In the planning history of India, the Rolling Plan concept was first introduced in connection with which Five Year Plan period?

Introduction / Context:
This question checks knowledge of the Rolling Plan concept in India economic planning. The Rolling Plan represented a departure from fixed term Five Year Plans and reflected a more flexible approach. Examinations often ask which Five Year Plan is connected with this idea, so remembering the correct association is important.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question refers to the Rolling Plan in the Indian context.
• Options list several numbered Five Year Plans.
• The Rolling Plan was introduced around the late nineteen seventies during a change in government.
• We focus on the plan with which the concept is first associated in standard exam references.

Concept / Approach:
The Rolling Plan is a system in which plans are revised every year, with current year performance influencing next year targets. In India, the Janata Government terminated the Fifth Five Year Plan before its scheduled end and introduced a Rolling Plan framework covering the period after that termination. Many competitive exam sources therefore connect the Rolling Plan concept with the Fifth Plan era and its replacement. The task is to link this background to the correct plan among the options.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that the Fifth Five Year Plan originally covered the period from 1974 to 1979.Step 2: Remember that the Janata Government came to power in the late nineteen seventies and decided to discontinue the original Fifth Plan ahead of schedule.Step 3: The government introduced a Rolling Plan which allowed annual revisions instead of a fixed five year horizon.Step 4: In many exam oriented summaries, this Rolling Plan is said to start with the termination of the Fifth Plan and is therefore associated with it.Step 5: Among the options, the Fifth Five Year Plan is the one most directly connected with the introduction of the Rolling Plan concept in India.

Verification / Alternative check:
Quick revision tables on Indian Five Year Plans used in competitive exam preparation often describe the Fifth Plan as the one during which the Rolling Plan approach was introduced by the new government in 1978. Although the Rolling Plan overlapped with the period between the Fifth and Sixth Plans, the association in exam keys is commonly made with the Fifth Plan, which reinforces this answer for objective questions.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
The Third and Fourth Plans took place earlier and followed the standard fixed term planning approach without the Rolling Plan idea.
The Sixth Plan followed after the Rolling Plan period and represented a return to regular Five Year Plans, not the introduction of the concept.
The Seventh Plan was even later and focused on productivity and social justice, not on launching the Rolling Plan.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes confuse the Rolling Plan period with the formal numbering of plans and may incorrectly link it to the Sixth Plan because it came immediately after the Rolling Plan years. Others may think of the Rolling Plan as a totally separate entity and forget that exam questions usually tie it to the early termination of the Fifth Plan. Reading summary tables carefully helps avoid this confusion.

Final Answer:
The Rolling Plan concept in India is most commonly associated with the Fifth Five Year Plan period.