Introduction
A systematic analysis of the
social work, its philosophy,
values and principles can
only be understood after a
proper reference and attempt
is made to understand
the concept of social work
and its evolution in India.
This should encompass various
perceptions and
viewpoints with regard to its
growth and development.
The social work profession is
primarily committed to
solidarity with marginalized
sections of society. The
basic human rights are very
often violated for people,
who lack economic, physical,
mental social and/or
emotional resources. Lack of
resources leads to
powerlessness and thereby
marginalization of people
by the social, economic and
political systems.
Marginalized people are
vulnerable to deprivation and
exploitation by those who
have control over resources.
Thus, this profession
recognizes that marginalized
people need to be empowered
so that they themselves
play a decisive role for
their development and welfare.
Empowerment is the process of
gaining control over
self as well as the
resources, which determine power.
This process aims at
reforming the nature and
direction of the systemic
forces, which marginalizes
the powerless.
characteristic was doing or
initiating welfare and
common good of all, the
glimpses of which can be found
in folk tales and legends in
old literary works, Smiritis
or Dhramsastras. The earliest mention to
charity can
be obtained from Rigveda
which encourages charity
by saying “May the one who gives shine most”. The
Arthasastras, ascribed to Kautilya is one of the oldest
works in polity- that refers
to the construction work
for public good by joint
efforts of villagers. It also
mentions social work as care
of children, old or invalid
in case of no protectors.
Special regulations were
established for persons
living in cities for common good.
Collective charity was
popular form of social work, of
which progress of education
or Vidyadana was an
important one as one of the
numerous Jatakas reflect.
Other Upanashidas like Brihadarnayaka, Chhandogya
and Taittiriya prescribes that every
householder must
practice charity.
Next to education, reference
may be made to religion,
which took precedence over
everything else to the
people of ancient India. One
of the popular methods of
performing social activities,
hence was Yagnas. The
main aim of yagnas was the
common welfare of all,
devoid of any personal
benefit or profit. There were
several Yagnashalas, which were like classrooms
wherein students were
instilled with the feeling of
working without the
egocentric desires. This learning
and spirit transcended to the
home, workplace and in
the ordinary community life.
The community was urged
to move ahead as one entity
and achieve progress.
According to Geeta privileged sections must
strive
towards the fulfilment of its
duty to serve the poor,
handicapped and underprivileged.
The communitarian structure
of early Vedic period
functioned like an extended
family, where everybody
Social Reform in
Medieval Period (1206-1706)
The approach followed while
mentioning the social
reform activities during the
medieval period would be
to focus not on individual
kings and their achievements
but to the extent of their
contribution to changes in
social institutions and
structure. The Muslim Sultanate
who formed a significant phase
of the medieval period
were motivated and driven by
the same spirit of social
service in the fields of
religion and education. The
practical needs of
consolidating conquered territory and
providing efficient
administration in a foreign country
necessitated the delineation
of the role and functions
of the kings. These duties
included maintenance of
peace, protection from
external forces, levying of taxes
and providing justice to
subjects. Beyond these limited
secular functions, the rulers
took little interest in
promoting the general welfare
of the masses. The
religion enjoined upon the
Muslims to render help to
the underprivileged by the
payment of Zakat, “the
annual legal alms of five
things, namely money, cattle,
grain, fruit and
merchandise”. Provision of drinking
water, building of mosques,
provision of sarais, charity
to poor was regarded as pious
act.
Humayun was the pioneer
amongst the Muslim rulers
to make the efforts to
prohibit Sati system. Akbar was
an illustrious ruler who took
initiatives in bringing
reforms in Indian society by
abolishing slavery in 1583.
He introduced equality among
people irrespective of
class and religion, and
established comprehensive
system of poor relief which
was of two types: granting
relief in cash/kind to every
needy person who made
requests for the same and the
other was systematic
and organized assistance
provided regularly.
Ram Krishna Mission, Indian
Social Conference,
Servants of India Society
etc.
However, this social reform
movement confined to
small elitist segment of the
population mostly
consisting of English
speaking middle class. But with
the advent of Gandhiji on the
scene, the entire social
reform and political
independence movement took a
turn. Significantly, Gandhiji
linked political movement
with the social movement and
transformed this into a
mass movement with the
participation of all sections
of population notably women
and peasants and lower
castes.
The establishment of the
first school of social work,
Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate
School of Social Work,
Bombay in 1936 marks a
watershed in training and
education of social work
profession. Subsequently,
several institutes of social
work were established in
various parts of the country.
After independence, the
government shifted towards
the welfare approach and took
several areas of social
work under its purview. The
popularity of ideas of
social change, social
development, institutional change
and programmes of family
planning, elimination of mass
poverty and reduction of
income gaps among the
population reflect the
direction of social orientation
towards seeking and striving
to achieve the goals.
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