Community development block


In India, a community development block or simply a block is a sub-division of a district, administratively earmarked for planning and development. In tribal areas, similar sub-divisions are called tribal development blocks. The area is administered by a block development officer, 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, exclusively for rural development.

History

The concept of the community development block was first suggested by Grow More Food 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 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 is an administrative officer in India responsible for the overall development of a Community Development Block, a sub-division of a district. They are appointed by the state government and report to the Chief Development Officer 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

StateCD BlockNumber 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 NaduCD Block388
TelanganaMandal594
TripuraCD Block58
Uttar PradeshCD Block826
UttarakhandCD Block95
West BengalCD Block345