Community Development Programme1952

Government of India

PRESENTED BY-ROHIT DABAS, AKASH SINGH I M.U.R.P.-1st YEAR I I.I.T. ROORKEE

The Planning Commission of India

“Community development is an attempt to bring about a social and economic transformation of village life through the efforts of the people themselves.”

• Over 65% of the population living in rural areas are primarily

dependent on agriculture for their livelihood

• about 11.25% of the rural families are landless and among the land

holders, over 69.35% own less than 1 ha (marginal farmers) and

21.25% own between 1 and 2 ha (small farmers)

• only 28% area is under irrigation and the rest is dependent on rains,

where hardly one crop can be grown in a year

• Apart from inadequate earning for livelihood, the rural people also

suffer from poor health arising from starvation, lack of

immunization, hygiene and sanitation

• 25% villages do not have year-round supply of drinking water and

about 75% of the potable water sources are polluted

• the rural poor have to depend on money lenders, to meet their

emergencies and fall into the debt trap

• They often try to forget their problems by consuming alcohol

• While some migrate to cities, others live in chronic poverty. They

lose confidence in others as well in their ability to live a decent life

• This is a vicious cycle.

Background

History of Evolution

• The concept of community development in India was initiated well before independence

• Even during the struggle for independence, under the leadership of Mahatma

Gandhi - the Father of the Nation

1935Under the British Rule, while confirming autonomy on the provinces, included rural

development as an important programme to be initiated for the welfare of the

people

The aim was to generate gainful employment in rural areas and to improve the

quality of life

1941Mahatma Gandhi advocated communal harmony, economic equity, social equality,

de-addiction from alcohol and narcotics, promotion of ‘khadi’ (hand spun and

hand woven cloth) and village industries, sanitation, health care, education and

empowerment of women.

1943Bengal Famine ,the outbreak of World War II, food supply was a critical problem in

most parts of the country

1948A pilot community development project was launched through the Etawah Project

1949Fiscal Commission and the Grow More Food Enquiry Committee - supply of free

seeds, subsidies for construction of wells and embankments, supply of manure,

fixing a minimum price for grain.

Major setback – Zamindari System

October 2, 1952 The CDP was launched on the birth-day of Mahatma Gandhi

Development through years

1952There were 55 community projects in 3 blocks. Each of the community development

projects covered an area of about 450-500 sq.miles with about 300 villages and a

population of about 2 lakhs

A development block consisted of about 100 villages with about 150-170 sq.miles

and a population of about 60-70 thousands

Each block was further divided into groups of 5-10 villages each

October 2, 1953 The need for rapid extension of the programme to other parts of the country led to

the National Extension Service (NES) along side the CDP, covering the entire country

within a period of 10 years

NES was less intensive in character

1957 Balvantroy Mehta team recommended the establishment of statutory elective of

local leaders i.e., Panchayat Raj Institutions (Village Panchayat, Panchayat Union and

District Development Council)

April, 1958 Both CDP and NES were integrated both at the centre and state.

By the end of the First Five Year Plan (1952-57), 1114 blocks covering 163,000

villages were in operation and by sixties, the community development programme

covered the entire country.

CDP-1952Brief

• Biggest rural reconstruction scheme undertaken by the government of free India

• Described as the ‘magna carta’ of hope and happiness for two-thirds of India’s population

• Testament of emancipation, the declaration of war on poverty, ignorance, squalor and

disease under which millions have been groaning

• Its successful execution will bring back to village economic prosperity, bring both outward

and inward grace to the Indian village

• The CP of the present form is, in the main, an American concept

• It is, in a way, the culmination of the economics of rural reconstruction as learnt and

developed in the US with its practical usefulness justified under the Indian conditions

• Emerged out of the experiments made at Etawah and Gorakhpur under the inspiration of

Albert Meyers

• It is intended to apply it to the concept of the village community as a whole, cutting across

caste, religious and economic differences.

“Not so much for the material achievements that they

would bring about, but much more so, because they

seem to build up the community and the individual and

to make the latter the builder of his own village centers

and of India in the larger sense.” Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru – the so called Architect of Modern India

Level

Administrative Head(Government)

Non-Official Head

Nation

Planning Commission/Niti Aayog

Prime Minister / ChairmanPlanning Commission

State

Development Commissioner Consultative Committee

District

District Collector / Chief Executive Officer, Z.P.

ChairmanDistrict Development Committee

Block

Block Development Officer President Panchayat Samiti

Village Village Level Worker/Gram Sewak/ VDO

ChairmanGram Panchayat

lay down broad policies and to provide general supervision, economic development. This

department prepared national basis programmes, budgeting, directing and coordinating

throughout the country

National Level• State Development Committee, presided over by the chief minister and consists of all ministers

of development departments.

• The Development Commissioner acted as Secretary to this committee - receive programme

guidance from the centre and report progress and suggestions to the centre, maintained an

administration relationship with the District Collector

State Level

Administration of CDP-1952, Prior to Panchayat Raj

District Level - district collector-

chairman of the DDC, assisted by

BDOs, DDC consists of all Heads of

Department in the district

Block Level – Headed by BDO, who is

assisted by a team of experts in

agriculture, cooperation, animal

husbandry, cottage industries

•BDC consists of representatives of

panchayats, cooperatives, progressive

farmers, social workers, MPs , MLAs

Village Level – VLW or Gram Sevak,

acts as multi purpose man- incharge of

about 7 to 10 villages.

