So far you have read that a is a very vast country. It has fertile land and thick forests. It has high mountains. It has many big and small rivers which provide water for irrigation and are used for producing electricity. It has rich mineral wealth. Since these are the gifts of nature, so these are called natural resources. India is very rich in natural resources. India is also rich in human resources. It has a large population of more than 95 crores. The people are intelligent, healthy, skilled, hardworking and patriotic. They want their country to make fast progress. The man power of a country is known as its human resources.
We see that our country is very rich in natural resources as well as human resources, but its people are poor. Some people cannot get proper food and clothing. They do not have a good house to live in. They do not have other amenities for proper living. It is because our resources were not properly utilized. Before India became independent the conditions were very bad. India was ruled by the British. They did not use the resources for the good of our people. They used these resources for the good of their country. There were not enough jobs, food, clothing and houses. Schools and colleges were very few. Only a few persons were literate. There were no hospitals and dispensaries in the villages. There were no proper roads. The villages were generally neglected. The agriculture mainly depended on monsoons. In case the monsoons failed, there was famine in some parts of the country.
India did not grow much food. It did not make enough steel. It hardly made any medicines. It did not have many factories and industries. Most of the people were without any work. After 1947 when our country became free our leaders thought of developing the country very fast. But many things had to be done simultaneously. Factories had to be built for making cloth, steel, machines and many other things. Electricity had to
be produced to run these factories. Agriculture had to be developed to produce enough food for the people of the country. Canals were needed for the irrigation of land. Dams were needed to control floods. It was not possible to do all these works at the same time. The resources of the country were limited. Therefore our leaders decided to make use of the country’s resources in a planned manner. They made plans for five years at a time. These plans were known as the Five Year Plans. The first five year plan was started in 1951. These plans have worked well. The country has made fast progress under these plans.
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Under these plans our country has made much progress in various fields. Dams have been built across many of the rivers. Canals have been dug out. More land is being irrigated. Much progress has been made in the field of agriculture. New techniques, machines, fertilizers and seeds are being used. India is producing more food grains than before. Surplus food is being exported to some other countries. Many factories and mills have been built to make useful things as steel, fertilizers, machines and textiles. Our country is now producing big machines, airplanes, trains, buses, cars, tractors, ships, scooters, cycles and many other things. Some of the machines produced in our country are being sent to other countries.
India has made much progress in the industrial field. Our country now stands tenth in the world in the field of industries. There are many good schools, colleges and universities. It has produced a large number of scientists, engineers and doctors. Students from some other countries come to study in the colleges and universities in India.
Both the rural and the urban areas are being developed. Since most of the people in our country live in villages, more attention is being given to the development of villages. Many of the villages now have roads, schools, dispensaries and electricity. Most of the people living in villages are farmers. They are being helped by the Government to buy better implements, tractors and pump sets.
India has a large population and it is increasing at a fast rate. Therefore the effect of the development is not very visible. Our Government is educating the people to presently population from growing very fast.