Community Development Programme PDF

Community Development Programme DR. MUMTAZ AHMAD  The Community Development Programme has been the biggest rural reconstruction scheme undertaken by the government of free India. It has been variously described as the magnacarta of hope and happiness for two-thirds of India’s populatio...

Community Development Programme DR. MUMTAZ AHMAD  The Community Development Programme has been the biggest rural reconstruction scheme undertaken by the government of free India. It has been variously described as the magnacarta of hope and happiness for two-thirds of India’s population.  The Community Development Programme was inaugurated on October 2, 1952. Fifty-five community projects were launched. The programme launched in 1952 was extended to wider areas at the end of the First Five-Year Plan. Nearly one out of every three villages in India was brought within the orbit of this programme.  The Planning Commission has defined the Community Development Programme in these words: “Community development is an attempt to bring about a social and economic transformation of village life through the efforts of the people themselves.” Characteristics: CDP exhibits several characteristics. They are as follows: 1. It promotes self-confidence among the ruralites. 2. It develops self-reliance in the individual and initiative in the village community. 3. The community development programme effects change at the psychological level of the ruralites. 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, co­operative societies, Vikas Objectives Prof. S. C. Dube has highlighted on two aims of Community Development Programme. They are- (a) Achieving substantial agricultural production and considerable progress in the sphere of communication, rural health and rural education (b) Transforming the socio-economic life of the village through a process of integral cultural change. The aims of the Community Development Project have been divided into two parts. They are short-term objectives and long-term objectives. Short – term 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. Long-term objectives:  The long – term objective of community development projects refers to holistic development of rural life through optimum utilisation of physical and human resources.  It is further oriented to provide all sorts of facilities available in a Welfare State to the ruralites.  Taking care of the social, moral and financial progress of the villagers. SCOPE for the sake of convenience, the field of Community Development Programme can broadly be divided into the following items. 1. Agricultural and allied fields: Under this category activities regarding following items are included, (a) Reutilisation of virgin 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 vegetables and plants etc. 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 ruralites. 4. Employment: For solving the problem of rural unemployment, attempts have been 5. Health Services: Provision for mobile, permanent dispensaries, arrangements for maternal care, medical aid during pregnancy, midwife service, child care etc. 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. Criticism  Critics point out that the Community Development Programme has not yielded desirable results. It is worth mentioning in this connection that for a vast country like India with as many as 6,50,000 villages, a hoary history and diversities pertaining to races, languages, religions and cultures, a period of little more than five decades is insufficient to bring about any substantial changes  Another difficulty of evaluation of the programme is that it is extremely difficult to establish a cause-effect relation because the village communities of India are exposed to multifarious forces of social change. The spatial aspect of the rural development plan has largely been ignored. Suggestions: A number of suggestions have been made for the successful working of the Community Development Programme. They are as follows: 1. Greater stress is called for increasing agricultural production both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to meet the needs of the country’s fast multiplying rural population. 2. The Community Development Projects should lay utmost stress upon the solution of problems peculiar to the locality. 3. Only those officials having expertise in rural psychology should be appointed. 4. Both male and female workers should be selected or appointed from among the villagers themselves. They should undergo extensive training in social work. Efforts should be made to motivate them to work in the villages with missionary zeal and a spirit of service. 5. Efforts should be made to impress upon the ruralites that the Community  Traditionally dominant castes have seized the reins of power and manipulate the administrative machinery to their advantage.  Bureaucracy in India is proverbially negative in attitude and impervious to any innovation.. Instead of trying to win the goodwill, confidence and cooperation of the people, the bureaucrats have incurred the displeasure and distrust of the beneficiaries.  The officers in charge of the Community Development Programme claim that the programme has succeeded in narrowing the gulf existing between the rich and the poor in the villages. But such a claim does not seem to have any logical foundation.  The success of the Community Development Programme depends, for the most part, on the emancipation of the rural women. But the emancipation of the rural women is possible only through the active cooperation and support of a large number of trained female workers. But at present they exist in very small number.  The failure of the Community Development Programme is attributed to the lack of harmony among various departments of the government. Furthermore, there is lack of coordination between the bureaucrats and the ruralites.  In the absence of the proper and active cooperation of the public, the programme has failed to take the shape of a genuine public movement. Suggestions: A number of suggestions have been made for the successful working of the Community Development Programme. They are as follows: 1. Greater stress is called for increasing agricultural production both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to meet the needs of the country’s fast multiplying rural population. 2. The Community Development Projects should lay utmost stress upon the solution of problems peculiar to the locality. 3. Only those officials having expertise in rural psychology should be appointed. 4. Both male and female workers should be selected or appointed from among the villagers themselves. They should undergo extensive training in social work. Efforts should be made to motivate them to work in the villages with missionary zeal and a spirit of service. 5. Efforts should be made to impress upon the ruralites that the Community Development Programme is not oriented to any specific group rather it is for the entire village. Community development work should be so arranged that cooperation of all castes, classes and parties becomes available. 6. Efforts should be made to involve reputed voluntary agencies in Community Development Projects. A harmonious nexus between governmental agencies and non- governmental agencies will go a long way in making the programme a signal success. 7. The development of the village community should come substantially and essentially from the people themselves, the government being only a guide and source of the wherewithal which the people themselves cannot provide. 8. Balwant Rai Committee has suggested that village Panchayats and Panchayat samitis should function as the veritable instruments for making the programme a success.