Concepts of Community and

Community Development UNIT 5 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMMES AND
ACCOUNTABILITY
*A. Malathi
Contents
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Community Development
5.3 Community Development Programmes and Accountability
5.4 History of Community Development Programmes
5.5 Community Development Programmes in Rural, Tribal and Urban Areas
5.6 Let Us Sum Up
5.7 Further Readings and References

5.0 OBJECTIVES
We have discussed the various aspects of communities located in rural, tribal
and urban communities in the earlier units. There are certain critical issues that
can be addressed through community development programmes. These
programmes need to have a certain design that includes accountability
considerations. After going through this unit you will be able to
define and explain what community development is;
describe some of the community development programmes in rural, tribal
and urban areas; and
understand the concept of accountability and its importance in community
development work.

5.1 INTRODUCTION
This unit of community development programmes and accountability are built
on the earlier understanding of what communities are, and how are they located,
in the social and economic contexts. They also gave us some idea of the issues
facing these communities. There are various ways in which these issues are
addressed. Community development programmes whether initiated by
Government or non-government agencies seek to address the issues and concerns
of the communities. The concept of community development programmes focuses
on the interventions for community development to be people centered and
people led, that seek to change for better, the conditions of living of these
communities. Questions such as what is better for the community, who decides
on these, who implements the programmes what are the ways in which the
programmes are monitored or implemented, who takes decisions regarding
funding and allocations, who is accountable to whom, form the central focus of
community development programmes that determine the success in reaching the
goals of community development. Thus community development programmes
*Dr. A. Malathi, Delhi University, Delhi
need to be understood with dimensions of their context, creation and Community Development
Programmes and Accountability
culmination. The context factors relate to the issues, problems, concerns of
the community, the background of the community and the strengths and weaknesses
of the community. The creation refers to the specific programmes related to
addressing the issues and concerns of the community with what intentions(values
basis and goals), strategies and mechanisms. The culmination would relate to
the way the programme reaches its goals and with clear identification of people
and processes that are accountable. This trio of C’s is interrelated and very
important for community development programmes.

