Community development block

{{Short description|Rural area earmarked for administration and development in India}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

File:Administrative structure of India.svg

In India, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of District, administratively earmarked for planning and development.{{Cite journal|last=Maheshwari|first=Shriram|title=Rural Development and Bureaucracy in India|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.276037|journal=The Indian Journal of Public Administration|volume= XXX| issue = 3|pages=1093–1100}} In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks).{{Cite book |last=Vidyarthi |first=Lalita Prasad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vMhJRF2CdUC&dq=%22tribal+development+block%22&pg=PA62 |title=Tribal Development and Its Administration |date=1981 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |language=en}} The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), supported by several technical specialists and village-level workers.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i4bV4cKpPlIC|title=Development and Democracy in India|last=Sharma|first=Shailendra D.|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.|year=1999|isbn=9781555878108|location=Boulder, Colorado}} A community development block covers several gram panchayats, the local administrative units at the village level. A block is a rural subdivision and typically smaller than a tehsil. A tehsil is purely for revenue administration, whereas a block is for rural development purposes. In most states, a block is coterminous with the panchayat samiti area.{{Cite web |last=CD Blocks of Assam |title=Administrative setup |url=https://des.assam.gov.in/information-services/state-profile-of-assam}}

Nomenclature

The nomenclature varies from state to state, such as common terms like "block" and others including community development block, panchayat union block, panchayat block, panchayat samiti block, development block, etc. All denote a CD Block, which is a subdivision of a district, exclusively for rural development.{{Cite web |title=Block development offices; Kerala, Commissionerate of Rural Development. |url=http://rdd.kerala.gov.in/index.php/2016-07-19-10-37-23/block-panchayaths}}{{Cite web |publisher=Rural Development Department, Government of Tami Nadu |title=GUIDELINES FOR THE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS OF THE NEWLY CREATED ADDITIONAL BLOCK DEVELOPMENT OFFICERS IN THE PANCHAYAT UNION ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP |url=https://www.tnrd.tn.gov.in/Establishment/linkfiles/go_rd_653_87_pg141.pdf}}{{Cite web |title=Development Blocks {{!}} District Barabanki, Government of Uttar Pradesh {{!}} India |url=https://barabanki.nic.in/about-district/administrative-setup/development-blocks/ |access-date=2024-04-05 |language=en}}

History

The concept of the community development block was first suggested by Grow More Food (GMF) Enquiry Committee in 1952 to address the challenge of multiple rural development agencies working without a sense of common objectives.{{Cite book |url=http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/12653|title=Report of The Grow More Food Enquiry Committee|publisher=Government of India Ministry of Food and Agriculture|year=1952}} Based on the committee's recommendations, the community development programme was launched on a pilot basis in 1952 to provide for a substantial increase in the country's agricultural programme, and for improvements in systems of communication, in rural health and hygiene, and in rural education and also to initiate and direct a process of integrated culture change aimed at transforming the social and economic life of villagers.{{Cite web |url=http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/1st/welcome.html|title=First Five Year Plan|website=Planning Commission |access-date=10 September 2018|archive-date=16 September 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916200937/http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/fiveyr/1st/welcome.html}} The community development programme was rapidly implemented. In 1956, by the end of the first five-year plan period, there were 248 blocks, covering around a fifth of the population in the country. By the end the second five-year plan period, there were 3,000 blocks covering 70 per cent of the rural population. By 1964, the entire country was covered.{{cite web |url= http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/11/2/95 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712051252/http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/pdf_extract/11/2/95 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-12 |title=The Failure of the Community Development Programme in India |access-date=2010-04-06}}

Block Development Officer

A Block Development Officer (BDO) is an administrative officer in India responsible for the overall development of a Community Development Block (CD Block), a sub-division of a district. They are appointed by the state government and report to the Chief Development Officer (CDO) or District Development Commissioner or the similar position.

They typically fall under the purview of the Rural Development Department or Department of Panchayats of the respective state government. The BDO is responsible for overall supervision of all the antipoverty schemes and execution of the Developmental works.

The BDO functions as the Secretary of the Panchayat Samiti/Block Panchayat and exercises supervision and control over the extension officers and other

employees of the Panchayat Samiti and the staff borne on transferred schemes.

Blocks statewise

https://pdi.gov.in/demo/MDV/Public/State-wise-Summary.aspx

class="wikitable sortable"
State

! CD Block

! Number of
CD Blocks

Andaman and Nicobar IslandsCD Block9
Andhra PradeshMandal668
Arunachal PradeshBlock129
AssamBlock239
BiharBlock534
ChandigarhBlock3
ChhattisgarhCD Block146
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and DiuCD Block3
DelhiCD Block342
GoaCD Block12
GujaratCD Block250
HaryanaBlock143
Himachal PradeshCD Block88
Jammu and KashmirCD Block287
JharkhandBlock264
KarnatakaCD Block235
KeralaBlock152
LadakhCD Block31
LakshadweepCD Block10
Madhya PradeshCD Block313
MaharashtraCD Block352
ManipurCD Block70
MeghalayaCD Block54
MizoramCD Block28
NagalandCD Block74
OdishaCD Block314
PuducherryCD Block6
PunjabCD Block153
RajasthanCD Block353
SikkimCD Block33
Tamil NaduTaluk388
TelanganaMandal594
TripuraCD Block58
Uttar PradeshCD Block826
UttarakhandCD Block95
West BengalCD Block345

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Articles on third-level administrative divisions of countries}}

Category:Community development blocks in West Bengal

Category:Economic planning in India

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