Social Work Education and Its Two Mentors

T.K.Nair*

Professor K.V.Ramana (1935) and Professor H.M.Marulasiddaiah(1931)
are two of India's distinguished, contemporary social work teachers. Both of them have contributed immensely in diverse spheres to enrich social work education and the well-being of the communities around them. Both have moulded many young men and women, who, today, are committed and competent social work professionals, researchers and academics across many countries.

Prof. H.M. Marulasiddaiah

Prof. H.M. Marulasiddaiah(HMM) completed MA (Sociology) from Mysore University and MA (Social Work) from the Delhi School of Social Work. He was awarded PhD in Social Work by the Kashi Vidyapeeth in 1978. His teaching career started as Lecturer in social work at the PSG School of Social Work in Coimbatore. It was in 1958. In the year 1962, HMM joined as Lecturer in Social Work of the newly created social work wing of the department of Social Anthropology at Karnataka University. Professor Ishwaran, the head of the department, contrary to his name, was an autocrat. His authoritarianism stifled the development of the social work unit of the department as well as the growth of HMM academically.

HMM became the head of the bifurcated department of Social Work in 1978. Soon he shifted to the Bangalore University to be the Reader and head of the newly formed department of Social Work, which, in a way, was the University incarnation of the National Institute of Social Sciences which was the epicenter of a long struggle by the teachers, students, parents, and citizens led by the soft-spoken Dr. K.V. Sridharan, Director of NISS (who sadly is not in our midst now) for academic autonomy. He became Professor in 1979 and continued in that position till his retirement from the University in 1992. Prof. HMM has a long professional relationship with two Swedish Universities. From 1986 to 1997, he supervised the field studies of students of these Universities in India. During 1982 to 1983 he became President of the Association of Schools of Social Work in India. In 2003, HMM accepted the position of Director of the JSS Department of Social Work at Mysore.

Prof. HMM is a prolific writer both in Kannada and in English. His study of the elderly in a village is perhaps the first study of older people in rural India. Besides the book Old People of Makunti, his important English books are Contours of Social Welfare; Sectarian and Secular Base of Welfare and Development; Community, Area and Regional Development in India; and Dimensions of Bhakthi Movement in India.

Prof. HMM has written around forty books in Kannada and published numerous articles. He popularized social work, sociology and social development in Kannada through his writings. Samaja Karya (Introduction to Social Work), Manava Samaja Hagu Samaja Shastra (Essays in Sociology and Social Work), and Samudaya Sanghatane (Community Organization) are three outstanding books in Kannada; many revised editions and reprints of these books have been brought out. Among his many literary works, Kedarida Kenda (novel) has three editions. Visha Bindu and Pravasa are two popular collections of poems penned by HMM. His latest contribution, despite his ill-health, is the Social Work: Kannada-English Dictionary.

Besides his versatile writing, HMM has been active in different social development activities in Karnataka. He founded the Centre for Psycho-Social Development at Bangalore in 1981 and Swasthi, a development organization in 1987. HMM is the recipient of many awards .For some years, his mobility has been restricted due to a painful ailment. But his mental agility remains vibrant, and his natural courtesy to people continues undiminished.

Prof.K.V.Ramana

Professor K.V. Ramana joined as a student of Andhra University in 1954 and went on to become its Vice-Chancellor in 1988. After completing his MA degree in social work in 1959, he joined the doctoral programme in sociology at the University of Illnois at Urbana-Champaign in 1966 after discontinuing the UGC Fellowship. He was awarded the PhD degree in 1970. Prof. Ramana started his teaching career in 1961 when he was appointed Lecturer in social work. Earlier, he was Research Officer of the government of India - funded evaluation study of the rural development project undertaken by the Andhra University. Promoted Reader in 1969, he became Professor in 1974. He took charge as Head of the bifurcated Department of Social Work in 1975

Prof. Ramana was commissioned Second Lieutenant of the NCC wing of the Indian Army in 1964. He was also entrusted with the onerous task of organizing the National Service Scheme (NSS) at the college and University levels. In addition, he was to organize orientation training of University and college lecturers as Programme Officers in the NSS in the entire state of Andhra Pradesh. Later on Prof. Ramana also served as NSS Special Adviser and Honorary Director of the NSS Training and Orientation Centre of Andhra University. The Andhra Pradesh Telugu Academy published many BA level text books and monographs in social work edited by Prof. Ramana. He has also published articles in professional journals on varied subjects. Prof. Ramana was President of the Association of Schools of Social Work in India for four consecutive years from 1978.

Prof. Ramana's contribution to social causes has been remarkable. An ardent admirer of the Rotary movement, he became President of the Rotary Club of Visakhapatnam in 1979. He also became Chairman of the Rotary Committee to implement the child sponsorship programme of the Save the Children Fund (UK) in 1980. Prof. Ramana promoted and strengthened the voluntary sector, and associated himself with a number of local, regional, national, and international NGOs.

In 1977, when DiviSeema in Krishna district and Visakhapatnam district were severely ravaged by cyclone and floods, Prof. Ramana formed a Citizens' Committee for Cyclone and Food Relief. He himself was chosen the Convener of the committee. Besides timely relief work, three rehabilitation colonies were constructed by the committee and the houses were handed over to the deserving families.

