Social Work Journal 1 1

SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL
(Bi-annual)
Volume 1 Number 1 July 2010
Department of Social Work

Assam University
(A Central University)
Silchar-788011, Assam, India
Phone: +91-3842-270821
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SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL
Assam University
Silchar-788011
Assam, India
Phone: +91-3842-270821
Advisory Board
Prof. Tapodhir Bhattacharjee
Vice-Chancellor, Assam University,
Silchar, Assam
Prof. K.V. Ramana

Former Vice-Chancellor, Andhra University,
Vishakhapattanam, Andhra Pradesh
Prof. S.V. Sudhakar

Vice-Chancellor, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University,
Shrikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
Prof. Gopalji Mishra

Professor, Department of Social Work,
Dean, School of Social Sciences,
Assam University, Silchar, Assam
Prof. Y.S. Sidde Gowda

University of Mysore, Mysore
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Editorial Board
Prof. Sunanda Kaushik
Retired Professor and Former Director,
Karve Institute of Social Sciences, Pune.
Prof. R. Parthasarathy,
Department of Psychiatric Social Work
NIMHANS, Bangalore,
Prof. Asok Sarkar

Vishwa Bharati, West Bengal.
Dr. B.T. Lawani

Director, Social Science Centre,
Bharati Vidhyapeeth University, Pune.
Dr. Subabratha Dutta

Reader, Department of Social Work,
Assam University, Silchar, Assam.
Dr. Molankal Gangabhushan M.

Asst. Professor, Department of Social Work,
Dr. Tineshowri Devi

Dr. Tarun Bikash Sukai

Dr. Sanjoy Roy

Dr. B.S. Gunjal

Editor-in-Chief
Assam University
Silchar-788011, Assam, India
Phone: +913842-270821
Email: [email protected]
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SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL
Volume 1 Number 1 July 2010
CONTENTS
Page
Editorial i -
iv
Status of Field Work and Research in Social Work Education:

with special reference to Hindi Speaking Areas in India
Dr. A. N. Singh 1-17
Empowerment of Women through Education –

Need for Radical Social Work Intervention Strategies.
Dr. V. Venkateshwarlu and Ms. Ch. Prasuna 18-29
Adolescence and Social Work Intervention

Dr. M. Tineshowri Devi 30-40
Plight of Women in Brick Industry:

Need for Social Work Intervention
Dr. M. Gangabhushan 41-61
Rural Development Programmes and Panchayati Raj Institutions:

Role of Professional Social Work
Dr. Subhabrata Dutta 62-77
Globalisation and Civil Society in India

Mr. Mrityunjay Singh 78-89
Globalization and Marginalisation: Reflections on HIV/ AIDS

Dr. Tarun Bikash Sukai 90-100
Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development

Dr. S.Y. Swadi, 101-111
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Socio-economic Conditions and Development of Migrant Rickshaw Pullers
in Delhi-An Empirical Study
Dr. Sanjoy Roy 112- 132
New Perspectives on Consumer Awareness in Media

Dr. Onkar Kakade 133-138
A Comparative Study of Stress and Proneness to Various Psycho-Medical Illnesses

Among The Institutional and Non-Institutional Senior Citizens
Dr. Siddegowda Y.S. 139- 153
Coping With Old Age: A Review

Mr. Gangadhar B. Sonar 154-166
Status of the socially excluded children in urban high schools:

Need for inclusive strategies for social justice
Dr. Channaveer R.M. 167-178
Activists‘ Understanding of Neo-Liberal Globalization:

Some Implications to Social Action in India
Dr. Ramesh B. and D’Souza Ashok Antony Jacob 179-192
The Socialism of Sarvodaya:

M. K. Gandhi‘s approach to Collective Human Welfare
Dr. Adarshapally Nataraju 193-202
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EDITORIAL
It gives me immense pleasure to bring out the first issue of ‗Social Work Journal‘
by the Department of Social Work, Assam University, Silchar, Assam. It is an humble
beginning to provide a space to the various actors in the field of Social Work to exchange
and integrate varied perspectives in Social Work. This academic exercise would pave way
for addressing the emerging challenges to social work profession, from local to global
level. This issue is an outcome of contributions from the social work educators, social
work practitioners and social science researchers across the country on diversified topics.
There are totally 15 contributed papers for the Journal and an overview of the same is
summarized below:
Prof. A. N. Singh in his paper ―Status of Field Work and Research in Social Work
Education: with special reference to Hindi Speaking Areas in India‖ reviews the trends of
the field work practice/training in the schools of social work in India. The paper highlights
the students‘ perspectives on objectives, goals and supervision of field work in Social
Work. Prof. Singh tries to explore and evaluate the emerging trends of field work practice
in North India.
The Paper -“Empowerment of Women through Education – Need for Radical

Social Work Intervention Strategies” by Dr. V. Venkateshwarlu and Ch. Prasuna
highlights the need for social work intervention in the area of education. Gender
sensitization, community based initiatives, policy advocacy and mass mobilisation can
ensure women‘s equality and empowerment.
A paper on “Adolescence and Social Work Intervention” by Dr. M. Tineshowri

Devi examines the gaps between RCH (Reproductive and Child Health) Programme and
the health care needs for adolescent girls. She elaborates the complexity of adolescent
girls‘ health problems, associated with socio-economic and cultural factors.
The paper contributed by Dr. M. Gangabhushan on ―Plight of Women in Brick

Industry: Need for Social Work Intervention‖ brings forward the plight of women engaged
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in Brick Industry with special reference to Barak Valley, Assam. The paper highlights the
working and living conditions of women in this industry and suggests for need-based
programmes and varied strategies by the governmental and non-governmental
organisations to ameliorate the vulnerability of the women.
Dr. Subhabrata Dutta in his paper entitled ―Rural Development Programmes and
Panchayati Raj Institutions: Role of Professional Social Work‖ highlights the role of
Panchayati Raj Institutions in Rural Development Programmes. The author believes that
the social worker can work either independently or associate with the government or
NGOs for the fulfilment of the goal of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Mr. Mrityunjay Singh highlights in his paper “Globalisation and Civil Society in
India”, has emphasised the significant role of civil society in the context of Globalisation,
where the role of the State is shrinking to facilitate the trade and the market. The paper
focuses the need for making both the State and the Corporate bodies to accountable
through empower the common people with all the needed inputs.
Another paper “Globalisation and Marginalisation: Reflections on HIV/ AIDS” by

Dr. Tarun Bikash Sukai highlights the HIV/AIDS as an epidemic of global nature and
gives a brief account of the menace of the problem of HIV with mitigation. He further
proposes to strengthen the healthcare system to help in combat the epidemic.
Another paper on “Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development” by

Dr. S.Y. Swadi, delineates the role of corporate sector to make positive contributions to
the societal needs and aspirations through community development programmes. In order
to restore the confidence of the people in the development strides, he emphasizes the
essential role of corporates in the area of education, health, livelihood, infrastructure
development, empowerment of the weaker sections etc.
Dr. Sanjoy Roy in his paper “Socio-economic Conditions and Development of

Migrant Rickshaw Pullers in Delhi-An Empirical Study” highlights the problems of the
migrant Rickshaw Pullers and suggests ways and means to educate them in the areas like
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literacy health and recreation and also to impart legal awareness to improve their living
conditions.
Dr. Onkar Kakade‘s paper entitled “New Perspectives on Consumer Awareness in

Media” draws the attention of the readers on the significant role of media in the era of
globalization, liberalization and changing consumer strategies. The author suggests the
need for bringing consumer awareness on the aspects of sale and purchase of goods, the
health and security. Media‘s promoting capacity would pave way for greater awareness
and service to the consumer movement and society.
Prof. Siddegowda Y.S. in his paper entitled ―A Comparative Study of Stress and
Proneness to Various Psycho-Medical Illnesses Among The Institutional and Non-
Institutional Senior Citizens‖ has analyzed the stress and proneness to major Medical and
Psychiatric illnesses among institutionalized and non-institutionalized senior citizens.
Dr. Gangadhar B. Sonar in his paper “Coping with Old Age: A Review” attempted
to highlight the problems in old-age and intends to bring out the effects of Liberalization,
Privatization and Globalization on elderly people who are being neglected and denied
from support mechanisms. He proposes the need for intervention of social work
practitioners in productive and successful aging.
Another research paper by Dr. Channaveer on “Status of the Socially Excluded

Children in Urban High Schools: Need for Inclusive Strategies for Social Justice” brings
out the observed disparities between the public and private urban high schools, manifested
in the form of social divide and social exclusion. He suggests to extend the scope of SSA
(Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan), to the socially excluded children as an inclusive public program
to ensure Social Justice.
Dr. Ramesh B. and D‘Souza Ashok Antony Jacob in their paper “Activists’
Understanding of Neo-Liberal Globalization: Some Implications to Social Action in
India” make an attempt to present the views of a cross-section of the Indian social
activists about the neoliberal globalization. The authors suggest the social activists to take
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steps to read, discuss and understand the latest patterns and dynamics of globalization to
fortify their responses to social action requirements.
The paper ―The Socialism of Sarvodaya: M. K. Gandhi‘s approach to Collective

Human Welfare‖ by Dr. Adarshapally Nataraju makes a critical analysis of the concept of
Sarvodaya, non-violence and trusteeship. The paper emphasises that Gandhi‘s model of
achieving social transformation based on non-violence.
I am happy to express my sincere thanks to our Hon‘ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

Tapodhir Bhattacharjee for his kind encouragement and motivation to initiate and publish
Social Work Journal, by the Department of Social Work, Assam University.
I would like to acknowledge the heartfelt gratitude to all the paper contributors and
referees, members of the Advisory and Editorial Board for their consistent co-operation in
bringing out the first issue of the journal. I sincerely hope that, this academic exercise will
go a long way in strengthening the social work profession, through collective efforts.
Dr. B. S. Gunjal
(Editor-in-Chief)
9
Status of Field Work and Research in Social Work Education:
With special reference to Hindi Speaking Areas in India

A. N. Singh
For social work profession the ‗work‘ or ‗service‘ has to concentrate mainly on practice
carried out with people particularly of weaker and vulnerable section of the society. In
this direction every student or professional must be properly equipped with required
knowledge and understanding of the people, their problems and situations in which they
live. This could be possible only when adequate opportunities are made available to
social work students to test the veracity of knowledge and skills imparted in the class-
room with reference to the real life situations. Field work, research and extension work
is directed towards achieving this goal and social work educators have the pivotal role to
play having good orientation and practice in the matter and make the students in turn to
get orientation through the classroom platform.
The author has attempted to examine this situation with the help of a case study carried
out in Hindi speaking areas in India.
Key Words: Field work, Supervision System, Field Work Process, System of
Evaluation, Research.
Dr. A.N. Singh is Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Lucknow University,
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh,
INTRODUCTION
Social Work is an emerging profession directed towards promoting social development

and welfare as also human development in order to enable people, especially those
belonging to weaker and vulnerable sections of society, to lead a dignified, emancipated,
satisfying and peaceful life. As a professional discipline, social work prepares its
professionals for achieving the objectives through interventions in the real life situations
which are dynamic in nature; and therefore, demand an individualized attention. For the
purpose of preparation of trained professional and man-power for social work
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profession, formal education and training, like other various human service professions
such as medicine, nursing, law etc. are being imparted through a network of educational
institutions created at the highest level of universities/ colleges/schools etc. A perusal of
the existing system of social work education in India (began in 1936 with the
establishment of Sir Dorabji Tata Graduate School of Social Work, now Tata Institute of
Social Sciences, Mumbai unravels that social work education and training are formally
imparted either through independent schools/colleges affiliated to the universities
recognized by the University Grants Commission or through the specially created
departments of social work functioning as a part and parcel of the university system. The
courses provided by these institutions may be generic or specialization-oriented. Class-
room education, field work/field practice, research and extension work are the four basic
components of a profession and especially for the social work education which is
provided to students by competent social work educators and trainers in order that the
students may acquire knowledge, learn skill and conduct empirical researches for
promoting social and human development through varied kinds of interventions by
utilizing a number of methods and techniques.
In the term ‗social work‘, the suffix of ‗work‘ makes it obligatory for the
profession to concentrate its attention mainly on practice which has to be done with
people or issues particularly of weaker and vulnerable section. For doing this, every
student or professional must be properly equipped with required knowledge and
understanding of the people, their problems and situation in which they are located, as
also with skills and techniques required for introducing the desired changes in people‘s
personality structure as well as social structure and system. This could be possible only
when adequate opportunities are made available to social work students to test the
veracity of knowledge and skills imparted in the class-room in the real life situations.
Field work, research or extension work is directed towards achieving this goal. It is
known that field education is one of the core components of professional social work
training programmes worldwide. Review of available literature appears to suggest that
research and publications on field education are very few, with even less relating to field
education in national, international and cross-cultural contexts. Ryan and Martyn‘s
(1996 observation was that although students are the main actors in fieldwork, their
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inputs are very limited in field education research. Spencer and McDonald (1998 note
that there were no articles written by students projecting the student perspective. Thus,
remarkably, the voice of the student was absent from the literature. They further point
out that what the students learn during the placement or concerning their process of
learning was largely missing in the field education literature and suggest the importance
of including students‘ perspectives in future research. Recognizing this gap, Patford
(2000 has explored students‘ perceptions of key learning experiences and has analyzed
seven significant learning experiences (feeling at a loss and the need to gain knowledge
and skills; academic learning; operating solo; organizational constraints; discomforting
social interactions; regulating emotion; and reappraising his/her commitment to social
work and seven lessons learnt (the embodiment of social work principles/values in
practice; self confidence and self-management; the impact of organizational structures
and staff relationships on practice; the management of emotion; that life is fragile and
unpredictable; the importance of process; personal suitability for particular social work
roles in particular settings) during practice in the area of disabilities and reflected on the
role of a social worker.
The literature on social work practice and research base reveals that there should
be given enough focus and attention in the area of research along with theory and
practice. Moti Ram Maurya (1962) expounds the philosophy of social work in the
purview of field work programmes. He says field work programmes serves as a social
library in social work. He added that the importance of field experience for an
empirically evolved science like social work is evidently paramount and its practice arts
is still evolving through the experiences of those who are working in it. Thus we see that
social work has two facets-theory and practice. The significant role of bringing these
two aspects of social work together with a view to equipping students to help people
realistically and constructively is performed by field work. J. M. Kapoor (1961) has
emphasized on the importance of field work in social work and how students slowly
progress towards professional competence. Containing some questions like who is a
field worker? What are the objectives of field work training in social work education?
He explains that field work training in professional education is consequential because
of its nature of dealing with the problems practically. He added that it is evident that
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field work varies in quality and quantity. The duration of time is one factor, amount of
working another and it is not merely visiting an agency or observing what goes on. But
training of field work is always done under the able supervision of well equipped faculty
supervisor and also, sometimes, under the supervision of an agency supervisor.
Rosemary Reynolds (1961) has elaborately described three basic principles of modern
professional social work training: 1. Complementary classroom and field work; 2.
Actual work in social agency rather than merely an opportunity for observation; and 3.
Individualized supervision of a tutorial nature. She further described that field work
comprises three elements i.e. Plan, Methods and Goals and all the three methods can be
tested according to the principles. In the first principle, she mention that schools of
social work use two types of field work learning-the Concurrent plan and the Block
plan. In schools using concurrent plan, a student usually spends two days a week in field
and four days a week at school through out his two years of professional training. In
some of the schools, in India as well as abroad, the field work days are increased from
two to three owing to greater emphasis on field work. In the second principle it is said
that the field work placement provides realistic work situation to students for practical
experience. During the whole work situations student is supervised directly or indirectly
and certain safeguards are maintained with a view to overcome his difficulties which he
faces often and to remove the pressure of work or forces internally or externally. In the
absence of these safeguards, his field experience follows the general plan and pattern of
work within the agency. In the third principle, she analyses that throughout the field
placement the student is provided with constant supervision. Supervision of student is
done for various reasons. The student of social work is expected to become a
professional worker upon completion of his training.
Field instruction is a crucial component of social work education and is

recognized as an educational process to facilitate integrative and experiential learning.
Through the pattern, and organizational of social work practicum have some
universality, the micro-based practice model adopted in the Indian context has led to
inappropriately designed field education programmes producing students unsuited to
meet the developmental need of the Indian society. They further added that field practice
comprises experiential learning where the field instructor and the student use the
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theoretical perspectives taught in the class room as foundations for the development of
practice skills of techniques in the field and the major role of the field instructor is to
help the student to see connection, relationship, differences and similarities between
concepts taught in the class room and realities in the field. They mention field work
instruction in an international perspective and say irrespective of the dichotomies
between micro and macro social work practice models of the region or nation, the field
instruction programme seems to have greater consistency cross-nationally in terms of its
educational values, pattern of field practicum and the profession‘s accountability for the
quality of field learning of students (B. Devi Prasad and B. Vijayalakshmi, 1997).
Verma D. Mehta (1975) has referred three basic methods of social work viz.
Case work, Group work and Community Organization and its practice in the field. She
observed that by and large it has been found that among all the methods, case work gets
the strongest concentration in schools of social work where there is both generic and
specific training and the students well informed about case work practice in the fields of
Family and Child Welfare, Medical and Psychiatric Social Work, Correctional
Administration, etc. with out the subsequent focus on other two. She also referred that
unlike the USA we have not adopted the system of method specialization in our school
curricula and undoubtedly, the Indian social worker is much more of a generalist and has
been a forerunner in this than this western counterpart, who considers himself as a case
worker, group worker or community organizer. Adding to this, she mention that while
we have been called upon to use all the techniques many of our educationists and
practitioners have not theorized or grasped the content and mode of integration of
methods and the various innovative ways in which we can implement social work
programmes. She has given concentration on the basic theoretical framework for the
integrated methods approach by saying that there can be no effective implementation of
programmes in the field unless the students has a prior and sound conceptual
understanding of the methods.
R. R. Singh (2005) has clearly mentioned some terms like field, practice, field
education, field work and practical training used by social philosophers, educators and
practitioners, and also explains those terms and its application in the context of
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professional training in social work. He also brings out the interrelationship and unity of
theory and practice in social work.
Karen Healy (2005) has clearly discussed the importance and relationship of
theory to practice. She tried to identify the major ideas that form the foundation of social
work practice for gaining knowledge of these ideas and increasing its relevance to social
work‘s values and goals. She idealistically focused on social work ideas which cover a
complex terrain including context, discourse and theories. By ‗context‘ she tried to mean
the interaction between the organization and the profession‘s formal base. The term
‗discourse‘ explained by her was based on the influence on practice by bio-medicine,
economics and the law; for example, seem to minimize the rich complexities inherent in
the real life situations of social workers and their clients. In terms of social work
‗theories‘, she argues that theories are critical to accurate assessments and effective
delivery and that practitioners, along with academics, share responsibility for their
development. She tried to mean theory as ‗theories in situ‘ and ultimately it is at the
level of these specific case theories that social workers make sense of the problems in
broader aspect.
Let‘s see how those components i.e. training or field work practice and research
of social work profession carries wattage in social work especially in Hindi speaking
areas.
There is a plethora of theories in social work education which need to be taught

to the student and those theories have been borrowed from other disciplines. The social
work educators and professionals are exercising in attempting to have a good-fit of these
theories with professional practice. From a overview of social work courses in India, it
could be highlighted that the theories are intangibly taught, are not properly stated by the
department or schools and for a comprehension of these theories there are innumerable
books prescribed by the schools which pertain to different disciplines such as sociology,
psychology, political science, anthropology, economics, criminology etc. Social work
has only six own methods i.e. case work, group work, community organization, social
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action, social research and social welfare administration to be taught during the whole
year of teaching.
On the other side, a professional must be able to academically analyze the

existing reality as well as the outcome of intervention, which is not possible unless
he/she is has proficiency in research. In the first year of MSW, the students will be
taught thoroughly and extensively about the research and use of statistical data while
preparation of field work observation notes. In the second year, students need to
undertake intensive exercises so as to learn to use research findings to sharpen field
work practice. They learn to prepare assignments, field based case studies, research
reports, monographs, research proposals, synopsis etc. It could be seen that social arena
in India has been characterized by rapid change throwing our social values, norms and
behavior patterns and developing of other social evils like communalism, terrorism etc.
has created the situation more critical. Through research project or doctoral research,
social work students are providing considerable attention to those social problems.
METHODOLOGY
Rationality of the Study
The study aims at reviewing the trends in field work practice/training in schools of
social work in India especially in Hindi speaking areas. Emphasis has given in
understanding the aims and objectives of field work practice and training of students,
research characterized by the school of social work.
The study has further emphasized on perspective of trainee i.e. MSW final year
students of the institutes/schools regarding the objectives, goals, supervision, content of
field work assignments and it‘s research outcome. How it is related to their career and
do they practice in near future? The existing system or market scenario has been
changed for new professional and new concepts emerged like social ecology, good-
governance, health-communications, development-communication, management in
health management in social sectors. The field work should also be dealt with the
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changing pattern of the market so that emerging professionals would be able to adopt
themselves with the flow of pattern.
As field work is an integral part of the social work curriculum and this study
hopes to explore the kind of training or field work, research that goes into the making of
a social worker. It hopes to examine the different components such as teaching, training
and research. There is dearth of empirical study in field work and field work practice
and training have different schools of social work in India.
Objectives of the Study
The General objective of the study is to analyze the nature and content of field work
training in different schools of social work, especially in Hindi speaking areas in India.
The specific objectives of this study will be:
1. To find out the background and perception of the social work students and
educators regarding the objectives, content of field work, supervision and
research undertaken at schools of social work.
2. To find out the new process and mechanisms of field work.
3. To explore and evaluate the emerging trends of field work and research today
with new requirements of the present scenario.
Research Design
In order to carry out the present research, an Exploratory Research Design has been
adopted following the above objectives of the study.
Universe
The study is based on fifteen schools of social work in different universities of India. It
has covered four zones i.e. North, South, East and West zones of India. Seven schools
from North which are Hindi speaking areas, five from South, two from East and one
from West zone have covered.
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Sampling Size
Total 300 students and 90 social work educators were taken as respondents for this study
from different schools of social work in India.
Sampling technique
Since the universe was undefined, both Probability and Non-Probability sampling
techniques have been used by the researcher in this study. To achieve the first objective
Simple Random Sampling has used. To achieve the other objectives, the Purposive
Sampling technique (Non-probability) has used for collecting primary data and also
secondary data will be supported for analyzing of departmental profiles, and field work
manuals on the basis of Purposive Sampling. Also the study has used ‗Case Study’
method to get in-depth understanding about the field work. The data has collected
through both Primary & Secondary Sources. All the students of MSW final year of all
the institutions had given Questionnaire to collect the data as primary sources. All the
educators of the institutions had administered questionnaire to collect the primary data.
Also the researcher had Discussions with senior professors and field work directors to
get more in-depth understanding about the field work and related issues. The researcher
used Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with both student‘s community and educator‘s
community in some of the institutions/ departments to get a concrete idea and additional
idea and knowledge about field work and other related issues as a primary source of
data. The researcher also used Observation Method for the present study to acquaint
with the actual field work training, supervision and evaluation practices in some of the
schools of social work in India and field welfare agencies during my supervision time to
time. As a secondary source, books, journals, the field work files, field work manuals,
departmental profile, have been consulted to get data. The researcher also used Case
Study Method to get deep and detailed information from all the schools/ departments of
social work in India for both primary and secondary sources of information.
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Analysis and Interpretation
After collecting data, the researcher has checked carefully and all the entries were edited
properly. Then the code book was prepared and master sheets were filled. The master
sheets were processed through computer using Microsoft Excel and SPSS package and
tables have prepared in which data have furnished in different tabular form. Then the
proposed data has analyzed & interpreted and the results have obtained accordingly.
Situation in Hindi Speaking Areas
Basically the Hindi speaking areas denotes the schools of social work in Uttar Pradesh
and Delhi. Under the study total seven schools of social work i.e. five from U.P and two
from Delhi have covered. These schools are Delhi School of Social Work (DSSW),
Jamia Milia Islamia University, University of Lucknow, Banaras Hindu University,
Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth, Aligarh Muslim University, Chattrapati Sahu Ji
Maharaj University. It has been seen that in the Hindi speaking areas except in Delhi,
Jamia Milia and Lucknow university field work is not up to the mark related to
maintaining all the dimensions of it. Some schools have introduced social work as self-
finance course without having proper field work arrangements, lack of systemic
supervision and specialized agencies nearby and social work departments are
collaborated with sociology or other social sciences without requisite faculties (As in
BHU, the social work department is associated with the department of sociology named
as Faculty of Social Work in department of Sociology). Most of the schools do not
provide Supportive Field Instructions Programme (S.F.I. aims at providing the students
exposure to innovative methods of working and various intervention strategies through
bi-weekly two hours interaction with experienced professionals from field) and
unavailability of Placement Cell (The role of the Cell is to identify the employment
opportunities and to create awareness regarding the relevance of social work inputs
ineffective delivery of services by the organizations involved in the welfare of people).
The faculties are advocating research projects in the areas of child labour, HIV/AIDS,
women health, child rights, disability, drug abuse, problem and services of elderly etc.
involving the students time to time in the department.
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Case Study
UNIVERSITY OF LUCKNOW
(DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK)
NATURE OF FIELD WORK
Field work is provided by the department through a large number of well-established

development agencies, institutions, hospitals, schools, old age homes, urban health
centre, after care homes and other NGOs. Students placed in these agencies or
institutions participate in a variety of welfare and development activities as part of their
programmes. They also involve in the slum community through agencies. The minimum
number of field work days in an academic year shall be 60 and students are required to
attend at least 90 percent of the total field work days. Also each student has to spend a
minimum of 15 hours a week on the field. Field work in the department is composed of
through Orientation Programme, Concurrent Field Work, Winter Placement, Rural
Camp and Block Placement. The department identified and adopted a model slum and a
village to promote their integrated development through varied kinds of action oriented
programmes.
SUPERVISION SYSTEM
Supervision has different dimensions and it counted through daily supervisory visits,
remarks made on the daily reports/ records submitted by the students, individual and
group conferences and mid-term sharing etc. ICs held in the department once in a week
for all BSW and MSW students depending on the faculty members. GCs also held once
in a fort-night and it are compulsory for all to attend. All the departmental supervisors
will conduct a sharing session i.e. Mid-Term sharing to monitor the progress of the
students.
SYSTEM OF EVALUATION
Evaluation system is based on the written and monthly report, weekly individual
conferences and group conferences based on report writing. A mid placement review is
20
conducted before the completion of the first term and then conduct an evaluation
meeting with students. Before writing the final evaluation student need to prepare a
summary report of the work done through out the year and need to submit their field
work diary. The evaluation of the field work will be done both by Internal and External
examiners.
FINDINGS
Findings have analyzed from both educators and student’s point of view.
Qualification
The qualifications of the respondents were varied. It was found that out of total
respondents, 36 respondents were holding Ph.D. which represents 40 percent. 21.1
respondents were having PG degree in social work and 17.8 percent respondents were
also holding M. Phil. degree. Only 11.1 percent respondents noted that they did BSW at
the initial stage. Surprisingly it was found that 10 percent respondents were having other
degree than social work degree. This percentage of respondents were having the degree
of sociology, even they have Ph.D. degree in sociology. It has analyzed that some of the
schools of social work such as Aligarh Muslim University, MGKV Varanasi, and BHU
etc. having affiliation with sociology department and rather can be said that department
of sociology initiated to start social work in their university, so that it could be obvious
that they are still running and coordinating with social work department.
Additional Qualification
Additional qualification aspect showed that 23 respondents were having extra

qualification rather than social work qualification. Out of 23 respondents, 12
respondents i.e. more that 50 percent have PG Diploma in Rural Development and
Human Resource Management and 4 respondents have Certificate Course in Computer
Application. Rest of the respondents were having Degree in Economics (8.69
percentage) and 21.73 percent respondents have other certificate courses in Research
Methodology, LLB and MBA.
21
Teaching Experience in Social Work
It appears that 30 respondents i.e. 33.3 percent have less than five years teaching
experiences and 28.9 percentage respondents have more than five to ten years teaching
experiences. A few respondents i.e. 10 percent, 13.3 percent and 6.7 percent respondents
were teaching experiences of ten to fifteen, fifteen to twenty and twenty to twenty five
respectively. Only 7.8 percent respondents were having teaching experiences of more
than twenty five years. It is concluded that young social work educators are coming to
this profession.
Research Experience
Here research experiences covers only doing research in terms of job or any projects
other than Ph.D. work. It has found that around 50 percent were having less than five
years of research experience and 22.2 percent were having less than five to ten years
experience. On the other hand equal number of respondents i.e. 13.3 percent respondents
have ten to fifteen and fifteen to twenty years of research experiences respectively. It has
also found that only 2.2 percent respondents do not have any research experiences and
they directly joined in teaching.
Involvement in Organization/ Project before joins Teaching
It has found that out of total respondents, 51 respondents have opinion of not to join in
any organization or any projects before joins the teaching but 39 respondents said that
they joins in organization or project work before joining of teaching. It has found that
out of 39 respondents, only 2 respondents have less than one year experience and 19
respondents have one to three years experiences. On the other hand 12 respondents and
6 respondents have three to five and more than five years experiences respectively in
any organization or any project in different parts of India.
Association with Professional Organization
A majority of educators i.e. 62.2 percent responded that they are associated in
professional organizations in different capacities such as a member of governing body
22
which consists of 25 percent, 12 respondents as a consultant (21.42 percent), 4
respondents as a advisor (7.14 percent), 24 respondents as a member (42.85 percent) and
two respondents (3.57 percent) as evaluator and secretary of the organizations. It has
concluded that educators not only involve in teaching but they are involve in different
association or organizations in different capacities and some of them also having their
own NGOs working in developmental issues involving their students in project work.
Teacher-Agency Meeting and its Frequency
The majority of respondents (72.2 percent) said that they do organize teacher-agency
meeting to know the requirements from both sides related to the issues and problems
dealing by the students and only 27.8 percent said that do not organize meeting because
of the negligence of the department and the negative attitude of agency. Out of total
respondents who do organize meetings, one respondent said in a fort-night organize
meeting, two respondents said organize meetings once in a month, 34 respondents said
organize meetings once in quarterly and six respondents said organize meetings once in
a year. On the other hand, 22 respondents said that they organize teacher-agency
meetings but do not have any fixed schedule. From the above scenario it is clear that no
schools have their actual fixed date to organize teacher-agency meetings.
Satisfaction with Field Work
It has found that around 80 percent students are satisfied with their field work dealing
with social issues and problems because they get help from the department as well as
from the agency but 20 percent students are not satisfied with their field work dealing
with issues because they are very often helped by the department as well as by the
agency.
Change in Field Work Process
68.3 percent (205) student respondents are in favour of change in field work process for
the betterment of their career today and they mention some processes like field work
placement should be based on the interest of the students, exposure should be given to
the students in different settings instead of placing in some settings more than once,
23
special classes and examination should be for field work, specialist teacher should be
there to deal with field work, laborious students should be entertained with awards like
‗best field worker‘, small research/ study should be given to the students etc, but 25
percent students (75) were not in favour of change of field work process. On the other
hand a little percentage of total student (6.7 percent) respondents did not comment on
this issue.
Field Work Helps in Job Profile
Almost all the student respondents (96 percent) think that concurrent field work would
kelp in their job profile as it gives increasing the competency to them, kelps in
understanding the reality based problems solving process, have a scope to relate theories
into application dealing with either problematic or normal individual, group and
community in different situations, helps and show the way how to work in grass root
levels, develop skills of rapport establishment with community people etc. Only 4
percent student respondents comment that field work does not help much in job.
Regarding Complexity of Social Problems
An overwhelming percentage (94.3) of students have said that social problems are more
complex today rather it was before and rest of the students respondent (5.7 percent) were
against on it.
Need for New Mechanism or Theory
It has found that majority of the students (65 percent) were of the opinion that we need
new mechanism and theory to deal with emerging issues today and 27 percent said
against it, though 8 percent student respondents did not comment on it. They pointed out
about the mechanism and theory such as need reality based approach, balancing two
phenomena for both positive interest, more living and attracting theory to deal issues,
more ethical and morals dominant theory, rationality inculcation theory, provision of
effective implementation of PRA method, deal social problems according to the nature
of the problems, theory related to human behaviour, theory for maximum utilization of
24
human capital, theory related to mind set up towards the sustainable development, more
democratic theory etc.
REFERENCES
Desai, Murli 2002, ‗Ideologies and Social Work: Historical and Contemporary
Analysis‘, Pages 140-141.
Devi, Prasad and B, Vijaylakshmi 1997, ‗Field Instruction in Social Work Education in
India, Some Issues‘, The Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol-58, Issue-1, Pages-65-75.
Gangrade, K.D 1975, ‗School of Social Work-Field Work Agency Liaison‘, The Indian
Journal of Social Work, Vol-35 (4), Pages-350-357.
Gore, M.S.1981, ‗The Scope of Social Work Practice‘, in T.K.Nair (Edi), Social Work
Education and Social Work Practice, ASSWI, Madras.
Lorenz, W 2001, ‗Social Work in Europe- Portrait of a Diverse Professional group‘.
Mathew, Grace 1975, ‗Educational and Helping Aspects of Field Work Supervision‘,
The Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol-35 (4), Pages-325-331.
Maurya, Moti. Ram 1962, ‗field Work Training in Social Work‘, The Indian Journal of
Social Work, Vol-XXIII (1), Pages-9-14.
Mehta, V.D 1975, ‗Integrated Methods Approach- A Challenging Possibility in Field