5.2 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Concept of Community and Development
Community development has two terms community and development both of
which need some understanding. The concept of community has already been
discussed in Unit I. We reiterate some of its definitions as “A relatively self-
sufficient population, residing in a limited geographic area, bound together by
feelings of unity and interdependency”.
“a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics
or interests and perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger
society within which it exists, for example the business community; the
community of scholars”.
Communities refer to people bounded in specific geographic areas and
communities of interest. The past three centuries have seen major changes in
the notion of community. We have moved from a predominantly agricultural and
rural society, to an urban industrialized society, and now to a post-industrial
society. In this latter period of de-industrialization, there has been erosion of
community life and a decline in civil society organizations. These have meant a
slow degeneration of traditional family networks, heightened inequality between
groups of people as well as growth of institutions to meet the needs of the
people, which were hitherto met by the community itself.
Development as a concept would imply that there is progress or change for the
better in such a way to enhance the security, freedom, dignity, self-reliance and
self-development of groups of people. This would involve twin concepts of
social as well as economic development.
Concept of Community Development
Community development may be defined as a process by which the efforts of
the people themselves are combined with those of governmental authorities, to
improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities to integrate
these communities into the life of the nation and to enable them to contribute
fully to national progress.
Community development is a collaborative, facilitative process undertaken by
people (community, institutions, or academic stakeholders) who share a common
purpose of building capacity to have a positive impact on quality of life.
Community Development is the process of developing active and sustainable
communities based on social justice and mutual respect. It is about influencing
power structures to remove the barriers that prevent people from participating
Concepts of Community and in the issues that affect their lives. Community workers facilitate the participation
Community Development
of people in this process. They enable connections to be made between
communities and with the development of wider policies and programmes.
Community Development expresses values of fairness, equality, accountability,
opportunity, choice, participation, mutuality, reciprocity and continuous learning.
Educating, enabling and empowering are at the core of Community Development.
Community Development is about building active and sustainable communities
based on social justice and mutual respect. It is about changing power structures
to remove the barriers that prevent people from participating in the issues that
affect their lives. Community Development Workers support individuals, groups
and organizations in this process on the basis of certain values and commitments.
Community development works for strengthening of face to face communities
to meet the psychological needs of belonging, practical needs of mutual care,
and the political need for participation and campaigning for rights and resources.
Approaches Used in Community Development
The various approaches used in community development are:
using an asset-based approach that builds on strengths and existing
resources;
encouraging inclusive processes that embrace community diversity; and
community ownership through collaboratively planned and led initiatives.
Aims of Community Development are:
creating equitable conditions and outcomes for health and wellbeing;
improving the health and prosperity of the community as a whole;
fostering sustainable community initiatives;
fostering sustainable self-sufficiency for the people involved;
increasing personal worth, dignity, and value; and
building awareness of and resolving issues in the community.
Community Development Values
Community development has certain inherent values. These can be termed as:
Social Justice - enabling people to claim their human rights, meet their needs
and have greater control over the decision-making processes, which affect their
lives.
Participation - facilitating democratic involvement by people in the issues,
which affect their lives, based on full citizenship, autonomy, and shared power,
skills, knowledge and experience.
Equality - challenging the attitudes of individuals, and the practices of institutions
and society, which discriminate against and marginalize people.
Learning - recognizing the skills, knowledge and expertise that people
contribute and develop by taking action to tackle social, economic, political
and environmental problems.
Co-operation - working together to identify and implement action, based on
mutual respect of diverse cultures and contributions.
Assumptions in Community Development Community Development
Programmes and Accountability
There are certain implicit assumptions in community development. These are:
Individuals, groups and local institutions within community areas share
common interests that bind them together.
This commonness also propels them to work together.
The interests of the various groups are not conflicting.
The state is a supra body that is impartial in the allocation of resources
and that through its policies it does not further inequalities.
People’s initiatives are possible in the communities because of their
common interests.
Community development workers are committed to:
Challenge the discrimination and oppressive practices within organizations,
institutions and communities.
Develop practice and policy that protects the environment.
Encourage networking and connections between communities and
organizations.
Ensure access and choice for all groups and individuals within society.
Influence policy and programmes from the perspective of communities.
Prioritize the issues of concern to people experiencing poverty and social
exclusion.
Promote social change that is long-term and sustainable.
Reverse inequality and the imbalance of power relationships in society.
Support community led collective action.
Distinction Between Community Development and Community Work

Community development is best used to refer to a process, or a way of doing

something, which entails the mobilization, participation and involvement of
local people on common issues important to them. 

Community work, on the other hand, is often used as a general term and refers
to initiatives or activities that are delivered at a local level that may not actively
involve members of the community as participants but merely as users of services.

