India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, a community development block (CD block) or simply Block is a sub-division of

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks (TD blocks). The area is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO), 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 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.

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 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

, exclusively for rural development.

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. 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 In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

education and also to initiate and direct a process of integrated culture change aimed at transforming the social and economic life of villagers. 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.

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

References

Community development blocks in West Bengal Economic planning in India {{India-gov-stub