Establishment of the ShramikVidyapeeth (Jan Shikshan Sansthan) at Visakhapatnam with Prof. Ramana as Chairman has been a good initiative. Through the Vidyapeeth, the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India provides grant to NGOs for implementing the scheme of polyvalent education for the benefit of unskilled and semi-skilled workers. In addition, unemployed poor youth are trained in various skills such as refrigeration, air-conditioning, plumbing, electric wiring, embroidery, etc. on payment of minimum tuition fees.

Prof. Ramana was instrumental in forming the well-known Visakha Consumer
Council (VCC) 1972. He roped in lawyers, doctors, bureaucrats, academics, industrial workers, student leaders, social activists, and others in the Council, which has been playing a crucial role in educating and organizing the consumers. One of the earliest consumer organizations in India, the VCC still has the benefit of Prof. Ramana's guidance as its Honorary Chairman.

Leprosy prevention and treatment, and rehabilitation of the leprosy afflicted have been promoted by Prof. Ramana as the north coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam have been highly endemic with leprosy. But the vast majority of the leprosy affected persons lacked access to scientific treatment. The cured and the burnt-out preferred begging for livelihood as there was no rehabilitation programme. Because of Prof. Ramana's keen interest, the German Leprosy Relief Association (GLRA) stepped in and supported a comprehensive scheme for the survey, education, treatment and rehabilitation in the leprosy affected districts. The Greater Visakha Leprosy Treatment and Health Scheme was registered as a voluntary organization, and Prof. Ramana served the body as its Chairman for over two decades. A strong rehabilitation component consisting of vocational training, self-employment, housing, education of children of the leprosy patients, etc was built into the organization's programme. In a period of 25 years, the incidence of leprosy has drastically come down in these districts .The Pragathi Trust under Prof. Ramana's leadership has been carrying on the task initiated by the GLRA. One seldom comes across a leprosy-affected beggar in the city of Visakhapatnam these days

Prof. Ramana is now the Chairman of the People for India Forum, Visakhapatnam. In that capacity he and the Forum have launched several struggles to save the Rhythu Bazars from closure, to prevent the Old Jail site from being put to commercial use, to ensure closure of stone crushers in residential areas, to protect the Dr. V.S.Krishna College site from land grabbers etc. The Forum has organized campaigns against air pollution from Visakha Port Trust's iron ore conveyor belt ,impoverishment of farmers on account of Special Economic Zones, petro chemical corridor, etc., corruption in public institutions, child labour, human rights violations, domestic violence against women, bonded labour, black marketing ,defective public distribution scheme, and many other social issues. Prof. Ramana's age progresses; so also the number of social causes in which he is engaged in.

My Tribute

My association with Prof. Marulasiddaiah dates back to more than fifty years. In a way, he was my first social work employer when I joined the Karnataka University at Dharwad in March 1964 as Research Officer of the sponsored research programme in the Department of Social Anthroplogy and Social Work. Anthropologist Dr. L.K. Mohapatra and HMM were the Honorary Directors. Soon Dr. Mohapatra shifted his base to Bhubaneswar. From our first meeting till I left Dharwad after three and a half years, Prof. Marulasiddaiah was friendly and helpful. He gave me total autonomy to complete the project. With Dr. Mohapatra at Bhubaneswar, the project work was done through snail mail as email was unheard of at that time. Drafting and revising chapters took a long time because of the postal delays. The final outcome was the book Contours of Social Welfare co-authored by Prof. L.K .Mohapatra, Prof. HMM, and T.K.Nair. I grew very much academically with the silent, unobtrusive mentoring by Prof. Marulasiddaiah.

At Dharwad, my first contacts were with Dr. Mohapatra and his housemate BRK Raju. BRK, a contemporary of Prof. Ramana at Andhra University, was doing his doctoral research under the guidance of Dr.Ishwaran, HOD, while at the same time sharing the quarters of Dr. Mohapatra, Reader (as his wife was at Bhubaneswar). Both Ishwaran and Lakshman Mohapatra avoided each other, but Raju maintained a skillful equidistance from both on academic matters. It is said that Raju could make Ishwaran to laugh :a rare event. Raju and I became good friends. When the news of the demise of Pandit Nehru reached, Raju broke down. We both were sitting on the Hostel lawn. Raju adored Nehru and hence could not control his grief. My memories still go back to that touching moment. BRK Raju left Dharwad before I left to join Andhra University Social Work Wing of the combined Department. He became Professor and accepted the offer to be the Special Adviser (NSS) of the Government of India. A great well-wisher, Prof. Raju is now at Visakhapatnam,

Prof. Ramana visited the Madras School of Social Work in 1970 and the Director introduced him to me. It was our first interaction. After some time, we met again at Nirmala Niketan, when it organized a week long workshop on curriculum development at its campus. It was a residential programme, which gave the participants an occasion to know each other well. The participants were of three categories: Videsi social work elites, Swadesi social work elites of Nirmala Niketan, and the rest, social work laity. A jargon-ridden, exclusive workshop. One week's enjoyment for the laity. In December 1977, the ASSWI seminar and elections were held at Visakhapatnam. Prof. R.R. Singh was the Director of the seminar on poverty. During the elections, Prof. Ramana's name was proposed for Presidentship. My name and the name of R.R.Singh were proposed for the position of Secretary. But R.R. Singh withdrew from a contest. It was a graceful action on his part. Thus, I was elected General Secretary. During the next four years our team, under the leadership of Prof. Ramana, did an excellent work. Inclusion of social work teachers in all programmes was the hallmark of our period. Recently, Prof. R.R. Singh, described that period as the "finest period” in a telephone conversation with me in a different context. A solid foundation was laid during 1978-1982 for the future development of ASSWI. But to our dismay, ASSWI started to decline, and now it is not in existence. A very disappointing end.

