What is Colombo Plan?

In this article we will discuss about Colombo Plan.

The main points will be:

    i.    Background of Colombo Plan

    ii.   Financial Resources and Sector Distribution

    iii.  Criticism of the Colombo Project

    iv.   The main key points

Let's start the background of Colombo Plan.

Background

Although the first five-year plan (1955-60) formally launched economic planning in Pakistan. However, even before that, an experiment was carried out under the Southeast Asian Economic Development Assistance Program, known as the Colombo Plan. The plan is in fact the work of the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Which took place in the early 1950s in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. The development plan was developed collectively for Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Malaya, Singapore, South Borneo, Shali Borneo and Sarwak. Its period is 1951-57. The six years of AD were fixed. The plan was in fact an effort to boost the economic development of South and Southeast Asian countries through the introduction of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee.

Financial Resources and Sector Distribution

During the period of this project, a program was made to spend Rs. 2.6 billion in Pakistan. Out of this total amount, Rs 1.70 billion was to be obtained from within the country and Rs 90 crore was to be obtained from external sources. In the internal resources of Rs 1.70 billion, Rs 1.22 billion was to be received in the form of children and Rs 50 crore in the form of government savings. External sources one part of the Rs. 90 crore received from India was derived from string arrears and the other part in the form of foreign exchange eaten from exports. Countries that have contributed to the project include Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Criticism of the Colombo Project

Needless to say, this was a nominal project because it was the name of the completion of a few individual projects. It did not set a timeline for national resources, nor did it set clear goals. In the words of Pakistan Planning Board:

The six-year plan was developed in the absence of some critical information. There were some important data about Pakistan's economy such as population, natural resources and financial resources. Obviously in the circumstances that Even if the program was made, there would be room for improvement.

The government of Pakistan set up an economic council and a planning commission to implement the plan. The plan had to be changed due to changes in circumstances as commodity prices had risen. The government has set up a two-year training program so that some of the much-needed items can be made within the country. In August 1953, the total expenditure was re-estimated at Rs 2.60 billion to raise 3 crore 62 crore. At the beginning of 1956, it further increased to Rs. 5.64 billion.

Despite these facts, the project has had some significant successes.

(1)    The decimal number of industrial production increased from 100 in 1950 to 285 in 1951 done.

(2)    Annual production of cement in 1948

(3)    It increased from 3.2 lakh tonnes to 6.73 lakh tonnes in 1954.

(4)    Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation has completed 19 projects and 12 projects

(5)    Started working on power generation capacity reached 280,000 kW in 1947-1947.

(6)    Air travel, sea travel, port facilities, road transport, telecommunications and all there were also signs of improvement in the services sector.

Under the Colombo Plan, economic planning in Pakistan had the status of a partial plan, not a general plan. However, the partial successes achieved under this plan paved the way for more comprehensive and effective planning in the future. The project was not yet completed when Pakistan launched a comprehensive plan for the period 60-1955 called Pakistan's first five-year plan.

Key Points

• Economic planning in Pakistan began with the Kolbo project. The plan was developed under the auspices of the Commonwealth Advisory Committee for the period 1951-57.
• A total of Rs2.6 billion was planned to be spent during the project period, but it was revised to Rs3.62 billion due to rising commodity prices.
• The project significantly increased the production of various industries and power generation.
• Some other sectors of the economy showed no signs of improving. The Colombo project is a partial project rather than a comprehensive one. Because this plan was prepared at a time when neither the necessary data on the country's economy was available nor effective machinery was put in place to put it into practice.

Will you be able to write about the Colombo Plan after reading this article? As you can write in detail about the development program that was made under the Colombo Plan for the economic development of Pakistan. Please let us know your answer in the comment section.