ABSTRACT
Development is a set of conscious efforts directed toward economic, social and political change that takes place in a community or a society as it evolves from a traditional state. The transformation to modern status includes social and political consciousness, division of labour, literacy, urbanization, industrialization and a broad general participation in the overall development activities at national, regional, local and village level. Rural development has often been defined as having as its main objective the overall balanced and proportionate well-being of rural people. Against the backdrop of the preceding definitions of rural people, rural areas and rural development, the approaches and experiences of Comilla Academy (BARD) can be appreciated in the context of the original mandate of BARD and the philosophy of its pioneers, especially that of the first Director, Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan. The Comilla experiment had established a number of learning experiences, which have been instrumental in shaping the rural development process of Bangladesh.