Prof. Ramana was instrumental in my academic and professional development more than anyone else. His constant pressure to register for PhD and to complete the research work made me accomplish that. I submitted my dissertation to Prof. Ramana for his signature on the last day in office as Vice-Chancellor. My dissertation was adjudged the best among the dissertations submitted during the previous 27 months in humanities and social sciences, and I was awarded the gold medal for that. All the credit for that goes to my guide Prof. Ramana. In contrast, the Honorary Secretary of the Madras School of Social Work, where I worked, issued a show-cause notice to me for registering for PhD, and also wrote to the Registrar of Andhra University not to permit me to proceed with the research work.

Prof. Ramana is a brilliant scholar in sociology and social work. He could have written some outstanding books. But he chose to devote most of his time and energy for the well-being of the people in distress around him, and for academic work of teaching, research guidance, and related activities. Personally, he has been a great well-wisher of me and my family. A long and enduring relationship between me and my mentor.

*Dr. T.K.Nair
Social Work and Development Consultant.

Hand In Hand Heading Toward The Horizon – Personal And Professional Connect

Hand In Hand Heading Toward The Horizon – Personal And Professional Connect

J.M. Sampath

Abstract: 

A vision driven life adds meaning and process for fulfilment in life. Added to this if the two individuals married and working together are social entrepreneurs the challenges and path so formed can be very interesting and more fulfilling. This is an article written to share an experience of living and working together; emerging from social work background and contributing to the world in terms of concepts, processes, tools and techniques. It also outlines the key foundational elements and the learning of over two decades of life which can be left behind for the youngsters who are contemplating the same.

Background

Walking in the path of vision being guided by calling is one of the most fulfilling dimensions of life.  A life without vision is devoid of meaning.  When we are able to identify a vision and dedicate our life to it, life becomes a continuous process of learning, integrating and evolving. Added to it, when the vision is grounded in well-being of the larger world, everything in the consciousness converges itself to connect, correlate, create and converge thereby fulfilling the purpose of life in the best possible way. As a social entrepreneur looking deeply into self and connecting to life moment to moment last 28 years has been an exciting, value adding and evolving journey. When this journey is done along with a fellow social worker who is willing to walk the vision, share life and believe in what I do, the acceleration to the journey can be manifold.

I met Kalpana, in Bangalore University Social work department as a participant of my first workshop for students. We soon realized we connected to the vision and were willing to be married to the vision as a part of being married to each other. Social work education and the exposure to introspection through human process labs were major contributors for both of us to commit to a vision and live the same for over two and half decades of active life.

My life vision has been ‘To understand self and with that understanding leave behind some ways for others to understand themselves’. Joining me in this vision was my better - bitter halfJ, my partner, companion and wife Kalpana, who has walked along in pursuing the vision.  Each of us had our own unique personality and competence that was converged to create and build a research and consulting organization ‘Arpitha Associates’ (www.arpitha.com) with a vision - “To enable and embed evolutionary excellence by focusing on the foundational elements of Vision, Values & Learning and their inter dynamics, at both individual and organizational levels.”  The vision also grew and in the last two years it’s been heading towards "To Make the World a Better Place to Live, Work and Excel".

Meaning of Vision

Identifying a vision and pursuing that is not actually a difficult issue. But trusting it and dedicating a lifetime to it surely seems to the biggest challenge most of us face. The world is not devoid of great thinkers and idea makers. It is certainly needs a lot many who can relentlessly pursue and submit their life to it. That is what actually makes a true entrepreneur. When the entrepreneur is willing to look at society and its evolution, he/she is a social entrepreneur.

For some endowed people, their life vision unfolds in a dramatic way as an occurrence and they pick it up. For many of us normal events in life occur and we need to deeply introspect, identify, believe, choose and pursue a vision that makes sense to self and the larger society. In both the cases it is ultimately a matter of choice, hard work and commitment. Once this is done the magic that happens is the same in both cases.

Vision is the direction in which the individual is dreaming to walk. Vision is like the north-star that provides the anchorage in all decision making processes through life. Every vision has several missions to be achieved in a lifetime. Every mission has several goals. Every goal may have several plans and every plan may have several strategies. To journey on the path of vision, every activity of the individual in 24hours of life has to be connected to it. Vision enables quicker, faster choice making therefore decision making ability of the individual.

Each of us is like the sunrays which is valuable by itself.  But when a magnifying glass is used to converge the many rays of sunlight, it creates an additional source of energy, i.e., fire. Vision is like the magnifying glass which can converge the energy, efforts, ideas and focus of the individual towards fulfilling their life purpose. It also enables sustenance and evolution.  

Characteristics of a vision

·         Vision is something personal. No one other than the person can live one’s vision.

·         Vision gives meaning to every action of the individual, like a lighthouse that guides.

·         Vision must be attainable. It is also like the horizon that keeps stretching beyond the limits and boundaries.