Within India, we might say all forms of community practice go together- that is
provision of basic services, campaigning for the rights of people and fostering
community based approaches for self-development and increasing their stake
in the developmental processes. There is an increasing use of professional
approaches, techniques and strategies to build the capacities of communities to
undertake community development programmes which aim to bring in self-
reliance, freedom and dignity.
Concepts of Community and
Community Development 5.3 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Community development programmes base themselves on the involvement of
people in formulating and executing programmes. It also means the development
and use of large number of local institutions and voluntary groups local and
voluntary groups, use of group work techniques and the development of local
leadership, development of administration which is development oriented rather
than bureaucratic in approach.
Local self-help village groups are promoted and actively involved in the
development of the village, Mohalla, hamlet, in mobilizing natural and human
resources for making improvements in various aspects of life with the active
involvement of government and non-government agencies.
Thus community development programmes aim at achieving certain goals such
as collectively working to bring about social change and justice, by working
with communities to:
identify their needs, opportunities, rights and responsibilities:
plan, organise and take action;
evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the action
and to do all these in ways which challenge oppression and tackle
inequalities.
Accountability in Community Development Programmes
In all community development programmes the key lies in the implementation
of the programmes for reaching the goals in such a way that the accountability
issues are taken care of. Any community development programme has to have
inbuilt components of monitoring and evaluation and transparent accountability
procedures. The concept of accountability needs to be understood before we
proceed any further.
Concept of Accountability
The concept of accountability includes two elements: ‘answerability’ of those
who hold power to citizens and ‘enforceability’ of penalties in the event of
failure to do so (Goetz and Jenkins 2001)
Accountability is seen as political and managerial accountability the former
referring to accountability of decisions(social) the latter referring to
accountability in carrying out tasks of according to agreed performance criteria
(input, output, financial etc) In another case, some authors speak of political
accountability, community accountability and bureaucratic accountability.
Questions such as accountability of who to whom, when and on what issues,
purposes of accountability and how it is to be operationalized are key to put in
place a proper accountability mechanism.
Accountability mechanisms could include citizen participation in public policy
making, participatory budgeting, public expenditure tracking, citizen monitoring
of public service delivery, citizen advisory boards, and lobbying and advocacy
campaigns.
Accountability requires that one group or individual provides a professional or Community Development
Programmes and Accountability
financial account (or justification) of it activities to another stakeholding group
or individual. It presupposes that an organisation or institution has a clear policy
on who is accountable to whom and for what. It involves the expectation that
the group held accountable, will be willing to accept advice or criticism and to
modify its practices in the light of that advice and criticism.
Characteristics and Principles of Accountability
Accountability is personal: authority can only be delegated to one person.
Accountability is vertical: from top to bottom, responsibilities and authority
is delegated from supervisor to subordinate (supervisor holds subordinate
accountable).
Accountability is neutral: It is neither a positive nor a negative concept.
Excellent results are recognized, but failure may involve sanctions,
including the withdrawal or modifications of working systems.
The Four Principles of Accountability
a) Specify responsibility and authority
b) Provide guidance and support
c) Objective comparison of results against targets and standard
d) Take appropriate action
Check Your Progress
Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) What do you understand by the term community development?
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2) What is your understanding of accountability?
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5.4 HISTORY OF COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES
Community development efforts have a long history dating back to pre-
independence times. There were programmes like the Sevagram and Sarvodaya
rural development experiments of Bombay State, Firca Development Schemes
of Madras State, Pilot projects of Etawah and Gorakhpur. These efforts were
because of a desire for new techniques, new incentives and confidence to
undertake development work. Some of these programmes involved rural
reconstruction experiments that had the thinking and backing of nationalist thinkers
and social reformers.
Concepts of Community and
Community Development 5.5 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMMES IN RURAL, TRIBAL AND
URBAN AREAS
There are a number of community development programmes launched by the
government as well as voluntary organizations. Basic to all these programmes
is people’s participation and development. We now look at some of such
programmes in rural, urban and tribal areas. These are only indicative and
attempt to give an insight into the design and functional aspects.
Rural Community Development Programmes
Community Development Programme drew its inspiration and strategy from
erstwhile projects of rural development in the 1920s and just before Indian
Independence, as well as the international influences on community development
project that developed both in the Great Britain and in America.
The first major rural development programme launched after independence in
October 1952 in 55 development blocks was with the following main objectives.
a) To secure total development of the material and the human resources in
rural areas.
b) To develop local leadership and self-governing institutions.
c) To raise the living standards of the rural people by means of rapid increase
in food and agricultural produce.
d) To ensure a change in the mind-set of people instilling in them a mission of
higher standards.
These objectives were to be realized through a rapid increase in food and
agricultural production by strengthening programmes of resource development,
such as minor irrigation and soil conservation, by improving the effectiveness
of farm inputs supply systems, and by providing agricultural extension services
to farmers. It had a wide range of programmes for developing agriculture animal
husbandry, rural industries, education, health, housing, training, supplementary
employment, social welfare and rural communication.
A project area was divided into three development blocks, each comprising
about 100 villages and a population of about 65,000 people. In areas where a
full project was not considered feasible one or two development blocks were
started to begin with. Subsequently CDP became a national programme that
covered all the rural areas of the country.
Organization
The organizational structure was specifically created to undertake community
development projects. The organizational structure was located at the central,
state, district and block levels.
In September 1956, a new ministry of community development was created.
Then the ministry of Agriculture and Rural development was in overall charge
of the programme of the country. Currently the entire centrally sponsored
programmes are part of the Ministry of Rural Development. From a centrally
sponsored programme it became a state-sponsored one in 1969.
Evaluation Community Development
Programmes and Accountability
The community development programme was evaluated by a committee headed
by Balwantray Mehta which gave its recommendation for a three-tier system of
local governments that are popularly known as Panchayati Raj. At the grassroots
or village level were to be formed at the village Panchayats at the middle or
block level were to be Panchayat Samitis and at the apex or district level Zilla
Parishads were to be formed. It recommended administrative decentralization
with control vested in elected bodies.
The three- tier structure of Panchayat Raj institutions was brought into existence
in January 1958. These objectives were later incorporated in the 73rd amendment
of the constitution of India ensuring democratic decentralization through
Panchayati Raj system.
Criticisms of CDP
It has not been a people’s programme
It has followed a blueprint approach to rural development
It has employed a large army of untrained extension workers who lacked
coordination
There was lack of functional responsibility at the block level that led to a
good deal of confusion and interdepartmental jealousy
From a community development approach there was a shift towards specific
programmes that focused on which agricultural development strategies (in the
new agricultural strategy) - focusing on specific areas. This changed the nature
of community involvement in the programme. A target approach was adopted –
the identification, training and development of these became the responsibility
of development officials and the research scientists with emphasis on scientific,
technical and managerial aspects in the intensive agricultural development
strategy.
Other Programmes and the Community Component

