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MAINS 2014
GS1
10 marks

The New Economic Policy - 1921 of Lenin had influenced the policies adopted by India soon after independence. Evaluate.

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150 words
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What the examiner wants

Evaluate how far Lenin's 1921 New Economic Policy shaped India's post-independence economic choices.

EvaluateWeigh what works and what does not, and say how far it succeeds.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1NEP features: mixed economy, state holds 'commanding heights' (heavy industry, banks, foreign trade), private small trade and farming allowed≈30 words
  2. 2Indian parallels: Industrial Policy Resolutions 1948 and 1956 (state sector, private sector coexisting), mixed economy, licensing≈30 words
  3. 3Stronger Soviet influence came from Stalin's Five-Year Plans: Planning Commission (1950), Mahalanobis heavy-industry model (Second Plan)≈30 words
  4. 4Other influences: Fabian socialism, Gandhian ideas, Bombay Plan 1944, democratic constraints (no forced collectivisation)≈30 words

Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.

Answer plan

NEP in briefParallels in Indian policyWhere India differed or drew from other sourcesEvaluation

Where marks usually go

  • Confusing Lenin's NEP (1921) with Stalin's planning
  • Not evaluating, only listing similarities

Draw this

  • Table: NEP feature → Indian equivalent → difference

Value addition

  • PolicyIPR 1956 reserved 17 industries (Schedule A) exclusively for the state and 12 (Schedule B) for progressive state ownership.Industrial Policy Resolution, 1956
  • ExampleThe Bombay Plan (1944) by Indian industrialists also backed a large state role, showing domestic roots of the mixed economy.Bombay Plan, 1944

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