The Community Development Block and India's development discourse

The purpose of this chapter is to trace the appearance and disappearance of the Community Development Block in the development discourse of India. We shall try to show that the Community Development Block, (or more colloquially “Block”) was an important element in the development discourse and policymaking of independent India but over time its discursive significance got reduced although it continued to remain significant for the practical purpose of implementation of development programmes. The chapter concludes by examining why the Block disappeared from the development discourse of India after a certain point in time.