·         Vision also gives a lot of scope for defining realms. It gives direction to ones movements in life.

·         Vision is something that would not change often in time. If the movement of the individual is torn into several directions the ultimate achievement in any one direction will be very less.

·         Vision is something that can expand and stretch the capability of a person to use his/her full capacity in their lifetime.

·         Vision is something in fulfilling which the individual finds high energy.

·         Vision has to have a competitive edge. But it must also be able to transcend competition and look at evolution.

·         Vision enables the individual to determine the direction of their movement

·         If the vision has to be sustained it should be larger than self and rooted in fundamental values and larger well-being

Vision is not restricted to individual but every organization needs to have a vision. If an individual is to work within the organization, the individual needs to have clarity on both the vision to align the same for growth and evolution.

The connectedness to work and personal life, when driven by vision that is larger than self, has resulted in development of concepts, processes and assessments that can enable growth of the individuals and move them towards excellence. This directly contributes to the growth and evolution of the society too. 

The dynamic world today is looking forward to 4Cs – Connect, Correlate, Create and Capitalise. Knowledge is not the edge any longer. Knowledge is available easily. But the ability to connect two pieces of knowledge, create the third and integrate into life is a niche that world looks for. That has been a way of life for us last 30 years. This is an ability that has to be nurtured and when the vision path is clear, the 4Cs lead to being on the edge tickling the creative bone continuously.

Challenges on the path of vision

Living together, sharing profession and personal life, driven by purpose and values have had its own challenges. The world usually experiences the outcome but the processes that go to create the outcome are not usually paid attention to. Like how everything in the world is designed based on paradox and opposites, we are also two individuals who are powerful in our own ways, personality, life orientation and anchorages. While I am driven by the vision larger than self working through the head, Kalpana is a person driven by faith in God working through heart. While I am a creative, critical thinker, willing to flow; she is a structured doer and an artist with well laid out systems and processes pursuing a clear end point. While I am a person who loves to be by myself, introspect, go deeper and dig to learn; she is a person who loves to be with people, interact, create and give energy, do multiple things and share love to learn. While the opposites can be challenging, seeing that as parts of a whole and learn from that can make life complementary adding acceleration and strength.

Facilitative dimensions in life together

There are certain ways of being that enable convergence of the opposite personalities to become complementary and value adding. The foundational dimensions among them have been -

·         To allow the person, to be who they are and draw the best out of them. 

·         Have a holistic perspective to personal and professional life requirements and allow the core competence of each to do their bit for the whole without interference.

·         Understand and appreciate that what each one brings to the floor is important and both are needed for completion of any task.

·         Be willing to sacrifice, submit and do what needs to be done than what one wants to do in every sphere of life.

·         Keep the vision as larger than self and lend to the vision with absolute humility.

·         Know that the identity comes from ‘being’ than from ‘becoming’ as an end result.

·         Realize that there is a larger purpose to life; everything that happens has a purpose and one is a student of life which is a continuous eternal school. 

These foundational elements have sustained and value added leading to a productive relationship. They have left behind certain key learning. 

·         Clarity of vision and purpose drive connects to each other. Emotions and heart are a supportive factor. When faced with value conflicts and challenges the best anchorage is the vision. It is like a rope that can help in sustaining during the difficult times and give clarity. Caught in the emotions and play of the heart a lot of energy and time are wasted in resolving issues. A marriage to a vision is equally important for two individuals as much is a marriage with each other.

·         In the last 24 years we not only pursued a common vision but also allowed and enabled the individual vision to blossom. While the direction of movement has been converged, the individual branches have emerged drawing out of the core competency of each individual. Right from both of us completing doctorate degree to entrepreneurial ventures spanning from IT to not for profit organization it has resulted in exploration and experiments in varied fields.

·         ‘Vision with action is merely a dream; Action without vision just passes the time; Vision with Action can change the world’ (adapted from Joel Barker – power of vision). Our personality combination allowed for deep thinking and quick action leading to a range of products and processes. We have been able to work in over 8 countries with over 2500 workshops and develop assessment portals with contemporary and futuristic tools and processes.  

·         The most interesting part has been that though there has been no hierarchy and dignity of labour that have ever been given importance. The lead has been taken based on respective competencies and spaces. This has led to a deep respect for the knowledge and vision than being caught in proving each other right or wrong. Therefore the point of view gets the merit rather than who is saying it. We have been pitching in for each other’s weaknesses than blaming each other at work and life situations.

·         When holistic perspective and vision is larger than self, individual freedom to think, explore, integrate and change is large. It is not about who is playing the lead role. Life is then a ballet where depending on the context one plays the lead and the other is willing to play the second support fiddle where necessary. Each is observing and lending what they can do most happily than trying to be the other and take over.  

·         Life is never a simple straight road. It’s replete with peaks and valleys. Managing demands of home, children, elders, finance and organization can easily suck the individual into a mundane existential reality. Awareness of this and giving freedom to each other to explore life in-spite of personal challenges evolves the person into a finer and matured individual. Monotony never hits even after two decades of living with the vision. This sustains the energy and zeal for contributing and giving back to life creating health and wealth.

·         While togetherness is important, taking individual ownership with responsibility and accountability for life and organization made both of us individually contributive and strong. We are independently inter-dependent. This has brought a generative leadership to the organization and has sustained the organization and its growth last 24years.