A change in these programmes came about with the advent of the Integrated
Rural Development Programme that had conceived of rural development as
that of targeting specific groups with a focus on asset creation or wage
employment. Later on in the Integrated Rural development programme launched
in the sixth plan, the asset creation has taken a cluster-oriented approach that
emphasized on the creation of groups for participation and management. Group
approaches became the focus in all programmes of rural development dealing
with the forestry (joint forest management) watershed, National Rural Health
Mission or Elementary Education other poverty alleviation programmes as well
as the mid-day meal scheme (mother’s committees to be formed). Participatory
management was emphasized with a mandatory requirement of neighbourhood
groups in the above programmes. The DWCRA (Development of Women and
Children in Rural Areas) has been instrumental in popularizing the self-help
group concept and its has now become a widespread phenomenon for community
action and development, in both government initiated and voluntary agency
initiated programmes. In certain states the nature and extent of community
participation has been significant in bringing about the needed change.
Community ownership of programmes has become the official refrain with
Concepts of Community and emphasis given to the Panchayats as vehicles for implementation of the
Community Development
government programme. Though in many cases the Panchayats really do not
have enough funds at their disposal, or allocations reach them late in the financial
year. Here there is always a danger that local caste and class biases may seep
in and maintain the status quo.

The later government programmes of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar

Yojana(SGSY), in which the focus was on establishing a large number of micro-
enterprises in rural areas. This was based on the ability of the poor and potential
of each area, both land-based and otherwise, for sustainable income generation.
This programme used the concept of groups that could be utilized for building
community led initiatives.

The Self-help groups (SHGs) formed under SGSY may consist of 10-20 members
and in case of minor irrigation, and in case of disabled persons and difficult
areas, i.e., hilly, desert and sparsely populated areas, this number may be a
minimum of five. Self Help Groups should also be drawn from the BPL list
approved by the Gram Sabha. The SHGs broadly go through three stages of
evolution such as group formation, capital formation through the revolving fund
and skill development and taking up of economic activity for income generation.

