Fifth Five-Year Plan

The Fifth Five-year Plan (1974-1979) did not last its full term, but its programmes mostly coincided with the Emergency period. The plan was targeted at reducing poverty through addressing the consumption needs of the poor and by enacting a range of socio-economic reforms. This was more or less an aspect of the Twenty Point Programme. With the Emergency in place, the economic programmes could be implemented forcefully. Indeed, with the economy growing at the rate of 9 per cent in 1975–76 alone, the Fifth Plan was the first plan during which the per capita income grew by over 5 per cent. However, with the elections of 1977 and the Janata government coming to power, the Fifth Plan period was curtailed and it was ended in 1978.