ABSTRACT
Planning was adopted in India in 1950 as a process of economic development with the objective of “raising living standards and opening up new opportunities for a richer and more varied life.” This chapter outlines India’s efforts and problems in providing some of the basic needs to its rural population and describe its immediate future prospects. In the case of India, standards for minimum needs have probably been arrived at empirically by planners after conducting sample studies in various regions and strata of the society. But given their nature, they appear to belong to the prescriptive rather than the motivational type. Basic needs have been termed social services or welfare services in earlier plans and included such disparate activities as labor welfare and refugee rehabilitation, at different times. Education, health, and housing have been an integral part of governmental concern from the beginning of planning in 1951, and even earlier in popular efforts.