·         Walking on the path of vision needs high ability to take risks. Since the purpose of marriage is the marriage to the vision, each of us are willing to push boundaries and live on edge. Whether it is working with shadows or taking up high risk entrepreneurial ventures togetherness has given a sense of fearlessness that has been a major contributive factor. Creation of tools and techniques has been path breaking in the behavioral science field with many patents and copyrights. There have been serious constraints and challenges but that has never deterred us from exploring life. This has led us to a life that is continually learning and evolving.

·         The vision larger than self and walking on this path together has brought many others who have connected, converged and supported by joining the team.

·         A life driven by vision and purpose has enabled to continually invest in products, processes, spaces which are directly contributing to the future development of the society and its well-being. Some such key initiatives have been in the field of education (www.efil.co.in ); in Ayurveda (www.vaidyagrama.com ); collaborative projects with Karnataka government in infrastructure, health and education sectors.

Impact of vision and life ahead

‘It is important to know what I am capable of,

It is even more important to know what I am using my capabilities for’ (Sampath 2003).

A vision driven life lends to using one’s capabilities resourcefully. Life is an opportunity and a gift to make a difference to oneself and the society. But to make it wonderful and journey on path of excellence is a choice each of us has to make. Social work education can give the required perspective and trigger to create a life beyond self. When it can be matched with life partnership that is complementary there is no end to the possibilities and potential that can be explored and contributions that can be left behind. This has resulted in over six books (www.insightpublishers.com) and five patented behavioural assessment instruments (www.discoverself.com); over five successful entrepreneurial organizations; over 32 research papers presented in International conferences and key note addresses; served over 2500 workshops with offices in 3 countries; over 8 collaborative projects in governance sector (GOK); three portals and a lot more yet to come in future. The path that we walk also becomes a path that beckons others. Today, joining us there is an Arpitha vision community, a great team that believes in the philosophy and methodology. From formulation, creation, and development, now the concepts are moving into dissemination around the world. Our relationship has also left behind two young individuals, a daughter and a son who are carving their own path following their vision that connects them deeply to the society. Every year over 2500 students go through our life education program and work on creating social action projects where they learn to make a difference to others and therefore to themselves. The impact of life vision is beautifully explained by Debbe Kennedy, as

Dreams give us hope.

Hope ignites passion.

Passion leads us to envision success.

Visions of success open our minds to recognize opportunities.

Recognition of opportunities inspires far- reaching possibilities.

Far-reaching possibilities help us enlist support from others.

Support from others keeps us focused and committed.

Focus and commitment foster action.

Action results in progress.

Progress leads to achievement.

Achievement inspires dreams.

Dreams give us hope.

We wish this sharing would provide a path for several aspiring young social entrepreneurs and social workers who seek a deeper connect to life and profession.

Dr. J.M Sampath, PhD

Managing Director

Arpitha Associates Pvt Ltd

Social Work Profession in India: An Uncertain Future

Book Review

Social Work Profession in India: An Uncertain Future

T.K.Nair

Niruta Publications

Pages: xvi+256

Price: INR 500

K.R. Gangadharan*

Social work in India has three components: clinical social work (in particular, psychiatric social work), developmental social work (or development work), and social action (for social justice and social equity) according to Prof. T.K. Nair. The present book contains ten articles from social work practitioners and social work scholars who critically analyse the different dimensions of social work practice and education.

 “Philosophy of Social Work in Changing India”, by late Professor M.V. Moorthy traces the philosophy of social work in India from ancient times to the modern era. He observes rightly that theory and practice should go hand in hand; but behind theory and practice there should be philosophy to give tone, tenor and temper to the profession.  Prof. Moorthy adds: “Whatever may be the line of development followed by professional social work in the West, we in India cannot ignore the ethical contents and spirit of social work profession”.

Professor Henry D’ Souza’s article “Social Justice in India: Reflections” focuses on redistributive justice because the lack of it reinforces injustice in gender, religion, caste and tribe. He describes in detail poverty, slavery and bonded labour, corruption and bribery in India. He says that social justice struggles in our diverse, complex and largest democracy will need to continue fearlessly and with relentless determination. He is not optimistic of the effectiveness of social work profession in promoting social justice though some social workers educated in the schools of social work may commit themselves to serve the vulnerable and poor by engaging themselves in organizing local communities, and initiating struggles for social and economic justice.

“Evolutionary Excellence in Social Work” by Sampath and Kalpana Sampath underscores the conviction of the authors that individuals and institutions strive towards excellence. To align individual and organizational values, a continuous clarification process is essential which should ideally involve the ability to “connect, correlate and create”.  For any individual or organization, excellence is an ongoing process. When individuals and institutions pursue excellence, they make a difference to themselves and to those around them.

Dr. Shanthi Ranganathan has devoted her whole life for treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics and other substance addicts under the auspices of the TTK Hospital, which she founded, for which she was awarded the Padma Shri and the UN Vienna Civil Society Award. In the article, “Substance Use Disorders and Social Work Interventions”, she explains in detail the measures for prevention of substance use disorders, early identification and enhancing motivation, treatment and followup. Besides individualized therapy, family therapy is arranged to reinforce the rehabilitation process. Professional social work has been given a key role in TTK hospital, a global leader in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) as the founder - director herself is a social worker. But Dr. Shanthi says that schools of social work give low preference to training of social workers with skills needed to work with persons with SUDs.

