works. Later shifted towards integrated watershed development from the Fifth Five Year Plan onwards.
• Key Activities:
  • Land development and soil conservation.
  • Water resource management (irrigation, rainwater harvesting).
  • Afforestation and pasture development.
  • Restoration of ecological balance between water, soil, plants, and human/animal populations.
• Watershed Development: Became the central theme, aiming for holistic development of the area based on its natural drainage basin.

6. Case Study: Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) in Bharmaur Region

• Location: Bharmaur Tehsil, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh.
• Inhabitants: Primarily the 'Gaddi' tribal community, practicing transhumance (seasonal migration with livestock).
• Pre-ITDP Conditions (before 1974):
  • Geographical and political isolation.
  • Harsh environment, poor resource base.
  • Subsistence agriculture (maize, pulses, barley) supplemented by pastoralism.
  • Very low literacy rates.
  • Poor infrastructure (roads, schools, health facilities).
  • Gender disparity.
• ITDP Implementation: Started in the 1970s under the Fifth Five Year Plan as one of the five ITDPs in Himachal Pradesh.
• Objectives: Improve the quality of life of Gaddis and narrow the development gap between Bharmaur and other regions.
• Measures Undertaken:
  • Infrastructure: Roads, electricity, schools, health care centres, drinking water schemes.
  • Economic: Promotion of improved agriculture (pulses, cash crops), horticulture, animal husbandry (better sheep breeds).
  • Social: Focus on education and health.
• Impacts:
  • Significant increase in literacy rates (both male and female).
  • Improvement in sex ratio.
  • Decline in traditional transhumance practices as families settled, though pastoralism still important.
  • Shift from subsistence farming to cultivation of pulses and cash crops.
  • Overall improvement in living standards.
  • Gender inequality reduced, but still present.
• Note: While development occurred, the region still lags behind other parts of Himachal Pradesh.

7. Sustainable Development

• Concept: Emerged in the late 1960s due to concerns about environmental degradation caused by rapid industrial development. Popularized by the Brundtland Commission Report ('Our Common Future', 1987).
• Definition (Brundtland): "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
• Key Aspects:
  • Environmental Sustainability: Protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, controlling pollution.
  • Economic Sustainability: Ensuring long-term economic growth without depleting resources.
  • Social Sustainability: Ensuring equity, social justice, poverty reduction, and improved quality of life for all sections of society.
• Relevance for India: Crucial due to high population pressure, dependence on agriculture, resource depletion (water scarcity, deforestation, soil degradation), and vulnerability to climate change.

8. Case Study: Indira Gandhi Canal (Rajasthan Canal) Command Area

• Project: One of India's largest canal systems, bringing water from the Harike Barrage (confluence of Satluj and Beas rivers) to the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan.
• Aim: To transform desert land into agriculturally productive areas, provide drinking water, and check desertification.
• Phases: Stage-I (Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, northern Bikaner) and Stage-II (Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Churu).
• Positive Impacts:
  • Dramatic increase in cultivated area and agricultural intensity.
  • Shift in cropping patterns from traditional coarse grains to wheat, cotton, groundnut, rice (commercial crops).
  • Increased agricultural productivity and livestock productivity.
  • Afforestation efforts (shelterbelt plantations, pasture development).
  • Improved living standards and economic conditions for many farmers.
• Negative Impacts / Challenges for Sustainability:
  • Waterlogging and Soil Salinity: Extensive irrigation in arid areas without proper drainage led to rising water tables and soil salinization, making land unfit for cultivation in some areas.
  • Ecological Imbalance: Intensive agriculture, waterlogging altered the natural desert ecosystem.
  • Water Availability: Ensuring equitable water distribution, especially to tail-end users in Stage-II, remains a challenge.
  • Socio-economic Disparities: Land allotment policies and access to resources sometimes created disparities between rich landowners and poor landless labourers.
• Measures for Promoting Sustainable Development:
  • Strict implementation of water management policies: Warabandi system (rotational water supply), promoting water-use efficiency.
  • Command Area Development (CAD) programmes: Lining of water courses, land levelling, drainage development.
  • Promoting water-efficient crops: Discouraging water-intensive crops like rice and sugarcane, promoting horticulture (citrus fruits).
  • Afforestation and Pasture Development: To combat desertification and provide fodder.
  • Reclaiming waterlogged and saline lands.
  • Community Participation: Involving farmers in water management and maintenance.
  • Focus on economic diversification: Promoting animal husbandry and other non-farm activities.

9. Conclusion

Planning in India has evolved from purely sectoral approaches to incorporating regional needs and sustainability concerns. Achieving sustainable development requires integrating economic goals with social equity and environmental protection. Case studies like Bharmaur and the Indira Gandhi Canal area highlight both the successes and challenges of development interventions, emphasizing the need for careful planning, continuous monitoring, and adaptive management strategies focused on long-term ecological and social well-being.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs):

1. Which approach to planning focuses on developing specific sectors like agriculture, industry, and transport?
   a) Regional Planning
   b) Target Area Planning
   c) Sectoral Planning
   d) Sustainable Planning
   Answer: c) Sectoral Planning

2. The Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) was initiated during which Five Year Plan?
   a) Third Five Year Plan
   b) Fourth Five Year Plan
   c) Fifth Five Year Plan
   d) Sixth Five Year Plan
   Answer: c) Fifth Five Year Plan

3. The primary focus of the Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP) shifted towards what major theme after its initial phase?
   a) Large scale industrialization
   b) Integrated Watershed Development
   c) Urban infrastructure development
   d) Promotion of cash crops only
   Answer: b) Integrated Watershed Development

4. The 'Gaddi' tribal community, known for transhumance, is primarily associated with which case study region in the chapter?
   a) Indira Gandhi Canal Area
   b) Nilgiri Hills
   c) Bharmaur Region, Himachal Pradesh
   d) North Cachar Hills, Assam
   Answer: c) Bharmaur Region, Himachal Pradesh

5. The concept of Sustainable Development was popularized by which report?
   a) The Brandt Report
   b) The Human Development Report
   c) The World Development Report
   d) The Brundtland Report (Our Common Future)
   Answer: d) The Brundtland Report (Our Common Future)

6. Which of the following is a major negative environmental consequence observed in the Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area?
   a) Deforestation
   b) Increased air pollution
   c) Waterlogging and Soil Salinity
   d) Desertification
   Answer: c) Waterlogging and Soil Salinity

7. The Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) in Bharmaur aimed primarily to:
   a) Promote large-scale mining
   b) Resettle the Gaddi tribe outside the region
   c) Improve the quality of life of Gaddis and reduce the development gap
   d) Focus solely on preserving traditional transhumance practices
   Answer: c) Improve the quality of life of Gaddis and reduce the development gap

8. Which planning approach specifically addresses the issue of regional imbalances in development?
   a) Sectoral Planning
   b) Target Group Planning
   c) Regional Planning
   d) Financial Planning
   Answer: c) Regional Planning

9. The Indira Gandhi Canal draws water primarily from the confluence of which rivers at the Harike Barrage?
   a) Ganga and Yamuna
   b) Narmada and Tapi
   c) Satluj and Beas
   d) Krishna and Godavari
   Answer: c) Satluj and Beas

10. According to the Brundtland Commission, sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of:
    a) Neighbouring countries to meet their needs
    b) Transnational corporations to make profits
    c) Future generations to meet their own needs
    d) The environment to regenerate completely
    Answer: c) Future generations to meet their own needs

Make sure you understand the concepts behind these answers, not just memorize them. Good luck with your preparation!