1.6. Planning and Development

There are two approaches to planning, i.e. sectoral planning and regional planning. The sectoral planning means formulation and implementation of the sets of schemes or programmes aimed at development of various sectors of the economy such as agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing, power, construction, transport, communication, social infrastructure and services.

There is no uniform economic development over space in any country. Some areas are more developed and some lag behind. This uneven pattern of development over space necessitates that the planners have a spatial perspective and draw the plans to reduce regional imbalance in development. This type of planning is termed as regional planning.

In order to arrest the accentuation of regional and social disparities, the Planning Commission introduced the ‘target area’ and target group approaches to planning. Some of the examples of programmes directed towards the development of target areas are Command Area Development Programme, Drought Prone Area Development Programme, Desert Development Programme, Hill Area Development Programme, etc.

.