CAP Foundation, a social enterprise, founded in 1997 by Dr. Nalini Gangadharan, believes that skill development is the key for empowerment of young men and women. Her article “Poverty Alleviation through Skill Building : A Social Work Initiative” presents the CAP model of “Linking Learning and Livelihood”  needs of working children and youth to equitable market-oriented employability opportunities. CAP’s vision is to be an end - to - end community – based solutions provider in quality education to build safer, healthier and productive communities of young people capable of supporting self- directed growth and positive citizenship. Till 2013, CAP Foundation has trained 2, 54,395 young persons in 15 states and it has international presence in 8 locations.CAP Foundation is an illustration of the developmental social work initiative.

Ms.Annie Namala has been actively involved in promoting social equity and protecting Dalit human rights for more than three decades. Annie Namala’s article “Promoting Social Justice, Human Rights and Empowerment” discusses in details the rights violations. Dalit communities continue to face caste - based violence despite the prohibition of untouchability and all forms of caste - based disabilities. On education and social inclusion, the article refers to the poor implementation of the various government provisions and schemes. Ms. Annie points out that social work studies need to constantly engage in a praxis process between theoretical instruction and field action. She wants the schools to engage field practitioners to be part of their faculty for periods of time.

Professor B. Devi Prasad, in his article “Voluntary Sector and Professional Social Work: Trends and Challenges” makes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of both the sectors. The strengths of the voluntary sector are the diversity of areas covered by the sector; the innovative role by experimenting and promoting new areas of development work; and the closeness to people. The weaknesses of the voluntary sector include suspected allegiance of foreign - funded organizations; absence of transparency and credibility of many organizations; and uncertainty of regular funding support. The strengths of professional work according to Devi Prasad are its professional base with a track record of performance globally; sound knowledge base; and accountability to society. The weaknesses include the deteriorating quality of professional social work education; and the ideological deficit. On social work education, Devi Prasad comments that it is “a sea of mediocrity with islands of excellence and visibility”.

Professor R.R. Singh’s article “Education for Professional Social Work in India: Overview” critically looks at the education for professional social work in the context of the changing  perspectives of the profession, proliferation of social work institutions, problems in the maintenance of standards, less availability of senior faculty for professional socialization  of students, and variations in courses and credits. Dr. Singh examines almost all aspects of social work education in India in this article with authority. R.R. Singh observes that the proliferation of such institutions is indeed a threat to the quality of professional social work education and practice. Most of these are self serving institutions which are not preparing competent professionals to serve society.

In the article “Should We Re-think the Nature of Social Work?”,Dr. M.Nadarajah is of the view that social work, as a mode of engagement, is an expression of our compassionate sentiment, born out of our sociability, and it is essentially directed at those in need of help.  Dr. Nadarajah states that social work today is a profession in the economy and job market. It has also been commodified, bringing it within the universe of profit motive. While social work has the features, in relation to addressing human misery, it has also assumed features that are towards profit maximization. In as much as it is in this orientation, there must be a constant supply of human misery.  The general effort of professional social work as an institution will not be directed at social prevention but towards curative activities, much like how the medical industry works. Dr. Nadarajah is of the view that society where people engage at all levels to address human suffering and consider radical structural reforms and prevention would not be in the interest of modern, professionalized social work.

Professor T.K. Nair, in his article “Humanitarianism Professionalized: Dilemmas of Social Work in India”, traces the history of social work profession and social work education. The proliferation of social work courses under different auspices; the dominance of HR (human resources) concentration in the social work curricula; the unwillingness of social work educational institutions to focus on social work without HR; the deteriorating quality of social work education in most institutions; the lack of practice-based research by the practitioners as well as the faculty; the absence of regulatory bodies of social work education and practice; and related issues are discussed by Prof. Nair in his article. He comes to the conclusion that social work is not a profession in India.

My joining the Madras School of Social Work for the postgraduate programme was with the confidence that the Postgraduate Diploma would enable me to get into the Personnel Department of an industry, which I secured on completion of the social work course. After working in industries for some years, I decided to accept an offer from the newly established corporate hospital (Apollo Hospital) at Chennai to head its Human Resource Department. Subsequently I was promoted as General Manager (Operations), which gave me a tremendously valuable experience in building and developing a hospital. I, then, shifted my base to Hyderabad, where I worked as Vice-President of a major hospital. At that time, I decided to start a hospital of my own. During one of my regular interactions with Prof. T. K. Nair at Chennai, he suggested to enter into the field of ageing. Prof. Nair was at that time active in promoting community based services for the elderly. He presented a grand design for me including President ship of the International Federation on Ageing. At that time, I was quite skeptical of the feasibility of his advice but as destiny would have it, I started the Heritage Hospital for the elderly. Incidentally, Prof .Nair was the one who suggested the title Heritage for my initiatives. I was invited to speak at the White House Conference on Ageing in 2005. I became President of the International Federation on Ageing before I turned 60. I travelled to many countries as IFA president. I was one of the members of a panel Open-ended Working Group on Ageing. I am invited as a resource person by UN ESCAP and WHO SEAR in many of their regional meeting of experts on ageing. The government of India invited me to be a member of the committee to redraft the National Policy on Senior Citizens. I was a Member of the National Council of Older Persons during 2006-2011. I was a member of the Andhra Pradesh State Advisory Council to implement the National Policy on Older Persons. Now I am active in health care, social welfare policy, and social work administration. A transformation from HR Management to Human Welfare and Social Work.

