In the context of India's economic planning, what was the main objective of the Third Five Year Plan?

Introduction / Context:
This question focuses on the main aim of the Third Five Year Plan in India, which covered the period 1961–1966. Each Five Year Plan had a broad thrust, such as heavy industry, agriculture or poverty alleviation. Knowing these key objectives helps you quickly answer many planning-based questions in Indian economy and history. The Third Plan is especially remembered for its emphasis on making India self-reliant in foodgrain production.

Given Data / Assumptions:
- The question is specifically about the main motive or central objective of the Third Five Year Plan, not all its subsidiary aims.
- Four options are given: rural development, agriculture, financial inclusion and economic reforms.
- You are expected to know the time-frame of the Third Plan (early 1960s) and the economic context of food shortages and dependence on imports.

Concept / Approach:
After focusing on industrialization in the Second Plan, policy makers realized that weak agricultural performance and dependence on foodgrain imports posed a serious threat to economic stability and national sovereignty. The Third Plan therefore shifted emphasis to agriculture, with the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrains and laying the foundation for long-term growth. It did not deal with modern concepts like “financial inclusion” or 1990s-style economic reforms. By aligning the time-frame and main problems of the period, we can identify the correct objective.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recall that the Third Five Year Plan ran from 1961 to 1966, a time when India faced recurring foodgrain shortages. Step 2: The Plan's declared main objective was to make the economy self-sustaining, particularly by achieving self-sufficiency in foodgrains through improved agricultural production. Step 3: While rural development and social programmes were also important, they were not framed as the single core objective in the same way as food self-sufficiency. Step 4: Financial inclusion and modern economic reforms belong to much later periods, so options C and D do not match the early 1960s context. Hence, option B is correct.

Verification / Alternative check:
A quick check is to remember that the Second Plan (1956–1961) emphasized heavy industries and the public sector, following the Mahalanobis model. The Third Plan consciously rebalanced priorities towards agriculture after recognizing the dangers of relying on food imports and facing droughts and production shortfalls. This historical shift confirms that agriculture and foodgrain self-sufficiency were central concerns for the Third Plan, unlike the later focus on liberalization and financial inclusion in the 1990s and 2000s.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, rural development, was certainly important but is more closely associated with community development programmes and certain other plans; it does not capture the specific, strongly stated goal of foodgrain self-sufficiency. Option C, financial inclusion, is a much more recent policy focus involving banking and digital services, which did not define the Third Plan era. Option D, economic reforms and liberalization, clearly refers to the 1991 reforms and subsequent policies, decades after the Third Plan. Only option B correctly reflects the primary objective of the Third Five Year Plan.

Common Pitfalls:
Students often memorize individual schemes but confuse which Plan emphasized what. Another trap is to assume that newer buzzwords like financial inclusion or reforms must apply to all economic questions. It helps to anchor each Plan to a single key phrase: heavy industry (Second Plan), agriculture and self-sufficiency in foodgrains (Third Plan), and poverty alleviation or growth with stability for later plans. This mental mapping simplifies many MCQs.

Final Answer:
The central motive of the Third Five Year Plan was to secure self-sufficiency in foodgrains through a strong push in agriculture. Therefore, the correct answer is “Achieving self-sufficiency in agriculture, especially foodgrains.”