HISTORY OF SOCIAL WORK IN INDIA

1. “Emergence of social work and Social
work education in India”
TOPIC

2. 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

3. SOCIAL WORK HISTORY IN INDIA CAN BE
DIVIDED IN TO THREE PERIODS
SOCIAL WORK IN ANCIENT PERIOD
(2500BC- AD 1000)
SOCIAL WORK IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD (1206-
1706)
SOCIAL WORK IN MODERN PERIOD (AD
1800 onwards)

4. SOCIAL WORK IN ANCIENT PERIOD
 Charity and religious devotion was the mainstay of the Indian
culture in ancient period.
 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.
 Other Upanashidas like Brihadarnayaka, Chhandogya and
Taittiriya prescribes that every householder must practice
charity.

5.  Next to 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.
 According to Geeta, privileged-sections must strive towards the
Fulfillment of its duty to serve the poor, handicapped and
underprivileged.
 The communitarian structure of early Vedic period functioned like
an extended family, where everybody catered to everybody's needs.
 By later vedic period charity/dana became institutionalized
and became associated with religious ideology. It was extolled as a
cherished virtue

6. Kautilya highlights the duties of the King towards the welfare and
happiness of his subjects. During the reign of Ashoka and later
Kanishka, similar range of social welfare activities were initiated which
encompassed women's welfare, rehabilitation of prisoners, rural
development, free medical care and so on.
SOCIAL WORK IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD (1206-1706)
 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 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“
 RULERS : 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.

7. SOCIAL WORK IN MODERN PERIOD(AD 1800 ONWARDS)
 The genesis of social work movement can be traced to the work of
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, who sowed the seeds of religious and
social reforms.
 Some of the important organizations that played a key role in
development of this movement are Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj,
Theosophical Society, Ram Krishna Mission, Indian Social
Conference, Servants of India Society etc.
 Gandhi 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.
 After independence, the government shifted towards the welfare
approach and took several areas of social work under its purview.

8. SOCIAL WORK EDUCATION IN INDIA
 The first training course for social work as claimed by
University Grants Commission (Social Work in Education in
Indian Universities, 1965) was organized by Social Science
League in Bombay in 1920.
 The first professional institution that provided training for a
career in social work was established in 1936 in Bombay.
 The genesis of social work education in India has its roots
in this establishment of Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of
Social Work (later known as Tata Institute of Social
Sciences).
 After Independence, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi and
College of Social Service, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad
were established in 1947; In 1948, Delhi School of Social
Work, (DSSW) came under auspices of North YWCA of India
with assistance from Foreign Division of American YWCA.
 At present the number of professional training institutions
is more than hundred

9. Indira Gandhi National Open University, a
pioneer in distance education has taken
initiatives in providing social work education.
Seeking to replicate the model of regular
education in both fieldwork and classroom
teaching , it has developed curriculum with
the learner in perspective.
This novel move of providing distance
education in this field marks a watershed in
the history of professional education and
training of social work.

10. Areas of concern for the Development of
Social Work Education
 The primary concern for this is to ensure a systematic
development of social work education in terms of
geographical distribution and & Affiliation to
recognized boards and universities.
 Constant endeavor to develop syllabi relevant to
social realities must be done.
 Together with these, other key concerns, relate to
developing teaching/research materials for social
work education for all levels and developing research
expertize and funding of research projects etc.

11. CONCLUSION
 Social work profession is clearly a new profession
with systematic and organized means of
ameliorating the conditions of the marginalized
sections of the populations.
 However, to better appreciate its value, principles
and philosophy; attempts to comprehend the
concept of social work and the manner of its
evolution must be understood by the students of
the profession.

12. REFERENCES
 Gore,M.S. (1965), Social Work and Social Work Education,
Asia Publishing House, Bombay.
 Wadia, A.R.(Ed.) (1961), History and Philosophy of Social
Work in India, Allied Publishers,New Delhi.

13. BY
LIBIN JO MATHEW