The present book edited by Prof. Nair looks at social work profession in India from an incisively critical perspective. Personally, I am happy that the book includes an article from my wife Nalini on the work she has been doing in the area of skill development. Professionally, I rate this volume as an excellent one for the future direction of social work.

*Dr. K.R.Gangadharan, PhD.

Creator, Heritage Hospital for the Elderly

Former President, IFA

Social Work and Social Workers

Editor's Desk

"Social work is what social workers do": this is the general understanding in our country. Doctors are taught to practice medicine and are also required to practice it in accordance with codified rules and ethics .So also are the engineers and the lawyers. This special issue "Social Work and Social Workers" is brought out as a tribute to two senior teachers and mentors, who taught many young aspirants the science and art of social work practice, though the statutory framework for practice is yet to be a reality in India.This issue contains professionally significant articles,autobiographical narratives and biographical sketches.

B.Vijayalakhmi, a distinguished Professor with many years of experience in teaching and practice of social work, says that one of the hallmarks of a profession is the transfer of knowledge and skills under supervisory guidance to its entrants in her beautifully crafted article "Let Us Bring Back 'Field' to Fieldwork: An Overview of the Current Scenario of the Fieldwork in Social Work Education In India". She defines fieldwork in social work education as a process of enabling the student to acquire skills, values and attitudes in the backdrop of knowledge regarding a specific practice setting, with social work perspective. In social work, the fieldwork supervisors are the initiators of the students into the profession. The supervisors "with a through knowledge of and skill in the use of social work methods, critical and up-to-date information on changing socio-political trends, social policy and programmes for the needy emanate confidence and become role models to the students and influence them to inculcate the values of the profession and be critical thinkers. By hands on demonstration, guidance and encouragement, and critical assessment, the supervisors enable the students to imbibe the qualities of a professional and acquire the practice skills". Vijayalakshmi forgets that this is a very tall order in the current scenario as the reality is at great variance from the ideal in most social work educational institutions in the country.

The fieldwork setting can be compared to a hospital where the medical students get training. But, unlike medicine, the field setting in social work is not attached to the college with certain exceptions like a child guidance clinic. And it is also not feasible to do so. The professional social workers in such settings like a welfare institution or a development agency are expected to be the "agency supervisors" of the students. But many organizations do not employ professional social workers and even when professional social workers are employed, they are too overworked to spare time for supervision. In many organizations, the students are made to do odd jobs as a relief to the social workers. In such situations, the faculty supervisors are required to take the additional responsibility to fill the void of the agency counterparts.

Vijayalakshmi discusses a disturbing issue in the states like the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh where the well-intentioned state support of reimbursement of fees is misused by the college managements. In social work courses of most of the private colleges, the students are attracted with the promise that they need not attend to fieldwork and classroom attendance would be manipulated. Thus students from such institutions are awarded degrees in social work without adequate class and field instruction. Similarly, distance education programmes in social work including those of IGNOU cannot do justice to the requirements of professional social work education. Taking into consideration many aspects of the present pattern of social work education, Vijayalakshmi asserts that half-baked products bring down the excellence of professional social work which should not be allowed any longer. A serious warning from a sincere Professor.

P.K. Visvesvaran, who has been teaching social work for four decades, wants the government, the major fund giver for social work education, to undertake an impact assessment study of sixty years of social work education in Tamil nadu. He wants the study to examine three aspects: Is the specialized education producing the expected and desired results? Are the curricula relevant and valid in the present context? Are the trained social workers putting up a reasonably good, if not an exemplary, performance?

Social work professionals J.M. Sampath and Kalpana Sampath are one among the limited number of couples engaged as a team of change agents and motivators in different settings. Between them, they have made immense contribution to society in multiple ways besides bringing up two highly talented and socially oriented children. "Hand in Hand heading towards the Horizon-Personal and Professional Connect” by J.M. Sampath narrates the challenges in their vision-driven life for the benefit of the young couples who are contemplating similar life and work options as a team.

Social work begins at home, learnt in school, and expands in life: says Kalpana Sampath in her article (Kannada) "Innovation in Fulfilment of Social Work Profession”. She adds that education today has compromised the need to develop strong individuals with values and clarity, who feel responsible for society and themselves. The need of the hour is Life Education and not merely life skills, according to Kalpana. Her article is based on an experimental research with children between ten to sixteen years in Bangalore city. The research is built on "Learning-Doing-Integrating” in enabling children to experience deeper reflection process. The highlight is the Social Action Project (SAP) that the children undertake in the tenth grade.

