Discuss the need for planning in a developing country like India.

Planning is the basic requirement for development in country like India. Planning adds following advantages to the process of development:

Planning enables comprehensive and scientific understanding of problems: Planning puts problems on scientific scanner and enables to find most suitable and achievable solution for it. For developing countries it is required that a comprehensive and meaningful understanding of the factors, process and process should be achieved that are responsible for back progress. That is why, it is the first step of planning to stress upon the need for having a systematic planning mechanism.

Prevention of Wastage and Improvement in Productivity: After understanding the problem scientifically it comes for planning to play a crucial role in assessment, mobilization and appropriate utilization of the resources which are available to us. It prevents misuse and over utilization of resources which will allow you to be a part of long run of development process.

Highlights the Pros and Cons of Various Decisions: To arrive at a fruitful decision it is required to know all the pros and cons of the decisions. Planning helps here too much. It highlights the external repercussions of various decisions. By bringing to forefront the positive and negative points of a decision planning allows to take steps to make use of either the positive effects or to lessen the negative effects of decisions.

Increase the Rationality of the System: Planning gives a definite way and path to the process so that reduces arbitrariness, duplication, inconsistency and promote collective and long term interests. As a result, many of the defects of decentralized, uncoordinated decisions based largely on the motivation of individual gain can be rectified by planning.

Prevents Inconsistency of Individual Decisions on Inter-connected Matters: Planning is a group effort and work for the society as a whole so it however duely considers the views of individual but does not allow the inconsistency to take place. It gives consideration to individual decision-making where area is locally important or situations change frequently.

Brings about Structural Change: Planning, through collective decision-making and direct or indirect control over social resources, enables the country to undertake large tasks and bring about changes in the structure of the system.

Enables Orderly Reconciliation of Conflicting Interests: Planning projects plan in advance, it invites all the supposed conflicts in advance and work to reconcile them. So, when plan is implemented, there remains least chance of emerging conflicts.

So, planning becomes very crucial component of any system oriented towards bringing about social and economic development. It plays an active role from the stage of conception to the final implementation and evaluation of the schemes.