Work Instructions‘, The Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol-35 (4), Pages 335-344.
Second Review Committee,1978, ‗A Review of Social Work Education in India:

Retrospect and Prospect‘, UGC, New Delhi, February 1978, Page 298.
Singh, R.R (Ed.) 1985, ‗Field Work in Social Work Education: A Perspective for
Human Service Profession‘, Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.
Srinivas, M.N 1979, ‗The Field Worker and The Field‘, Delhi, Oxford University Press.
25
Singh, R.R 2005, ‗Configuring Field, Practice and Field Education in Social Work‘,
Rajagiri Journal of Social Development, Vol-1, Golden Jubilee Issue.
TISS 2000, ‗Annual Report 1999-2000‘, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
University Grants Commission 1978, ‗Review of Social Work Education in India,

Retrospect and Prospect‘, UGC, New Delhi.
26
Empowerment of women through education – Need for radical social
work intervention strategies
Dr. V.Venkateswarlu, Ch. Prasuna
As a general goal, empowerment has been described as a political and a material

process, which increases individual and group power, self reliance and strength.
Empowerment of women calls for strict and rigid implementation of all the laws and
programmes that have a bearing on their lives. Those in authority should have the will to
enforce all women‘s development programmes, which if done in right earnest can go a
long way in empowering women.
The National Education System will play a positive, interventionist role in the
empowerment of women. It will foster the development of new values through
redesigned curricula, textbooks, the training and orientation of teachers, decision makers
and administrators, and the active involvement educational institutions; this will be an
act of social engineering. The policy of non-discrimination will be pursued vigorously to
eliminate sex stereotyping in vocational and professional courses and to promote
women‘s participation in non-traditional occupations, as well as in existing and
emergent technologies. This paper highlights the impact of Women's education on her
Empowerment and also the need for Radical Social Work Intervention Strategies for
achieving Empowerment of Women and Self reliance.
Key words: Empowerment, Gender disparity, Radical Social Work Intervention,

Gender Equity, Social Development, Gender Sensitization
Dr. V. Venkateshwarlu is Assistant Professor, and Mrs. Ch. Prasuna is a research

Scholar, Department of Sociology & Social Work, Acharya Nagarjuna University,
Nagarjuna Nagar, Guntur, A.P. 522 -510. Email: [email protected]
27
INTRODUCTION
The concept of empowerment of an individual or a social group pre supposes that a state
of social, oppression exists which has disempowered those in the group, by denying
them opportunities or resources and by subjecting them to an ideology and a set of social
practices which has defined them as inferior humans, thus lowering their self esteem. As
general goal, empowerment has been described as a political and a material process,
which increases individual and group power, self reliance and strength.
Empowerment of women also calls for strict and rigid implementation of all the
laws and programmes that have a bearing on their lives. Mere passing of laws and
launching of welfare schemes have little meaning for women. Those in authority should
have the will to enforce all women‘s development programmes, which if done in right
earnest can go a long way in empowering women.
Investing in women‘s capabilities and empowering them to exercise their choices

is not only valuable in itself but is also the surest way to contribute to economic growth
and overall development. In spite of various efforts to equalize opportunities between
men and women, gender disparity continues to exist. Even today, women still constitute
70 per cent of the world‘s poor and two thirds of the world‘s illiterates. They occupy
only 14% of managerial and administrative jobs and 8.9 percent of Lok Sabha seats and
7.3 percent of Rajya Sabha seats India.
Our country has made tremendous attempts/efforts towards developing women‘s

capabilities, yet women and men still live in an unequal world. Development efforts
have been focusing on identifying the situation of women and attempts have been made
to ensure that women have opportunities, improve their role in development. In order to
equal opportunities, improve their over all status, to remove various gender biases, the
government of India has provided constitutional guarantees, evolved legislative
measures and has adopted various policies advocating women‘s concern. This paper
highlights the impact of Woman education on her Empowerment and also the need for
Radical Social Work Intervention Strategies for achieving Empowerment of Women and
Self reliance.
28
With the introduction of the National Policy on Education 1986, ‗education for
women‘s equality‘ came to be accepted as a legitimate part of government strategy.
Advocates for women‘s empowerment greeted this unprecedented section of the policy
with enthusiasm. The oft-quoted section of the policy reads: Education will be used as
an agent of basic change in the status of women. In order to neutralize the accumulated
distortions of the past, there will be a well conceived edge in favour of women. The
National Education System will play a positive, interventionist role in the empowerment
of women. It will foster the development of new values through resigned curricula,
textbooks, the training and orientation of teachers, decision makes and administrators,
and the active involvement educational institutions; this will be an act of social
engineering. The policy of non-discrimination will be pursued vigorously to eliminate
sex stereotyping in vocational and professional courses and to promote women‘s
participation in non-traditional occupations, as well as in existing and emergent
technologies.
The year 2001 was commemorated as Women‘s Empowerment year. Many issues
have remained and will remain untouched if we are not convinced that increased Gender
Equity has enormous benefits in establishing a culture of Human Rights. A nation or a
society goes ahead only through the contribution of all its members. Pushing the women
into backyards leads the society to lag behind. Women need to be viewed as not
beneficiaries but as active participants in the process of development and change – her
capacity to work, her knowledge and her skills are often the only resource to call upon
for survival of household. Thus they act as critical factors in moving their families out of
poverty.
The 1991 Annual Report of the Asian Development Bank points out: ―A one year
increase in mother‘s education is associated with a 9 per cent decrease in the mortality
rate -of children under five years of age ……. Improved education also encourages
women to participate more in community development activities which often provide
increased income-earning opportunities. As better educated mothers have better
educated children, benefits are passed on from one generation to the next‖.
29
Development for women means the opportunity and ability to assert their rights
and fight for justice. Development also means real improvement in the socio-economic
conditions of women. Women and men alike have to be educated to see women‘s
potential in a new perspective. Education can help women to conquer the disadvantages
and discrimination which they suffer from and that is indeed the greatest and foremost
empowerment. Empowerment through law is no doubt very necessary and essential but
law by itself can bring little change if other conditions do not change. The improvement
of the status of women requires a change in the attitudes and roles of both men and
women. Women‘s development should not only be viewed as an issue in social
development but should be seen as an essential component in every dimension of
development. When women are educated their dependence automatically disappears or
at least decreases. Education helps women to resist exploitation, besides of course
empowering them to be self reliant. Where women are educated they can become
potential sources for harnessing a community‘s resources for general well being.
Education which increases women‘s awareness thus leads to their overall development
in particular, and society in general.
 The Millennium Development Goals commit the international community

to a comprehensive vision of development, which places human development at the
centre stage of social and economic progress and puts great value on global partnerships
for development. Since 2000, when the MDGs were ratified at the United Nations
Millennium Summit, the goals have been widely accepted as a yardstick for measuring
development progress across countries. Gender equality and women‘s empowerment has
been recognized as a crucial component in development. The United nations has
developed eight important target indicators fro global development in 2000, which were
declared as Millennium Development Goals:
 Eradication of Poverty
 Basic education for all
 Gender Equality
30
 Women‘s empowerment
 Reducing infant mortality rate
 Fighting the diseases of AIDS and Malaria
 Environment protection and
 International networking
Most of the target indicators are in one way or other related to women and can be
achieved only by making women as the active participants, besides being passive
beneficiaries also. No society can prosper without making women educated and
empowered. The relevance of women‘s education to social, economic, cultural and
political development of the individual, family, community and nation is universally
acknowledged. Globally gender equality and women empowerment have been
recognized as vital components to achieve overall development.
31
Table – 1 State wise Female Literacy Rate (2001)
Rank Name of the State Literacy Rate
Female Male
35 Bihar 33.57 60.32
34 Jharkand 39.38 67.94
33 Jammu and Kashmir 41.82 65.85
32 Uttar Pradesh 42.98 70.23
31 Dadra and nagar Haveli 42.99 73.32
30 Rajasthan 44.34 76.49
29 Arunachal Pradesh 44.24 64.07
28 Madhya Pradesh 50.28 76.80
27 Orissa 50.97 75.95
26 Andhra Pradesh 51.17 70.85
25 Chattishgarh 52.40 77.86
24 Assam 56.03 71.93
23 Haryana 56.31 79.25
22 Karnataka 57.45 76.29
21 Gujarat 58.60 80.50
20 Manipur 59.70 77.87
19 West Bengal 60.22 77.58
18 Uttaranchal 60.26 84.01
17 Meghalaya 60.41 66.14
16 Sikkim 61.46 76.73
15 Nagaland 61.92 71.77
14 Punjab 63.55 75.63
13 Tamilnadu 64.55 82.33
12 Tripura 65.41 81.47
11 Maharashtra 67.51 86.27
10 Himachal Pradesh 68.08 86.02
09 Daman and Diu 70.37 88.40
08 Pondicherry 74.13 88.89
07 Delhi 75.00 87.37
06 Andaman and Nicobar islands 75.29 86.07
05 Goa 75.51 88.88
04 Chandigarh 76.65 85.65
03 Lakshadweep 81.56 93.15
02 Mizoram 86.13 90.69
01 Kerala 87.86 94.20
32
The above table clearly depicts that the literacy rates of the States and Union
Territories in India. Kerala holds first position in having highest literacy rate while
Bihar is holding last position among the states in India.
Decadal Variations in Literacy Rates in India, 1951-2001

Census Year Persons Males Females
1951 18.3 27.2 9.0
1961 28.3 40.4 15.4
1971 34.5 46.0 22.0
1981 43.6 56.4 29.7
1991 52.2 64.1 39.3
2001 65.4 75.9 54.2
Note: The table should be read caution, as literacy rates from 1951 to 1971 are not
strictly comparable to those from 1981 to 2001 because of change in the
computational procedure. In comparison to the former period (1951-57), the
latter one tends to present a bit more inflated picture.
Source: Census of India, 2001, Provisional Population Totals, Series-1, India, Paper-1
of 2001. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India.
The above table clearly indicates that the total literacy rate and also for Male and
Female has been steadily increasing. The Female literacy is still lagging behind Male
literacy rate. More than three-fourths of Male population and a little more than half of
the female population were recorded as literate.
Women’s Education – Social Development:
An important component of social development is the access of the girl child to the
world of knowledge and information. Despite the efforts of government, education
appears to be a distant dream for many poor and rural girls. Two thirds of world‘s total
illiterates are women. Education is the basic instrument of social change. Parents have to
change their attitude towards the educational development of their daughters and
encourage them to go for higher learning. They should have an access to the emerging
fields of science and technology. Through education they can be conscious of their
rights and duties in the society. Educated women can get employment in all fields. They
33
should no longer be dependents of their brothers, fathers or husband. They should be in
a position to manage their families with their own will. Social development can be
achieved through the educational development of the women in India.
Education for Women’s Equality:
Education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women. In order to
neutralize the accumulated distortions of the past, there will be a well conceived edge in
favour of women. The National Education System will play a positive, interventionist
role in the, empowerment of women. It will foster the development of new values
through resigned curricula, textbooks, the training and orientation of teachers, decision
makes and administrators, and the active involvement of educational institutions, this
will be an act of faith and social engineering. Women‘s Studies will be promoted as a
part of various courses and educational institutions will be encouraged to take up active
programmes to further women‘s development.
Present Indian Education Scenario at a Glance:
Despite the theoretical availability of education throughout India, the practical

limitations of imparting universal elementary education and encouraging women to
continue into higher echelons of learning has challenged the resources of the
administrative machinery of India. At the very basic level of literacy rates for the
country, one can see the immediately disadvantaged condition of women. According to
the 2001 census, the literacy rate for women was 54.28 percent as compared to men for
whom it was 75.96 percent. According to selected educational statistics, 2002-2001,
Ministry of HRD, GOI, there were 6.1 million recognized primary schools in India and
1.8 million upper primary schools in India. In 2001, the total number of teachers in
recognized primary schools was 18.9 millions and at the upper primary level was 13.3
millions. Out of these 55% teachers were females at the primary level and 62% at the
upper primary level. The literacy rate for women worldwide is 71.4% as compared to
83.7% for men. Of the 960 million illiterate adults two-thirds is women. In India female
literacy rate is 54% where as that of males is 76% and this clearly shows the gender
inequity in our education system. The literacy rates of females among SCs and
34
STs are even below the national average. The statistics given below highlight the gender
inequalities in India.
S.No Indicator Female Male Total
1 Population (in millions) 495.7 531.3 1027
2 Sex Ration 933
3 Infant Mortality Rate (2002) 65 62 64
4 Literacy Rate 53.67% 75.26% 64.84%
5 Gross Enrollment Ration (2002-2003) Min.
of HRD
Class I-V 93.1 97.5 95.3
Class VI-VIII
6 Drop Out Rate
(2002-2003) Min. of HRD
Class I-V 33.7 35.8 34.9
b) Class VI-VIII 52.3 53.4 52.8
Source: India country Report (2005), Department of Women and Child Development,
ministry of women and Child Development
The Existing Gap Between the Policies and Realities:
Despite the initiatives taken in the realm of policy, discrimination faced by girls in
schools, and gender construction of roles within families and the society continue to be
major barrier for participation of girls in schools. This discrimination becomes more
acute when they belong to the socially disadvantaged classes. Also, girls face
socioeconomic barriers at every step of the schooling process. These issues imply a
realization that girls and boys are placed in structural inequalities and unequal power
relationships, and in practical terms, it means subjugation of one sex to another. It
therefore becomes vital to understand and analyze the present practices that take place in
the family and in school, both of which are part of the larger society, which is patriarchal
in nature.
Need for Radical Social Work Intervention Strategies:
A holistic approach for intervention has to be adopted focusing on both micro as well as
macro level approaches to bring about attitudinal changes by working at the family and
community level and the policy level.
35
a. Gender Sensitization Programmes: There is a need an environment where
there is respect for girl children and a positive environment for them to identify and
nurture their inner talents. Gender sensitization programmes with adolescent boys, girls,
community men and women, school teachers, principals and officials working for
development welfare of children may be organized at regular intervals. In these training
sessions the role of these groups as agents of change for bringing about gender equality
may be highlighted in order to break the age old perceptions and norms.
b. Community Based Activities: Professionals, activists, social workers,

volunteers attached with different NGO‘s working at the family, school and community
levels, can organize multifaceted awareness programmes aimed at ensuring that girls
receive proper care, survival, opportunities for development, protection and recreation.
Through planning, handholding and support activities like cultural activities, latent talent
development exercises and rallies by ch8ldren may be organized by community groups
on a regular basis in order to give the girl children positive discrimination and
motivating them to come forward. Community leaders, volunteers, PTAs may be
motivated and trained to ensure the enrolment of all girl children in formal school. Non-
formal education, Open-schooling need to be made available as alternatives wherever
formal schooling is not possible. Creative awareness programmes to eliminate all forms
of discrimination against the girl children like female feticide, infanticide, neglect, abuse
and incest may also be organized through demonstrations by community children,
mothers and fathers groups, leaders; healthy baby shows (focusing on healthy ‗girl‘ and
‗boy‘ children), celebrating women‘s day thereby also involving men.
c. Policy Level: Advocacy is needed for formulation of policies and programmes

to help the family in supporting, educating and nurturing roles, provision of more
schools and basic infrastructure. Changes in the school curriculum / textbooks need to be
made to make them gender friendly. The Government has to take steps to eliminate
gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2015, which is also Millennium
Development Goal.
36
d. Advocacy Level: In making girl child‘s rights a reality, vigorous efforts are
required mobilizing political, cultural, administrative and community resources and
promoting transformation of public awareness of girl child needs into demands to be
fulfilled on time. This calls for massive advocacy and social mobilization starting from
the highest policy level. Action has to be taken to create an enabling environment to safe
guard the rights of the girl child and empower communities in a manner that they are
ready to assume their primary responsibilities towards the development of the girl child
the woman of tomorrow.
REFERENCES
Ashok Kumar 2006 , ―Educational Status of Girl Child – A situational Analysis in rural
India‖ in the Kurukshetra—A Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 55, No. 1 November,
New Delhi.
Caroline, O.N. Koser, 1997, Gender Planning in the Third World-Meeting Practical and
Strategic Needs; Summer School in Women‘s Studies, Hyderabad, Asmita Resource
Centre for Women‘s Studies.
Chandra Sinha 2007. ―Women Empowerment through Education‖, Social Welfare, Vol.
53 No.12 March 2007, New Delhi.
Dhandapani. R., Murugan, K.R 2007, ―Education – A Tool for Women‘s Empowerment
and sustainable Human Development‖ Social Welfare, Vol. 53, No.12, March 2007,
New Delhi.
Janet Saltzman Chafepz, 1991, ‗Gender, family and Economy‘s Publications, New
Delhi.
Joan Hobar 1991, Gender, Family and Economy; Sage Publications, New Delhi.
Karl, Marilee 1995, ―Women and Empowerment Participation and decision making‖,
Zed Books Ltd. London and New Jersy.
37
Meenu Anand 2005, ―Gender Stereotyping –The making of a Woman and a man,
Journal of Women‘s Watch, April-June 2005, Vol.2, issue3, New Delhi.
Narendra K. Singh, Gender Inequality – A Theoretical Construct in Anita, (Ed.): Quest

for Equality.
Raj Pruthi and Bela Rani Sharma, Women and Education, Indian Situations
Encyclopedia of Women Society and Culture, II, New Delhi, Anmol Publications Pvt.
Ltd.
Sadiq Ahmad Jilani Syed 2004, ―Women in India: Legal and Human rights‖ centre for
professional Development in Higher Education and Women‘s studies and Development
Centre, University of Delhi, Delhi – 110007.
Shyam Sunder Singh Chauhan and Gaurav Bansal, 2002, ―Various Dimensions of
Women‘s Empowerment‖ in the Journal of Social Welfare, Vo;. 49, No. 5, New Delhi.
Singh, Mas, P., 2001, ―Women and the Unorganized Sector‖ in the journal of Social
Welfare, Vol. 48, No. 9, December, 2001, New Delhi.
Suguna, B. 2002, ―Strategies for Empowerment of Rural Women‖, in the journal of

Social Welfare, Vol. 49, No. 5, New Delhi.
Sushma, Sahay, 1998, ―Women and Empowerment Approaches and Strategies‖,

discovery Publishing House, New Delhi.
38
Adolescence and Social Work Intervention
M. Tineshowri Devi
An attempt is made in the paper to examine the gaps between the Reproductive and
Child Health Programme and the health care needs of adolescent girls. It emphasizes the
need to provide not only the reproductive and sexual health but also the whole gamut of
other factors that are closely associated with adolescents‘ health that have hither to
ignored by policy makers. Further the author examines the complexity of adolescent
girls‘ health problems and their association with social, cultural and economic factors.
Key Words: Adolescent Health, Sex Education, Health Seeking Behaviour
Dr. M. Tineshowri Devi, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam

University (A Central University), Silchar-788011, Assam. Email:
[email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The World Health Organization defines adolescents as young people aged 10-19 years.
―Adolescence‖ is often synonymous with the teen years, thus identified as 10-19.
―Youth‖ usually covers the ages 15-24, and ―young people‖ is used for 10-24. ―Young
adults‖ are typically considered in the age range 20-24. Adolescence is the period in life
that signals a shift from childhood to adulthood (Government of India, 2006).
In India, it is estimated that there are 225 million adolescents comprising nearly
one-fifth (22 percent) of the total population (Census, 2001). Of the total adolescent
population, 12 percent belong to adolescents comprise of almost 47 percent female and
53 percent of male adolescents. The sex ratio among the 10-19 years is 882 females for
1000 males, lower than the overall sex ratio of 933. It is 902 for younger adolescents
aged 10-14 years and 858 for older adolescents aged 15-19 years (Government of India,
2006). Adolescence is a time of tremendous opportunity and change. It is also a time of
39
heightened vulnerabilities. Programs that can provide information, ensure access to
services and develop life skills are crucial to the future of this population. As a result,
adolescents‘ general health and reproductive health are an increasingly important
component of global health. However, despite adolescents being a huge segment of the
population, policies and programmes in India have focused very little on the adolescent
groups. This article is trying to examine the gaps between the RCH Programme and the
health care needs of adolescent girls in the context of socio-economic and cultural set up
of Manipur.
The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 1994

marked the start of a global rhetoric on reproductive well-being. In India, in 1995, the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) introduced the Reproductive and
Child Health Programme (RCH) as part of a paradigmatic shift in its on going family
welfare programmes (Rachel, 2002). Reproductive and Child Health Programme draws
the same principles of the ICPD. RCH Programme has two separate packages, the
Comprehensive (expanded package) and the Essential package. But neither the
Comprehensive package nor the Essential package considers the general health of the
adolescents. Their emphasis is on reproductive health services, prevention and treatment
of reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted infections, health sexuality and
gender information, education and counselling. Thus RCH Programme does not seem to
recognise the general health of the adolescents where reproductive health is a part of the
general health and the social and cultural factors that are associated with it.
METHODOLOGY
An exploratory research design was used for the study. In two districts, 128 girls were
selected from 8 Higher Secondary schools and information was collected through focus
group discussion and interview schedule. Likewise 64 couple parents were also
interviewed by using interview schedule to collect the necessary data in order to analyze
the factors that influenced the adolescent girls, their health seeking behaviours and
distribution of health services towards the girls. 32 teachers, 12 doctors, 12 nurses, 8
health workers, 12 NGO workers were selected as key informants and they were
40
interviewed accordingly to gather the information on the curriculum; services available
in the schools, hospitals, and NGOs.
Findings:
(A) Adolescents- The sample of adolescents is from school going girls of 10+1 and 10+2
at the age group of 15-19 years who reside in both Thoubal and Chandel districts. All the
respondents are unmarried. It was found that the average earning members among the
families of respondents was 2.06. Majority of the households with 30.5 percent live in a
poor economic condition having a monthly family income of less than 3000 and closely
followed by 28.9 percent whose income ranges from 3001 to 5000. There is less number
of respondents, 3.2 percent who belong to the income group of above 10000.
All the adolescents under the study had experienced restriction that came not
only from society but also from parents in many ways. Many of the girls responded that
there was not much safe and supportive environment for them starting from family,
schools, and hospitals and at large in society. They were often neglected and restricted
by the parents and society in their mobility, mixing up with friends, by not allowing in
kitchen and puja during periods. They found that they were being neglected their
potentials and abilities. They were often teased by classmate boys in schools, strangers
in market areas, and even by relatives at their locality. It is evident that 24.2 percent of
the respondents felt they became care takers and subordinate in the family. The data
revealed that girls and women continue to be victims of social humiliation with social
evils and practices. Girls and women are always being treated as impurity. The
physiological changes occurring among the girls are not taken as their becoming of
maturity rather they are treated as impurity. It is also shown that girls always remain the
center of subordinate and inferiority. They are physically, emotionally and culturally
deprived.
The natures of the problems faced by adolescent girls are seen in the light of
physical, medical, social and psychological aspects. The most common health
complaints mentioned by girls were general health problems of 75.8 percent like fever,
cold, cough, body ache, headache, diarrhoea, stomach problems, skin problems, eye
41
problems, dizziness, weakness, etc. than the reproductive health problems of 24.2
percent including the cases of itching, white discharge, dysmenorrhoea and irregular
menstruation. It can be noted that girls may be shy to disclose reproductive health
related information or they are not aware that they have got the problems until it has
become serious. However, it can be revealed that the need for general health has to be
given more importance along with reproductive health.
Looking at the health seeking behaviour, in general health related illness, girls
preferred more of private doctors with 57 percent along with homemade medicine,
chemist shops, and pastors than government doctor (hospital). Regarding reproductive
health related treatment only 4.7 percent of the girl respondents sought medical advice
from private doctors and government doctors (hospital). Majority of the girls 75 percent
did not reveal their reproductive health problems if they had any and accordingly they
had not attended any medical treatment. This reveals that majority of the girls do not go
to doctors for their reproductive health problems thus reproductive health problems
remain within self or in peer circles. The significance of this data is that if people are not
accessing the public health services how will the programme reach to the people where
majority of the people are going to private doctors, self medication and chemists. Thus
the health systems should not always be medicalised and it is worth studying the
traditional medicines as well the cultural aspects behind it.
Regarding awareness on reproductive organs the data revealed that the awareness
levels among the girls on reproductive organs were quite high with 98.4 percent.
Majority of the girls 75.8 percent learnt about the reproductive organs from books, peers
and magazine, only 10.2 percent mentioned teachers and books. Thus, it is found that the
most likely source of information is from peers who may not be fully informed and
books and magazine, which tends to focus on sexual and gender stereotypes or extremes.
The educational system is also ambivalent about imparting sex education. Teachers, by
and large, find the topic embarrassing and try to avoid it. Hence, both the teachers and
parents are generally reluctant in addressing these issues.
The awareness levels of different methods of contraceptives were quite high

among the girls with 93.7 percent. All the girls, 100 percent were aware of HIV/AIDS
42
but it is evident that even if Manipur has the highest prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS by
injecting drug users with 451 cases in 2001, a large proportion 80.5 percent of the
adolescents responded that the mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS were through sexual
contact and blood transfusion from infected persons. There were only 19.5 percent
adolescents who had awareness on the mode of transmission by injecting drug users
along with blood transfusion and sexual contact. Again, girls of 79.7 percent are aware
of the methods of prevention through condoms, screening of blood before transfusion
but only 27.3 percent of adolescents are aware of sterilization of needles. It further
reveals that the awareness levels of mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS among the
adolescent girls are very high. However the knowledge is general and not specific to the
condition and situations of the Manipur state.
Very interestingly, majority of the girls 96.1 percent had not heard of RCH
Programme whereas very few girls 3.9 percent were aware of it. But no one knows what
RCH Programme is all about. Those girls who have heard and got the information are
mainly from mass media and seen in posters.
(B) Parents- Very minimal parents with 13 percent could explain to their daughters
about their physiological changes on the onset of puberty. It can be noted that often girls
were told how to maintain themselves during the periods and also told to maintain the
secrecy of their periods to others. It reveals that parents especially mothers do not
explain the girls before their puberty and even after the puberty, but only the managing
of themselves during periods.
Majority of the parents revealed that girls did not share their health problems and
personal problems with their fathers but to their mothers. It revealed that girls did not
disclose their problems but parents came to know on observing the attitudes and
behaviours of their girls. Many of the mothers added that they were the mediator
between their husbands and daughters. If their daughters wanted money or any
permission to go out, they would tell their mothers to tell fathers and get the
permissions. Often girls take support of their mothers in solving their problems in
negotiating with fathers. Sometimes fathers scold mothers instead of scolding directly to
43
daughters so that mother can pass on to their daughters. Indeed parental communication
and education are important from adolescents‘ perspectives.
Regarding sex education among the girls, the parents who were not in the favour
of sex education expressed that if girls were taught about sex education then they would
try to practice that knowledge somewhere or other thus it should not be discussed in the
open arena. Girls would tend to ask embarrassing questions even in front of us. Thus the
RCH Programmes need to focus on clearing the mindset and the myths in providing sex
education. So it should also target on the primary group which is very close to
adolescent groups. Thus it is necessary for the programme planners to provide safe and
supportive environment for the safety of adolescent group.
Very few parents reflected of awareness of RCH Programme. Parents especially

mothers revealed that they were aware of family planning programme, mothers‘ health
and immunization which was a part of RCH Programme but they did not know any
programme for adolescent groups.
(C) Health personnel and NGOs- Health Personnel mentioned that there were no specific
medical services offered for adolescent groups within RCH Programme in both the
districts. There was no separate counselling center for adolescent groups. There was no
particular programme implemented for adolescent groups besides providing awareness
on HIV/AIDS in schools and colleges. There were hardly any cases of adolescent
coming to the hospital. Even if they come, the cases are of fever, poisoning, Diarrhoea
and sometimes for abortion, etc. So there is no specific importance given to this section
but according to NRHM, there are programme components for adolescents especially on
behaviour change modification.
Social Work Interventions
As adolescents need family support, Social Worker can encourage parents in the following areas:
1. Parents‘ involvements in planning policy are necessary for ensuring a safe and
secure environment for growth during the formative years of their children.
44
 Providing information, education and counselling and clinical services to
parents.
 Support sexual and reproductive health education programmes and
courses in schools and in non-formal centers. And also to find out what is
being taught about sexuality, who is teaching it, and what their children
think about it.
 Support the setting up and functioning of school and community-based
adolescent health centers.
 Work with adolescents to and books and websites that offer accurate
information on sexual and reproductive issues.
2. School Environment Promotes learning therefore, Social Worker needs to work

with teachers in the following areas:
 Teachers can make a successful adolescence education, thus teachers

involvement are important. Teachers should be given proper training for
adolescence education.
 Encourage students to identify their personal, family, community, and
religious values on sexual health.
 Provide medically accurate information on reproductive and sexual
health, including information about contraception and disease prevention.
 Encourage participation of students in planning, designing and
implementing a comprehensive adolescence education programme.
 Creating a supportive school environment is important thus there should
be counselling center and common rooms for students in schools and
hospital.
3. Community Leaders can advocate on Reproductive Health Programme, thus

