Social Economic Aspects of India's Development

India was a colony of Great Britain until 1947 when the subcontinent was partitioned into two politically separate and independent countries: India and Pakistan. The partition resulted in a major political and economic upheaval in the subcontinent. In 1950, a planning commission was set up to determine priorities and co‐ordinate Indian economic development. The system has been called a “mixed economy” as opposed to either a centrally planned economy or an essentially free marketdriven system. Over the years, the principal objectives of planned development have been to build up within a democratic context: (1) a rapidly expanding and technologically progressive economy, and (2) a social order based on justice and offering equal opportunity to every person. Several of the achievements and the problems faced in the course of the development effort are discussed.