1939, the Indian National Congress formed a National Planning Committee. Its chairman was Jawaharlal Nehru and its General Secretary was K.T. Shaw. Although the Committee started working in 1939 itself, Nehru was arrested by the British. In the meantime, the Second World War started. In spite of all these setbacks, the Committee went ahead with its work. There were 27 subcommittees which were grouped into 8.
The Committee gave importance to the following areas:
a) Agriculture
b) Industry
c) Profession and Population
d) Exchange and Finance
e) Transport and Communication
f) Health and Housing
g) Education
h) The role of women in the planned economic system. The Committee made a plan for the comprehensive development of India. Even before India had got its independence, many of the subcommittees submitted ad-hoc reports or their final reports. During the 1948 – 49 period, all these reports were published. In March 1950, the government appointed a Planning Commission. Its Chairman was Nehru. It is this Commission that prepared the Five Year Plan.