•He is incharge of both village and

family development.

•Last person in the chain

1. It promotes self-confidence among the rural population

2. It develops self-reliance in the individual and initiative in the village community

3. It effects change at the psychological level of the rural people

4. It seeks to create new administrative machinery suited to the manifold needs of the village

5. It is pre-eminently people-oriented

6. Community thinking and collective action are encouraged through people’s institutions like the

Panchayats, co operative societies, Vikas mandals

• The programme is instrumental in raising the standard of living of the ruralites and in reconstructing

the rural India

• Prof. Carl Taylor rightly observes that the programme signifies active cooperation and involvement of

the ruralites in formulating and executing their own plans and programmes

• The end result is social change, economic development and emergence of new local leadership at the

village level

• The development of villages is very much important for the development of the nation

CHARACTERISTICS

IMPORTANCE

Economic Development

Social Justice Democratic Growth

Broad Objectives

1. To increase agricultural production both quantitatively and qualitatively

2. To solve the problem of rural unemployment

3. To develop the means of transport and communication in the villages through repairing old roads and

constructing new pucka roads

4. To bring about development in the sphere of primary education, public health and recreation

5. To assist the villagers to build good and cheap houses with the help of modern plans and new building

methods

6. To set up and encourage cottage industries and indigenous handicrafts

1. holistic development of rural life through optimum utilisation of physical and human resources

2. to provide all sorts of facilities available in a Welfare State to the ruralites

3. Taking care of the social, moral and financial progress of the villagers

Short-Term Objectives

Long-Term Objectives

1. To assist each village in having effective panchayats, cooperatives and schools

2. Through these village institutions, plan and carry out integrated multi-phased family, village, Block and

District

3. Increasing agricultural production

4. Improving existing village crafts and industries and organising new ones

5. Providing minimum essential health services and improving health practices

6. Providing required educational facilities for children and an adult education programme

7. Providing recreational facilities and programmes

8. Improving housing and family living conditions

9. Providing programmes for village women and youth

Objectives

SCOPEAgricultural and allied activities

reutilisation of virgin and waste lands, repairing of old wells, digging new wells and irrigation facilities, adoption of qualitative high-yielding seeds, manures, fertilizers, use of tractors, animal husbandry, poultry farming, fishery, soil conservation and growth of vegetables and plants etc.

Organisation ‘co-operative service societies’, multi-purpose cooperative societies, ‘marketing co-operatives’

Educationprimary education, adult education and social education with the aim of expanding the mental horizon of the ruralites

Employment setting up of small scale and cottage industries

Health ServicesProvision for mobile, permanent dispensaries, arrangements for maternal care, medical aid during pregnancy, midwife service, child care

CommunicationRepair of old roads, construction of new roads and arrangement for transportation and communication facilities

Vocational TrainingImparting vocational training in the field of tailoring, embroidery, carpentry etc

Supply of Drinking WaterAttempting to provide safe drinking water by repairing old wells or constructing new ones

Social Welfarerehabilitation of old, disabled and destitute, provision for better housing, organisation of sports, promotion of cultural activities etc

1. Critics point out that the CDP has not yielded desirable results

2. multifarious forces of social change are operating in the rural system in unison, it becomes an uphill task

to know the role of each force in bringing about social changes in the villages

3. The spatial aspect of the rural development plan has largely been ignored

4. The concept was broader, ignoring the local needs as per the diversity of the rural India

5. Red Tapping – bad attitude of the bureaucrates

6. in the name of shiamdana and other voluntary services, the poor people of the village air exploited and

made to offer voluntary service to the rich groups in the village

7. Lack of skilled and trained female workers

8. Lack of harmony among various departments of the government

9. Lack of coordination between the bureaucrats and the ruralites

10. Large rural population

11. Lack of Decentralisation

Further in 1957, Balwant Rai Mehta Committee was setup, then in

1987- based on Sivaraman Committee report, the Planning Commission issued guidelines to all the State

to consider the block as the unit for planning

In 1992- 73rd CAA

Criticism

1. ‘Freedom from Hunger Campaign’ , renamed as ‘People’s Action for Development-India (PAD-I), further

in 1986 renamed as ‘Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)’

2. BAIF Development Research Foundation - A Leading NGO Committed to Rural Development -

established by Dr. Manibhai Desai, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi at Urulikanchan, a village near

Pune in 1967

Role of Non-Government Organisations

1. http://agridr.in/tnauEAgri/eagri50/AEXT191/lec06.pdf

2. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/the-community-development-programme-of-india-2405-

words/4866/

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_development_block_in_India

4. www.baif.org.in/doc/.../Community%20Devt%20in%20India.doc

5. Gandhi, M.K. 1941. Constructive Programme : Its meaning and places. Navjeevan Publishing House,

Ahmedabad : 9-20

6. Maheshwari, S.R. 1985. Rural Development in India : A Public Policy Approach. SAGE Publications,

New Delhi : 35-51

7. NIRD. 1999. India Development Report – 1999 : Regional disparities in development and poverty.

National Institute for Rural Development, Hyderabad : 198 pp

8. Thapliyal, B.K. 1995. Decentralised planning in the Panchayati Raj Frame. In ‘Emerging Trends in

Panchayati Raj (Rural local self-government) in India’. NIRD, Hyderabad : 71-102

References

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