Despite the Group approach there are limitations with respect to making these
programmes a truly community driven development programmes. There are
various other programmes for village and small-scale enterprises, including
some special schemes for scheduled castes and tribes for promotion of self-
employment in rural areas which relies mainly on formation of self-help groups
to empower rural communities and enable them to take up economic activities.

Wage employment programmes like the Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojana,

Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act has enabled 100 days of employment, do not have
the provision of community building by themselves or the formation of groups.
However because of NGO or activist involvement these programmes are also
taking the shape of movements for community action and development –
demanding their rightful share in the employment schemes promoted by the
government.

Other recent programmes of community development include:

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyatikaran

Yojana, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna, Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, National Rural Livelhood Mission, Antyodaya Anna
Yojana, National Food Security Mission.

Deen Dayal Upadhaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, Janani Suraksha
Yojana, Members of Parliament local Area Development Scheme, National
Literacy mission and Midday Meal Scheme are the other notable community
development programmes being implemented.
 Community Development
Check Your Progress 1 Programmes and Accountability
Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Discuss the basic assumptions of community development programmes
in India.
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2) Critically analyze the Community development Programmes in India.
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Tribal Community Development Programmes

The tribal communities received some help through Special Multipurpose Tribal
Development Projects (MTDPs) created towards the end of 1954. These MTDPs
could not serve the interests of the tribal people since the number of schemes
were numerous. Later the Community Development Blocks where the
concentration of tribal population was 66% and above were converted into
Tribal Development Blocks (TDBs). Due to failure of this to address tribal
communities needs, Tribal Sub-Plan Strategy (TSP) was evolved for rapid
socio-economic development of tribal people, and is continuing even now with
the following objectives:
1. Over all socio-economic development of tribals and to raise them above
poverty level.
2. Protection of tribals from various forms of exploitation.

The Scheme/programme and projects under TSP are implemented through

Integrated Tribals Development Projects (ITDPs) which were set up in Block(s)
or groups of Blocks where ST population is more than 50% of the total
population.

The Government of India formed a Ministry of Tribal Affairs in October 1999

to accelerate tribal development. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs came out with
a draft National Policy on Tribals in 2004. The draft policy recognizes that a
majority of Scheduled Tribes continues to live below the poverty line, have
poor literacy rates, suffer from malnutrition and disease and is vulnerable to
displacement. It also acknowledges that Scheduled Tribes in general are
repositories of indigenous knowledge and wisdom in certain aspects. The
National Policy aims at addressing each of these problems in a concrete way.