Social Worker needs to work with community leaders in the following ways:
45
 Issues related to adolescent reproductive and sexual health require a
supportive community environment and also encouraging open discussion
and conversations on sexual and reproductive health in public spaces like
panchayat meetings.
 Talking of the importance of educating young people and how it can
empower them to look after themselves and take acre of their families.
 Creating and distributing pamphlets on powerful messages related to the
issue on adolescent health.
 Mobilizing the media, including local and folk media, to produce in-depth
news stories, article and features on issues for younger person or a radio
station to make an announcement on these issues particularly on days like
the World AIDS Day, International Youth Day and Women‘s day.
4. Service Provider can make a difference in the health status of adolescents where
Social Worker needs to work with health providers in the following areas:
 The programme should not be target oriented focusing only on women

and children.
 The programme should not be generalized with other states.
i. as societal and cultural play a very important role in the
development of a child and
ii. Problems of the state need to be dealt.
 Involve adolescents in setting up the services to enhance their sense of
ownership.
 Ensure that Programme are relevant to adolescents‘ actual needs
 Seek their help to identify messages and communication channels and
activities popular with their subculture.
 Equip adolescents to participate in devising evaluation mechanisms to get
feedback.
 Service providers like hospitals and NGOs can make a difference in the
health status of adolescents, so adolescents need a friendly environment
46
to access freely these services, so attitudes of service providers, locations
of service is very important.
 Involvement of adolescent in planning and development of health
services is necessary so that there will be ensured that programme are
relevant to adolescents‘ actual needs.
 Peer educators can become change makers; form network to encourage,
support and promote healthy living. This will empower then and enhance
their life skills.
CONCLUSION
The study concludes that there is a gap between the health care needs of adolescent girls
and RCH Programme in the context of socio-economic and cultural set up of Manipur.
Thus there is a need in formulating the methods of delivery of the health services; the
government should take an approach from ―womb to tomb‖ that includes the health of
the girl child right from birth, adolescence, reproductive age, menopause to old age, etc.
It has to be cyclical in nature because at all points in a girls‘ life, her health status
impinges upon the next phase. If adolescents‘ general health is not taken care of, it will
be hard for the RCH Programme to succeed as one should not separate adolescents‘
health from the overall development of a girls merging towards the womanhood. It is
seen that in RCH Programme there are components for adolescents‘ health but it is not
at all meeting the health needs of girls. It is quite obvious that RCH Programme is
concentrating on Family Planning, Immunization Programme as well as HIV/AIDS.
These are not the needs of adolescent girls.
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Briskman (eds.) Critical Social Work- An introduction to theories and practices’,
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Bailey, C. A. 2007, A Guide to Qualitative Field Research, Pine Forge Press: New
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evidence from India‘. In Ramasubban, R., Jejeebhoy, S., (eds.) Women’s Reproductive
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Delhi.
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Payne et al. 2002, ‗On Being Critical in Social Work‘. In Robert Adams, Lena
Dominelli, Malcolm Payne (eds.) Critical Practice in Social Work, Palgrave Macmillan:
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Payne, M. 2007, ‗What is Professional Social Work’, Rawat Publications: New Delhi.
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International Publishing House: Delhi.
VHAI, 2002, Towards Healthy Adolescence, New Delhi
49
Plight of Women in Brick Industry: Need for Social Work Intervention
Gangabhushan M. Molankal
The Constitution of India has recognised the link between decent conditions of work and
the promotion of enterprises in the unorganised sector, emphasising the goals of just and
humane conditions of work and ensuring a decent life. However, the workers in
unorganised sector suffer from lack of protection in terms of job security, wages,
working conditions and welfare due to various factors. These include casual and
seasonal employment, scattered places of work, poor working conditions, lack of a
concrete employer-employee relationship, irregular working hours, and a complete lack
of legal protection or government support.
The paper tries to bring forward the plight of women engaged in Brick Industry with
special reference to Barak Valley, Assam. The problems of women workers in this
industry revolve around issues such as unequal wages, lack of childcare facilities and
discrimination at the workplace. Many more special programmes and strategies are
required to ameliorate the problems of women engaged in unorganised sector.
Key words: Brick kiln workers, working conditions, social work intervention
Dr. Gangabhushan M. Molankal, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work,

Assam University (A Central University), Silchar-788011, Assam. Email:
[email protected]
INTRODUCTION
In India, the unorganised sector offers opportunities for survival to a large number of
unskilled and semiskilled migrants and those excluded from employment in the formal
sector. The nature of work in this sector is usually insecure, low earning and carried out
under appalling conditions. A large number of peasants with small holdings have been
forced to wage labour, if not in their ancestral villages but to other places. Agricultural
work being seasonal in nature is unable to generate regular employment for majority of
50
the agricultural workers. Employment, therefore available to them is casual in nature.
With growing demographic pressure and mechanisation of agricultural operations, the
avenues of employment for agricultural labour are also declining. This phenomenon has
resulted in the casualisation of labour which had made rural labour circulatory in nature
generating several streams of migration. Thus forcing a large number of them to seek
employment outside the organised sector and join the unorganised sector.
Poor women are invisible workers and the invisibility is thrust upon them by
confining them to the so called subordinate roles. The statistics thus collected even by
the official agencies largely categorises them as non-workers. They are classed as
weaker sex, confined to strenuous and monotonous work and withdraw voluntarily from
the labour force as and when the situation demands (Bannerjee, 1988). The accounting
of females as workers in the census and the NSSO suffers from serious enumeration and
recording drawbacks. According to Mitra (1981) the underreporting of female workforce
participation rates in the Census varies from 30-40 per cent. He estimates that the
participation of females in the informal sector is as high as 49 per cent as against 1 to 17
per cent in the case of males. Jain and Chand (1982) also found that the measurement of
female labour force participation and analysis suffer from gross under enumeration,
inadequate attention to unpaid family labour, own production and household work and
relationship between them.
The Brick Kiln Industry:
The Brick kiln industry occupies a very significant place in the unorganised sector of
Assam. With the advent of building booms in the urban areas, brick-making in India has
become a significant industry in the unorganised sector, confined mainly to rural and
semi-urban areas. There are no reliable estimates on the number of brick makers in
India. According to Gupta (2003), there are around 50,000 brick kilns in the whole of
India, and according to the Association of Brick Kiln and Tiles Entrepreneurs in Tamil
Nadu there are around 2000 brick kilns in that specific region.
This industry is characterized by aspects like instability, short duration. A large

number of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labourers are absorbed in this industry.
51
Nearly half the workers in this industry are women. The state of working conditions of
the brick kiln workers is miserable. They are neither provided with minimum wages for
their work nor do they get health and welfare amenities at their place of work. In spite of
their right to life and livelihood and to be protected against all forms of deprivation and
exploitations, these workers are not adequately protected by the state. They are left to
the condition of the market and are constantly exploited. No special concern appears to
have been shown towards these workers either by the central or state governments or
trade unions and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). They are not covered by
the legislation in the field of labour as it is not applicable to the establishments in which
they work. Consequently, their conditions of work do not provide for minimum
safeguards like in larger factories; they are not assured of regular and reasonable
payment of wages and are not entitled to benefits such as medical care, compensation in
case of accidents, occupational diseases, injuries and death.
The Gender Perspective:
It is important to look at the brick kiln worker‘s problem with a gender perspective.
With the increasing participation of women in work, she is spending more time at the
work site. If the conditions are bad for male brick kiln workers, women suffer more
managing the triple burden of work, home and childcare. Health, Workplace and family
are the three components, which plays a significant role in the life of a woman.
The Constitution of India has granted powers under Article 15 (3), to make
special provisions for women and children within the framework of the fundamental
rights. Articles 39 and 42 specially refer to women and children. They direct the State to
secure health and strength of all workers, men, women and children and not abuse
children for economic gains. Humane and just condition of work and maternity benefit
are assured to women by Article 42. Vaidya (1993) states the roots of the ‗labour
legislation for women in India‘ to the Indian Constitution guided by International
Labour Organisation conventions.
Therefore, it is necessary to study the above mentioned components and

conditions of women engaged in brick kiln industry. Though the work of women is
52
treated as manual and monotonous, still they are not less burdened with that of male
workers. Stress at the work site and manual work at home has compounded the problem
of women‘s health. The patriarchal attitude, gender discrimination, work nature and
other problems faced at work place and home may contribute to her low self-image in
her mind.
In view of the above, the study attempted to bring forward the genuine causes of
deprivation and marginalisation of the women labourers engaged in brick kiln industry.
Objectives of the Study:
1. To study the division of labour by sex in the organisation of work in the brick kiln
industry,
2. To investigate the pattern of migration in brick kiln industry,
3. To understand the impact of work environment (working conditions) and unpaid

work on the health of women labourers,
4. To understand implications of Social Work with reference to the unorganised

labour in general and kiln labour in particular.
METHODOLOGY
For the present study exploratory research design was considered keeping in view of the
objectives of the study. The subjects for the studyi constituted 300 women brick kiln
workers drawn from 30 selected brick kiln industries situated in the three districts of
Barak Valley. A multi stage stratified random sampling technique was used for selecting
10 brick kiln industries. From each industry 10 women workers were selected
purposively. Thus a total of 300 (i.e.10X3X10 = 300) women respondents were
interviewed using interview schedule followed by focused group discussion to elicit the
required information from the respondents.
53
Brick Kiln Industry in Barak Valley:
Brick kiln industry in Barak Valley is a major employer of unskilled and semiskilled
labour. There are around 150 brick kilns are running in the three districts of Barak
Valley (viz. Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimgunj) employing on an average 70 to 80
Workers in each industry. The process of brick production largely requires both skilled
and unskilled labour. The work at Brick kilns is a seasonal activity occurring largely
between October to the beginning of monsoon season (i.e. up to May). The work in this
industry attracts migrant labourers from surrounding rural areas and forms a large bulk
of inter-state as well as intra state migratory labour force. Due to the lack of
opportunities for work in agriculture, labourers migrate through brokers to work in brick
kilns.
The labourers for brick kiln industry are recruited through sardars (labour
agents/contractors) which is accompanied by payment of advances to the workers for a
specified period of employment. The advance is paid during Puja festival when they are
in need of money. This is crucial time for both the labourers and brick kiln owners in
terms of unemployed labourers seeking work and the owners requiring huge number of
labour for the running of industry. From the date of getting advance they are accountable
to sardars directly. The advance paid to the workers is deducted from the beginning of
the season, the amount of deductions depends upon the understanding between the
worker and the labour agent. If the worker wishes to leave mid-term, he has to return the
balance advance.
The structure of brick kiln industry is pyramidal in nature and composed of four
levels. At the head of the pyramid are the owners, and on the second level there are the
managers (accountants). On the third level, there are the brokers, who have a special
function in this industry. Finally, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are workers
composed of five main groups (moulders, loaders, un-loaders, wooden cart drivers and
firemen). This hierarchical structure exists in brick kilns of large size. However, a
smaller brick kiln has to resort less to managers and to middlemen. It was found that in
case of small kilns the existence of brokers is less compared to the big kilns.
54
Payment to the workers is made once in a week and that is not considered as
payment but advances towards their running cost of living (Khurakhi). These amounts
do not match up to the value of their work and wages due to them in accordance with
what they have produced. The money given to them towards expenses and the advance
that they have taken are both deducted at the end of the season when the final payment is
made to the workers. In a way, the workers are held back by the owners and the
contractors till they have earned enough to pay back the advance and the amount that
they have been given as expenses although the expense money comes from the workers
labour and from his unpaid wages. It is not easy for the workers to leave the kiln as and
when they wish to look for better or alternative work opportunities.
Demographic Profile:
The personal profile of women shows that they belongs to the lowest economic strata of
the society and are landless labourers. The near absence of upper caste women could be
explained by their more privileged position in the society. An overwhelming majority
(32 percent) fall in the age group of 26-30 years followed by the age group of 19-25
years (26 percent). This shows that the nature of work in brick kilns requires stamina of
able bodied. Though children were not found working as labourers but adolescents were
seen engaged in brick kiln industry both in moulding bricks and transporting bricks.
Same types of findings were reported by the Labour Bureau, Government of India in its
survey (1982) on brick kilns in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab.
Regarding marital status, an overwhelming majority of the respondents are

married (76.0 per cent), while 14 per cent are unmarried. The proportion of Widow,
Separated and Divorcee are 7.3 per cent, 1.7 per cent and 1.0 per cent respectively.
Regarding educational status of the women brick kiln labourers, a large majority
of the respondents (84.7 percent) have never gone to school. Very negligible portion of
labour force could reach up to high school. The reason to this may be attributed to the
fact that these small portions of the respondents who have studied are the first generation
literates. Poverty coupled with illiteracy and ignorance makes them vulnerable and
prone to exploitation.
55
Occupational pattern of the head of the household of respondents shows that they
are largely seen to be employed in the informal sector as casual labour. Occupational
pattern of them indicate the incidence of men in the family in brick kilns is predominant.
This is also an important factor for women to feel secured when her male counterpart is
also engaged in the same industry.
Past Work Profile:
Past work profile of the women labourers in brick kiln reveals that a predominant
majority of them (62.3 percent) have entered in to work on payment basis at the age
between 15 to 18. One fifth of the respondents had taken up the work when they were at
the age between 10 to 15 years. This is an indication that parents often take the help of
children to supplement their own earnings, and this is a major reason for the widespread
prevalence of child labour in the brick kiln industry. This fact is hidden by not including
them in the muster rolls or perhaps by increasing their age on record. With the record on
age of joining and who had introduced them to the brick kiln, and the job category they
had entered with it appears that there is a large section of child workers work in the
brick kilns.
With regards to the first time work experience of the respondents, it was revealed
that a predominant number of respondents (40 per cent) have entered in to work in brick
kiln industry, followed by a significant number (31.33 per cent) in Tea Gardens. The
nature of work was mostly as casual labour or daily wage labour. Under furious
conditions they have started working to supplement their family. Poverty was cited as
main reason for working in brick kilns.
Migration Pattern:
The poor migrants are either pushed out by economic and social deprivation, or pulled
into urban life with the attraction of employment and better wages. Migration is a
voluntary decision motivated by economic factors but many a times, migration is forced
under various circumstances and some time due to social and biological factors.
Migration acts as an equilibrium force for supplying labour from labour surplus to
56
labour deficient areas as last surviving strategy. Numerous instances can be evidence of
migration under debt bondage of people from lowest rung of the society from chronic
poverty stricken belt of country to various brick-kilns stone quarry, coal- mines and in
several labour intensive low paid jobs. It was found that the nearly half of the labour
force in brick kilns is comprising of migrants. Although principle force of migration is
economic motive, however the study shows that women tend to move to nearby places
than to far off places i.e. women are resorting to inter-district migration than inter-state
migration. Inter-state migration is mostly resorted by the men (from Bihar, Jharkhand
and Uttar Pradesh).
The review of source villages of the migrants revealed that the migration is
arising out of poverty stricken districts. Women migrants come from two backward
districts of Assam, namely Dubri and Kokrajhar. These districts are considered as the
worst hit districts of the state in terms of poverty, thereby contributing largely to the
migration of population to other districts of the state.
Migrants are predominantly comprising of Muslims. Caste wise study of women

migrants shows that most of them are from backward castes. The migrants are
predominantly from the age group of 26 to 30 years followed by the age group of 19 to
25 years. Comparatively greater participation of women from migrated families was
found due to the fact that these groups have no access to employment and are landless
labourers.
Working Conditions:
Within the occupational structure, participation of women in brick-making process is

characterised by distinct division of labour. Starting from moulding till extraction of the
baked bricks from the kiln, the division of labour based on the nature of work is seen.
Though, predominantly men are involved in moulding, stacking and firing, an
overwhelming majority of the respondents are engaged in loading and unloading work
which is performed by the labourers from the local areas. Little above 15 per cent of the
respondents engaged in moulding bricks are the migrants. In case of transporting bricks
from one place to the other both men and women are involved. Men make use of
57
wooden carts or cycles, where as women carry the bricks over their head. In observation,
I noticed that the continuity of work solely depends upon the hard labour of the
migrants. The present findings are in line with those of the Gulati (1979).
At the aggregate level the weight carried on the head, a majority of the
respondents (66.3) carry weight up to 30kg on their heads. There is a wide spread
argument that women‘s tasks are less physically arduous than men‘s; ‗regardless of
energy output, when a task is performed by men alone, it is always described as hard
work, requiring strength, and when it is done by women it is simply taken for granted‘
(Mencher 1993:114). The bias that women lack physical strength is deeply internalised,
although the evidence from the field revealed that women often bear a greater load of
the labour-intensive tasks than do men.
Though the working hours are not rigid and the payment of wages are made
based on the piece rate, it was found that an overwhelming fifty percent of the women
respondents were working for 9 hours a day, followed by one-third respondents working
for eight hours a day. In contrast, nearly one fifth of the respondents were working for
12 hours a day. This is more relevant to the migrants who are staying at the site and are
giving more time as they are in proximity to their work place.
Although, on an average this industry provides continuous employment for five

to six months in a year, but there is a variation in the availability of work. Nearly half of
the respondents had worked up to 5 months in a year in the brick kiln industry. Another
significant number of respondents (43.67 per cent) had worked in the brick kiln industry
up to four months period.
With regards to work satisfaction, it was found that an overwhelming majority of

the respondents (41.67 per cent) are not satisfied with the work they do, in contrast a
significant number of respondents (33 per cent) have expressed that they are satisfied
being working in brick kiln industry. Due to near absence of alternate gainful
employment, work in brick kilns is perceived as the only source of survival.
58
Though the system of advance is an important factor which attracts the labourers
to work in brick kilns, it was found that nearly 40 per cent (39.6 percent) of the
respondents have not received any advance from the brick kiln owner. One third of the
respondents received an advance amount up to Rs. 1000, where as 18 per cent have
received Rs. 1001 to 2000. Very few families could get advance ranging from Rs. 2001
to 3000. A negligible percent of the respondents have received advance amount above
Rs. 3000.
An average weekly income from the brick kiln industry revealed that more than
fifty percent (52 per cent) of the respondents gets up to Rs. 250/- weekly i.e. payment
for the work done for 6 days. It shows that the major proportion of women labour
getting far less than minimum wages as fixed by the Government of India and the State
Government. Above 38 per cent of the respondents gets between Rs. 251/- to 500/- and
9.7 per cent of them get Rs. 501/- to Rs. 1000/- as weekly payment for their labour. It
also reflects the stark violation of equal remuneration Act in the brick kiln industry.
Monthly income of the family from the brick kilns also reveals that more than
half of the respondents have total monthly income ranging between 1001-3000, more
than one fifth of the respondents earn below Rs. 1000. Another one-fifth of the
respondents have monthly income ranging between 3001-5000, only a negligible portion
of the respondents could earn a monthly income which is above Rs. 5000. An overall
earnings of the families engaged in brick kiln industry is not attracting. The earnings of
the family are not in consonance with the amount of time and labour they are putting in.
The earnings are meagre even to fulfil their basic necessities of life.
Women‘s contribution in terms of running the family is very much visible in

terms of her share in the family income. It was found that a majority of the respondents
(i.e. 78 percent) contribute 25 to 50 percent of the family income. However, irrespective
of the respondents equal contribution to family income, it was found that only a small
percentage of the respondents had the right to retain their earnings wholly and spend the
same according to their own choice. Among the remaining respondent some could enjoy
59
limited freedom in the matter of spending a portion of their own earnings, while others
did not have any freedom in this regard.
Aforesaid picture, as we could notice, was in sharp contrast to the picture that
was available for the male labourers who spend a considerable portion of their own
income or of the income of the family on consumption of liquor. It shows that women in
their familial domain enjoys lower than that of male counterparts. Firstly, male
domination in the families of women workers with regard to decision making was found.
That is, women workers were found not participating equally with their male
counterparts in decision-making process within the families. Secondly, it was found that
women workers share in the right to spend in the sample area was not at par with men‘s
share in the right to spend. Thirdly, with regard to savings, it was found that
predominant women engaged in brick kilns hardly could save anything out of their
earnings. Their earnings were exhausted to manage their day to day consumptions. This
shows the vulnerability of women both at work place and at home.
Thus, the working condition of women workers in the sample brick kilns was
also found to be wanting in many respects. Unable to entitle various essential facilities
in work place like crèche facility had created additional hardships for women.
Household Burden:
Work burden and domestic burden are compounding determinants for developing
various health related disorders for women. The brick kiln labourers do tedious work in
a given whole day which affect their physical and mental wellbeing. The major
responsibilities at home includes household maintenance i.e. the responsibility of
cooking food, cleaning and maintenance of the house, taking special care of the children,
aged and disabled persons in the family.
In terms of getting assistance from the other family members, certain trends are
evident that majority of the respondents were not receiving any help from them in
performing the household chores. Among the family members who extend assistance to
the household work and childcare, daughter is the most prominent member. In very
60
negligible cases the help is extended by the husband. This shows that the social tradition
of females to compulsorily carry out domestic duties of the household prevails.
The un-substitutable function of child bearing is mostly entrusted to women

alone. Absence of childcare facilities like crèche is a source of anxiety and tension for
the respondents having children. It also affects the work efficiency. Lack of crèche will
also make the children to get exposed to dust and heat and are vulnerable to health
hazards. Apart from the question of health, lack of pre-school education makes them
deprived from right to education.
Thus, the study after analyzing the sharing pattern of responsibilities and rights
among the two genders in the realm of families of the women brick kiln labourers could
observe that an asymmetrical gendered division of labour in favour of men prevailing.
Thus, women have larger share of responsibilities and lesser share of rights. This
unequal gender relation in turn reflects the ongoing gender specific deprivation of
women workers in their familial domains.
Health Status:
The health status of workers depends upon their indefinite working condition and term
of services – this includes their working hours, rest intervals, holidays and payments.
Incongruous living conditions i.e. access to basic facilities like sanitation, safe drinking
water and other welfare amenities like access to healthcare system and education
including for their children plays a pivotal role in deciding their health status.
The working environment of brick kiln industry is subjected to the uncertainties

of nature and climatic conditions like rains, extreme heat, of cold weather, which is
arduous and hazardous for the workers. This results in the direct impact on the workers
i.e. attack of diseases while the indirect impact is sustained mental pressures culminating
in health deterioration.
Workers in this industry are more susceptible to muscle strain, injuries from long
periods of lifting head loads. It was found that they normally suffer from the ailments
like stomach ache, head ache, body ache and fatigueness. Apart from fatigueness they
61
are prone for respiratory problems due to inhalation of dust and to stress-related
conditions as a result of target-oriented work, they ignore taking proper rest and engage
for long working hours.
The common health related ailments reported by the respondents like fatigue,
body ache, head ache, backaches, eye strain, stomach ache and anaemia. It clearly shows
that the respondents are suffering from physical pain in upper part of the body i.e.
headache, pain in upper limbs, shoulder pain and neck pain. The probable reason of
these ailments could be their nature of work at work place. Carry weight on head and
lifting the weight to carry it would affect the upper part of the body. Secondly when the
person does hard work without taking proper intake makes them more vulnerable.
It was found that the respondents avoid consulting the doctors except under
extreme situation due to non affordability of healthcare. Non availability of healthcare
facilities within an accessible distance is also another reason of avoiding treatment. The
government hospitals‘ timings and procedures of availing healthcare services are
reported to be not feasible for the respondents if they approach to the government
hospital they have to leave a day‘s work or spend money on transportation and on
medicine. Thus poor state of affordability could not allow the women to avail treatment
facilities.
Perceived Mental Health:
Women in brick kiln work have developed some problems relating to their mental health
due to strenuous nature of work i.e. mental exhaustion, irritation in day to day life, loss
of control, conflict with others etc. Even with the exhaustive nature of work, a
significant number of the respondents gave negative responses. This shows that most of
the women workers could not express their problems. They have become so socialized
to their life situations that difficult situations are not seen as problems.
Concluding Remarks:
Although there is an increasing number of a woman in paid occupations, this does not
seem to ensure their well being and an improvement of quality of life. Women are being
62
used only as a source of cheap labour. In these new types of employment, the burden on
the women gets multiplied. Workers in the Brick kiln industry comprise one of the
poorest and weakest segments of the society. The working conditions of labour in
general and women in particular shows that they are working under extreme exploitative
conditions. The vulnerability of women can be manifested in terms of practicing
discriminatory wages, lack of childcare facilities at the work place. With the advent of
no alternative employment avenues, women are compelled to opt work in brick kilns.
Paid and unpaid work load is also posing threat to women‘s physical and mental health.
In order to realise the employment and productive potential of the unorganised

sector and unorganised workers, to meet the universal standards for decent conditions of
work, such as securing minimum wages, social security, and boost to enterprise, the
current realities of the sector require thoroughgoing attention. The realisation of rights
of the brick kiln labourers in general and women in particular is possible only when
diversified initiatives at various levels by diversified actors make their efforts through
proper co-ordination. Policies and legislations for formalisation of labour alone cannot
achieve the goal unless the developmental goals are delivered in a manner, which will
take into account the socio-economic reality. The State‘s responsibility is to strive
towards protecting and promoting the rights of the marginalised with a political will.
Social work strategies need to be employed to facilitate the process worker‘s access to
fundamental rights.
What needs to be done?
The problems of women engaged in brick kilns requires for integrating unorganised
women‘s concern in general and women in brick kilns in particular into development
process. Multi varied initiatives from various actor need to be taken up in the following
areas:
1. Formalisation of the unorganised labour
Formalisation of unorganised labour is needed to ensure their basic rights. An initiative

is required for the documentation of who works for whom and for how long, no matter
63
how temporary, seasonal or casual the employment is. A prerequisite for the same would
be possible by way of ensuring compulsory registration of the kilns by the government,
identity cards, attendance diaries and pay slips, etc. For contract workers, there is an
additional complication, because the labour contractor acts as a middleman between
worker and employer without taking on the responsibilities of an employer. In principle,
whoever pays the worker‘s wages should be regarded as the employer i.e., there should
be no intermediary between employer and worker. In most cases, the contractor should
be registered only as a recruitment agent and paid a commission by the employer, who
should then pay the workers directly. Formalization of the unorganised labour would
facilitate to introduce additional measures to ensure a maximum amount of
regularisation of employment.
With a record of all employment being kept, it would become much more
obvious when unfair labour practices are being used, such as creating artificial breaks in
employment, terminating one worker and employing another simply in order not to
make the first worker permanent, or moving production to another location when
workers unionise. If, in addition, it is stipulated that irregular workers have to be paid
the same wages as permanent workers doing comparable work, with pro rata facilities
(like paid off-days, holidays and crèches) and benefits (health care, retirement benefits,
bonus, etc), the temptation for employers to use irregular workers in the place of regular
ones would be much reduced. Their argument for using irregular workers is flexibility,
and if this is the real reason, there should be no objection to spending as much on these
workers as on permanent ones.
We may also refer to the Unorganised Workers Social Security Bill 2008. This
draft Bill received the Assent of the President of India on 23rd December, 2008 and has
now become an Act. This Act titled ―The Unorganized Workers‘ Social Security Act,
2008‖ has not been brought into force yet. An overall assessment of the positive and
negative features of the Act, reveals that many positive features like Registration and
issuance of Smart Cards for the Unorganized Workers have been included in the Act.
Certainly, the success or failure of this initiative largely depends upon the political will
to ensure effective implement of the same.
64
2. Advocacy through collective bargaining
The aim of advocacy is to bridge the gap between policy change and public activism for
the benefit of the poor and those suffering injustice. The ILO Core Conventions –
protecting freedom of association, the right to organise and bargain collectively,
freedom from forced and bonded labour, the abolition of child labour, and freedom from
discrimination – were made mandatory in all member states of the ILO in 1998. The
right to a safe and healthy workplace can also be seen as basic human rights, although
they are not included in the core conventions. Ignorance about the rights makes the
unorganised labour more vulnerable to exploitation. Lack of association and collective
voice make them weaker in terms of their bargaining power. Collective bargaining can
be a viable strategy in support of advocating for the rights of the vulnerable. Civil
society organisations can do a lot in terms of organising them on the issues that affect
their lives. Through collective representation they can have their collective voice heard.
3. Keep prime mandate of working with unorganised labour by NGO
Non government organisations can play a pivotal role by making prime mandate of
working for the rights of the unorganised workers to build their collective bargaining.
The present context necessitates that more NGOs should come forward to work with the
unorganised workers and employ the strategy for poverty alleviation. The funding
organisations also should have a prime mandate of supporting the organisations working
for the rights of the unorganised labour. If rural development programmes are to be
targeted, it is necessary that the district centres must have at least one NGO working
exclusively on unorganised labour. It requires a constant follow-up. Finally, the plan
document of the government should prioritise the unorganised labour as a major
programme. With the increasing trend of migration from the drought prone areas in
search livelihood it becomes all the more pertinent that new avenues for employment
generation be identified at the source villages. This strategy of generating adequate
employment on a sustained basis should be seen as a plausible strategy to reduce poverty
and distress migration.
65
4. Poverty alleviation programmes
Poverty alleviation programmes should include reallocation of productive resources in

