What is a community? what is development? various theoretical definitions and its implication in community development

1. RDM 101
Community
Development: Basic
Concepts
Dr. Rajeev Kumar, MSW (TISS, Mumbai)
M.Phil (CIP, Ranchi), UGC-JRF,
Ph.D., (IIT Kharagpur)

2. What is community?
 A group of people
 Live in geographical area
 Have interest in each another
 A form of social organization exist between family and
state
 A dynamic social unit subjected to external and
internal changes
 Share customs, languages, beliefs, interest, etc.,
 It is set of sub group relations
 There is leadership in community

3. Exercise-1
 What is community?
 Define according to yourself
 How many types of communities you can identify?
 Which type of community you are?
 Which type of community we are going to focus now?

4. What is development ?
 Growth
 Expansion
 Gradual or sequential changes

5. Definitions of developments
 Development is a concept and multi-facetted
phenomena. Although its history goes back to the
antiquities, development exceptionally preoccupied
states after the Second World War in the late 1940s.
These have since then been efforts for social, political
and economic progress all over the world facilitated by
the quick technological evolution.

6. TAYEBWA (1992:261)
 TAYEBWA (1992:261) states that development is a
broad term which should not be limited to mean
economic development, economic welfare or material
wellbeing as per Tayebwa, development in general
includes improvements in economic, social and
political aspects of whole society like security, culture,
social activities and political institutions.

7. TODARO (1981)
 According to TODARO (1981:56) refers to development as a
multi-dimensional process involving the reorganization
and reorientation of the entire economic and social
systems.
 He continues to argue that development is a physical reality
and a state of mind in which society has, through some
combinations of social, economic and political process
secured the way of obtaining better life.
 Similar to the one given by Tayebwa, Todaro?s definition is
applauded for its wider view of the development concept as
related to social, economic as well as political changes in
the society.

8. Development definitions
 According to PERROUX (1978:65), defines
development as "the combination of mental and social
changes among the population which decide to
increase its real and global products, cumulatively and
in sustainable manner."
 ROGERS (1990:30) adds "development is a long
participatory process of social change in the society
whose objective is the material and social progress for
the majority of population through a better
understanding of their environment"

9. What is community development?
 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.”
Planning commission of India
Now NITI Ayog (National Institution for Transforming
India)

10. What is community development?
community development as "a process where
community members come together to take
collective action and generate solutions to common
problems”.
--- United Nations

11. Exercise-2
 Now! How do you define community development in
your words?

12. Why need of community development?
(Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate Nobel
Peace Prize 2006)

13. Why community development?
 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 farm 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

14. Rural scenario
 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

15. continued
 Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West
Bengal and Bihar together account for 40% of India’s
rural poor.
 16% of India’s population is classified as scheduled
caste, and 8% as scheduled tribe. These groups are
dominantly poor and rural and face particular socio-
cultural barriers to development.

16. continued
 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 of problems

17. Exercise-3
 What do this data say?
 What did you understand?
 List out the areas needed for community development
based on previous data

18. Concepts of community
development
 1. Community development is a movement designed to promote better living for the
whole community with the active participation and on the initiative of the community.
 2. Community development is a balanced programme for stimulating the local potential
for growth in every direction. Its promise is of reciprocal advance in both health and
wealth and welfare, not on the basis of outside charity but by building on the latent
vitality of the beneficiaries themselves with the minimum of outside aid.
 3. Community development is technically aided and locally organized self help.
 4. The term community development has come into international usage to denote the
process by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those the
governmental authorities to improve the economic social and cultural conditions of the
communities, to integrate these communities into the life of the nation and enable them to
contribute fully to national progress.

19. Exercise-4
List out technical terms

20. What do we need in community
development ?
 1. Agricultural and allied fields:
Under this category activities regarding following items are
included,
(a )reutilisation of new and waste lands,
(b) repairing of old wells, digging new wells and provision of
major/minor irrigation facilities,
(c) adoption of qualitative high-yielding seeds, manures,
fertilizers, use of tractors etc.,
(d)provision of credit facilities for the development of
animal husbandry, poultry farming, fishery, soil
conservation etc. and
(e) growth of vegetable sand plants etc.

21. Activities of community
development
 2. Organisation:
Organisation of ‘co-operative service societies’, multi-purpose cooperative
societies, ‘marketing co-operatives’ and other types of people’s institutions.
 3. Education:
Attaching importance to primary education, adult education and social
education with the aim of expanding the mental horizon of the rural life.
 4. Employment:
For solving the problem of rural unemployment, attempts have been made
for the setting up of small scale and cottage industries.
 5. Health Services:
Provision for mobile, permanent dispensaries, arrangements for maternal
care, medical aid during pregnancy, midwife service, child care etc.

22. Continued....
 6. Communication:
Repair of old roads, construction of new roads and arrangement for
transportation and communication facilities.
 7. Vocational training:
Imparting vocational training in the field of tailoring, embroidery, carpentry
etc.
 8. Supply of drinking water:
Attempting to provide safe drinking water by repairing old wells or
constructing new ones.
 9. Social welfare:
Social welfare activities include rehabilitation of old, disabled and destitute,
provision for better housing, organisation of sports, promotion of cultural
activities etc.

23. Brief history of community
development in India

24. 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
1935
Under 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
1941
Mahatma 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.
1943
Bengal Famine ,the outbreak of World War II, food supply was a critical problem
in most parts of the country
1948
A pilot community development project was launched through the Etawah
Project
1949
Fiscal Commission and the Grow More Food Enquiry Committee - supply of free
Major Provisions:
Providing of seed
Subsidies for construction of wells.
fixing a minimum price for grain.
Abolition of Zamindari System
The CDP was launched on the birth-day of Mahatma Gandhi

25. CDP-1952
Brief
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, 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 CDP 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

26. Who runs CDP?
or
Implementation of CDP

27. Level Administrative Head
(Government)
Non-Official Head
Nation Planning Commission/
Niti Aayog
Prime Minister / Chairman
Planning Commission
State Development Commissioner Consultative Committee
District District Collector / Chief Executive
Officer, Z.P.
Chairman
District Development
Committee
Block Block Development Officer President
Panchayat Samiti
Village Village Level Worker/
Gram Sewak/ VDO
Chairman
Gram 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

28. 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

29. Level of analysis
Macro-level
Meso-level
Micro-level

30. Exercise 5
Define level of analysis according to various systems and
finally to CDP

31. Who is holding us back?
 No attempt has been made to relate the block
development plans to local problems and needs
 Caste system prevailing in India has made a mockery
of democracy.
 Bureaucracy in India is proverbially negative in
attitude and impervious to any innovation.
 The failure of the Community Development
Programme is attributed to the lack of harmony
among various departments of the government.

32. Exercise-6
 Read out those reasons in your simple language
 And brief 5 minute discussion

33. Thanks for your consistent
attention!!! Keep learning