Comparison with Our Targets :

A proper objective assessment of our performance can be carried out only when we juxtapose our current achievements with: (i) planned or targeted rates of growth, (ii) desired rates of growth, and (iii) rates of growth currently achieved by other countries.  2.4.1   Comparison with Our Targets An important test to evaluate our performance is in terms of a comparison with the targets of growth rates fixed in our different plans. It must be remembered that ours is a planned economy in which all targets of growth are fixed after making "an assessement of the material, capital and human resources of the country." If the actual achievements fall short of the targets, it would mean that our performance has been less than satisfactory. 

It would be seen from Table that the rate of increase in national income had always been very slow, much less than what we had targeted for. It is only in the Fifth Five Year Plan and subsequent plans that the rate of growth picked up, and moved ahead of the targets. In any case, growth targets decided upon have been rather conservative and on lower side.