There are many tribal community development initiatives from the NGO sector
that worked closely on the issues of tribal communities, specially their capacity
building and sustainable development.
Concepts of Community and Many of the initiatives concerned with tribal development have adopted
Community Development
participatory approaches made to ensure the successful completion of the project
goals. There are many tribal community development initiatives from the NGO
sector that worked closely on the issues of tribal communities, specially their
capacity building and sustainable development.
During the last 10 to 15 years, with increasing recognition of the importance of
people’s participation for increasing the effectiveness of development
interventions, an extensive array of ‘people’s’ institutions have been created in
the villages for the implementation of sectoral programmes. These include joint
forest management (JFM) committees being set up by the Forest Department,
education committees by the Education Department, watershed associations
and committees by the DRDA, water and health committees by the Public Health
Department, water users association by the Irrigation Department, and Mahila
Mandals (women’s associations) by the Women and Child Department.
One of the most successful one is the Andhra Pradesh Tribal Development
Project.
The APTDP established a variety of local-level institutions, including SHGs,
cluster-level associations of SHGs, user groups/village development committees
(such as for education, health, irrigation, soil conservation and grain banks)
and a nodal institution in the form of VTDAs. The latter were conceived on the
one hand as the forum for the expression of community priorities and concerns
and on the other hand as a means of delivering projects and programmes to the
communities. The leaders and members of VTDAs were chosen by the
communities as their representatives, and generally this selection required the
approval of the traditional councils of elders, so that the relationship between
the new and the old did exist, albeit on an informal basis.
In addition, one novel concept introduced was the formation of community
coordination teams consisting of groups of dedicated young professionals who
lived in tribal villages to assist in social mobilization, awareness-building and
the identification of needs and priorities around which development interventions
could be built.
Overall, the project has created space during implementation for a multi-
stakeholder approach with a specific focus on tribal people. The project saw
tribal people as partners in the improvement of their own natural resource base
and means of livelihood with programme management that is initiated, executed
and monitored by the community. The creation of thrift and credit groups has
increased their habit of savings. The programmes focused on various aspects
like, education, health, income generation activities , agricultural development,
self-help groups etc.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: Use the space provided for your answer.
1) Discuss how the issues of tribal communities could be addressed through
community development programmes.
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Urban Community Development Programmes Community Development
Programmes and Accountability
Urban community development programmes can also be promoted by government
or by voluntary organizations or member organizations. Such community
initiatives have been reported in the work of urban sanitation, urban housing
and urban health. All of this requires an external element of support or initiative
coming from a few individuals or groups. Case studies presented below are
only indicative to the extent to which community groups can actively work
towards claiming citizenship and their fundamental right for a decent living.
Organizations world wide like the Slum and Shack dwellers International and
their partners in various countries have made a world of difference in housing
and sanitation issues. Organizations like the slum Jagathu of Bangalore have
also played an important role in raising community consciousness and invoking
moral responsibility among those who govern including bureaucracy and
legislature.
Some of the successful community development programmes in urban areas are
presented below.
Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
This scheme launched in 1997, has two components of the Urban Self-
Employment Programme (USEP) and the Urban Wage Employment Programme
(UWEP) These were substituted for various programmes operating earlier for
urban poverty alleviation. Like its rural counterpart this scheme also builds on
the group approach at dealing with self-employment issues
Kudumbashree Programme

Kudumbashree is a government programme for poverty alleviation of women

experimented first in an urban setting in Alappuzha, which was later scaled up
to selected Panchayats. In this scheme women representatives of all the
neighbourhoods in a ward are grouped into an area development society(ADS)
chaired by the Panchayat member. The ADS of all the wards in a Panchayat are
federated into a Panchayat level Development committee chaired by the
Panchayat president. In other words, this is a programme for poverty alleviation
that seeks to bring all poor women organized for micro-credit under the
governmental umbrella. It has its basic in the neighbourhood groups approach.

