COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
INTRODUCTION
What is community development?
According to the United Nations, community development is “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.”
The Planning Commission has defined “Community development is an attempt to bring about a social and economic transformation of village life through the efforts of the people themselves.”
Meaning and purpose of CD
- According to IACD, purpose of CD is as being to work with communities to achieve participative democracy, sustainable development, rights, economic opportunity, equality and social justice.
- Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people with the skills they need to effect change within their communities. These skills are often created through the formation of social groups working for a common agenda or solution.
- Community developers must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities’ positions within the context of larger social institutions.
Community Development Programme (CDP)
The first major development programme launched in India after independence was Community Development Programme. It was launched on October 2, 1952. The main objectives were overall development of rural areas and people’s participation.
Key Features of CDP
- CDP was formulated to provide an administrative framework to the district, tehsil/taluka and village level. All the districts of the country were divided into “Development Blocks” and a “Block Development Officer (BDO)” was made in charge of each block. Village Level Workers (VLWs) were appointed under BDO who were responsible at village level.
- A nationwide such structure was created. Thousands of BDOs and VLW’s were trained for the job of carrying out array of government programmes and make it possible to reach the government to villages. Top authority was “Community Development Organization” and a Community Development Research Center was created with best academic brains of the country at that time.
- In the first five year plan, the emphasis was on agriculture. The food production started growing and by the end of first five year plan, the food import decreased substantially. However, the bad monsoon in the first two three years of second five year plan the food production again tumbled down and the production was now around pre-1954 levels.
Restructuring
By the time the community development programme became overburden and realized to sharply focus on agriculture. Consequently, the first programme which sharply focused on agriculture was launched in 1960-61 and this programme was named “Intensive Agriculture Development program (IADP).”
Community Development Block
In India, a community development block is a rural area which is administratively identified for planning and development. Such area is administered by a Block Development Officer, supported by several technical specialists and village-level workers. A community development block covers several gram panchayats, the local administrative units at the village level. A community development block in West Bengal is considered the third level administrative units equal to tehsils in North India. Elsewhere, tehsils are also called Talukas in the Western Indian states of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and South Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. In Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, the term Circles are used, while Subdivisions are named in the Eastern Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and most of Northeast India (Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura). In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, a newer form of administrative unit called Mandals has replaced the Tehsil.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Question)
What is community development?
Community development is “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.”
When was Community Development Programme started in India?
It was inaugurated on October 2, 1952.
What was the purpose of CDP?
The main objectives were overall development of rural areas and people’s participation.