favour of women and other marginalised groups through investment in socio-economic
infrastructure, trade facilitation and business development services such as basic
infrastructure, basic healthcare, primary education, provision of safe water, law and
order and other activities that directly affect the poor and the women. Effective
implementation of existing poverty alleviation and development programmes is
essential. The success of these programmes would largely depends upon the organising
strategies of the rural masses towards availing the benefit.
SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION
The goal of social work profession is to remove the defects in the system which prevent
growth and liberation; promote social justice and equality of opportunities, along with
help in redistribution of society‘ goods and services. Some of these goals are achieved
by developing an environment which encourages ―interaction‖ to aid social betterment
and improve the quality of peoples‘ lives, especially of those who are vulnerable. The
social systems that the profession works with are the families, large and small groups,
communities, and organisations, while the situations the profession addresses itself to
are developmental, facilitative, preventive and dealing with crisis situations, not
essentially in any particular order.
In order to achieve the goals of the profession, the conventional strategies and
methods of social work would be inappropriate with such a category of population. The
need of the hour is to take up various initiatives at various levels to attain our goal of
empowering the marginalised sections of the society. The role of social work is needed
in the following areas:
Literacy
Literacy is an important area of work where social workers have substantial experience.
Establishing a platform for stakeholder interaction (industry representatives, policy-
makers, researchers, NGOs, financial institutions etc.) to expedite the adoption of
66
efficient strategies for the workers engaged in brick industry and their accompanying
children. Efforts should be made to institutionalise the educational facilities for the
children of migrant labour. These children are to be put through a period of structured
and unstructured learning and subsequently they can be integrated in the formal
schooling system. In the process there is a need to inject the significance of education
and motivate community, parents and children to regard school as beneficial and
worthwhile. Emphasis should be on equal access to learning opportunities by girls at all
ages. Efforts should be made towards removal of all social and familial biases and
discriminations against the girl child and strive towards building non-discriminatory
culture in the society.
Health
There is a need to provide protection of the basic rights, health and safety of workers
and the progressive improvement of overall working conditions. Strengthening of efforts
towards facilitating the role of Government in improving health policies that reduce,
with a view to eliminating, environmental health hazards and provide for occupational
health and safety, in conformity with the relevant Conventions. Provide brick kiln
owners and all workers with accessible information and guidance on how to enhance
occupational safety and reduce health risks. The state should recognize and act upon
their obligation to provide childcare facilities to working women. Widespread ignorance
in this respect poses danger to social justice. In view of widespread illiteracy among
overwhelming majority of brick kiln workers, facilitating role of social workers is
predominantly needed in comprehensive adult education initiative for raising level of
literacy among them.
Presently the workers to a great extent depend on the private sector for
identification and treatment. Along with the private sector, steps can be taken to improve
the liasoning work with the local public health systems. There is a need to strengthen the
local healthcare system more responsive to the needs of the vulnerable sections.
67
Income enhancement
Poverty alleviation programmes and income generation programmes should go hand in

hand. Poverty alleviation programmes should emphasise reallocation of productive
resources in favour of women and other marginalised groups through investment in
socio-economic infrastructure, trade facilitation and business development services such
as basic infrastructure, basic healthcare, primary education, provision of safe water, law
and order and other activities that directly affect the poor and the women.
Complementary role of social work in Effective implementation of existing poverty
alleviation and development programmes is essential. The success of these programmes
would largely depends upon the organising strategies of the rural masses towards
availing the benefit.
The data of the study has shown that almost all the respondents are poor. The
problem is not only of low income but also of stable incomes as a result of which
savings become difficult. Income generation and habit of saving together can address the
problems of the poor. Social work role can be in terms of formation of Self Help
Groups, enabling them to involve in income generation programmes. Linking groups
with the banks can meet the small loan requirements of the women labourers. The timely
financial help can prevent them from borrowing money from the money lenders on
heavy interest. This would be an effective strategy of combating vicious circle of
indebtedness among the brick kiln workers.
Policy- Making
The problems of the workers of the unorganised sector are more at the level of policy-
making and implementation than at the micro-level. Lack of comprehensive legislation
for the unorganised sector, the scattered nature of women workers, their lack of
education and legal literacy, bureaucratic bottle necks procedures leaves them with
vulnerable to exploitation.
Professional social work need to integrate the rights perspective and approach to
plans, policies and programmes and processes. Historically social work has distanced
68
itself from politics. Doubts have been expressed, ‗whether social workers as a
professional group can participate in movements of social action, which raises issues of
law and order. Short of this and depending upon their ingenuity and skills of
mobilisation, social workers can and should represent, argue for and press the interest of
the disadvantaged‘ (Gore, 1973:45 and 65). Gore‘s reservation has been about social
workers taking an active role with implications for the law and order situation. But a via
media is possible. Based on selected issues ‗mobilisation and campaigning‘ can be
undertaken in collaboration with political leaders and other groups in society. This will
also strengthen the nature of Indian civil society.
Social Work Education and Research
Social work education is becoming increasingly challenged by the need to reorganize,

modify and strengthen its educational curriculum in order to respond to the emerging
social realities. A content examination of the syllabus of Social Work with Labour
Welfare and Personnel Management specialisation finds the field work aspect of the
curriculum has centered around institutional settings, which not only encompassed very
small segment of the population having problems but also meant that the problem was
being defined narrowly. Over the last two and half decades non-institutional settings like
communities and Panchayats have found a legitimate place in field-work settings. The
social work curriculum needs to be altered time to time in order to equip students with
competence to deal with the client‘s environment.
Social Work profession can play a pivotal role in generating authentic

quantitative and qualitative data concerning various problems suggesting the appropriate
approaches of intervention viz., preventive, alleviative, curative, promotive or
rehabilitative (or some combinations thereof). This would provide basis for realistically
projecting the emerging problems and issues of communities.
Notes:
i. The data for the study were collected during the years November 2006 to March
2007.
69
REFERENCES
Bannerjee, Nirmala 1988, Some Recent Trends in the Economic Activities of Indian
Women, CSSS/NCEW.
Gore, M. S. 1973, Some Aspects of Social Development, Department of Social Work,

University of Hong Kong and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Government of India, 1982, “Report on the working and living conditions of workers in
the Brick Kiln industry in Chandigarh Union Territory‖, Unorganised Sector Survey
Series No. 9, New Delhi, Ministry of Labour Bureau, Chandigarh
Government of India, 1982, “Report on the working and living conditions of workers in
the Brick Kiln industry in Haryana‖, Unorganised Sector Survey Series No. 11, New
Delhi, Ministry of Labour Bureau, Chandigarh
Gulati, Leela 1979, ―Female Labour in the Unorganised Sector: Profile of a Brick
Worker‖, Economic and Political Weekly, 14 (16): April 21, pp 744-752.
Gupta, Jayoti 2003, ―Informal Labour in Brick Kiln. Need for Regulation‖, Economic
and Political Weekly, August 2, pp. 3282-92.
Jain Devaki and Chand Malani 1982, Report on a Time Allocation Study – Its
Methodological Implications, Institute of Social Studies Trust, New Delhi.
Mencher, Joan P. 1993, ―Women, Agriculture and the Sexual Division of Labour: A
Three- State Comparison‖, in Saraswati Raju and Deipica Bagchi (eds.), Women and
Work in South Asia: Regional Patterns and Perspectives, pp. 99-117. London:
Routledge.
Mitra, Ashok 1981, ―Participation of Women in Socio-Economic Development‖ Women

and Development, UNESCO
Vaidya, S.A. 1993, Women and Labour Laws, Maniben Kara Institute, Bombay.
70
Rural Development Programmes and Panchayati Raj Institutions:
Role of Professional Social Work
Subhabrata Dutta
India lives in Villages. Since independence special attention was given to the
development of rural life and infrastructure with various policies and
programmes. Planning Commission of India found in its study that during 1973-
74 to 1993-94 poverty ratio was reduced from 55 to 36 per cent. However, due to
increase in population the number of rural poor remains almost the same. One
important finding was the lack of people‘s participation and many programmes
failed to satisfy the needs and aspiration of the target groups. The concept of
People‘s Participation is an integral part of the Democratic Welfare State
contained in the Indian Constitution. The concept of Community Participation
dated back to 1950 but it has not been properly followed. At present both the
central and provincial governments are giving importance to participatory
approach in implementing development programmes in rural areas. 73rd
(Constitutional) Amendment introduced Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for the
effective planning and implementation of schemes and programmes in rural areas
with the involvement of rural people. But various studies in different parts of the
country have showed that the villagers are not as yet in a position to contribute
through an effective participation. In this situation, the initiatives and roles played
by the professional social.
Key words: Rural Poverty, Panchayati Raj, Rural Development, People‘s
Participation, Five Year Planning, Schemes and Programmes, Empowerment,
Social Work.
Dr. Subhabrata Dutta Reader , Dept. of Social Work, Assam University (A Central
University), Silchar-11, Assam, India, Email: [email protected]
71
INTRODUCTION
The planning era in the country started with the initiation and implementation of the
First fives year‘s plan in 1951. Concern for weaker sections of rural areas was built into
the planning process from the very inception. For instance, quite apart from providing
for the amelioration of the schedule casts and schedule tribes, the plan envisaged the
establishment of Community Development Projects (CDP) for all round and balanced
development of rural areas. The central theme of community Development activities was
to help people to help themselves. Through the C.D activities the development of the
entire Community was aimed at.
Human resource development is sine qua non for the material prosperity of a
nation. No country with an essentially ill nourished, illiterate and low productive
population can drive towards the goal of development. Poverty at the root and thus can
be taken care of. It is difficult to define poverty and even harder to measure in any
quantitative sense. It is not simply a matter of physical or material deprivation but much
more complex social phenomena. It means the existence of a number of conditions that
are casually inter-related. In a broader sense, poverty is thus defined: "When a
substantial segment of society is deprived of the minimum level of living and continues
at the bare subsistence level, the society is considered to be suffering from mass
poverty."
The commonly used term ‗ Rural Poor‘ refers to that section of the country‘s
population, which is placed in a comparatively unfavorable portion in terms of assets
and income distribution and comprises in the rural areas, namely, land-less labourers,
marginal farmers, rural artisans and the schedule casts/ schedule tribes. The
development of the rural poor in the new millennium has become a matter of serious
concern among the policy makers, planners and the enlightened section of bureaucracy
and intelligentsia. 50 years have been passed that our country has gained independence
and in recent future its planning process is also going to celebrate its 50 years, but it is
widely accepted that population growth makes serious unbalances in the matter of assets
and income distribution coupled with widespread poverty. Unemployment and under
employment have worsened the lot of the weaker sections especially of the rural poor.
So, in this new millennium, the government, the policy makers, rural reconstruction
72
workers, the social scientists, the people of the country must analyze the impact as well
as the drawbacks of rural development programmes in ameliorating the socio- economic
conditions of the rural poor.
THE CONCEPT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT:

The term ―Rural‖ is essentially means an area, which is characterized by non-urban style
of life, occupation structures, social organization and settlement pattern. Rural is
essentially agriculture; its settlement system consists of villages or homesteads; socially
it cannot greater inter – dependence among people, more deeply rooted community life
and a slow moving rhythm of life built around nature and natural phenomenon and
occupationally it is highly dependent on crop farming, animal husbandries, tree crops
and related activities.
The term ‗Rural Development‘ is an Ariel concept. It is a complete term, which

integrates a variety of elements of human life and activities. It is essentially means
desired positive change in the rural areas both in quantities as well as qualitative sense,
in such a way that each component of rural life changes in a desired direction and in
sympathy with the other components. Further more ‗ Rural Development‘ means
structural changes in the socio-economic situation in the rural areas in order that human
welfare which the prime goal of all development is secured at the earliest and that the
society is able to absorb changes necessary in the field of technology, man –
environment relationship, population growth etc. (Kunwar: 1990). According to Mohsin
(1985), Rural Development involves a process in which the rural society as a whole
moves from one step of the economic ladder to the next step ahead, thereby enhancing
its social and economic status. Shepherd (1998) said that, Rural Development is the set
of activities of diverse actors- individual, organizations and groups which taken together
leads to progress (growth of income and wealth, poverty alleviation and cultural,
spiritual and ethical development) in rural areas.
The gist of all these definitions or concepts is decent living to the masses of low-income
population of rural masses on a self-sustaining basis along with the development of their
culture.
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PHILOSOPHY OF PLANNING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT:
The planning processes initiated after the attainment of independence was a set of state
interventions to guide and channelise the economic forces and activities into meaningful
and intended direction. These interventions were to be in shape of policy interventions,
institutional interventions and technological interventions. Through the planning
process, the Indian economy was to be steered along predetermined parameters and
directions in accordance with the broad policies of a welfare state that India professed to
be rather than to be allowed to drift along its own way on the lines of a free market
economy based on the principle of laissez faire.
Where the planning process was first in produced the planners adopted the
growth-centered models of economic development. The planning process was oriented
towards promoting general economic growth rather than achievement of over all
economic growth through the development of the different component elements of
society.
Since there was no elaborate discussion at the time of choice of planning strategy
and it was difficult to assess what promoted Indian policy makers and planners to opt in
favour of strategy of general economic growth with the assumption that the trickling
down effects will also be on rural poor. Perhaps, the most important factor responsible
for that choice was to be a historical experience of western model of development where
economic growth has been accompanied by specialization, centralization, maximization
urbanization and industrialization.
ATTENTION TO THE RURAL POOR:

Ever since the beginning of planning, the removal of poverty and raising the living of
rural poor, has been, in one from or other, one of the main objectives of the nation's
successive five year plan. But In the first three five year plan, the planner kept their sole
concern to overall increase of production and economic growth without any reference to
particular category of beneficiaries. Further more, the agricultural production sector was
74
the main focus of rural development activities and there were hardly any programmes
worth the name of land-less labourers, artisans or even for marginal farmers.
At that time, the country registered a higher rate of growth of basic agricultural
commodities, which took place in the economy as a whole in this aggregate sense, but
the long standing structural disparity in the population persisted on more or less same
scale, instead of showing a declining trend. It became clear that the benefit of a purely
growth oriented strategy did not percolate to the poorest of the poor. It was about just
prior to the initiation of the fourth plan, that the economists and the planners started
quantifying poverty conditions and the people living under conditions of absolutes and
adjusts poverty. According to Ojha (1970), the poor constituted 51.8 % of the rural
population in 1960-61, which rose to 70% in 1967-68. Poverty in rural and urban areas
has been constant over the years with 40% of the population remaining below the
poverty line (Dandekar & Nath, 1971). Such exercises revealed that a sizeable
proportion of the population were stagnating under poverty conditions and were left out
of the main stream of development which sounded an alarm for planners as to what was
the ultimate goal of development efforts in a welfare state. This then led to the
recognition of an alternate strategy of rural development paying special attention to the
large section of rural poor in the country. In the Fourth Five-year plan in 1969, various
programmes were taken up which reflected Government‘s concern for reaching out the
development effort to the rural poor by direct intervention in this favour. It was
however, in the fifth plan (1978-83) when the word 'poverty' was the first time
specifically introduced and 'removal of poverty and attainment of economic self-
reliance' was enunciated as one of the two basic objectives of the plan.
DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMMES WITHIN THE FRAME WORK OF FIVE

YEAR PLAN (AN OVERVIEW):
The fourth fives year plan 1969 introduced various programmes for the rural poor. These
are, (a) Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA), (b) Marginal Farmers and
Agricultural Labourers (MFAL), (c) Tribal sub-plan, (d) Antyodaya Scheme and Area
Development Programmes like Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP), (E) Desert
75
Development Programme (f) Hill Area Development Programme (HADP) and special
component plan for schedule castes.
In the fifth five year (1975-1980) plan Minimum Need Programme (MNP) was
introduced which covered various aspects of social development in contrast to the
primary emphasis on economic activities and ventures in the beneficiary and area
development approaches. The main feature of the MNP were to –
(a) Provide universal elementary education to the age- group of 6-14 years
(b) Make all persons in the age- group 15-35 literate.
(c) Provide one community health worker in each village.
(d) Assure supply of potable water to all problem villages.
(e) Connect villages with a population of 1000 or more with link road.
(f) Provide house sites and financial assistance for housing to all needy households.
(g) Provide mid- day meals, for children in the age group of 11-16 years and
supplementary feeding programmes for under – nourished children up to 6 year
of age, pregnant women and nursing mothers
(h) Provide for electrification of villages.
The minimum need programme was primarily intended to provide an essential
infrastructure and social services to the rural poor. Most of these items of basic
necessities could be categorized under the head of social consumption. This theme was
another important approach outlined in the fifth plan for ameliorating the living
condition of the rural poor.
The programmes grow in side during the 1970s and by the beginning of the Sixth
plan had blossomed into a full fledged strategy of a direct attack on poverty through a
three fold rural development plan within the stated perspective. The motivation was to
bring down the poverty ratio in our country to 10 per cent by 1995.
The strategies taken in the Sixth Plan (1980-1985) were following:
(a) Individual household and poverty group oriented programmes of income

generation through assets and skill endowment and direct supplemental wages
employment through public works.
76
(b) Programmes of special areas to counter endemic poverty caused by hostile agro-
climatic conditions and degeneration of eco- systems.
(c) Giving back up support to the poverty group by providing for social consumption
and social services through the minimum needs programme, which aims at
improving quality of life and giving infra-structural supports to programmes of
poverty alleviation
The first component of the above mentioned strategy is two fold. The first
element comprises a strategy of providing self employment opportunities to certain
families and includes the Integrated Rural Development programme (IRDP) and its sub-
components - Training of Rural Youth for self-employment (TRYSEM) and
Development of Women and children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) . The second
component of wage employment programmes seeks to provide wage employment
opportunities to the rural people and through the process, build up community assets of a
durable nature. In this direction the schemes were - National Rural Employment
program (NREP) and Rural Land-less employment guarantee programme (RLEGP), by
merging two it was latter named as Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, which is presently renamed
as Prime Minister Rozgar Yojana.
The seventh five-year plan (1985-90) reiterates the sixth plan goal of bringing
down the percentage of population living below the poverty line to less than 10 by 1994-
95. This objective has been reaffirmed in the 20-point programme, 1986, which boldly
declares, ―The war on poverty is our priority‖.
Latter in the Eighth (1992 - 97) and Ninth (1997 - 2002) Five Year Plan is also
continuing the same programmes for the development of the rural poor. On 1st April
'1999 Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) has introduced in all development
blocks replacing the earlier self - Employment programmes like IRDP, TRYSEM,
DWCRA, SITRA, GKY, MWS etc. keeping the same philosophy in mind - credit and
subsidy for overcoming weakness of the earlier programmes. Same time new Yojana has
been launched called 'Pradhan Mantri Gramodayaya Yojana' (PMGY) to achieve the
objectives of sustainable human development of the village level. In the First Budget of
the Millennium the Govt. provided the amount of Rs.5000 corer to this scheme. Fifty
77
percent of its amount will be spent on road & linkages, which is really a good objective
in this direction. Under the scheme of Indira Awas Yojana the budget also propose to
provide more than 12 lakhs of houses for the people below the poverty line. So,
stabilization for selecting the programmes of rural development has been seen from the
seventh plan. Changes are going on the process of its implementation through better
planning, close monitoring and tighten organization for effective implementation as well
as restructuring the old schemes and introducing new one to cover wide range of masses
and areas. In the area of health, Centrally Sponsored Sanitation Programme (CRSP) is
now restructured and becomes Restructured Centrally Sponsored Sanitation Programme
(RCRSP).
In the seventh five-year plan (1985-1990) it proposed that backward and forward
linkages would be provided so that the beneficiaries are able to make use of this
assistance. To protect the interests of poor section, special safe guards for certain section
of target groups have been laid down in guidelines for the implementation of rural
development programmes. For example Under PMGY preference shall be given to S.Cs/
S.Ts for employment and 30 percent of the job opportunities will be reserved for
women. Similarly the allocation of resources from center to states / U.Ts will be made
on the basis of incidence of rural poverty alone. From the states to districts, the
allocation will be made on the index of backwardness formulated on the basis of
percentage of agricultural labourers to main workers in rural areas, percentage of rural
S.C/ S.T population to total population and inversely of agricultural productivity defined
as the value of agriculture produce out of each unit of land for the rural areas taken on
the net basis in the weight of 20:60:20.
Specific Schemes and Programmes:
In the last four five year planning, that is eighth (1992-1997), ninth (1997-2002), tenth
(2002-2007) and eleventh (2007-2011) revising the old schemes introduced different
schemes focusing the specific aspects and needs of the rural areas. The schemes area
follows:
78
(a) Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation Schemes: two national
programmes, specially aiming at ensuring food security and improving
nutritional levels at rural areas by way of providing additional wage employment
to the people who are unskilled are in operation. They are SGRY (Sampoorn
Gramin Rajgar Yojana) and NFFW (National Food For Work) Programme.
(b) Schemes for Rural Infrastructure Development: for the development of the rural
infrastructure like roads, drinking water, electrification housing etc., government
introduced schemes like PMGY (Prime Minister Gramodaya Yojana), IAS
(Indira Awas Yojana) and PMGSY (Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana).
(c) Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) introduced in the year 2003
combining IRDP, DWCRA, TRYSEM and few other old schemes for better
efficiency in result.
(d) The National Rural Employment Gurantee Scheme (NREGS) considers the latest
scheme for guaranteeing the employment to the unemployed. By this scheme the
government has ensures the 100 days employment of an unemployed at the rural
areas.
(e) Few area specific programmes like Integrated Wastelands Development
Programme (IWDP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and Desert
Development Programme (DDP) launched for the development / treatment of
wastelands / degraded lands etc.
A new initiative called ―Hariyali‖ was taken up with an objective of empowering
Panchayati Raj Institutions both financially and administratively in implementation of
Watershed Development Programme in the country (2003-04).
SHORTCOMMINGS OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES:
The development of rural areas with special emphasis on the poor sections of society
had been a major strategy of planned development during last four decades of the last
century, which is as usual going on in the new millennium. The IRDP is the most
important antipoverty Programme has been significant from 1980-81 to September 1988
about 28-90 million families including 5.51 million old families have been assisted and
an amount of Rs 10,120,12 crore has been invested under the programme.
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However, poverty and unemployment are the biggest problem faced by the rural
poor. In 1951 there were about 33 lakh people were unemployed which increased up to
nine crore in the year of 1990. In the same year the people living the poverty line was 30
crores (Mittal 1990). The programmes, which are going on for the up-liftment of the
rural poor, have failed to achieve the desired goal of distributive justice. There are
galloping gaps between policy protection and real achievements. Every programme
looks impressive on paper but when implementation begins many constraints are felt.
Various evaluators (Institutions) such as Reserve Bank of India, Programme Evaluation
Organization, NABARD etc. have studied the IRDP on the basis of the experiences of
the first one or two years indicate that the sole concern of the beneficiaries identified and
benefited, loan and subsidies distributed and adjusted etc are not implemented properly.
Weakness of the Programme observed by different studies may be summarized as
below:
1) Imbalances in the supply and demand potentialities of inputs and outputs of various
types of enterprises were noticed where as the target fixed for each block was
uniform.
2) Wrong identification of poor households.
3) Fake purchase on transfer of assets and non- use of assets of their subsequent
disposal to others.
4) Inadequate training of functionaries.
5) Low level of investment.
6) Inadequacy of administrative, banking infrastructure as also supporting services.
7) Lack of close supervision.
8) Lack of Cooperation and coordination.
9) Overall Lack of People‘s Participation
DISCUSSION:
From the above discussion it can be said that at first our policy makers failed to adopt
appropriate strategies for the up-liftment of the rural poor. Special attention for the rural
poor was brought into in the planning process at the beginning of the fourth five-year
80
plan. Then various programmes introduced evaluated and changed. In the seventh five-
year plan the consistency came in the programmes. The main programmes became
IRDP, DWCRA, TRYSEM, which latter merged under SGSY and PMGY, which are
still going on, but many shortcomings have affected these mainly in the process of
implementation. Parthasarathy (1985) said that anti-poverty programmes in India are
implemented by several agencies and there is a lack of coordination between them in
both planning and implementation. Therefore, an imperative need for drastic
reorientation in the operation of the programme and for adopting remedial to check
pilferage completely and there is urgent need of strengthening the implementation
machinery of rural development programmes so that policy perspectives and goals could
be translated into reality. In this direction G.V.K. Rao committee has rightly
recommended that local initiative must be encouraged by involving the people
effectively in drawing up programmes of rural development. The committee's
observation was that Block Development Officer (BDO) had become ineffective and
credibility of the organization has been eroded. Moreover, anti-poverty programmes
should be vested on panchayat because all anti-poverty programmes are location specific
that requires knowledge of local resources. So there should be strict rules in panchayat,
which will provide opportunities for the representatives of the poor through the electoral
process to gain control over local resources.
PANCHAYATI RAJ AS A REMADIAL STEP:
On 20th April 1993 getting the assent from the president of India, The 73rd Constitutional
Act 1992 was brought into the force by government notification which provides new
look, dimension and power to the Panchayati Raj system as an weapon for Rural
Development (Dutta: 2009). It has mentioned that there shall be a three-tire system of
panchayats at village, Intermediate block and district level (more than 20 lacks
populated states), seats in panchayats at all three levels shall be filled by direct election,
in all the panchayats seats would be reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to their
population, offices of chairpersons of the panchayats at all levels shall also be reserved
in favour of SCs and STs in proportion to their population and on third of total number
of seats will be reserved for women, state legislators have the liberty to provide
81
reservation of seats and offices of chairpersons in panchayat in favour of backward
classes.
The newly set up of Panchayati Raj system introduced 'Gram Sabha' - " A body
of consisting persons registered in the electoral roles relating to a village comprised
within the area of panchayat at the village level". Gram Sabha is the forum in the system
where people participate directly and it expresses the collective aspiration, wisdom and
will of the people. Face to face participatory democracy can be practiced here which will
foster maximum accountability and transparency of administration and public
awareness. At this level all the available resources - physical and human are mobilised
to develop priority programmes in socio-economic sectors.
Constitution has empowered panchayats with various powers and authority as

may be necessary to enable them to function as institution of local self-government.
There are 29 items ranging from agriculture, minor irrigation, mining of minor minerals
to small-scale industries. It has also touched the issue of education, health, literacy and
sports. The welfare activities for weaker and disabled persons are also placed under its
jurisdiction. In this developmental functions mainly ranging from land improvement,
social forestry and minor irrigation, all the way through village, khadi and small-scale
industry, to education, literacy and family planning are included. These functions are
classified as per the nature into three categories (a) General administrative function (b)
Developmental and social and (c) maintenance. In SGSY the role of PRIs is described
clearly that they should take the leading role in identifying, planning and implementing
the scheme.
ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL WORK:
Social work is a professional activity that has gained recognition as a profession only in
the 20th century. Professions are better identified by the nature of the contribution they
make (to the persons with whom they work), by the type of skills they utilize, by their
knowledge base and work values. The contribution of social work is to enable
individuals, groups or communities with which it is concerned to function better in their
social environment so that, on the one hand, they are able to grow and develop to their
82
greatest potential and on the other have the same measure, are able to contribute their
best to the society of which they are a part (Gore: 2003).
In India, the community development programme started in the year 1952 with a
view of integrated development of the rural community. Let us examine the role of
social work in the field of community development. The relationship of social work and
community development (social development) is still undefined and in an exploratory
stage (Gore: 2003, Desai: 2000). In India, social workers have tried in the past to be
involved in some of the programmes of community development with only partial
success. In the 1950s when the community development programme was launched by
the government, social workers sought an entry into it but the only area where they
stabilized themselves as an important professional group was the area of training,
particularly, the training of the social education officers but failed to create impact
directly in the field where the need was most. The reason why the social work profession
sought to enter the field was both practical and philosophical. The setting in which the
community development programmes were to be undertaken was the rural setting and
the professional social workers did not have great deal of experience (Gore: 2003). The
practical reason why the profession wanted to enter the Community development
programme was the scope that it offered for large –scale employment. The potential
contribution of the social work had yet to be interpreted to the community. On the other
hand, except one, all schools of social work were relatively new (came up just before the
CDP launched) and were primarily oriented to the problems of urban area.
Social worker has a body of knowledge and skills that are basic for rural
development with people‘s participation. Now, presently, many social work schools‘
education prepares a student for understanding the dynamic forces that influence a man
either to accept or to resist change in the rural India with the knowledge of PRI. In
addition, as part of his training, the social worker acquires, in the course of practical
application of his knowledge, the special skills that are required for helping individuals,
groups and communities to discover their own needs and also to engage in constructive
action.
83
Now, social workers have engaged in different action-oriented works in India.
Professional social workers are working in organizations (either establishing by
themselves or as an volunteer/ employee) which are engaged in different issues like the
issue of displacement (‗Tribal Displacement issue‘ of Maharashtra, North East, Orissa,
Gujrat etc), right to participate, right to information (efforts of Mazdur krishan Sramik
Sangha), land issues (Dadi Land Issue of Maharashtra, ‗Common Property Resource‘ of
Nagaland etc.) etc. where they are directly confronted with the government for its faulty
public policy. Such kind of picture was not very prominent even in the end of 80s.
‗Networking‘ and ‗Advocacy‘ are very common for the social work professionals. So,
situation for the social worker as a professional to start his or her career becomes more
easy and this has widen the scope to work with the Panchayati Raj system as all these
issues are also a part of PRIs. It can not be said that this is entirely a new set up for the
social work profession but the researcher prefers to say that a new approach is required
for applying the existing methods of social work practice.
The author believes that a social worker can work independently or becoming a
part of either the government or an NGO for the fulfillment of the goal of PRIs and for
doing so they have to create a service structures to meet the needs and aspirations of the
local people in villages. So, they must participate in the planning and policy formulation
process at the local agency (NGO), local community, village, district, state (province)
and national levels.
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Bohra.O.P., 2000, Decentralization and Devolution of Powers and Functions of

