The National Extension Service, which extended rural development work across India, was launched in:

The National Extension Service (NES) was launched on 2 October 1953, one year after the Community Development Programme, to extend rural development work to more areas of the country.

Why it was launched:

• The Community Development Programme had started in a limited number of blocks.
• The government wanted to cover the whole country with a network of development blocks more quickly.
• The NES was a less intensive form of the same programme, with smaller budgets per block.

How it worked:

• Blocks were first brought under the NES, and later some of them were converted into more intensive community development blocks.
• Each block had a Block Development Officer and extension officers for agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperation, panchayats, education and health.
• Village Level Workers (Gram Sevaks) worked at the village level, each covering about ten villages.

Aims of the NES:

• To spread improved methods of farming, such as better seeds, fertilisers and irrigation.
• To promote cooperatives, cottage industries and rural credit.
• To improve rural health, sanitation and education.
• To encourage people's participation in development.

Meaning of "extension":

In this context, extension means taking the results of research and new knowledge from government institutions to the farmers and villagers.

Results:

• By the early 1960s, almost the entire country was covered by development blocks.
• The block became the basic unit of rural planning and administration.

Weaknesses:

Like the Community Development Programme, the NES was criticised for being bureaucratic and for limited involvement of the people.

Evaluation of the programmes:

A review of these programmes in the late 1950s recommended democratic decentralisation through elected local bodies, which led to Panchayati Raj.

Legacy:

The block-level administrative structure set up under these programmes still exists and supports Panchayati Raj institutions today.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1950, 1956 and 1959 do not match the launch year of the NES.