4. S1 : One of the ironies of the Indian economy's consistent under-performance is that it has been planned.
S6 : As planning prospered, regional imbalances widened and competitiveness and free enterprise were crushed—defeating the fundamental purpose of planned development.
P : It is another matter that in each of the nine Five-Year Plans, barring the first, more targets were missed than met.
Q : Within two months of India becoming a Republic, the Planning Commission was set up to prepare a blueprint for India's future, roughly once in five years.
R : Yet the process of planning didn't change and excuses were found : wars and droughts in the 1960s, war and oil shocks in the '70s.
S : Elaborate models were developed, backed by immaculate calculations, on the investments and policies required to achieve the targets.
The correct sequence should be :
- AQ - S - P - R
- BP - R - Q - S
- CQ - R - P - S
- DP - S - Q - R
Explanation
S1 poses the irony — the economy's under-performance was "planned" — and Q starts the story: the Planning Commission was set up within two months of India becoming a Republic (March 1950). S describes the elaborate investment models that were built, P notes the outcome (in nine Five-Year Plans, barring the first, more targets were missed than met), and R shows planning never changed — excuses were found in the wars and droughts of the 1960s and the oil shocks of the '70s. S6 delivers the verdict: planning prospered while regional imbalances widened. Hence Q-S-P-R.