Panchayats, Journal of Rural Development, Vol-19(2), pp-71-75.
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Dandekar.V.M & Rath.N., 1971, Poverty in India, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-
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50(6), pp.- 12-14.
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Opportunities, Journal of Rural Development, Vol-1, January.
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& Development, Vol-9(3), September.
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R.B.I. Bulletin XXIV, PP-16-27.
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Observations, IASSI Quarterly, Vol-19 (1).
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Kurukshetra, March, Vol.- 55(5), pp- 37-42
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Madhya Pradesh, Kurukshetra, May, Vol.- 54(7), pp.- 34-38.
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Februray.
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Dynamics of New Panchayati Raj System in India, Concept, New Delhi.
86
Globalisation and Civil Society in India
Mrityunjay Kumar Singh
There is little doubt that economic globalization is rapidly changing the contours of
Society and politics in India. Monumental growth in the role and mandate of
International Finance Institutions (IFIs) and the increasing reach of transnational
corporate interests have, in significant ways, altered the nature and role of the nation -
state. Governance is no longer the traditional monopoly of the nation - state. The Role
of the state is shrinking , state has taken on the role of facilitator of trade and markets.
This simply means abdication by the state of its primary responsibilities as provider of
welfare services. This paper is tries to answer the questions like how has civil society
responded to these changes in India? How has civil society engaged with the nation-
state in this new context? What are the limitations of civil society in dealing with the
state as well as multinational corporate interests.
Key words: privatisation, market, agriculture, employment ,Nation-state, corporates,

governance, accountability.
Mr. Mrityunjay Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam
University (A Central University), Silchar-788011, Assam. Email:
[email protected]
INTRODUCTION
"A market economy can exist only in a market society," warned Karl Polanyi, writing
several decades ago. The great economic anthropologist predicted that subjugation to the
laws of the market was destined to lead to "the demolition of society".
The end of the Cold War made way for what came to be called "globalisation",
American and western economic dominance over the world under a new imperial
rubric. It was launched two decades ago over the heads of the public in virtually every
country. Major policy departures were made by national political elites at the beckoning
87
of the so-called international financial and multilateral institutions, the IMF, the World
Bank and the WTO. This is what formed "the Washington Consensus". The public was
never part of the consultations and deliberations which led to what has appropriately
been named "stealth reforms". Democracy -- understood as political processes well
beyond periodic voting -- was conspicuous by its absence from the decision to globalise.
National governments have been made hostage to policy directives serving the interests
of global investor elites, the bulk of whom reside in the western world. As a result, there
has been a definite shift in the locus of power from the state to the corporate sector.
Looked at another way, the state itself has changed character. From being the
overarching institution guaranteeing security, human liberties and the pursuit of fairness
and justice, it has become a handmaiden of the investor classes. It has become an
enterprise for "political entrepreneurs" and "business leaders". . This too is the case only
in formally democratic societies like India and those of the western world. Following
from the above, there is a growing blurring of the time-honoured boundary between the
public and the private realm.
A "revolving door" appears to exist between positions in the government and in

the corporate world. Like in the US, many of the top planners in government today are
unelected officials, unaccountable to the people whose lives they affect directly through
the decisions they take. The distinction between the public and the private realms is not
only sacrosanct for a democracy. Indeed it has traditionally been a healthy operating
principle for any political set-up, keeping in check potential abuses of power. Violation
of this principle is leading to a predictable rash of such abuses these days.
Interceding between the state and the corporations on the one hand and the
teeming public on the other are to be found growing layers of non-governmental
organisations NGOs). Their political status is uncertain, since they are not technically
accountable to the public. If anything, their funding norms oblige them to report to their
donors and patrons. Through the "partnerships" that they form with people's groups, they
often inadvertently do the work that their corporate patrons would like them to do.
Today NGOs are made up of the widest possible range of organisations -- from business
88
associations and lobby groups to community-based and self-help groups, advocacy
groups, coalitions and campaigns of various kinds, not to forget that important species
"movement-based NGOs" which appear to sponsor social and political movements
themselves! What Arundhati Roy has called the "NGO-isation of politics" is thus an
obvious corollary of the evolving institutional pattern.
Movements have traditionally been the springboard of social change. In fact, it is

difficult to see how democracy itself could have emerged in the western world without
the long history of people's struggles in that direction over the past few centuries. The
"NGO-isation of politics" has essentially meant that the "million mutinies" that is India
today are sought to be somehow converted into harmless "partnerships" with
corporations or the state. The political fact that there is a legitimate contestation over
spheres of decision-making is ignored under such a view, thus reinforcing the injustices
that make up the status quo.
According to the Washington Consensus, domestic state actions in the economy

are meant to shrink, making way for "the free market". Wherever there are deficits,
NGOs have come to be seen almost everywhere as substitutes for state support of social
services like health and education, when in fact they are at best complements.
It need not be emphasised that these trends continue in the face of what is
probably history's greatest "market failure": the great financial and economic crisis that
has engulfed the world today. Despite historic state interventions in every economy in
the world, few doubts are being expressed from the high offices about the essential
correctness of the world-view that has been bequeathed by the Washington Consensus.
And yet, doubt is very much in order.
Civil society
The term "civil society" is of ancient lineage. In classical times it was used to denote a
"good society", usually indistinguishable from the state itself. In Socratic Athens, for
instance, it meant resolving public issues through open dialogue and discussion.
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Civility consisted in the proper discharge of one's duties as a good citizen.
Modern usages, dating from the time of Tocqueville, make a sharp distinction between
"civil society" and "political society". Classical liberalism believed that the latter was
part of the structure of the state, and given to excesses of power, while the former
constituted the realm of "democratic sentiments", where people could express their
views and sort out social conflicts in a rational manner, often standing against the state
in order to do so. Living in arguably the most illiberal phase of European history,
Antonio Gramsci was more sceptical that civil society could perform this designated
function. To him, civil society was essentially the locus around which the cultural and
ideological conceptions suited to the hegemony of capital cohered in the public
imagination.
What has to be asked in the phase of history that we are living through -- in India
as much as in the world as a whole -- is whether the reigning theory and practice of civil
society (and its institutions) is performing the liberal, possibly radical, role that
Tocqueville expected it to. Or is it the case that the cultural, ideological and institutional
role of civil society has essentially become one of legitimising the unjust socioeconomic
order of global capitalism?
The question cannot be answered in a theoretical manner, since it is ultimately an

empirical one. We have to look around us today and see whether the myriad
organisations, institutions and forums which constitute the thickly-braided fabric of civil
society are decisively supportive of people's struggles for justice. Or do they simply
constitute a smiling mask which knowingly or inadvertently reinforces the hegemony
which sustains the routine injustices we can all see?
Economic Globalisation
It has had a profound impact on all spheres of life of a common man in India. For the
purpose of this paper, the impact of globalisation on critical areas of Health, Agriculture
and employment is being analysed.
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Health:
Health spending in India is estimated to be in the range of 4.5–6% of GDP. The results
from the National Health Account (NHA) for the year 2001–02 showed that total health
expenditure in the country was Rs 105734 crore, accounting for 4.6% of its GDP. Out of
this, public health expenditure constituted Rs 21439 crore (0.94%), private health
expenditure constituted Rs 81810 crore (3.58%) and external support 2485 crore
(0.11%). This clearly reflects the decreasing trend of public expenditure on health after
globalisation in India. This will have a negative effect on vast majority of poor people
who cannot afford costly private treatment.
Studies have shown that the poor and other disadvantaged groups in both rural
and urban areas spent a higher proportion of their income on health care than those who
are better-off. The burden of treatment is high on them when seeking inpatient care
(NSSO 60th Round). Very often they have to borrow at very high interest to meet both
medical and other household consumption needs.
Agriculture:
The liberalisation of India‘s economy was adopted by India in 1991. There was a
considerable amount of debate in India at the time of the introduction of the reforms, it
being a dramatic departure from the protectionist, socialist nature of the Indian economy
until then. However, reforms in the agricultural sector in particular came under severe
criticism in the late 1990s, when 221 farmers in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh
committed suicide. (The damage done, 2005) The trend was noticed in several other
states, and the figure today, according to a leading journalist and activist, P. Sainath,
stands at 100,000 across the country. (Sainath, 2006) Coupled with this was a sharp drop
in agricultural growth from 4.69% in 1991 to 2.06% in 1997 (Agriculture Statistics at a
Glance, 2006). Andhra Pradesh‘s (AP‘s) experience is particularly critical in this debate
because it was headed by former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who pursued
liberalization with enthusiasm. Hence liberalization in AP has been faster than other
states, and the extent of its impact has been wider and deeper. (Sainath, 2005).
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Indian Agriculture today: A Snapshot
Agriculture employs 60% of the Indian population today, yet it contributes only 20.6%
to the GDP. (Isaac, 2005) Agricultural production fell by 12.6% in 2003, one of the
sharpest drops in independent India‘s history. Agricultural growth slowed from 4.69% in
1991 to 2.6% in 1997-1998 and to 1.1% in 2002-2003. (Agricultural Statistics at a
Glance, 2006) This slowdown in agriculture is in contrast to the 6% growth rate of the
Indian economy for almost the whole of the past decade. Farmer suicides were 12% of
the total suicides in the country in 2000, the highest ever in independent India‘s history.
Agricultural wages even today are $1.5 – $2.0 a day, some of the lowest in the world.
(Issac, 2005) Institutional credit (or regulated credit) accounts for only 20% of credit
taken among small and marginal farmers in rural areas, with the remaining being
provided by private moneylenders who charge interest rates as high as 24% a month.
(Sainath, 2005) NSSO survey in 2005 found that 66% of all farm households own less
than one hectare of land. It also found that 48.6% of all farmer households are in debt.
The same year, a report by the Commission of Farmer‘s welfare in Andhra Pradesh
concluded that agriculture in the state was in ‗an advanced stage of crisis‘, the most
extreme manifestation of which was the rise in suicides among farmers. Given the
performance of agriculture and figures of farmer suicides across the country, this can be
said to apply to Indian agriculture as a whole. So liberalization in the agriculture sector
is having a devastating impact on millions of farmers.
Employment
Unemployment scenario in India in the era of globalisation
• The rate of unemployment has increased from 6.1 in 1993–94 to 7.3% in

1999–2000, and further to 8.3% in 2004–05.
• Unemployment among agricultural labour households has risen from

9.5% in 1993–94 to 15.3% in 2004–05.
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• Under-employment appears to be on the rise, as evident from a widening
of the gap between the Usual Status (US) and the current daily status
measures of creation of incremental employment opportunities between
the periods 1994 to 2000 and 2000 to 2005.
• While non-agricultural employment expanded at a robust annual rate of

4.7% during the period 1999– 2000 to 2004–05, this growth was largely
in the unorganized sector.
• Despite fairly healthy GDP growth, employment in the organized sector

actually declined, leading to frustration among the educated youth who
have rising expectations.
It is clearly evident that the rate of unemployment has increased since the advent
of globalization in India. This has resulted despite the assurance given at the time of
liberalization in 1991 that it will promote job growth. But Indian economy has witnessed
jobless growth which is a great cause of concern.
It is only through a massive effort at employment creation, of the right quality, and
decent conditions of work for all sections of population and at all locations that a fair
redistribution of benefits from growth can be achieved. This indeed is a stupendous task.
Alternative policy measures focusing on different sectors and occupations, and the
specific requirements of different target groups are needed to create employment on a
sustainable basis.
Interventions made by civil society
Since the late 1970‘s civil society has emerged as a dominant sphere of collective
mobilization in India. It has been home to some significant forms of collective
mobilization including the environment movement, the movement for land rights, the
feminist movement, the movement for dalit rights, and the movement against
displacement of people. The focus of these movements has been on challenging
inequitable power relations and securing the rights of communities that have been
traditionally exploited. More recently, the civil society landscape in India has witnessed
93
the proliferation of professional organizations or Non Governmental Organizations
(NGOs) that provide services to the poor and marginalized be they micro credit, primary
education, drinking water and sanitation. Civil society activism has also begun to focus
on social policy issues such as health, education, work and food. Activism on these
issues draws on the language of rights and seeks to strengthen the provisions of
fundamental rights provided by the constitution.
Civil society also contests the view that foreign investment promotes economic
growth. Advocates of globalization argue that foreign businesses bring with them
technical know-how, finance and markets that can create new employment opportunities
in developing countries. Civil society in India challenges this view to argue that global
corporations (or TNCs) destroy local competition and home grown businesses and do
not offer enough employment to replace these losses. According to some interpretations,
TNCs are a form of neo-imperialism- a new avatar of western colonisation on the
developing world that must be opposed.
Against this background, the focus of civil society‘s responses to globalization

are framed within the perspective of its impact on the poor and marginalized. The most
critical issue that it engages with is the nation states ability to respond to the needs of the
poor and marginalized in the context of the institutional changes brought about by the
forces of globalization. It concerns itself largely with the question of the extent to which
the nation state has been captured by interests of global capital. Through its advocacy, it
aims to assess, question and challenge the legitimacy of global governance institutions
by pressurizing the state to harden its stand against the IFIs and foreign investment.
Moreover, civil society actors have constantly tried to push the state to respond to the
needs of the poor and marginalized whose vulnerabilities have increased consequent to
reform processes. Given the centrality that economic globalization has acquired in
contemporary development paradigms, it is no surprise that it tends to dominate
advocacy on globalization.
The phrase 'civil society', grounded as it is in western citizenship notions of

individualism and private property rights, may not be well suited to the Indian context.
94
Here, the starkest conflicts involving corporations and people are being played out
amidst communities that are seeking to retain community control over resources -- land,
water, forests and minerals. Kashipur, Kalinganagar, Singur, Nandigram, Bhopal,
Raigad, Mettur, Jadugoda, Plachimada, Narmada valley, Niyamagiri. Many people from
each of these places have died violent deaths as a result of their conflicts with the state
or the corporate sector, or both.
When a corporation or the government makes a bid for the land used by
indigenous peoples, peasants, landless agricultural labourers, forest-dwellers or cattle-
herders, the latter are not given a chance to reject the proposal. Indeed, in the instance of
Tata's Singur car factory, the Calcutta High Court ruled that the peasants could not
refuse to yield their land because the land was being acquired for a "public purpose".
Tata Motors' Nano factory had been transformed into a national project.
There are organisations like NAVDANYA and National centre for advocacy
studies that are involved in undertaking action research on global policies, creating
awareness both amongst citizens and government on globalization. An important role
played by these organizations is to support through trainings and information generation
smaller grassroots based organizations and movements working on globalization. Most
crucially, they work to try and link local struggles on land, water and displacement with
macro politics of globalization. Networking both at the local and global level is also an
important area of work for these organizations. Through their work, these organizations
help to strengthen the conceptual understandings of local movements and to present the
voices of these movements in the global arena.
Based on strategic necessity, number of NGOs trade unionists, social movements

and other actors that form the galaxy of civil society in India come together from time to
time to form networks and coalitions to struggle against globalization. As has already
been mentioned, the first and most vocal campaign to understand globalization and
search for alternatives to touch the Indian civil society landscape was the World Social
Forum in 2004. FDI watch, a national coalition of NGOs, academics, trade unionists and
others has been formed to coordinate the campaign. Other significant campaigns on
95
globalization and its institutions of governance include the Indian People‘s Campaign
against the WTO, the India Climate Justice Forum and the Chottanagpur Adivasi Sewa
Samiti.
Along with issue based coalitions, the civil society landscape is also dotted with
long standing coalitions and networks of organizations working on the theme of
‗resisting globalization‘ more generally. Implicit is the role of IFIs in promoting
globalization. Hence challenging the position and policies of the WTO, IMF, World
Bank and the ADB are an important part of their struggles. The National Alliance of
People‘s Movements and the Indian Social Action Forum are two important examples of
networks that fall in this category. For many civil society organizations, the move to
privatization of services is a direct result of globalization and market led development
policies promoted through IFIs. The most successful campaign on privatization of
essential services was launched in 2005 by Parivartan against the World Bank‘s
proposed loan to the Delhi Jal Board. This campaign brought the debate on privatization
of essential services to the national conscience and stalled the loan negotiation process.
Privatization of health care is another area of concern and organization such as the Jan
Swasthya Abhiyaan are leading a campaign to struggle against the trend towards
privatization in the health sector.
Conclusion
Civil society offers one of the most profound critiques of globalization. It enters the
debate by critiquing globalizations‘ asymmetric power relations and the adverse impact
this has on the poor. In the era of globalisation government of India‘s expenditure on
defence expenditure has gone up substantially but its budgetary allocation on critical
social sector is negligible compared to European and North-American countries. Govt.
cannot abdicate its primary responsibility of providing welfare services to its citizens by
increasing the pace of privatisation in all spheres. This brings forth the limitation of civil
society in bringing about policy changes of the govt. in favour of poor people. Efforts
should be accelerated to protect precious resources like land, water ,seeds from
multinational vested interests. Studies done over the years have confirmed that the way
96
globalisation has occurred in India ,it has increased the gulf between India and Bharat.
Civil society has to engage more vehemently with the state and corporates to make them
accountable and empower the common people by pushing people-centric development.
I think Stiglitz is right when he says that globalisation has a lot of potential and
that the failure of globalisation is a consequence of the current distribution of political
power that has shaped its evolution. The problem therefore is not with globalization per
se but with the politics that has shaped it. For globalization to work, one needs to shape
a new global politics- one that is fairer and democratic.
REFERENCES
Chandoke, Neera 2007, ‗Engaging with Civil Society, The Democratic Perspective‘,
Centre for Civil Society, The London School of Economics
Fox, J., & Brown, L. D. 1998. The Struggle for Accountability: NGOs, Social
Movements, and the World Bank. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Freire, Paolo 1971 Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York: Herder and Herder.
Jayal, G. Nirja 2001, ‗India‘ in Yamamoto Tadashi eds ‗Governance and Civil Society
in a Global Age‘, Japan, Tokyo
Keck, M., & Sikkink, K. 1998. Activists without Borders. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University
Press.
Keohane , R. & Nye, J. 1988, Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition,
Boston: Little-Brown.
Khagram, S., Riker, J., & Sikkink, K. Eds.. 2000. Reconstructing World Politics. Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press.
Korten, D. 1995. When Corporations Rule the World. San Francisco CA and Greenwich
CT: Berrett-Koehler and Kumarian Press.
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Stiglitz, Joseph, 2002, ‗Globalization and its Discontents‘, Penguin
Stiglitz, Joseph, 2006 ‗Making Globalization Work‘, Penguin
98
Globalization and Marginalisation: Reflections on HIV/ AIDS
Tarun Bikash Sukai
AIDS is now considered not only as a health problem, but also a developmental and
security threat. AIDS in developed countries is now a chronic disease and a manageable
health problem. The disease is, therefore, widening the gap between rich and poor
nations, thereby presenting a new ethical and human rights dilemma. The new
millennium has brought a state of new funding initiatives. However, despite increasingly
large amounts of funding being made available to poorer regions of the world, AIDS
epidemic is expanding and intensifying globally. Worst affected are undoubtedly the
poorer regions of the world as combinations poverty, disease, political and economic
instability and weak health infrastructure exacerbate the far reaching impacts of the
epidemic. The poor and weak health systems contribute to bottlenecks in the distribution
and utilization of fund. Strengthening these health system, must however be
accompanied by mitigation of other determinants as well. These are intrinsically
complex and include social and environmental factors, sexual behaviour, issue of human
rights and biological factors, all of which contribute to HIV transmission, progression
and mortality. An equally important factor is ensuring an equitable balance between
prevention and treatment programmes in order to holistically address the challenges
presented by the epidemic.
Key words: AIDS, Globalization, Epidemic
Dr. Tarun Bikash Sukai, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam
University (A Central University), Silchar-788011, Assam. Email: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Globalization affects all facets of life, including health and well-being. Two years after
its first appearance in 1981, the AIDS virus had spread to 60 countries and it rapidly
became a global epidemic. Given the scale of epidemic, AIDS is now considered not
only as health problem, but also a development and security threat. The HIV / AIDS
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epidemic has highlighted the global nature of human health and welfare, and clearly
required a global response. Organizing such a response, however, has proved to be
difficult. Globalization is both midwives to the spread of AIDS, as modern travel
facilitates rapid dissemination of HIV infection across national borders and through
concerted global actions, triumphant, conqueror over its devastating impact and
expansion. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), causing acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an unprecedented public health emergency and
already caused enormous ill health and mortality worldwide (Larson and Narain 2001;
UNAIDS/WHO 2002). Although the epidemic began in USA more than 30 years ago,
over 95% of new infections now occur in low and middle income countries, which are
unfortunately least equipped to respond effectively to the challenge (UNAIDS 2008). It
is now well recognized that AIDS is affecting developed and developing countries
differently. In developed countries, AIDS is now a chronic disease and a manageable
health problem largely due to the availability of anti-retroviral medication. However, in
developing countries, AIDS is now destroying societies, nations and communities. Even
now less than 25% of those at risk of HIV infection have access to basic prevention
services (Jha et al. 2002). The antiretroviral treatments (ART) that have increased the
longevity of patients in the industrialized countries are unfortunately beyond the reach of
those in the developing world. The new millennium has brought a state of new funding
initiatives increasing the manifold the resources available to expand AIDS treatment and
prevention programmes. However, despite increasingly large amounts of funding being
made available to poorer regions of the world, HIV, infection rates and prevalence
continue to increase worldwide. Because there are combination of factors like poverty,
disease, famine, political and economic instability and weak health infrastructure which
exacerbate severe and far- reaching impacts of the epidemic. The disease is therefore,
widening the gap between the haves and have-nots, between rich and poor nations,
thereby presenting a new ethical and human rights dilemma (Narain 2004).
The paper briefly discusses about the trends in the Global AIDS epidemic along
with global response to meet the challenges. This paper also examines the impact of
globalization on health sector in general and on AIDS in particular. Lastly, it examines
how bottlenecks in health systems of developing countries reduce the effectiveness of
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such aid and suggest ways to overcome these through systematic strengthening of health
systems.
Global HIV/AIDS Scenario
At the end of 2007, UNAIDS estimated 33.2 million (30.6 – 36.1 million) people living
with HIV/AIDS worldwide. While 30.8 million (28.2 – 33.6 million) of these were
adults, 15.4 million (13.9 – 16.6 million) were women and 2.1 million (1.9 – 2.4 million)
were children under the age of 15 years. Total number of people newly infected with
HIV in 2007 was 2.5 million (1.8 – 4.1 million). Total AIDS deaths in 2007 was 2.1
million (1.9 – 2.4 million), out of which adults 1.7 million (1.6 – 2.1 million), children
under 15 years were 290,000 (270 000 – 320,000). More than 25 million already died
since the beginning of the epidemic, bringing the number of infected more than 65
million worldwide (UNAIDS 2008). Over 6800 new HIV infections a day in 2007 and
over 5700 persons die from AIDS, mostly because of inadequate access to HIV
prevention and treatment services. More than 95% of new infections are occurring in
low and middle-income countries. Out of these new infections, about 1200 are in
children under 15 years of age and about 5800 are in adults aged 15 years and older of
whom: — almost 50% are among women. Young people aged 15–24 account for an
estimated 45% of new HIV infections worldwide (UNAIDS 2008).
Today, AIDS is the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa which has
highest number of HIV positive people (22.5 million), followed by South and South-
East Asia with 4.0 million infected individuals. In seven Sub-Saharan African nations,
more than 22% of the population aged 15 to 49 is infected with HIV. Africa accounts for
83% of all AIDS deaths worldwide. The epidemic has an adverse effect on life
expectancy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gains made in life expectancy before 1980 have
been lost and it is estimated that life expectancies affected by HIV infection and AIDS
may be less than 40 years (UN Population Division 2001). The epidemic is growing
fastest in South Africa where it is estimated that over 1500 new infections occur daily
(UNAIDS 2002). In South Africa, AIDS deaths are widespread that small children now
play a new game called ―Funerals‖. In Zimbabwe, the AIDS epidemic has shortened life
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expectancy by 22 years. Two out of every three Zimbabweans aged 15 to 39 are HIV
positive. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV,
accounting for 67% of all people living with HIV and for 75% of AIDS deaths in 2007.
More than 90% HIV infected children are living in Sub-Saharan Africa. In sub-Saharan
Africa alone, the epidemic has orphaned nearly 12 million children aged less than 18
years (UNAIDS 2008). However, some of the most worrisome increases in new
infections are now occurring in populous countries in other regions, such as Indonesia,
the Russian Federation, and various high-income countries.
Different Trends that shape the AIDS epidemiological curve
An increasingly mobile global population exacerbates the risk of HIV transmission. The
UNHCR (2004) estimated refugee populations arising from areas of conflict is 9.7
million worldwide, are at higher risk, as are internal migrants within countries.
According to ILO (2002), at the beginning of 21st country, 120 million workers
worldwide were migrants. Women are more vulnerable to HIV infection due to their low
social status, risky sexual practice, endemic poverty, etc. In 1997, women accounted for
41% of people living with HIV, which has risen to almost 50% in 2002.
The impact of HIV mortality is greatest on people in their 20s and 30s which
severely distorts the shape of the population pyramid in affected societies. The UNAIDS
predicts that in 7 selected countries in Sub- Saharan Africa, 14 million AIDS related
deaths will occur between 1995 and 2005. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that 12
million children have lost their one or both parents to AIDS, on figure which is expected
to increase to 18 million by 2010. Even in other less affected countries, the nos. of
orphans continues to rise due to the time lapse between infection and death of parents.
In agrarian economics, the agricultural output is decreasing as a result of

increased motility in the workforce presenting in what has been termed as ‗new variant
famine‘. Studies predict that in few most severely affected African countries, the
agricultural workforce will decline by 10% -26% by 2020. The combination of lost
production and resulting malnutrition will increase susceptibility of disease. The
macroeconomic repercussion of the epidemic varies, depending on the industries
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underpinning the economy and degree of HIV prevalence. UNAIDS opines that any
deceleration in economic growth (as measured by GDP) will be offset by similar
reduction in population numbers due to increased mortality and therefore resource
consumption. The qualitative effects of higher mortality are also considerable: the
erosion of social and intellectual capital and decreased investment in populations of the
future, have far-reaching consequences for society as a whole. Impact on the workplace
is also considerable, translating into productivity losses and increased costs to employer
due to staff illnesses and deaths, higher health insurance premiums and low morale. In
addition, household demand for good and services may decline due to lower income and
levels of consumption, resulting in the contraction of resource production. The major
economic impact is microeconomic. Individual households are primarily responsible for
coping with the repercussions of AIDS and as such bear the brunt of the epidemic. In
areas where stigma prevails, the psychological impacts of the disease increase the
burden. The ramifications of as epidemic of this nature and scale will be felt long after
incidence of the disease has peaked, predicted in case of AIDS to be in 2040.
Global Response
There are numbers of global initiatives and collaborations that are addressing the global
HIV/AIDS challenge. For example, the Millennium Development Declaration, signed by
189 nations in 2000, encompasses eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), three
of which are health related reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and
combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, by 2015. Many international
organizations have been set up to assist in funding and implementing HIV prevention
and care programmes worldwide. These include Presidents Emergency Plan For AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR), Global Fund to fight AIDS, T.B. and Malaria (GFATM), The Global
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the Global Health Council, the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Multi country HIV/AIDS Programme
(MAP), the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, etc. According to UNAIDS
(2002) report, approximately US $ 300 million was available in 1996 for HIV/AIDS
worldwide which had risen to US $ 4.7 billion by 2003. Although it was a huge increase
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in funding, but still it was less then half of the required amount and this exigency is
expected to rise to US$ 20 billion by 2007.
However, despite the large amount of fund made available in addressing the
AIDS epidemic, shortfalls in both money and numbers of people being reached, are
apparent. Of the estimated 6 million people in developing countries who are in need of
ART, only 400,000 currently receive it ( of these, 208,000 are in Brazil alone). Even if
the WHO‘s ‗3 by 5‘ effort which aims at providing ART to 3 million people by 2005,
was successful, it has addressed only 50% of the demand for treatment. The MDGs are
unlikely to be met at the current rates of progress, with the worst affected countries
likely to make the best headway (Travis,P et al, 2001). Another issue of concern is that
the focus of many of these programmes is on treatment rather than prevention of HIV.
Current date suggests that approximately 33% of funding for AIDS initiatives be
allocated for treatment and care, with approximately 51% for prevention programmes,
Schwartlander et al. (2001) advocate a similar split in fund allocation. Marseille et al
(2002) studied and found that the ratio between the cost-effectiveness of HAART and
Prevention is 28:1. In human terms, for every life- year gained through HAART, 28 life-
years could have been gained through prevention. The initial cost of HAART was over
US $ 10,000 per patient per year – a price affordable to few in developing countries.
Later on, agitation by human rights organizations led to generic production of ART
drugs at greatly reduced price. However, there is a long way to go as only 15% of the
estimated treatment need has been met in developing countries. The WHO‘s ‗3 by 5‘
goal will be far from achieved without strengthening the national health system to
provide these drugs.
How does Globalization affect Health?
There is a debate as to the meaning and effects of ‗globalization‘ as well as about

whether it is ‗new‘ and if so, in what ways. Globalization is narrowly defined as the
removal of barriers to free trade and the closer integration of national economics
(Stiglitz, 2003). It has a much wider sweep and also affects the political, cultural and
social life of population across the globe. The health sector is no exception. As Barnett
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and Whiteside point out, health and well being are international concerns and global
goods, and inherent in the epidemic are lessons to be learned regarding collective
responsibility for universal human health.
There are two broad views on the effect of globalization on health. The
optimistic view that sees the health benefit of globalization to poor countries and to poor
communities in rich countries. These benefits include increased trade, easier diffusion of
new technologies and at a cultural – political level acceptance and application of
common human rights throughout the world. This view argues that the increased pace of
cross-national exchanges should facilitate diffusion of technological innovations.
In contrast, the pessimistic view sees globalization as a phenomenon, which