This was launched in Alappuza Municipality in 1993 for poverty eradication

with a difference. The mission was to eradicate poverty through concerted
community action under the leadership of local governments, by facilitating
organization of the poor for combining self-help with demand led convergence
of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and
manifestations of poverty, holistically. The basic unit was the neighbourhood
group federated as Area development societies (ADS) at the ward level and
these were federated to form the community development society(CDS) at the
town level. Various developmental programmes like water supply training for
women to start income generating units managerial training or the elected
members of the ADS and CDS, health and education camps, construction of
dual pit latrines. This community based organizations of Alappuzha Municipality
contributed to the success of the participatory approach for poverty eradication.
The neighbourhood groups of 20-40 women members belonging to risk families
of the neighbourhood concerned elected one woman as their leader and she
Concepts of Community and was designated as RCV( resident community volunteer). Another women was
Community Development
elected as the president of the NHG. Three other women were elected as
community volunteers and those volunteers have specific responsibilities and
tasks, focusing on community health, infrastructure and income generation
activities. The committee of the NHG comprised of these five elected women.
NHGs generate the micro plans which are incorporated in an ADS under mini
plan, which was consolidated into a town plan by the CDS which is registered
society under the Travencore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable
societies Act of 1955.
The Kudumbahshree project because of its in-built participatory character has
achieved tremendous success. This has resulted in the government of Kerala
extending the CDS system to all the 57 towns in Kerala through a government
order giving legitimacy to the entire project helping the poor women.
The case study of SPARC and its work with cooperatives of women pavement
and slum dwellers (Mahila Milan) and the National Slum Dwellers Federation,
shows a great range of activities involving hundreds of thousands of urban poor
which have received little foreign funding.
The NGO SPARC, was earlier working with pavement dwellers in Mumbai by
providing them with a space to meet and discuss their problems. This led to the
formation of women’s groups for savings and credit and the establishment of
Mahila Milan, a women pavement dweller’s organization. Mahila Milan took
up the challenge of making themselves visible, developing ways to deal with
such common crises like eviction, police harassment, and obtaining water and
ration cards. Various groups’ experiences were collectively and continuously
analyzed to develop the organization’s strength and bargaining power with the
authorities. Then an alliance was stuck between National Slum Dwellers
Federation (NSFD), a loose coalition of local federations active in many cities
and Mahila Milan. The Alliance began to develop an educational and
organizational strategy for community learning, with pilot projects. The learning
was expanded through continuous exchanges between low-income settlements;
this has been at the centre of its work ever since.
The alliance began to explore the building of secure houses (in terms of tenure).
This it did through a series of activities that involved upgrading member’s
knowledge and confidence in building and undertaking such tasks. “Shack-
counting”, through community-initiated and managed surveys and maps, helped
communities to identify their problems and develop their priorities. This also
produced a visual representation of their situation, which helped the development
of physical improvements and helped in the negotiations with external agencies.
Community members learnt how to develop their own homes - how to get land,
to build, to keep costs down, to manage professionals, to develop new materials,
to install infrastructure and to negotiate with government agencies. They
developed designs through collective house-modeling, which usually included
developing full-scale models which are discussed through community exchanges.
This has resulted in the construction of over 3,500 houses built with permanent
collective tenure, and 5,000 borrowers.
Other programmes of urban community development include: Rajiv Awas Yojana
for urban housing; Atal mission for Rejuvination and Urban Transformation,
Smart Cities mission, HRIDAY.
 Community Development
Check Your Progress 3 Programmes and Accountability

Note: Use the space provided for your answer.

1) Discuss some of the urban community initiatives in your own area.
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2) List some measures to promote accountability in community development
programme.
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5.6 LET US SUM UP

We have discussed the concept of community development as a process
facilitated by external agencies, with people and their development as a central
focus. In community development the social worker is concerned with issues of
social justice, equity, self-reliance and participation. The leadership of
community is encouraged.
We have explored the concept of accountability to mean answerability to the
people, the donor agencies, government bodies and NGO partners. There is a
need for proper accountability systems so that responsibility is clearly mentioned
and people held accountable to their work. Community participation is a key to
accountability.
We have explored the various community development programmes within the
rural, tribal and urban areas in some detail. There are initiatives that are both
people led and government and NGO inspired. There is a need for convergence
of all these programmes especially those for poverty alleviation that are truly
participatory and community monitored and implemented. We can learn from
the success of the initiatives and transfer these to various other programmes.

5.7 FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES

1. Butcher H., Glen A; Henderson P; and Smith J: (1993) Community and
Public Policy, London, Pluto Press
2. Jim Ife (1995 )Community Development Wesley Longman Sydney
3. Mizrahi Terry and Davis Larry E (2008) Encyclopedia of Social Work Vol
I NASW Press & Oxford University Press New York.
Concepts of Community and 4. Marie Weil (2004) The Handbook of Community Practice Sage
Community Development
Publications London.
5. Uphoff Normon and Krishna Anirudh & Esman J. (eds).(1998) Reasons
for Hope: Instructive Experiences in Rural Development Sage
Publications New Delhi,
6. Singh Kartar (1999) Rural Development in India Sage Publications
7. A.R. Desai (2005) Rural India in Transition, 2nd ed Popular Prakashan
Mumbai
8. History and concept of Kudumbashree programme www.kudumbashree.org
accessed on 26th October 2008.