Rishi Ram Singh's readiness to abide by the advice of his brother to join the MAS course at Kashi Vidyapith in 1958 to "kill time" before getting the licence(degree ) for a job in a factory as Labour Officer has become a blessing for social work education in India. His reminiscences, penned despite ill-health and hospitalization, give a good insight into the making of a passionate social work educator. From Udaipur School of Social Work in 1960 to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in 2000, his professional journey has been eventful, which continues even now at the age of 75. Dr. P.T.Thomas, the first professionally qualified Director of the Madras School of Social Work, was also the first social work-Principal of Udaipur School of Social Work and Indore School of Social Work. R.R.Singh worked with the autocratic, bureaucratic Dr.Thomas, who was very much interested in Ornithology and English Literature, for fifteen years at both the schools of social work. In 1975, Singh shifted his academic base to the Delhi School of Social Work. He spent twenty five years at this democratically oriented , dissent-centric DSSW as Reader, Professor and Head (under the rotation system). Dr. Singh describes humorously how the all powerful ET CETERA resolved amicably the contentious project proposal for the UGC’s SAP assistance during his headship tenure. By adding an "etc", DSSW got the grant of One Crore Rupees from the UGC for three consecutive five-year periods under the SAP. He was Director of TISS for a short period of about five years. On his retirement, he was designated by the TISS governing body as Director Emeritus for a special assignment. R.R. Singh gracefully declined to accept the designation and the governing body retained him for one year as Professor Emeritus. Dr. Singh has a long association with IGNOU in the University's initiatives in extending social work education and practice in the North-East.

D. Umapathy's Kannada article describes the inhuman working conditions of salt workers in Gujarat. M. Basavanna's Lucifer Effect narrates the psychological trauma that a good man undergoes when circumstances force him to opt the evil route.

National Council of Professional Social Work in India Bill: Some Observations

Ever since the early years of the emergence of schools of social work in India, serious concerns were expressed by social work professionals and others actively engaged in social welfare in the country. The Indian Conference of Social Work (now, Indian Council of Social Welfare) was the first organization to propose the creation of a statutory body to regulate social work education in India in the late 1950s. Since then the Ministry of Social Welfare/Ministry of Welfare, two UGC review committees on social work education, and organizations like the Association of Schools of Social Work in India were demanding the establishment of a regulatory council. Finally a draft bill was formulated in the early 1990s and that was referred to the Ministry of Education, which in turn, referred the same to the UGC for its opinion. The UGC did not favour a council for social work education as it was of the view that the UGC itself was competent to regulate education in social work as per the UGC Act. Subsequently the UGC itself reversed its earlier opinion and finally the draft bill was sent to the Department of Higher Education (MHRD) for clearance. For the past two decades the draft bill has been gathering dust at the MHRD. In between hopes were created in the social work circles at Delhi and Mumbai regarding the enactment of the bill by the Parliament and no tangible result could be seen. In March 2008, the Delhi School of Social Work organized a national consultation on the bill. The draft National Council of Professional Social Work in India Bill is appended in this issue of Social Work - Foot Prints for wider dissemination and debate .

The draft bill is aimed at creating a Council of Professional Social Work. Medical Council of India, Bar Council of India, and similar regulatory councils do not have the prefix professional. Rather Professional Medical Council, Professional Bar Council, etc appear strange and amusing. So why does social work need the prefix professional? Is there still ambivalence among social work professionals as to the self-sufficiency of social work? Like the Council on Social Work Education in the US, the draft bill ought to have been independent of the adjective professional. The bill defines professional social work as a form of practice which follows established and acknowledged methods of social work carried out by professional social workers. While the "established and acknowledged methods” are wide open to interpretation, the definition implies that professional social work is what professional social workers, with BSW or MSW do. A confusing explanation! The bill defines a social work teacher as one who teaches or engaged in research, while a social work practitioner is one who is engaged in social work practice and/or administration. Further, a social work researcher is one engaged in full time research in social work. An unnecessary and unwelcome compartmentalization of a social work professional. If the architects of the bill substitute social work with any other profession the contradictions will be apparent. The bill can help itself well without trying to bring in paraprofessionals into its fold.

The composition of the Council is educator-centered with the chairperson, vice-chairperson, member-secretary and at least eight members belonging to the category "social work educator" out of twenty eight in the Council, Social work practitioners are fewer in number. Strangely, the Council will have two representatives of the recently formed National Association of Professional Social Workers in India (NAPSWI). This Delhi-based association with 1,200 members in June 20013 (New Indian Express) has been treated National, while there are professional social work associations in Chennai, Bangalore, Kerala, and possibly in other states too, in addition to the Indian Society of Professional Social Work, which has been functioning for the past many years.

There is a provision for a national register of social work professionals, a compulsory requirement for teaching and practice. A fair provision. The functions of the Council are exhaustive. The Council, as the statement specifies, shall take all steps for the promotion, maintenance, co-ordination of standards of education, training, research and practice. A vast range of issues to be covered! In many countries like the US, there is a council for social work education and a national association of social work professionals. In India too professions like medicine, law, nursing, and engineering have similar organizational arrangements. Social work, somehow, is out of sync with other professions. Anyhow, there is a draft bill before us to hope for a law one day. Let us wait.

L.S. Ghandi Doss, a mercurial personality, was a Professor of Social Work and also Executive Director of the Bangalore Urban Poverty Alleviation Programme for some years on deputation. Under his leadership of the BUPP, poor slum communities in Bangalore have been enabled to move upward in the socio-economic ladder to become "low income areas". It is gratifying to receive compliments from Ghandi Doss for the work done by our ASSWI team during 1978 to1982 by converting ASSWI from "a club house mode to an open intellectual forum for young educators--at that time". Ghandi Doss has been an active campaigner of the National Council Bill and is optimistic of the bill getting through as an Act. Let us share his optimism.

T.K.Nair