because of the increasing loss of sovereignty by nation states means that states are less
willing to pool resources. It may result into less cooperation and more protectionism
increased competition, and insistence in maintaining those spheres of influences that still
seem intact. Beside it, the increasing concentration of international pharmaceutical
industry has been an important factor. It has been argued that pursuit of an HIV/ AIDS
Vaccine has been of less interest to big pharmaceutical companies, they stand to profit
more from the development of treatment than vaccines. The debate about the TRIPS
agreement and generic version of antiretroviral drugs before, during and most
significantly after the XIII international AIDS conference in Durban, 2000, is indicative
of kind of challenge we confront in trying to ensure access to drugs through market
mechanism. The fate of the global fund to fight AIDS, T.B. and Malaria, which was out
come of the UNGASS meeting in 2001 still hangs in the balance as the rate of
commitment from the main donor countries remain disappointing.
The neo-liberal economic ideologies and the World Bank though have not
always been identical, but certainly have been close to each other during last 20 years.
The World Bank has a profound influence on health provision in poor countries as the
largest external financier of health activities. Over the past 20 years, the World Bank
(2000) addressed the following three main health policy issues: (1) system reform; (2)
targeting public sector investment and (3) encouraging donors and governments to
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operate within the framework of the first two. The thrust of these strategies was to
emphasize the role of the market in health care provision. Government‘s role was to be
mainly regulatory, by supervising the marketplace, insurance legislations and ensuring
‗acceptable‘ levels of access. But the World Bank‘s policy ignores the social ethics of
health care and defines health services as commodities to be delegated to the market
sector of economy. It also ignores the provision of public goods, such as immunization,
etc. This policy seeks to shift the larger burden of curative services to the private sector,
which makes it available to foreign market. But is this really what health, well-being and
ill-being are about? These questions confront us with the necessity to consider how we
relate to each other in an era of globalization.
Reforming the Health System
The reduced absorptive capacity of recipient countries for donor funds often result in
bottlenecks preventing aid packages being used where they are most needed. As a result,
despite higher levels of acceptance of aids by certain governments, a global climate of
increased political stability and economic growth and the greater public access to
information and advocacy, inequitable access to treatment and prevention persists.
Besides it, an over dependence of donor fund can reduce the long-term sustainability of
programmes. Constraints relating to supply within health systems, including finance,
information systems, human resources, drugs and logistics as well as those on the
demand side, such as increased numbers of patients, stigma and discrimination among
communities, hinder progress. The examples of introducing prevention of mother to
child transmission (PMTCT) programmes, which are the most cost-effective anti-HIV
programmes available into the national health systems, is illustrative of the challenges
faced by developing countries. Single dose Nevirapine each to mother during delivery
and to her new born is the most widely used regimen of PMTCT having the advantages
of simplicity, affordability, and effectiveness. Most agencies including UNICEF have
found that in developing countries, only a minority of eligible women receive the ART
drugs. Even fewer infants are given their prophylactic dose of Nevirapine. In general,
less than 20% of the HIV positive women attending antenatal clinics receive the ARVs
globally. It is estimated that out of 2.1 million HIV positive pregnant women in any
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given year globally (excluding high-income countries), only 20,000 receive PMTCT
interventions. The WHO Report (2004) states that the ―3 by 5‖ initiative cannot be
implemented in isolation from a regeneration of health system. Several studies support
this statement, reflecting the unfavourable conditions in the health care systems of
developing countries.
In order to build capacity, UNAIDS suggests an approach which incorporates

training, technical assistance and access to improved guidelines and tools should be
adopted by funding agencies. The recipient countries need to undertake thorough
planning processes whereby goals relevant to that country are set and allocation of funds
is made according to the need in order to utilize the resources effectively. However,
constraints may have multiple causes both within and external to the health system itself,
which may themselves be interdependent. It follows that the health system, rather than
the specific disease, should be tackled in order to achieve the effective and holistic
delivery of interventions. Such restructuring tends to be effective only in the long term,
so immediate interventions may have to be introduced into health system to deal with
the pressing needs of prevention and HIV/AIDS patients. Robust health systems play a
fundamental role in channeling globally recognized best prevention and treatment
programmes for the mitigation of HIV/AIDS. However, certain social and biological
complexities profoundly affect the transmission, progression and mortality of the
disease, lie beyond the scope of health services. Therefore, addressing health system
constraints alone will not constitute a comprehensive solution to the management of
epidemic. Mitigation of risk factors needs to be an integral part of the response to HIV/
AIDS in order for real progress to be made in the propitiation of the disease.
Globalization brings with it many benefit in addressing the spread of HIV

throughout the world. However these benefits can only be realized if appropriate
programmes are available in areas of need. As a part of the generous supply of aid,
attention needs to be paid to building capacity in recipient countries so that such funds
may be effectively disseminated and the AIDS epidemic effectively curbed.
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It is ironic that at a time when the importance of past epidemics is increasingly
recognized and discussed by historians, there is very little appreciation of how AIDS
impact in already affecting many societies now and into the future. HIV/AIDS is
harbinger of the global public health crisis. Epidemics such as HIV/ AIDS, and their
impact don‘t take place in isolation. They need to be related to other events - changes in
political regime, new ideas, global warming, the global distribution of power. We can‘t
deal with these events in isolation from each other. We can no longer deal with issues
piecemeal and sincerely claim that we have given them our full attention. We live in a
world where perception of inter-related multiple long-wave events must be on the
agenda of every politician and policy-maker. As social scientists, we must engage with
the AIDS epidemic for many reasons: Because it is an interesting phenomenon because
of a pressing desire to help those in distress now and in the future; because it makes a
mockery of international development goals and prospects for progress in certain
countries; because resulting poverty may be a threat to the national security of the USA,
or yet again because of a fear that ―AIDS refugees ― may flood the countries of North in
a search for treatment – ―therapeutic pilgrimage‖, which is a small but significant
component of the enormous body of migration which characterizes this period of
globalization. Social scientists may also wish to explore further the links among
pragmatism, self-interest, morality and public health.
REFERENCE:
International Labour Organisation 2002, ―Tripartite Forum on Labour Migration in
Southern Africa‖.
http://www.ilo.org/public/English/dialogue/actrav/genact/socprot/migrant/29110 2cl
[Accessed on 13th January, 2007
Jha, P et al. 2002, ―Improving the health of the global poor‖, Science 295(5562), 2036-
2039
Larson, H.J. and J.P. Narain 2001, ―Beyond 2000: Responding to HIV/AIDS in the new
millennium‖, SEA/AIDS/122, WHO/SEARO: New Delhi.
Marseille E, Hofmann PB, Kahn GK 2002, ―HIV prevention before HAART in sub-
Saharan Africa‖, The Lancet 2002,359:1851-1856 http://
www.globalizationdhealth.com/sfx_links .asp?ui=1744-8603-1-13&bibl=B22 [Accessed
on 13th January, 2007]
Narain, J.P. (ed.) 2004, AIDS in Asia: The Challenge Ahead, Sage: New Delhi.
108
Schwartlander et. al 2001, ―AIDS: Resurce needs for HIV/AIDS‖, Science 2001,
292:2434-2436 http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/sfx_links.asp?ui=1744-8603-1-
12&bibl=B20 [Accessed on 13th January, 2007]
Stiglitz J. 2003, Globalization and its Discontents, NewYork : WWNorton.
Travis P. et al 2001, ―Overcoming health-systems constraints to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals‖, The Lancet 2001, 364:900-906
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/sfx_links.asp?ui=1744-8603-1-12&bibl=B14
[Accessed on 12th January, 2007]
UNAIDS/WHO 2002, AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2002, Geneva.
http://www.unaids.org [Accessed on 7th January, 2007]
UNAIDS 2004, Report on the Global HIV/AIDS epidemic-July 2004, Geneva.
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com [Accessed on 7th January, 2007]
UNAIDS 2008, Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic 2008,
th
Geneva.http://www.unaids.org [Accessed on 7 January, 2007]
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (2004), ―Refugees by Numbers‖,
Geneva. http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/sfx_links.asp?ui=1744-8603-1-
13&bibl-B6 [Accessed on 10th January, 2007]
United Nations Population Division 2003, The Impact of AIDS, Geneva.
http//www.globalizationdhealth.com/sfx-links.asp?ui=1744-8603-1-13&bibl=B9
[Accessed on 10th January, 2007]
World Bank 2000, World Development Report 1999/2000: Entering the 21st Century.
Oxford University Press, New York.
World Health Organization 2004, ―World Health Report 2004: changing history‖
Geneva.http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/sfx_links.asp?ui=1744-8603-1-
13&bibl=B26 [Accessed on 10th January, 2007]
109
Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development
S.Y. Swadi.
Corporate Social Responsibility is a development initiative adopted by the leading

corporates and envisaged the programmes of education, health, livelihood creation, skill
development and empowerment of the needed sections of society. Promotion of the
social indicators of the society speaks of improvement of the social fabric of society.
The incidence of poverty, unemployment, ignorance, diseases and destitution confronts
people in a big way. Development initiatives indeed need apt human resources with
adequate knowledge, skill, good health and education and right attitude and motivation.
The corporate social responsibility is community-based approach towards improving its
relationship with community. The focus of this paper is however to gain better
acquaintance with this new approach and further outline the feasible avenues to make
this attempt as ever enduring for the overall integrated development of the communities
in all perspectives.
Key Words: Development, Livelihood Creation, Corporations, Positive Attitude,

Public Health Care, Eco Friendly, Empowerment
Dr. S. Y Swadi, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Karnatak University,

Dharwad- 580003. Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The concept of social responsibility of business – popularly termed ‗Corporate Social
Responsibility‘ (CSR)- is by no means a recent phenomenon, but many observers and
agree that the globalization has spurred its growth and prominence. The notion of CSR
is now dominates thinking about corporate behavior among a section of academician and
practitioners. Corporate philanthropy – regarded, as the earliest manifestation of CSR- is
no longer considered as an adequate response to demands for social responsibility. The
term CSR includes environmental, social and human rights based impacts and initiatives
of companies and many countries both in industrialized and the third world take the
concept and practices very seriously (Bimal Arora and Ravi Puranik 2004).
All leading corporates in India are involved in corporate social responsibility
programmes in the areas like education, health, livelihood creation, skill development
110
and empowerment of the weaker section of the society. And paying more attention to the
overall integrated development of the society that is a desperate need. In India and in
other third world countries with a predominately agrarian economy, a huge population
characterized by poverty, and illiteracy an extremely traditional social world- view the
community development programme seen as a major strategy of brining about overall
development through a government and voluntary initiatives. India for instance,
liberated by the alien rule in the middle of the twentieth century inherent an economy
characterized by the socio economic problems, such as poverty, agricultural
backwardness, low income, lack of industrial development, unemployment, illiteracy,
population pressure, poor health standard and prevalence of age old customs. Our nation
thus resorted to the planning process to achieve the development and further has even
sorted the role of community to play an important role voluntarily in the development
pursuits. It is in this context that the community development programmes was
conceived as a grand ideology to mobilize local effort for local development. It is still
continuous to be major philosophy underling the practice of community work (Siddiqui
1997).
Community Development
The term community development is often used in the wider context referred to as
development of vast geographical area and the population such human resources that
includes women, children, youth, aged etc and even installation of such measures that
contributes to the community welfare. Community is a broader term that envisages
further within the places such as the urban, rural and tribal. The task of contributing
development is major responsibilities shouldered by the government machinery
percolate from apex to the Grass root level and even it is the responsibility of the private
and corporate sectors. Corporate sectors are prominent firms and business enterprises
that depend upon the community for both inputs needed in the manufacturing of their
products and market for selling the product produced. The survival and the growth of the
business depend upon the responses and acceptance of the community. Corporate sectors
besides economic but also a social institutions. It is however imperative them to take
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into account the problems, issues and needs of the community and serve the community
in the best interest of its own.
Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility

The concept of social responsibility is based on the premises that business is an integral
part of the society and it has an obligation to make positive contributions to the societal
need and aspirations. Social responsibility is basically a philosophy or a vision about the
relationship of business and society. It is a process of continuous improvement, not a fad
(Vijaya B 2006). And this is being done for the betterment of the community.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also known as corporate responsibility,
corporate citizenship, responsible business, sustainable responsible business (SRB) and
corporate social performance is a form of corporate self- regulation integrated into a
business model. Ideally, CSR policy would function as a built –in, self-regulating
mechanism whereby business would monitor and ensure their adherence to law, ethical
standard, and international norms. Business would embrace responsibility for the impact
of their activities on the environment, customers, employees, communities, stakeholders
and all other members of the public sphere. Furthermore, business would proactively
promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, and
voluntary eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality.
Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-
making and the honoring of a triple bottom line like people, planet and profit.
Big corporations have several advantageous at their disposal. They have apt
resources to their side, personnel of their own, and vibrant spirit of doing work without
yielding to the clutches whims and fancies, and corruption. The prevailing defects
inherent in the bureaucratic system have weakened the spirit and people have lost faith
in the developmental strides. Therefore the development of concept of corporate social
responsibility stood as good step marching ahead to fulfill the community expectations.
In India, it has also been noticed that when it comes to individual CSR activities,
the ‗anonymous‘ donor mentality prevails. That most people tend to keep a low profile it
conducted a straw poll and talked to several professionals involved in the field and NGO
circuit to get an idea about lending lights. Of course, with the intense spotlight on the
112
subject, the interest in corporate social responsibility is spreading in India as well. The
corporate social responsibility survey 2002 – India jointly conducted by the United
Nations Development Programme, British council, Confederations of Indian Industry
and Pricewaterhousecoopers, covering 19 industry sectors reveals that this interest is
growing as more and more companies in India are keen to project themselves as good
corporate citizens. This was the most important factor driving CSR in India, according
to the survey, good corporate citizenship and CSR initiatives are inextricably linked with
improved brand reputation, which is one of the most important drives of CSR identified
by the respondent companies. The other key drivers of corporate social responsibility in
India were diverse ranging from stated philosophy of funding fathers to improving
relationship with local communities to enhanced shareholder value.
Objectives of Corporate Social Responsibility

CSR display the following objectives such as
 Provision of effective source of gainful employment for local
communities to combat effects of poverty and unemployment.
 Imparting vocational training for the youth and enable them to obtain the
skills of the employable skills and positive attitude with determination.
 Extension of financial assistance for community activities, financial and
other relief to affected communities, compensation to local people
affected by the calamities.
 Organizing and sponsoring of cultural and sports events, especially for
the children and youths to help them to have right perspectives of
recreation and leisure time activities.
 Concentrating on first generation learners, academic and financial
assistance and educational support through distribution of books and
other required educational materials, improvement of school
infrastructure and provision of school building.
 Extension of health care and medical facilities to community people.
113
Approaches of Corporate Social Responsibility
An approach for CSR that is becoming more widely accepted is community based
development projects, many firms in allover India endeavoring for the development of
the community by initiating the leadership qualities among the emerging leaders.
Further, development has very effective suppose concentration is laid upon first
generation learner. Here setting up of an early learning center that help to educate the
community‘s children, as well as developing a new skill in them in future, other
approaches must also concentrate on promoting social economic and cultural indicators.
A more common approach of CSR is through giving the aid to local organizations and
improvised communities. Some organizations do not like this approach as it does not
help build on the skills of the local people; whereas community based development
generally leads to more sustainable development.
The practice of CSR is subject to much debate and criticism. Proponents argue
that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple way
by operating with a prospective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term
profits. Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of the
business; others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window dressing others
argue that it is an attempt to pre-empt the role of the governments as a watchdog over
powerful Multinational corporation. But the trend in the in the contemporary period
mentions that government and corporate sectors are displaying lot of interest and work
in the area of CSR. The drives behind the more CSR initiatives is for the reason of
improved relationship with local communities and to be a good corporate citizen.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Areas of Community Development

Social welfare and community development is apt necessary placed at the core area of
corporate social responsibility. CSR philosophy continues to be a top priority for the
community development. It revolves around the organizations deeply – held belief in the
principle of symbiotic relationship with the local communities, recognizing that business
ultimately has a purpose to serve human needs. Close and continuous interaction with
the people and the communities in and around the manufacturing divisions has been the
key focus while striving to bring around qualitative changes and supporting the
114
underprivileged. CSR contributes to the community in the areas of health, education,
infrastructure development i.e., improvement of community infrastructure such as
approach and link roads, provision of drinking water, construction of schools and other
school infrastructure etc, on the front of environmental issue the need for undertaking
work of effluent treatment, tree plantation, treatment of hazardous waste, relief and
assistance in the event of natural disasters, and new and renewable energy sources would
be able to contribute to resolve the problem of environmental pollution to the greater
extent and other miscellaneous activities such as employment generation, skill
development, and empowerment programmes. CSR teams interact with the community
in this regard they have good autonomy and freedom in the formation and
implementation of programme on a regular basis. A close look at the work of CSR
initiatives in the arena of development is most feasible this happens in the following
areas such as;
Education
Education is a desperate need of every community, it dispel the darkness and bring light
to life. It is bedrock of growth and progress. Concentration on first generation learners is
a top priority of every community. CSR believes that the quality of inputs received by a
person at an early age thus contributes immensely to the apt personality development
and make him as capable human being. To ensure high quality of teaching and learning
process in the schools CSR has to make significant efforts towards value enhancement
of teachers through professional and institutionalized training. As a concrete step to
enhance learning capability at the gross root level apart from curricular programme, co-
curricular programme such as conduct of educational and excursion tours of students
and teachers from the primary schools of neighboring villages, and also organizing
camps for children‘s about science and mathematics exhibitions. Further to provide
training in the field of effective techniques and modern methods of teaching to high
school teachers in organizing the training programmes for teachers in various subjects.
Along with this it is imperative for CSR to concentrate on those children who have
problem of school dropouts in the local community and help the children to have an
access to formal system of schooling.
115
CSR also provides opportunities to engineering and management students to
undergo in-plant training/ project work as a part of their academic curriculum, thus
enabling them to apply their theoretical knowledge and get an exposure to the area of
technical, human resource management and industrial practices. Youths who are in
search of gainful employment, efforts should be made to enhance their employability /
skill development of local youths by giving them opportunities to work in the
organizations and improve their job prospects. Further students who are working at
different level of their education can be supported through measures such as;
 Facilitating meritorious students form neighboring villages and tribal
hamlets and provide them a school or their study related materials that
help them a great deal.
 With an objective to encourage the community children especially
children belong to urban slums, rural and remote area and tribal
community their special education needs are require to be taken care.
Health
Health is wealth this is an apt proverb in the vogue, like education similarly the health
care and services is very important for the development of healthy nation. Health
standard of the people need to be improved. People confronted by the various aliments
such as chronic and communicable, problem of malnutrition, and mortality issues. CSR
in this regard can concentrate on the issues such as conducting Health Awareness
programmes, covering diverse topics such as noise pollution, hazardous substance
abuse, and prevention of HIV infections, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and other various
diseases. Even facilities of first aid care should be made available in case of
emergencies. Further it is necessary to provide medical service and awareness programs
on health, hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation in villages.
Prevention is better than cure an early detection of illness at early stage can
prevent major complications that an individual as a patient has to face with, therefore a
conduct of monthly checkup camps at community level and distributions of medicines
with other essentially needed equipments. Round the clock free ambulance service
needed to provide to assist the community in case of emergencies. It is also feasible for
organizations to open a Rehabilitation Center that helps in the vital aspect of
116
community-based rehabilitation of capacity building of differently abled and weaker
sections of the community. Because this measures is suitable on account of fact that
India mainly comprises of more rural communities and people of rural community find
this facility as useful. Besides this a medical center formulated would help to cater the
government health care programmes like maternal and child health, TB, Malaria,
HIV/AIDS, etc., besides providing curative treatment indeed as quite useful. These
centers obviously well receive and appreciates by people on account of close proximity
of the center and even availability of quality services. Thus these programmes go a long
way in providing the medical facility to the community. Further CSR need to offer
priority to implement health care programmes such as HIV/AIDS programmes, DOTS
therapy in view continuous rise in the incidence of infection of tuberculosis and other
diseases. Project ― cancer – Aid‖ for cancer patients, mobile dispensaries, Blood
Donation Drives, Public Heath Care. Working in this area as public private partnership
between the government, NGO‘s and corporations is essentially required.
Even adoption of primary health centers is also feasibly good idea, as PHC‘s
have been established as a part of public health care programmes, these centers are
intended to offer health care services to the people at the gross root level. However a
critical look at the functioning of them is far from satisfaction. The idea of PHC
adaptation is a good for better care and treatment of the people.
Medical care services at SEZ

CSR has even vital and immense role to play in newly emerging concept such as special
economic zone (SEZ). Corporations have capability to provide employment to people
from different parts of the community. CSR as a part of its responsibility to offer shelter
facilities to the employees who live in the colonies, each such labour colony has a
separate medical center. And it is manned round the clock by doctors, nurses and besides
an ambulance facility is very essential.
Community Development Initiatives

CSR continuous to extend a helping hand to surrounding villages and the community at
large, activities in the entire period has to focus on improving village infrastructure,
117
supply of drinking water, agricultural development, promotion of ecology, waste
management etc., A unique approach is essential to improve rural housekeeping and
sanitation, a totally fresh approach is needed to adopt to beautify the environment of the
community. Cleaning and sanitation drive at community has to be taken up as an
ongoing project. Construction of a public lavatory, water tank and check dams for
common drinking water facility for villagers are among some other most important
need. The other needs such as concrete roads, Anganwadis, drinking water facilities,
panchayat office, community halls, check- dams and other amenities in rural areas is
further important to concentrate on.
CSR has a responsibility to promote the skills and earning capabilities of
community people. The feasible attempt in this regard to give emphasis to development
of agriculture and allied occupations, setting up of rural industries, improvement of
handicrafts, and animal husbandry the activities of animal husbandry – cattle rearing
(cow, Buffalo, Pig, and Sheep), Poultry, fishery. These occupations done on scientific
manner would help in sustaining regular income and earning to people and combat the
problem of migration to other places in search of employment and livelihood
opportunities and problems of poverty and unemployment.
Empowerment of Women and Youth

CSR is an apt intervention in the area of conducting many training programmes that
would help the women and youth to self – sustaining and generate income for
themselves and support their families. The training programmes conducted for the
women and youths of the surrounding places the conduct of different such as women
empowerment, Dress making and Designing, Beauty Culture and Health care, hospital
attendant (helpers for hospital and Nursing Homes), plumbing and Hand pump repairing
training, computer hardware, motor vehicle driving, mobile repairing and doormat
making. These would help to procure them the hard and soft skills to them and this
certainly benefit a great deal. Supporting several self help groups in income generating
activities such as phenyl making, agarbathi making, candle making, papad making, and
hand- carry- bag making, thus supplying it to industrial canteens. And even tailoring and
other programme aptly a need in this regard. Skill up-gradation a special training
118
programs to equip young people of community with life and work skills necessary for
sustaining livelihood. Regular conduct of training in fashion designing courses for the
ladies and to upgrade the skills of those women who have already trained in the basic
tailoring, CSR also conduct computer education courses and nursing assistant training
courses. The trainees also receive hands on training at the local hospitals and primary
health centers. It is also necessary to train the youth in the vehicle driving courses and
help them in getting driving license so that they may earn a livelihood by starting their
own business.
Eco Friendly Initiatives

In addition to the above initiatives, the CSR also focuses attention on the development
of the eco-system and improvement of the green belt across its manufacturing and in the
nearby surrounding. Care for providing clean and green environment on a sustainable
basis. It recycles used bottles to produce value added products. When most of the
environmental concerns are subsidized, efforts are required to sustain on harnessing and
effective use of the renewable energy sources, this is more aptly required now. CSR are
required to work in the area of empowerment of people on the front of promoting them
to the significance of producing clean and alternate renewable energy for cocking and
lighting, enriched organic manure for agricultural usage, improving sanitation and
hygiene and reducing drudgery of women.
Conclusion
It is aptly true that India wish to form herself a formidable economic force in the globe
and rapid progress in every sphere of life. Every citizen therefore expects that to get
fulfill his personal and collective needs. All the agencies of development need to
shoulder this responsibility in a meaningful way and restore the confidence of people in
development strides.
119
REFERENCES
Bimal Arora and Ravi Puranik, 2004, A Review of Corporate Social Responsibility in
India, United Kingdom, Macmillan Publishers Limited.
Chatterji Ranjanabh and Ratna Vir Ved, 2006, ―Socially Responsible or Socially
Responsive: Using Corporate Social Responsibility As a Strategic Tool‖ Indian Journal
of Development Research and Social Action, Vol. 2, No.1.
Chhabra .T.N., 2000, Human Resource Management, Delhi, Dhanpat Rai & Co(p)
limited.
Corporate Social Responsibility Survey 2002 – India.
Madan G.R., 2005, Indian Social Problems Vol No- II, Mumbai, Allied Publishers
Private Limited.
Pavnesh Kumar and Rastogi Nupur, 2006, ―Corporate Social Responsibility in the
Global Market‖ Indian Journal of Development Research and Social Action, Vol. 2,
No.1.
Prasad. B. K., 2004, Social Problems In India Vol –II, New Delhi, Anmol Publications
Private Limited,.
Shiddique H.Y. 1997, Working With Community, New Delhi, Hira Publications.
Vijay B., 2006, ―Corporate Social Responsibility: Needs to be Reinforced‖,

Participative Development, Vol. 5, No. 1.
120
Socio-Economic Conditions and Development of Migrant Rickshaw-
Pullers in Delhi-An Empirical Study
Sanjoy Roy
A large section of the working population in the country is engaged in the unorganised
sector. Many among them are rural labourers who migrate to distant places in search of
jobs. They are either self-employed or are engaged as labourers. The rickshaw pullers
found in towns & metropolitan cities constitute a significant proportion of such migrant
workers. As a result they develop unhygienic conditions in their living places and
develop as slum.
This article is based on a research study conducted in Delhi by the author where great
portion of migrant population comes in search of jobs and they find rickshaw pulling as
an easy mode of earning. The article highlights on the socio-economic conditions of
migrant rickshaw pullers.
Key Words: Rickshaw Puller, Socio-economic Condition, Background Information,

Migration, Income and Expenditure, Social Work Intervention
Dr. Sanjoy Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam University,
Silchar-788011, Assam, India, Email: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
Over 90 percent of India's work force is in the informal sector. The massive exodus of
population from the rural to the urban areas and from the smaller towns to the larger
metropolis has been driven by a combination of factors in India. The central element has
been the opportunity of employment in urban informal sector, which has grown rapidly
in a two way process - on the one hand, the relative impoverishment of urban economy
has offered a large space for the informal sector, on the other, cheap labour market has
encouraged the growth of processing and service industry in the household sector. It has
left the poor with virtually no alternative except to seek informal solutions to their
housing needs in mushrooming slums without access to basic minimum facilities of
drinking water and sanitation. Thus a complex patter of urban form has emerged, in
which the 'informal and the illegal' have developed an intricate and organic relationship
with the 'formal and the legal' system. Rickshaw operators are among the most visible
groups of self employed people of our country.
121
Most of the cities and towns in India are highly polluted. The main reason is the
air and noise pollution caused by transport vehicles, especially petrol and diesel-
powered two and three-wheelers. In India there are presently close to 18 million petrol-
powered two wheelers and about 1.5 million petrol and diesel-powered three-wheelers
and their population is growing at rate of about 15% per annum. There is therefore an
urgent need to introduce in cities and towns of India an environmentally sound transport
system which is cost effective and which provides large scale employment for urban and
rural poor. An electric cycle rickshaw can provide a non-polluting, point-to-point and a
very silent transport system for urban and rural areas of India. Besides it is a very energy
efficient and cost effective vehicle. Work done at our Institute has shown that improved
cycle rickshaw powered by an electric motor and batteries has a potential to provide an
attractive alternative to petrol and diesel-powered three-wheelers. They can also provide
large-scale employment and extra income to the rickshaw puller (Rajvanshi, A. K,
2000).
Concept of Migration
Migration is a universal phenomenon and it has been present in all stages of human
history. However, the processes and forms of migration among human beings have been
changing over years. Early migration tended to be the movement of tribes, races &
groups. In modern times it is the movement of families and, still more of individuals
seeking economic settlement and transient work in other lands. Migration is a shift in the
place of residence for varying period of time while it excludes short visits and tours; it
includes both voluntary and involuntary movements. However, mobility of India's
population gained momentum only in the post independence period. This phenomenon
may be attributed to a number of factors, such as the partition of the country in 1947, the
implementation of five year plans after the independence, diversification of economy,
reclamation of cultivable waste land in certain areas, rapidly improving means of
transport, gradual progress in education, increasing pressure of population on
agricultural land, emergence of a new zeal for improving of living etc. Migration is a
routine livelihood strategy adopted in India and not simply a response to shocks
(Deshingkar and Anderson, 2004).
In addition to this, the imbalanced growth of villages and cities and the open
occupational structure of modern cities are also responsible for the movement of the
people from rural to urban areas. In the past, cities provided limited chances of spatial
and social mobility, since those were primarily centers of political, religious, educational
and commercial activities with limited employment potentials, and had a static and
archaic character. Cities of such closed structure did not provide to the rural masses with
opportunities to have access to them.
122
According to Theodore Caplow "Migration is strictly speaking a chance of
residence and need not necessarily involve any change of occupation, but it is closely
associated with occupational shifts of one kind or another".
New Webster's dictionary defined migration as - "The act or an instance of
moving from one country, region or place to settle in another the act or an instance of
moving from one area to another in search of work".
India's population has generally been characterized as non-mobile. However,
recently internal migration has recorded phenomenal increase. In fact at the process of
the rural to urban migration in India was initiated. Even scholars, artists, warriors and
unskilled workers always aspired to move to these cities for royal patronage, wider
acclaim and better life. These cities provide rural migrants with better living conditions,
employment opportunities, educational facilities, chances of upward mobility and an
escape from the poverty and hardships of rural life. Consequently, in India rural-urban
migration has increased considerably during the past ten decades. However, the rate of
migration is not uniform for all over the country; it varies from regions to region
depending upon the nature and type of the cultivable soil, economic potentials, socio-
cultural peculiarities and development planning of the regions (Kamble, 1982).
Causes of Migration
A number of specific reasons of cataclysm like floods, famines, epidemics, wards,
conquests & invasions, economic, political and religious oppressions at home and love
for adventure, aspiration for more wealth etc. were the causes of migration in the early
stages of history. However, the factors of migration in recent times are more explicitly
specified than ever before. For example Saxena (1977), Upreti (1980) and many other
scholars have classified the causes of rural emigration into two categories, viz. economic
and socio-demographic. In economic factors they include a high man/land ratio,
agricultural poverty, unequal distribution of resources, average per capita income of
cultivators, land holding system, fragmentation of land, heavy taxation, job opportunities
outside the village etc. While the socio-demographic factors include age, sex, family
size, family type, family conflict, Kinship structure, caste, education, oppressive law,
distance and social surroundings.
The factors associated with the process of migration may be broadly classified as
place of origin, place of destination, intervening obstacles and personal factors. The
Phenomenon of migration tends to encourage in terms of the 'push' and 'pull' factors.
Factors (particularly economic) related to the place of origin are called the 'push' factors
and the factors related to the destination as the 'pull' factors. According to 'push' factor
impinging rural environment cause migration, while according the 'pull' factor, urban
attractions 'pull' the persons.
Otherwise the main reasons of migration are:
123
i) unemployment / underemployment,
ii) Financial problem
iii) Lack of agricultural land or very little land in native place,
iv) Family dispute,
v) Peer influences etc.
Migration in Delhi and Pattern of Migration

