From 1989 to 1991, there was a period of political and economic instability in India due to political turmoil at the Centre and global economic changes & fiscal imbalances of the country. The Government of India postponed the Eighth Five Year Plan in 1990 and adopted the Annual Plan for the two years 1990-91 and 1991-92.
In 1992, the Government led by Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh introduced the Eighth Five Year Plan. The period for the Eighth Plan started from 1 April 1992 and ended on 31 March 1997.
Objectives
- To generate full-scale employment with a focus on self-employment.
- To control the rapid population growth rate through people’s active cooperation.
- Primary healthcare facilities, provisions of safe drinking water, including immunisation accessible to all.
- Universalization of education and eradication of illiteracy.
- Growth and diversification of agriculture with emphasis on cattle rearing.
- Development of tourism management.
- Overall Human Resource Development.
- Strenghtening the infrastructure with more emphasis on road & rail connectivity.