According to Shankar Pathak “Social development includes programs for universal literacy or primary education, comprehensive preventive health, measure and control of contagious diseases, housing, family planning and preservation of ecological balance. Moreover, social development philosophy assumes that a substantial investment is required for social services for which economic development is essential.” Thus, social development is a comprehensive concept which implies major structural changes political, economic, cultural and its goal is to create a new society in place of the present where living condition of the people are improved so that they do not suffer from hunger and they are not denied the basic necessities of life. Some other definitions of social development is described below:

M.S. Gore -“The concept of social development is inclusive of economic development but differ from it in the sense that it emphasis the development of totality of society in its economic, political, social and cultural aspects. In this sense social development planning is not concerned with planning exclusively for social services, any more than it is with the exclusive planning of economic growth. There are many areas, apart from social or welfare services, wherein the “social” perspective has relevance. Prominent among these are areas relating to population policy, policy relating to urbanization, industrial location and environmental pollution, policies relating to regional development, policies of income growth, income distribution and land reform, policies governing administration and peoples’ participation in planning and the implementation of plans”.

M.S. Rao-“Social development consists largely of efforts to improve the social situation in regard to social development, housing, health and nutrition, education and training, employment and working conditions, social security, social stability and social welfare”. P.N.Sharma and C.Shashtri-“Social development has been defined as a micro strategy of planned interventions to improve the capacity of existing social system to cope with demands of change and growth.”

ASSWI (Association of School of Social Work in India)-“Social development is a process of systematic change (values, attitudes, institutions and practices) purposefully initiated through the instruments of social policy and planning for enhancement of the levels of living and quality of life of the mass of people especially the weaker sections in an eco friendly, socially just and participator environment”.