Population of Delhi has grown 221.57% during the course of last twenty years. No other
city in the world has witnessed similar kind of growth which is unprecedented both in its
scale and magnitude. Much of this growth has been influenced by poverty-induced
migration, from different parts of the country particularly from the neighbouring states
in search of livelihood.
TABLE-1
VOLUME OF NET MIGRATION TO DELHI (IN, 000)
Year Net Migration to Delhi
1961-71 633
1971-81 952
1981-91 1306
1991-2001 1600
Source: Census of India, Registrar General of India

Table1 has clearly shows the net migration to Delhi from different neighbouring states
in an increasing rate since 1961 to 2001.
It is important to understand the structure and pattern of the migration, which has
had a significant bearing on the economy and settlement system of the city. It is
estimated that 83.9% of the population who migrated to the city belonged to the rural
areas, 15.8% to the small and medium towns (with population of less than a million) and
0.3% to the metropolis (million plus cities), but almost every individual who migrated to
the city, irrespective of the level of education, income and social status, did so with a
dream of a better future. Delhi is perceived as a land of opportunities to the poor and the
non-poor alike.
Historical Understanding of Rickshaw
The rickshaws were introduced in India as early as 1930s. In the early days most of the
rickshaws were land-pulled. Subsequently they gave way to cycle rickshaws. In the late
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1970s a motorized version of the rickshaw introduced which never really caught on, as
the rickshaw puller became worried about getting a license as well as maintaining the
motor.
Rickshaw-pulling even though an outdated mode of transport, it is still popular in
India. Not only in small towns but even in fast developing industrial and commercial
cities and metropolis of the country, it is a common scene to see a rickshaw puller
carrying a huge load or passengers. Delhi being the national capital of India affords
much better employment opportunities not only skilled workers but also for unskilled
workers. A small covered passenger vehicle with two wheels which is usually pulled by
one person. And cycle-rickshaw is made by three wheels and usually driven by one
person.
Existing cycle rickshaw scene
It is estimated that close to 2 million cycle rickshaws ply on the Indian roads carrying
about 6-8 billion passenger-kms/year. The exact number could be even greater since
there are no reliable records available. In some cities and small towns they are the major
means of transport. They provide employment to more than 2 million rickshaw pullers,
are very maneuverable, completely non-polluting and hence environmentally friendly
means of transport. In the narrow lanes of towns and cities probably they are the only
transport system to provide point to point travel. It is however very unfortunate that
deliberate policies in most of the urban towns of developing countries have been made
by the concerned authorities to phase out these rickshaws. These non-polluting vehicles
are being replaced by polluting (both air and noise wise) petrol and diesel-powered
three-wheelers (Rajvanshi, A. K, 2000).
Reforms in the sector
There has been a spate of articles in the media about the operation of the licensing
regime for hawkers and rickshaw pullers in Delhi (e.g. article titled: ʺPoor Excusesʺ by
Tavleen Singh in India Today, 9 July 2001, ʺRegulate street hawkersʺ in Times of India
16 July 2001). [Both these articles are based on Manushi study and facts that emerged
through the Lok Sunwayi of street vendors and rickshaw operators]. A study by a high
profile NGO, Manushi, titled: ʺHow the License Quota Raj Impacts the Urban Poorʺ was
also released. N. Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner, had written to the Delhi Chief
Minister, Shiela Dikshit, drawing her attention to the problems.
The broad points made in these articles, the Manushi study, and Vittal‘s letter is as
follows:
(i) The policy of restrictive issue of licenses for hawkers and rickshaw pullers is
a perversion of the SC judgment in Saudam Singh vs. NDMC and others,
1987, which ruled that hawking, etc. represented a fundamental right to
125
livelihood, and was subject only to reasonable regulations to avoid potential
social costs of these activities (e.g. street/pavement obstruction).
(ii) The restrictive licensing system enables rents to be collected by the officials,
who process, issue, and enforce licenses. These rents are estimated in the
Manushi study to be approx. Rs 500 million a month. (While the study
followed a rather informal methodology/approach, the figure is not beyond
credibility, coming to Rs 1000 per month per hawker. The number of
unlicensed hawkers is estimated at 500,000, while those licensed are just
20,000).
(iii) Hawkers and rickshaw pullers are also subject to atrocities by these
functionaries, e.g. destruction or misappropriation of the hawkers‘ wares or
impounding/destruction of rickshaws, by these functionaries.
(iv) That it is time that the licensing system is reformed so that the hawkers and
rickshaw pullers, belonging to the poorest sections of urban society, are
enabled to pursue their modest livelihoods without extortion. This would
convey the message that policy reforms benefit the poor, and not only the
middle class or well-to-do.
Though under the Ministry of Labour, Government of India has provided many welfare
schemes for the rickshaw pullers and the Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Government of
India on January, 1998 provided for a few measures that are:
1) Issuance of Registration and Identity Card.
2) Construction of rest house and rickshaw shed with drinking water and
lavatory.
3) Provision of dispensary, medical facilities etc.
4) Giving social security scheme and
5) Sanction of loans on easy instalments and purchase/repair of rickshaw.
However, most of the State Governments failed to act on these measures.
METHODOLOGY
Present Study
As Delhi is the capital city of India, people from rural areas migrate to Delhi for job
opportunities. As a result, the density of population of Delhi is increasing day by day.
They try to find jobs in both organized and unorganized sector. Failing to get jobs in
organized sector, these people find it little more convenient to get jobs in unorganized
126
sectors as construction worker or rickshaw pullers. Now, a days it is more commonly
opted occupation. They stay in Jhuggi, resettlement colonies or even as street without
having proper sanitation and other basic facilities in Delhi. As a result of that their health
and socio-economic conditions becomes hazardous.
The present study is focused on the background of the 'migrant population', the
problems they are facing in Delhi, their socio-economic conditions and also try to
explore the different mechanisms to improve the conditions of this marginalized people.
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the research was to study the socio-economic conditions of the
rickshaw pullers.
The specific objectives of the study were:
i. To study the background and causes of migration of rickshaw puller to Delhi.
ii. To study the socio-economic conditions of rickshaw pullers.
iii. To suggest the social work intervention strategies to improve the conditions
and obstacles of rickshaw-pullers in Delhi.
Universe
Universe of this study will be migrant rickshaw-pullers who are basically working in
and around the North Campus of the Delhi University.
Sampling and Sampling Techniques
The total sample size is 150 from Delhi University North Campus and its adjacent areas.
Since the universe was infinite the researcher had used non-probability sampling for
selecting the respondents. Therefore, simple random sampling was used. The
respondents in the sample comprised of only male from age group of 15 and above.
Tools of Data Collection
The researcher collected both qualitative and quantitative data. The primary tool used
for collection of qualitative data was a pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule.
The qualitative data were collected using case study & observation as the tools of data
collection. The information collected by this method was in-depth in nature. A semi
structured interview schedule was prepared keeping the objectives in mind. The
interview schedule was pre-tested by interviewing 10 rickshaw-pullers before the actual
work was started. The whole exercise was carried in on open and friendly manner. The
timing of the researcher to take interview varied from morning, evening and most of the
time in the night. Observation is a strong tool as well as source of information. The
researcher selected 10 cases for in-depth case study. They represented specific problems
faced by them. All these case studies above have been discussed in the light of
background, migration, socio-economic background and possible social work
interventions.
127
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF RICKSHAW PULLERS
The researcher interacted with 150 rickshaw pullers. Out of total rickshaw pullers, 120
lived without family and remaining (30) with family in Delhi. It was very difficult to
find out rickshaw pullers with family because most of them in Delhi are seasonal
migrants. The researcher came to know that those rickshaw pullers with families who
have been staying in Delhi since long time seldom visit their native places. In Delhi
most of the rickshaw pullers are staying in jhuggi wherever the remaining have rented
houses.
As per as social interaction and community relations of the rickshaw pullers
within their own occupational groups are concerned, these are mostly restricted to their
own caste groups and states of origin. This way they feel a sense of social sensitivity in a
micro-group far away from their native places. The feeling of security and
belongingness is especially felt during festivals which they celebrate together. Many of
the rickshaw pullers above the twenty five years are married and have many children. A
positive factor is that quite a number of rickshaw pullers are sending their children to
school. It is also evident that literary rates are encouraging due to more urban influence
& awareness.
This part has divided into four sections to get complete information about their
socio-economic conditions. These sections are
a) Background information
b) Family background
c) Migration (from village), its seasons and
d) Income & Expenditure
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
AGE
Table -2
Distribution of the respondents by their age groups
Age Frequency Percentage
15-25 75 50
25-45 59 39.3
45 and more 16 10.7
Total 150 100
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From the above table, it is clear that 50 percent of the respondents were younger in age.
Nearly 40 percent belonged to middle age and remaining 10.7 percent were older than
45 years.
This indicates that some rickshaw pullers are even older than 45 years. They are
involved in this job because they have no alternative mode of earning their livelihood.
Marital Status
Table-3
Distribution of the Respondents by their Marital Status
Marital Status Frequency Percentage
Married 85 56.6
Un-married 65 43.4
Total 150 100
From the table 3 it was found that 56.6 percent of respondents were married and
remaining were unmarried. None of the respondents among them was found to be
legally separated or divorced from their first marriage but many of them have been
found re-married. Thus, it appears that getting separated / divorced is very easy to them
since after separation they immediately get remarried.
State
Table-4
State Wise Distribution of the Rickshaw-Pullers
State Frequency Percentage
Bihar 50 33.3
U.P. 31 20.8
M.P. 15 10
Jharkhand 19 12.6
West Bengal 18 12
Rajasthan 5 3.3
Uttaranchal 12 8
Total 150 100
129
From the above table it reflects that the rickshaw puller hailed from number of states
such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, Rajasthan,
and Jharkhand. However, a majority of them were from Bihar (33.3%) & U.P (20.8%).
Religion
Table-5
Distribution of the Respondents by Religion
Religion Frequency Percentage
Hindu 99 66
Muslims 39 26
Christian 12 8
Total 150 100
Table 5 indicates the distribution of despondences in terms of religion where nearly two-
third (66%) of the respondents was Hindu. The Muslims comprised of 39 percent and
remaining were Christian.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
TYPES OF FAMILY
Table-6
Distribution of the respondents by Type of the Family
Family Type Frequency Percentage
Nuclear 61 40.8
Joint 79 52.6
Extended 10 6.6
Total 150 100
130
From the above table it indicate that more than half (52.6%) of the respondents lived in
joint family, where as 40.8 percent of the total respondents belonged to nuclear family.
Only 6.6 percent of the respondents belonged to extended family. It shows that the joint
family system in rural India still prevailing, but in the advent of modernization, joint
family has been converting into nuclear family as it has shown in the table also.
Family Size
Table-7
Distribution of the Respondents by the Family Size
Total No. of Family Members Frequency Percentage
Less than 5 15 10
5-10 69 46
10-15 59 39.4
15-20 4 2.6
More than 20 3 2
Total 150 100
Average size family is = x (Average size of Family is 9.53)
From the above table relating to family members, it is found that 46 percent of the
respondents had the family members in the range of 5-10 and nearly 40 percent were in
the ranged 10-15. Rest of the respondents family members ranged in the groups of 15-
20, more than 20 and below 5.
During the interaction with the respondents, the researcher found that Muslims were
having more family members in the native places as compared to Hindu.
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Migration from Village & Its Reasons
Dependents in Village
Table-8
Total No. of dependents in Village
No. of 1-5 5-10 10-15 Frequency

Dependents
Married 25 45 8 7 85
Unmarried 46 14 3 2 65
Total 71 59 11 9 50
Table 8 indicates that there was no variation in the average no of dependent in the
village of married/unmarried Rickshaw pullers. Both of them had on an average fair
dependent in the village.
Average no of dependents of married Rickshaw pullers in the village XI = 43 (4)
Average no. of dependents of unmarried rickshaw pullers in the village X2=43(4)
Table-9
Total no of dependents in city
Range of Dependents Frequency Percentage

1-5 18 60
5-10 7 23.34
10 & above 5 16.66
Table 9 shows that the range of dependence is more in the range of 1-5 rather 5-10
which means that in every family of rickshaw pullers staying in Delhi with family have
dependent members of 1-5 who are Hindu in religion. On the other hand, it has found
that in the rickshaw pullers who are Muslims by religion, have the more dependent
members in terms of range.
Average number of dependent in the list of married male - 5.33.
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Year of Migration
Table-10
Distribution of Respondents by Year of Migration
Year Frequency Percentage
Less than one 21 14
1-5 66 44
5-10 57 38
10-15 2 1.3
15-20 4 2.7
Average year of migration = x = 4.65
Above table shows that around 50 percent of the respondents migrated to Delhi 1 to 5
year back, whereas 14 percent came just one year back. On the other hand 38 percent of
the total respondents came to Delhi. 5 to 10 years back & only negligible percent (1.3%)
of respondents migrated before 10 years.
Reason of Migration
Table-11
Reason of Migration of the Rickshaw Pullers in Delhi
Reasons Frequency Percentage
Unemployment/Underemployment 75 50
Financial Problems 25 16.6
Lack of Agricultural Land 18 12
Family Dispute 18 12
Peer Influences 14 9.4
Total 150 100
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From the above table it highlights that nearly two third of the total respondents migrated
to Delhi for the sake of unemployment/ underemployment or financial constraints. Rest
of the respondents migrated because of lack of agricultural land, family dispute and peer
influences. Thus it is quite apparent amongst the rickshaw pullers do not migrate to
Delhi become of peer influence or fascinates of visiting Delhi instead, it in the
unemployment/underemployment became which they decide to core to Delhi.
Reason for opting Rickshaw pulling as a Mean of Livelihood
Table-12
Distribution of the Respondents by Season for opting Rickshaw Pulling

Reason Frequency Percentage
Does not require any 83 55.3
technical knowledge
No need to invest money 25 16.7
Others 42 26
Total 150 100
The above table shows that most of the respondents opined that they opted Rickshaw
pulling because it does not require any technical knowledge, where 16.7 percent of the
respondents said that for rickshaw pulling there has no need to invest money. 26 percent
of the respondents responded for other reasons i.e. no need to listen other command,
freedom of work & interest about it.
Income & Expenditure
Rent of Rickshaw per day:
Table-13
Rent of the Rickshaw Pullers Per day for his rickshaw

Rent Per Day Respondents Percentage
20 52 34.66%
22 64 42.66%
25 34 22.66%
Total 150 100%
The rickshaw pullers hires the rickshaw on a per day rental basis, usually ranging
between 20-25. The rent would depend on various factors: 1) conditions of the rickshaw
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old or new, 2) living standard of the place in question. For big places and small places,
rent is more & less respectively.
From the above test is shows that 52 respondents (34.66%) pays
Rs. 20/- to the owner per day, 64 respondents (42.66%) pays Rs. 22/- per day. It states
that only 34 respondents (22.66%) pay Rs. 25/- for hiring rickshaw in a day.
Daily Earning:
The rickshaw pullers were not very much free to talk about the exact income of the day.
Some of them would start of relating sad tales about the hardships they face before
coming up with the amount they earn in a day.
According to rickshaw pullers, they earn Rs. 100/- to Rs. 120/- per day approximately.
Expenditure and Saving:
During the discussion time, the researcher came to know that the rickshaw puller spends
their money for food, housing, clothing, health & recreation. Besides these they need to
spend some part of money for repairing of their rickshaw. Many of them spends a major
portion of their income on addition or visiting prostitutes.
Majority of the rickshaw pullers without family keep their savings with
themselves and regularly send it to their native places. Due to security seasons they
sometimes keep their money to known shopkeepers who stay in their locality and
whenever they needs they can get it. According to them it is the secure place to keep
money rather keeping in the Bank or post office. They think it is lengthy process to keep
money in the Bank or Post Office. Therefore none of them were found to keep money in
the Bank / Post Office.
Rickshaw pullers with family have some story that they spends on housing &
family members. They were able to save little parts of earned money.
Based on this study, a case study has produced here to understand the reality of
this community.
CASE STUDY 1
Name : Mr. A
Age : 42 yrs.
Marital Status : Married
Educational Qualification : Primary Level.
State Belongs : U.P.
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Family Composition :
Family Background
Mr. A is staying in Delhi with his family for the last 10 years. He is from a small village
of Uttar Pradesh. He has a joint family in the village. The family comprises of old
parents, three brothers, & two sisters. All of them are staying together. One of his sister
got married two years back. He is the eldest son of his parents. His brothers are working
in their small cultivated land. They also run small business in their native village. Both
the brothers are married. The family at the village is a close knit family. Mr. A has to
sons and one daughter. But in Delhi he is staying with his wife along with one son and
one daughter. The other son is staying back in the native village with his parents. He is
attending school at the village. He shifted to Delhi because his wife was suffering from
some disease related to chest and abdomen. At the native place, he visited a number of
doctors but the disease could neither be diagnosed nor did she get any relief from it. He
was advised by friends to get her treated in government hospital in Delhi. He visited
Delhi quite a number of times to keep appointments in hospital in Delhi. Sometimes he
visited Delhi two times a week.
So it was not economical and possible for them coming to commute so often. So,
being influenced by friends who were opting rickshaw pulling in Delhi, he decided to
stay in Delhi. He took rickshaw pulling as a means/source of livelihood. While opting
rickshaw pulling, he was in a state of confusion. Initially he stayed at Majnu Ka Tila
(near by North Delhi University Campus) with his wife & children.
Living Arrangement
At present Mr. A is staying in a rented room near Kingsway Camp. As a rent he is
paying Rs. 800/- p.m. for his one room. This is one room accommodation with kitchen
arrangement in the same room. However there is a separate private bathroom and toilet.
The surroundings are not too hygienic but seemed better as compared to this situation of
other rickshaw puller in Delhi. Mr. A owns a rickshaw which he has registered with
MCD. He starts his work early in the morning from 8 am – 12 pm. Then he takes a
136
break. He goes back home & spends for sometime & takes his launch. Then he again
works from 2p.m. to 8 p.m. He is earning approximately Rs. 120/- per day and running
his family in a satisfactory manner though he has to spend a major sum of his hard
earned money for his wife who is undergoing medical treatment in a government
hospital. Mr. A is also spending on one child who is going to primary school in Delhi.
His daughter is only 4 years old.
Family Relationship in Delhi / Native Place
So far as family relationship is concerned Mr. A has been maintaining a balanced
relationship with his family and native place. He used to go to his native place with his
family during the occasion. Regularly he can't go because he can not stop pulling
rickshaw for long time.
Income / Expenditure
Mr. A earns Rs. 140/- per day approximately and the expenditure per month is nearly
3000/- which includes the monthly rent as well. The savings are almost nil. In fact he is
not able to send any money to the village although one of his sons is being brought up in
the village.
Addition / Personal Health
He has no other addition except that he is something 'Bidi'. The frequency of smoking
varies from 5-7 per day. He has tried his best to stop it but failed since he considers it as
the only solace of relief in his life. He does not have serious health problem so far.
Sometimes he has stomach infection or headache for which he does not take allopathic
medicine. Instead he prefers local ayurvedic.
Exploitation by Police
According to Mr. A he never faced any problem from police. Sometimes Police blocks
their road to pull their rickshaw. But he told that most of the times police has negative
attitude towards them.
Social Life
Mr. A does not have any social life except the fact that sometimes he takes his daughter
out in the park early in the morning or in the afternoon. He visits his friends/relatives
rarely in Delhi.
Psychological Problem
When the researcher was talking to Mr. A he felt that for him every day was a sacrifice.
This was nothing new in it. He did not look forward to next day. He was depressed and
pessimistic as far his outlook towards life has concerned.
137
Case Analysis
Mr. A is lending a monotonous type of life in which there is no excitement. At the time
of distress, he seemed to have managed his stand properly with his family & took the
right stand to stay in Delhi along with his family. He does not have any specific plan
near future.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THEIR UPLIFTMENT AND
DEVELOPMENT
In the course of the research the following recommendation are suggested which are
very important for the development of their social and economic conditions.
 Poverty alleviation programmes of any kind should give preference to this

working community.
 Rickshaw cooperative societies should be formed and facilities such as

housing, sanitation, proper civic amenities etc. should be provided to them.
 Evening and night classes should be organized to raise literacy levels among
rickshaw pullers so that their literacy level could be high.
 Rickshaw pullers should be motivated to adopt family planning methods so

as to further the small family norm and counseling them for restraining from
unprotected sex.
 All their health needs should be catered to by the government hospitals.

Moreover, a separate unit / counter should be made for them so that they do
not have to stand in long queues and miss out on their day' earnings.
Awareness about various diseases especially STDs and AIDS should be
generated by organizing health camps, workshops and gatherings.
 Recreation centers meant for them should be opened by the government so

that their leisure time may be constructively utilized.
 They should be provided legal aids so that the violation of human rights
could be protected.
 They could be provided short term loans to do small business along with the
rickshaw pulling so that their economic upliftment could be possible.
 Licensing system of rickshaw for this community should be made easy and
available.
138
SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION
Advocacy
 NGOs and other socially sensitive groups working the weaker sections
should apprise the authorities about the plight of rickshaw pullers so. The
necessary steps should be taken to improve their conditions.
 Campaigning for the cause of rickshaw pullers should be under taken by

using print and electronic media.
Counseling
 Social work professionals can use case work and group work techniques to
identify persons with problems. They can study and diagnose the problem
correctly and prescribe suggestive treatment for the same. For all the above,
counseling forms an integral part. Through proper counseling, rickshaw
pullers can be helped in building their capacities to counter any and all kinds
of adverse situations.
Awareness generation
 Awareness regarding the rights, duties and responsibilities of rickshaw

pullers also needs to be generated through various training programmes
especially about following traffic rules, parking rules and driving rules etc.
 Police and other authorities also should be made sensitive about the plight of
the rickshaw pullers through various training and awareness generation
camps. A carefully planned approach in implementing all kinds of awareness
generation programmes would go a long way in achieving the desired goals.
Education
 Professional social workers can motivate rickshaw pullers to increase their

literacy levels. They can intervene by making them realize the need and
importance of education.
 NGOs, support groups and even literate peer groups can facilitate this
process by adding more neo - literates to the society.
Health related issues
 Posters and other mass awareness materials should be circulated depicting

the adverse impact of alcoholism, smoking etc.
 Health camps to assess their general physical health should also be

conducted from time to time by various NGOs working in the field of health.
139
 Medicines and other medical facilities can be made available to the rickshaw
pullers by collaborating with various charitable trusts and hospitals.
Networking
 Networking forms the crux of successful interventions at all levels.

Liasioning / networking with appropriate authorities, health officials,
education providers, other para-professionals etc. would make all attempts
made at improving the socio-economic conditions of rickshaw pullers
successful.
CONCLUSION
The area of concern for the migrant rickshaw pullers is their extremely low level of pay
that is making their lives more miserable so they could be provided some sort of an
additional income source in the form of temporary employment where relatively low
level of skill sets is required so that at least they are able to meet the daily needs in a
more peaceful manner. Also the government and the other social welfare organizations
who claim to look after their plight needs to gain their confidence by providing some
kinds of benefits for their socio-economic development and uplift their status. However,
new policies must be implemented to secure the status of the migrant workers, especially
for rickshaw pullers and ensure benefits are distributed evenly. Priorities should be
given to basic needs and proper housing facilities to improve their standard of living
with dignity and also ensure the accountability and transparency in labour markets and
raising awareness of their rights.
REFERENCES
De'souza Alfred, 1978, "The Indian City – Poverty, Ecology and Urban Development",
Manohar Publications, New Delhi.
Dupont. V and Tingal D., 1997, "Residential and Economic Practices of Pavement
dwellers in Old Delhi", Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi.
Kamble. N.D., 1982, "Migration in Indian Metropolis", Institute of Economic Growth,

New Delhi.
Lokayan, 2004, "Poor but not subservient: the cycle rickshaw industry in the National
Capital Region", A special publication on the occasion of the World Social Forum,
2004, India, Mumbai, Jan Parivahan Panchayat, Delhi.
140
Manushi study-LOK SUNWAYI
Menon Sindhu, 2002, "The relentless struggle of rickshaw pullers", www. labourfile.
org.
Nayyar, Deepak, 1999, "Globalization and Migration: Retrospect and Prospects",

Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi.
Rajvanshi, A. K., Human Power, Winter 1999-2000, No. 49, pp. 15-18
Yadara, K.N.S.,1989,"Rural urban migration in India: Determinants, Patterns and

Consequences", Independent Publishing Company, New Delhi.
141
New Perspectives on Consumer Awareness in Media
Onkargouda Kakade
Mass Media – print as well as electronic – has a very crucial role in consumer
awareness. The print media, especially the language press which has a very wide
readership base among the masses, can effectively connect with the people by
highlighting their grievances and redressal measures vis-à-vis their consumer rights. But
it has been observed that consumer protection has been accorded low priority by the
press. Unproductive and electoral motivated politics still dominates news columns of
daily newspapers. Productive activities like consumer rights are given short shrift. The
growing market and its darker side of manipulation and exploitations which impairs the
consumers‘ interests and rights need to be appropriately addressed by the media. As
such there is a need to build a new India where the consumer protection and business go
hand in hand. The universal emphasis of consumer protection needs to be promoted to
bring discipline in the market in the interest of consumers‘ satisfaction. To educate the
consumers about their rights, in general, and laws, standards, rules and codes in
particular sector through newspapers is the need of the hour.
Key words: Consumer awareness, Consumer Movement, Mass Media, Press,
Dr. Onkar Kakde, Reader and Chairman, Department of Journalism and Mass
Communication, Karnataka State Women's University, Toravi campus, Bijapur 586109,
Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
With increasing globalization, liberalization and harmonization of economies of various

nations coming together, the issues concerning consumer protection are now being
accorded the topmost priority. The growing size and complexity of production and
distribution systems, the high level of sophistication in marketing and newer methods of
advertising, mass marketing methods and emergence of e-commerce result in reduction
of personal interaction between buyers and sellers has contributed to the increased need
of consumer protection.
The consumers are the largest group in our country but they are not well
organized and have to suffer because of lack of awareness. It is, therefore, necessary that
awareness should be generated among the consumers about their rights especially
among such consumers living in the rural and semi-urban areas. The present paper
provides various policies, strategies and effective methods to create awareness on the
142
one hand and other hand the paper analyzes the future challenges and new opportunities
too in the global age.
High prices, duplicate articles, underweight and under– measurements, rough

behaviour, undue conditions, artificial scarcity are some of the ways by which
consumers are exploited by manufacturers and traders. Limited information, limited
supplies are factors causing exploitation of consumers. The Consumer movement in
India is as old as trade and commerce. The concept of consumer protection is not new.
References to the protection of consumer‘s interest against exploitation by trade and
industry, underweight and measurement, adulteration and punishment for these offences,
were made in Kautilya‘s ‗Arthashastra‘. However, an organized and systematic
movement to safeguard the interest of consumers is a recent phenomenon.1
History
After Independence, our country has taken commendable steps in protecting the interests
of consumers by way of various policies and legislations, in which our Parliament has
been a guiding force. The Consumer Protection Act of 1986 represented an important
milestone in the history of consumer movement in the country. To supplement these
efforts, a pioneering step was taken in 1997 by creating a separate Department of
Consumer Affairs in the Central Government to exclusively focus on protecting the
rights of the consumers.2 But the question is that, how many people are aware of the
existence of these safeguards and legal initiatives and how many are able to actually take
advantage of them? This is where an effective awareness campaign assumes importance.
In a big country like India, given the scenario of economic disparity and level of
education and ignorance, educating the consumers remains a challenging task.
Government has taken up number of activities and schemes in creating consumer
awareness and to strengthen the consumer movement in the country. The Government
alone could not do in the required qualitative change in people's attitude and just by
passing enactments or by making laws no change could be brought in society. However,
making of a law in itself is not the end. Education and awareness is the most powerful
tool for the progress of the country and an educated individual is able to make rationale
choice as a consumer. An aware consumer protects himself from trade and business
exploitation.
1 Gupta M. and Ogale, N: Educational needs of consumers regarding consumer protection laws. Journal of Research. H.A.U. Hissar,
18 (3) : 236-241 (1988).
2 Anonymous: A MULTI MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR CONSUMER AWARENESS; Annual Report, Ministry of Information and
broadcasting, Govt. of India; 2007; P- 87.
143
Role of Media
More than anything else, a vigorous campaign to increase awareness and to enhance the
effectiveness of the consumer protection measures is the key to the consumer
movement. In this task, the media – print as well as electronic – has a very crucial role in
disseminating the policies and programmes of the Government and NGO‘s with regard
to the consumer rights and, more specially, consumer awareness. The print media,
especially the language press which has a very wide readership base among the masses,
can effectively connect with the people by highlighting their grievances and redressal
measures vis-à-vis their consumer rights.
Since, the enactment of the Consumer Protection Act and even before that,
newspapers and magazines have been responding to the needs of consumers. Apart from
publishing articles, columns etc, and newspapers have also tried to come to the rescue of
harassed consumers. A vigilant press would go a long way in making the movement a
thundering success. Though the press is playing a key role, there is still enough room for
a sustained campaign.3
To make the consumers aware on various issues concerning consumer

protection, Kannada newspapers like PRAJAVANI, KANNADA PRABHA, VIJAY
KARNATAKA, SAMYUKTA KARNATAKA, UDAYVANI and Kannada magazines
are publishing weekly columns regularly and news items occasionally. Though
Prajavani, Kannada Prabha and Samyukta Karnataka publishing regular columns like
GRAHAKARA VEDIKE, GRAHAKA, and GRAHAKAR GARADI, the coverage of
news related to consumer awareness activities are rather inadequate. On consumer rights
very few Kannada writers are regularly writing. It has been observed that consumer
protection has been accorded low priority by Kannada press.
Less Importance
Unproductive and electoral motivated politics still dominates news columns of Kannada
press. Productive activities like consumer rights are given short shrift. While Chief
Minister B.S.Yedyurappa‘s remarks on former Prime Minister H D Devegouda will get
more and prominent space in the newspaper, but a story related to consumer protection
will go into the inside pages or some times it will not get the space at all. The injustice
done to the welfare issue of thousands of consumers was not lost on thoughtful
newspaper readers. But they had consumed what the newspaper dished out. Such things
3
Prasad M and Johan Devid: Creating Awareness on Consumer Protection through Mass Media; HRDP
JOURNAL Vol. no. 9; page no. 34-38; 2008.

Leading Kannada daily Newspapers.

