An introduction to Gandhi’s Perception of an Ideal Society

Professions are highly regarded by the society because
they have been granted sanction to perform essential
services that ensure survival and enhancement of the
quality of life. They emerge from the society and take
time to develop. They do not evolve in vacuum. For their
survival as well as growth, they have to be in continuous
interaction with the surroundings. A series of events
affect their development and continue to shape them.
The profession of Social Work is no exception to this
rule. Being practiced all over the world, its process of
indigenization is going on since its inception. It is due
to this adaptation as per the socio-economic norms and
culture of a particular society, that the Professional
Social Work is surviving and flourishing. This is equally
true in the Indian context.
India has one of the longest and richest histories of
social welfare. There are a large number of schools of
thought and approaches in the field of Social Welfare.
Some of these are secular in nature while the remaining
is based on particular religious or political ideologies.
Among these, Gandhian approach to Social Work is
having one of the largest networks consisting of
Gandhain institutions and workers. A professional
Social Worker in India cannot afford to ignore it since it
is hundred percent indigenous, and is fully based on
Indian philosophy, culture and traditions. There is
tremendous scope of collaboration between these two
approaches of Social Work in the country in terms of
philosophy, experience in various fields, methods and
techniques. The process has already begun and the
enlightened and optimistic thinkers at the two sides
are even sensing a remote possibility of fusion between
these two approaches of Social Work in India. An
understanding of Gandhian Social Work may enable a
professional Social Worker to develop a deeper insight
in the ethos and psyche of the Indian society resulting
in better output of the services.