Regular columns published by Kannada daily Newspapers regarding to Consumer Awareness.
144
happen daily with disturbing regularity. Most of the time sensationalism obscures
constructive news in Kannada newspapers. The same prevails in English newspapers
also.
Government and NGOs are organizing special campaigns, press conferences,

public exhibitions, workshops, street events, etc. in order to give voice to the concerns of
the consumers. These organized institutional efforts have certainly gone a long way in
drawing attention to a range of issues like adulterated food-manufacturing, spurious
drugs, unethical marketing practices, consumer awareness campaigns, and many more.
But very unfortunately newspapers are giving least attention to these activities.
The scheme for setting up of consumer clubs in schools and colleges have been
introduced to make the youngsters aware of their rights as a consumer. These clubs are
being facilitated to develop into resource groups. School consumer clubs are encouraged
to take student-members to go for outreach camps to local neighbourhoods to conduct
consumer education shows, demonstrations on adulteration, frauds, etc,. Apart from this
there are hundreds of consumer associations, which are working in the field of consumer
protection. They deal with various aspects of consumer exploitation.4 But there is no
sufficient publicity for these activities in the newspapers.
Misleading Advertisements
Due to the new trend that has emerged with globalization, the corporate sector is trying
to conquer the rural India. They are spending crores of rupees to bag the rural
consumers. The victims of the consumerism are invariably the children and teen aged
category. For example a rural girl ‗knows‘ that a cream like ―Fair and Lovely‖ can
change her complex from black to white. This is a greatest fraud which was never
checked by the media. There are several such products which are entering the rural
Indian market. In this context the role of media in consumer protection is very vital.
When compared to the number of consumers and the space devoted for consumer
productions by the Kannada papers is very inadequate. Even the columns published by
Kannada press which I already mentioned the coverage is restricted to few court
judgments or sensational issues like appearance of cockroaches in ‗Thums-up‘ or Coco-
Cola. Interestingly every newspaper and magazine introduces new products colourfully
through news columns and special features to attract the consumers as well as to widen
its reader base. The write ups and advertisements on modern electronic gadgets like
Television, Refrigerator, Micro Oven and Automobiles (two wheelers, four wheelers)
4 Anonymous: A MULTI MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR CONSUMER AWARENESS; Annual Report, Ministry of Information and
broadcasting, Govt. of India; 2007; P- 27.
145
can be cited as best examples for this phenomenon. This can be linked to a perfectly
tuned nexus between the private sector and newspapers for their mutual benefits.
Unfortunately consumers are taken for granted.
If vigilant press were active the public would not have been duped by companies
like Vini Vink and the like. Unless Kannada press does not make it a point to treat the
consumer rights on par with news on political affairs, cricket, fashion, stock market etc
such events will repeat at regular intervals of time. And also there is a greater need on
the Kannada press to reflect the opinion of the civil society and other organizations
which are involved themselves in exposing the methods of tactics and other fraudulent
activities of various companies.
Need of the hour
The growing market and its darker side of manipulation and exploitations which impairs
the consumers‘ interests and rights need to be appropriately addressed by the media. As
such there is a need to build a new India where the consumer protection and business go
hand in hand. The universal emphasis of consumer protection needs to be promoted to
bring discipline in the market in the interest of consumers‘ satisfaction. Every citizen has
to be made aware of consumer rights. Ignorance of their rights is mainly responsible for
exploitation of consumers‘ particularly rural consumers. To educate the consumers
about their rights, in general, and laws, standards, rules and codes in particular sector
through newspapers is the need of the hour.
Democracy is incomplete unless the local Government and the individual

consumers are empowered. There was a time when consumer came last and was least
important in the economy but now the consumer is the pillar of empowerment. But one
of the major lacunae of the present Consumer movement is that it is restricted to the
urban areas. The need of the hour is that consumer awareness and education should be
taken to the rural masses as 70 percent of the population still resides in rural India.
India‘s dream of achieving success in socio-economic front will remain unfulfilled
unless the rural masses are brought to the forefront. In this task, local newspapers can
take the consumer movement to the rural masses in a more effective manner.
The consumers have to be aware not only of the commercial aspects of sale and
purchase of goods, but also of the health and security aspects. Food safety has become
an important element of consumer awareness these days. On these issues should tackle
by the press. Special features and stories on the consumer movement and special
columns by experts on the consumer rights protection subject should publish regularly.

The Company cheated people through publishing advertisement in Newspapers.
146
Such efforts would pave way for greater awareness and despite its limitations the media
could render yeoman service to the consumer movement and society.
REFERENCES
Anonymous: Consumer Guidance Society of Bombay. Keem at 5(3&4): 2-3 (1976).
Anonymous: A MULTI MEDIA CAMPAIGN FOR CONSUMER AWARENESS;

Annual Report; Ministry of Information and broadcasting, Govt. of India; 2007; P- 87.
Anonymous: Consumer redressal Forum; Prajavani, Daily Newspaper; Year: 2007: Vol.
58; Issue- 165; P- 5.
Anonymous: Consumer Protection; Kannada Prabha newspaper; Year: 2006; Vol. 38;
Issue- 16; P- 9.
Besir Koc, Melike Ceylan, 2009, Consumer-awareness and information sources on food
safety: A case study; Journal: Nutrition & Food Science; Vol. 39 No. 6, pp. 643 – 654.
Bhatt R, 1977, Buying powers of urban poor and public distribution. Keem at,
December.
Shrinivasa R and M. Deniz Tekin: Consumer awareness and acceptance of irradiated

foods: Academic Journals; Vol. 7; Issue- 3; p- 32.
Gupta M. and Ogale, N, 1988, Educational needs of consumers regarding consumer

protection laws. Journal of Research. H.A.U. Hissar, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 236-241.
John M. 1974, Awareness of Consumer Responsibilities. M.Sc. thesis, (unpublished)

M.S. University, Baroda.
Kolor, Katherine and Mrinal Gupta, 2009, Health care provider and consumer
awareness, perceptions, and use of direct-to-consumer personal genomic tests, United
States, 2008. Genetics in Medicine: Vol. 11, No. 8 - p 595.
Parmeshwar, K.R.1988, Protect consumer against quality tricksters. Yojana Vol. 32 No.
5, pp. 29 -31.
Peeti-S.M, 1997, How to measure consumer awareness of mass-media campaigns for

public health purposes; AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE; Vol. 30, No.1. pp.
53-59.
Prasad M and Johan Devid, 2008, Creating Awareness on Consumer Protection through
Mass Media; HRDP JOURNAL Vol. no. 9; page no. 34-38; 2008.
Shubha Madhukar, 2005, Role of media vehicles; Online publication date: 20 August
2005.
147
A Comparative Study of Stress and Proneness to Various Psycho-
Medical Illnesses among the Institutional and Non-Institutional Senior
Citizens
Siddegowda Y.S.,
The present study aims to analyze stress and proneness to major Medical and Psychiatric
illnesses among institutionalized and non-institutionalized senior citizens. A total of 194
(94 Institutionalized + 100 non-institutionalized) respondents completed the Short
Interpersonal Reactions Inventory (SIRI), (Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, 1990 and
Presumptive stressful life events scale (PSLE) (Singh, Kaur & Kaur, 1981). The results
revealed that, Senior citizens were found to have high level of stress, less healthy
personality and maximum proneness to depression. Institutionalized senior citizens
found have significantly higher proneness to depression and lesser healthy personality
compared to non-institutionalized senior citizens. Proneness to depression was the major
predictor variable for both types of groups. Various remedial measures based on social
work intervention have been suggested for better rehabilitation.
Key Words: Proneness, Personality, Stress, Institutionalization, Prognosis, Medical and

Psychiatric illnesses, Elderly.
Dr. Siddegowda Y.S., Professor of Social Work, University of Mysore, Mysore 570 006,
India
INTRODUCTION
Today, the elderly population is the fastest growing group in the world; more people are
living longer now than in the past. The diagnosis and treatment of both physical and
mental disorders in the elderly require special knowledge because of possible
differences in clinical manifestations, pathogenesis and patho-physiology of illnesses
between young adults and elderly. Complicating factors in elderly also need to be
considered, like frequent presence of co-existing chronic medical diseases and
disabilities, the use of many medications and the increase susceptibility to cognitive
impairment.
148
The National Institute of Mental Health's Epidemiological Catchments Area
program has found that the most common mental disorders of old age are depressive
disorders, cognitive disorders, phobias, and substance abuse. The elderly also have a
high risk for suicide and drug induced psychiatric symptoms. A number of psycho-social
risk factors also predispose the elderly to mental disorders, thus making them vulnerable
to other medical illnesses.
The concept that a majority of medical and psychiatric illnesses are related to
stress and a, spectrum of emotional factors is probably as old as the history of recorded
medicine itself (Rosch, 1979). Traditional Indian medicine Ayurveda, which is more
than 2000 years old, stated that certain types of people based on personality and
somatotype, had a greater proneness to certain diseases (Solomon, 1984). Galen, early in
the 2nd century observed that women who manifest depression seemed more inclined to
develop breast cancer than those with less melancholic dispositions. Recent studies have
focused on two psychosocial variables that appear to have § significant impact on the
induction and growth of Cancer cells. These two factors are Stress an4 Life events and
Personality.
Life events research has shown that it is not merely the stress itself, but also the
way individual perceives and appraises it that potentates its effects, (Lazarus &
Folkman, 1984). It was seen that those individuals who expressed a sense of loss and
hopelessness and an inability to cope with the stress had a higher incidence of Cancer
and Depression (Le Shan, 1959), Personality characteristics and stress combine and
interact to produce feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and depression. Research has
shown that this can produce hormonal imbalances, and immune deficiencies, which
allow the illness to grow and proliferate. Study by Tew et al (2000), on senior citizens
(above 75 years of age) revealed that, these people had significantly greater burdens
from physical illness and global cognitive impairment at baseline than the adult subjects.
Reynolds and Kupfer, (2001) in their study on elderly revealed that, geriatric depression
is widespread, affecting at least one of six patients treated in general medical practice
and an even higher percentage in hospitals and nursing homes. Gallo and Lebowitz,
(2000) indicated that up to 15 to 20 percent of older adults have significant depressive
149
symptoms, and it is estimated that as many as 45 percent of persons age 85 years and
older have significant cognitive impairment and dementia. Other mental-health-related
conditions, such as anxiety disorders, alcohol abuse, and prescription medicine misuse,
are also important considerations but have not been as well studied as depression and
dementia. Lyness et al (2000) reports that vascular depression has received increasing
prominence as a putative etiology of depression in later life.
India's picture as a third world and developing country with very little resources,
especially for the elderly cannot make up for the deficits in the care for these people.
Still, age old customs, traditions, ideas and ideologies associated with urbanization,
modernization, nuclear families and women's liberation have literally thrown the senior
citizen to be institutionalized or rehabilitated (on to the streets); unless that person is
economically-socially-occupationally-financially-medically fit to take care of self.
The present study aims to assess the level of stress and proneness to various psycho-
medical illnesses of the senior institutionalized and non-institutionalized citizens and
suggest possible social work interventions to the senior citizens.
METHODOLOGY
Sample:
A total of 194 subjects from institutionalized and non-institutionalized back ground were
selected for the study. Of 194 senior citizens, 94 (62 Men and 32Women) were
institutionalized (inmates of a Home for the Aged, of Mysore city) and remaining 100
(50 men and 50 women) were non-institutionalized. Random sampling technique was
employed to select the sample for the study.
Tools and Procedure:
Socio-demographic Data Sheet:
A detailed proforma was prepared by the researcher for collecting the primary data of
the patient. The details included the name, age, sex, educational background,
occupation, family details, domicile and other aspects.
150
Short Interpersonal Reactions Inventory:
This scale was constructed on the premise that personality and stress are casually related
Jo various medical and psychiatric illnesses. This tool developed by Grossarth-Maticek
& Eyseijek (1990) consists of 70 questions. These are divided into six groups, which
define six different types of personality prone to different diseases. Type I is Cancer
Prone, Type II is Corona/y Heart Disease prone, Type III is Psychopathic behavior
prone but is unlikely to die of cancer pr coronary heart disease, Type IV is a healthy type
characterized by autonomous behavior, Type V is prone to Depression and Cancer, Type
VI is prone to Addiction. The scale has adequate predictive validity & reliability (test-
retest correlation in excess of 0.80).
Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale:
This scale was constructed to examine the stressful life events, which an individual
undergoes in life. This tool developed by Singh, Kaur & Kaur (1981) consists of 27
questions. These questions pertain to life events, which a ordinary individual faces in his
life. Each question is followed by two answers – yes / no. Yes gets one and No gets
zero, based on this scoring, the total is calculated and the low, medium and high stress
levels are calculated. The scale has adequate predictive validity & reliability (test-retest
correlation in excess of 0.80).
Statistics Applied
Two-Way Analysis of Variance was applied to find out the differences in stress and
proneness parameters of senior citizens belonging to different groups of institutions and
gender along with interaction effect between groups and gender studied using SPSS
Windows Package (Version 10.0). Also, stepwise multiple regression technique was
applied to find out the major predictor/s for stress variables considering all the scores
together and scores of institutional and non-institutional senior citizens separately.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows descriptive statistics of the sample selected on various parameters
selected like and various parameters of proneness to psycho-medical illnesses. From the
151
table it is evident that entire sample of 174 senior citizens had high stress with the mean
and S.D values of 56.11 and 11.21 respectively. In proneness, the sample had more
proneness or high tendency towards depression and low proneness towards addiction.
However, in other classes of proneness like cancer, CHD, psychopathic and healthy
personality the sample had moderate proneness values.
Table 2 presents mean Scores of male and female respondents belonging to

various groups on stress scores and various parameters of Proneness. Table 3 shows
results of Two-Way ANOVA for Mean Scores of male and female respondents
belonging to various groups on stress and various parameters of Proneness.
a. Stress
Senior citizens belonging to two groups differed significantly in their mean stress scores
(F=51.45; p<0.000). The respective mean scores for senior citizens with institutional and
non-institutional background were 57.42 and 54.33. However, males and females found
to have equal level of stress. The interaction effect between groups and gender was
found to be non-significant (F=1.251; p<0.265) indicating that pattern of stress is same
for male and female senior citizens irrespective of the group they belong to.
b. Cancer Proneness:
Senior citizens belonging to two groups did not differ in their mean cancer proneness
scores (F=0.355; p<0.612). The mean cancer proneness scores for senior citizens from
different institution types are 5.05 and 5.79 which are almost same statistically
contributed for the non-significant difference. Male and female senior citizens found to
have equal level of stress. The interaction effect between groups and gender was found
to be non-significant (F=1.056; p<0.312) indicating that pattern of proneness to cancer is
same for male and female senior citizens irrespective of the group they belong to.
c. Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) Prone
As far the CHD is considered neither the groups (F=0.377; p<0.540) nor the gender
(F=0.999; p<0.319) differed significantly in their mean CHD proneness scores. The
interaction effect between groups and gender was also found to be non-significant
152
(F=3.306; p<0.083) indicating a similarity in the pattern of proneness to CHD of male
and female senior citizens is same irrespective of the group they belong to.
d. Psychopathic Personality
Senior citizens belonging to two groups did not differ significantly in their mean
psychopathic personality scores (F=0.401 p<.527). Male and female senior citizens
found to have equal level of psychopathic personality scores. The interaction effect
between groups and gender was found to be non-significant (F=1.003; p<0.318)
indicating that pattern of psychopathic personality is same for male and female senior
citizens irrespective of the group they belong to.
e. Healthy Personality
Senior citizens of institutional and non-institutional groups differed significantly in their

mean healthy personality scores (F=155.827; p<0.000). The respective mean healthy
personality scores for senior citizens with institutional and non-institutional back ground
were 5.41 and 6.24, where non-institutionalized senior citizens had higher healthy
personality scores. However, males and females found to have equal level of healthy
personality scores. The interaction effect between groups and gender was found to be
non-significant (F=2.511; p<0.115) indicating that pattern of healthy personality is same
f. Depression Prone
Senior citizens belonging to two groups differed significantly in their mean depression
proneness scores (F=21.516; p<0.000). The respective mean depression proneness
scores for senior citizens with institutional and non-institutional back ground were 7.13
and 6.83. However, males and females found to have equal level of proneness to
depression. The interaction effect between groups and gender was found to be non-
significant (F=1.372; p<0.243) indicating that pattern of proneness to depression is same
153
g. Addiction Prone
As far as the addiction proneness is considered neither the groups (F=0.309; p<0.579)
nor the gender (F=3.187; p<0.076) differed significantly in their mean addiction
proneness scores. The interaction effect between groups and gender was also found to be
non-significant (F=3.714; p<0.065) indicating a similarity in the pattern of proneness to
addiction proneness of male and female senior citizens is same irrespective of the group
they belong to.
Multiple Regression Analysis

Table 4 presents summary results of stepwise multiple regression taking stress as major
dependent variable and other subscales of proneness to psycho medical illnesses as
independent variables. For the overall sample it was found that only proneness to
depression was emerged as a single major predictor variable with a correlation
coefficient of 0.56 with the overall of contribution of 32%. Group wise analysis
revealed that for non-institutional group, 2 factors emerged as major predictors-
depression and healthy personality-with the correlation coefficients of 0.52 & 0.59 and
contributions of 27% & 35%. For the institutionalized group only depression was
emerged as a single major predictor variable with a correlation coefficient of 0.62 with
the overall of contribution of 38%.
DISCUSSION
The main findings of the study are:
 Senior citizens of both the groups were found to have high level of stress,
maximum proneness to depression and less healthy personality
 Institutionalized senior citizens found to have significantly higher proneness to
depression compared to non-institutionalized senior citizens.
 Institutionalized senior citizens found to have significantly lesser healthy
personality compared to non-institutionalized senior citizens.
 Proneness to depression was the major predictor variable for both groups.
154
Senior citizens were found to be more prone to depression because they do not have any
confiding relations, along with day to day family interaction and environment being
stressful, that they are forced to become victims of depression. This is however
prevalent in both males and female senior citizens. In men, testosterone secretion affects
neurobehavioral functions such as sexual arousal, aggression, emotional tone, and
cognition (Seidman, & Walsh, 1999). Beginning at approximately the age of 50, men
secrete progressively lower amounts of testosterone; about 20% of men over the age of
60 have lower-than-normal levels. The data suggest that some depressed older men may
have state-dependent low testosterone levels and that some depressed men may improve
with androgen treatment. The institutionalized senior citizens had less of healthy
personality and more of depression proneness, purely as a result of different
environment and living away from family members and relatives.
Vaillant, & Mukamal (1999) in their longitudinal study on adolescent boys for
60 years or until death, revealed that depression was the only uncontrollable predictor
variable that affected the quality of subjective and objective aging. Sinclair, et al (1999)
examined whether depression is associated with over reporting of functional disability.
Depression was not independently associated with poorer self-reported physical
functioning. Devanand et al (1999) evaluated personality disorders in elderly patients
with DSM-IV Dysthymic Disorder to identify prevalent personality disorders and their
clinical correlates and found that personality disorders were associated with an earlier
age at onset of depressive illness, greater lifetime history of comorbid Axis 1 disorders,
greater severity of depressive symptoms, and lower socioeconomic status. Beekman et
al (1999) examined the comorbidity of and communality of risk factors associated with
major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in later life and revealed that the only
variables associated with pure major depressive disorder were younger age and external
locus of control, risk factors representing a wide range of both vulnerability and stress
were associated with pure anxiety disorders. External locus of control was the only
common factor. The group with anxiety disorders plus major depressive disorder had a
distinct risk factor profile and may represent those with a more severe disorder. Many
physical and mental disorders of old age can be prevented and ameliorated. If not
155
diagnosed accurately and treated in a timely fashion, these conditions can progress to an
irreversible state requiring institutionalization of the elderly (Kaplan & Sadock, 1998).
To conclude, as the population ages, dementia, depression, and other mental

conditions of the senior citizens will demand more attention from clinicians and
investigators to minimize their effects on disability, the use of health care services, and
the quality of life for older adults and caregivers (Gallo and Lebowitz, 2000). Because
an increasing proportion of older adults are members of minority groups, clinicians need
to increase their awareness of how cultural factors relate to risk for mental disorders in
late life. Attention to the following three themes may help clinicians and investigators
meet the challenge of treating the common mental disorders of later life. The effect of
these disorders on functioning, prevention of the consequences of mental disorders and
integration of mental health care and primary health care services and the applications of
social case work skills, techniques in the light of curative, preventive, rehabilitative and
developmental aspects of both institutional and non-institutional senior citizens.
Further, the group work skills, techniques and the process can be employed especially
for institutionalized senior citizens, which will make them ‗feel stress free‘ in the
absence of significant one‘s. If clinical and social work interventions are a thought of
carefully that help to add ‗life to years‘ in the life of the institutionalized senior citizens
in particular and senior citizens in general.
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Grossarth-Maticek & Eysenck, H.J. 1990, Personality, Stress and Disease.
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158
Table 1
Description of the sample in stress and subscales of proneness to psycho-medical

disorders
Description Mean S.D Interpretation
Stress 56.11 11.21 High
Cancer Proneness 5.29 1.26 Moderate
CHD proneness 4.25 1.21 Moderate
Psychopathic proneness 5.34 0.98 Moderate
Healthy personality 4.53 1.01 Low
Depression proneness 6.59 1.23 High
Addiction proneness 1.70 0.62 Low
159
Table 2
Mean scores of male and female institutional and non-institutional senior citizens in
stress and proneness to various psycho medical illnesses
Gender
Variables Groups Total
Male Female
Stress Insti
61.39 52.5 57.42
Non-Inst
61.75 49.58 54.33
Overall
61.51 51.04 56.11
Cancer Prone Insti 5.61 3.86 5.05
Non-Inst 4.64 6.00 5.79
Overall 5.29 4.85 5.37

4.2 4.42 4.3
CHD Prone Insti
4.34 3.88 4.06
Non-Inst
4.25 4.15 4.2
Overall
5.34 5.42 5.38
Psychopathic Prone Insti
5.34 5.00 5.13
Non-Inst
5.34 5.21 5.27
Overall
4.17 7.34 5.41
Healthy Personality Insti
4.88 7.34 6.24
Non-Inst
4.53 7.34 5.89
Overall
6.78 7.42 7.13
Depression Prone Insti
6.40 7.49 6.83
Non-Inst
6.59 7.44 7.00
Overall
1.69 1.84 1.76
Addiction Prone Insti
1.71 1.43 1.54
Non-Inst
1.70 1.64 1.66
Overall
160
Table 3
Results of Two-Way ANOVA for Mean scores of male and female institutional and
non-institutional senior citizens in stress and proneness to various psycho medical
illnesses
Proneness Source of variation Dfs F value P Value
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 51.45 .000

Stress
Between gender (B) 1, 190 0.759 .385
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 1.251 .265
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 0.355 .612
Cancer Prone Between gender (B) 1, 190 1.286 .451
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 1.056 .312
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 0.377 .540
CHD Prone Between gender (B) 1, 190 0.999 .319
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 3.036 .083
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 .401 .527

Psychopathic 1.003 .318
Between gender (B) 1, 190
Prone
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 1.052 .306
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 155.827 .000

Healthy 2.441 .120
Personality
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 2.511 .115
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 21.516 .000

Depression
Between gender (B) 1, 190 .678 .411
Prone
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 1.372 .243
Between Groups ( A ) 1,190 0.309 .579

Addiction 3.187 .076
Prone
Interaction ( Ax B ) 1, 190 3.714 .065
161
Table 4
Results of stepwise multiple regression for various subscales of proneness to varipus

psycho medical disorders with stress scores as major dependent variable
Variable entered R R2
REGRESSION STEP
For both the groups
1 Depression 0.56 0.32
For Non-institutional citizens only
2 Healthy personality 0.59 0.35
For Non-institutional citizens only
162
Coping With Old Age: A Review
Gangadhar B. Sonar
The paper is an attempt to review on the situations of elderly in India with reference to
coping and adjustment. The socio-psychological, economic, health, policy and
programme aspects are discussed critically to evolve comprehensive understanding on
coping and adjustment in old age.
Key Words: Old Age, Coping, Adjustment, Successful Aging.
Dr. Gangadhar B. Sonar, Assistant Professor, Department of Studies in Social Work,

Karnatak University Post Graduate Studies Centre, Torvi-586 108, Bijapur,Karnataka,
India. E-mail: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The Indian aged population ranks second in the world. The absolute number of
population over 60 years was 76 million in 2001, and is expected to raise to 137 million
by 2021 (Jaiprakash, 1993). HelpAge India, a voluntary organization points out that,
presently, most of the older persons (90%) are from the unorganized sector and with no
social security. A significant proportion (30%) of them live below the poverty line, and
a slightly higher proportion (33%) live just marginally over it. A majority of the aged
(80%) lives in rural areas and most of them (73%) are illiterate. When we look at the
aged women, more than half of them are widows (55%) and many of them have no
support, whatsoever.
In order to ameliorate the conditions of the aged both the Government and NGOs
are taking steps by way of organizing old age homes, day care centres, etc. However,
the efforts made by the State and Central Governments are far and few compared to the
needs of the elderly. Similarly, the efforts being made by Voluntary Organizations for
the aged even do not match with the felt needs of the aged. When we compare the
population of the aged, who are in need, and the effort made by the Government and
Voluntary organizations, through welfare programmes, are not enough to meet even the
163
basic needs of a section of the aged. The facilities mostly benefit the aged living in
urban areas, which are in the organized sector and above the poverty line.
The socio-cultural, psychological, economic, occupational, physical and health,

interpersonal and environmental problems make their life most miserable. The elderly
who are in vulnerable conditions face myriad of problems, especially, when they are
unable to cope up with the challenges they encounter under different situations and
conditions. As a result, they maladjust with old age, feel unhappy and dissatisfied with
life.
Definition of Aging:
There is no single widely accepted definition on the old age. Generally, people say their
age by counting number of years completed. The cut off point to define old age varies
from developed countries to developing countries. With wide socio-economic
difference, that some persons are active even at the age of 70 where as some are not
active and withdrawn themselves from active life at the age of 50 (Kohli, 1996).
Different criteria to determinate old age make it complex to generalize and deal
with their problems. Old age is socially defined as a state of life that begins in the sixties
(Uhlenberg, 1992). Tibbitts defined aging as ―the survival of a growing number of
people who have completed the traditional adult roles of making a living and child
rearing and the years following the completion of these tasks represent an extension of
life‖ (Ara, 1994:3).
Developed countries define old age as 65 years and above. In India, this age is
60 years for the Central and State Government employees. Census of India has also
defined the aged as 60 years and above (Kohli, 1996 and Arora, 1993). Studying the
aged under one category will not be appropriate to understand their problems. Well
known gerontologist Bernice Neugerten (Chadha, 1997) has made the categorization of
the aged in a western context as, 65 to 75 years as young old, 75 to 85 years as old old
and 85 years and above as very old.
164
Coping:
Better coping and adjustment have a bearing on life satisfaction and successful aging.
Generally, to cope means ―to deal successfully with a difficult situation or bad luck‖.
Coping in old age refers, specifically, to the ability to face and deal successfully with the
various hardships one is confronted with in old age. Basically, one is confronted with
several radical changes at this movement of life. Coping is to do with the way people
manage life conditions that are stressful. To some extent, stress and coping could be
said to be reciprocals of each other. When coping is ineffective, the level of stress could
be high; however, when coping is effective, the level of stress would apt to be low
(Lazarus, 1999; and Pathan and others, 2003).
Social Dimensions:
The social competence of the elderly is measured in terms of role and status of the
elderly in family and society. The social status of the aged depends on many factors. For
instance, once the elderly are labelled as senile, the treatment they receive from the
society would be different. In this regard, the aged women are more vulnerable than
men. Irrespective of gender, the old in upper age cohort are more neglected than the old
in the other age cohorts. The education background also has a bearing on the status
enjoyed by the aged. The status tends to be good in case of the affluent elderly in
contrast to the illiterate and rural aged (Birren, 1978; and Suparnachandra et. al, 1993).
The attitude of the aged to live separately or to live along with their sons, etc.,
depends on many factors. Some studies have found that the elderly couple prefer to live
separately, either as a matter of choice, or to encourage children to live independently,
or to avoid economic burden (Hussain, 1998; Khan, 1994; and Muttayya and
Aneesuddin, 1998). This may be true in case of the aged who are affluent and have
good position in the society, more so in the urban areas.
The low status of the aged has bearing on problems of the aged (Gurumurthy,
1998; Sinha, 1999). Kin network and relatives play an important role to support the
aged. The aged may get the support from the kin members, relatives and others, if they
165
have a good position, or some regular income sources, or if they owned some property,
or if they look after their grand children, or help in household works, etc. The aged who
are associated with social institutions and are in leading position are also respected. If
the aged are not useful in any way, they get ill-treated. Such treatment may suppress
them psychologically and may result in depression or psychological disorders. The
elderly who are neglected by all have no way to survive and their life becomes very
pitiable.
Social status of the elderly basically depends on the family support they receive
and the position they enjoy in the society. Relatively speaking, socio-cultural values,
sentiments, affection, morals, etc., continue to have a bearing on the well being of the
aged in rural areas as compared to the urban. However, social status of the rural elderly
is on the decline. Even here, a gender divide is clearly visible. Elderly men participate
more in socio-cultural activities than their counterparts. The level of participation is
observed to be high among those whose spouses are alive.
The adaptability of the aged has something to do with their positive attitude
towards change, engaging in productive work, and good interaction with family
members, relatives and friends, etc. In case of employed, the above factors have a
bearing on the post-retirement coping. It is observed that the elderly from the lower and
middle age cohort in order to cope up with their problems indulge in worshiping
regularly (Mahantha, 1993; Suparna Chandra, 1993; Mishra, 1979).
Economic Dimensions:
Economic contribution of an individual is related to relative age and health. Those older
aged have less chance of participation in work, irrespective of general background.
Well-educated aged has better economic status than the illiterate. The general pension
scheme for retirees, and spousal benefits for the widows are helpful to meet their
economic needs. It is also essential to note that the low economic status has bearing on
the problems of the aged (Audinarayana, 2001; and Dancan and Smith, 1989).
166
Generally, the aged are regarded as less productive and their economic
contribution to the family will also be not significant. However, the entire aged section
is not useless. The elderly under lower and middle age cohorts can still be productive
and can contribute to the family income. The participation in economic activities by the
elderly is related to their economic status. This, of course, may not be applicable to the
women, especially of rural. For instance, the aged men in affluent families do not
engage in gainful activities, whereas the elderly women do household works. The aged
in poor families help in business and agricultural work. Helping in kitchen is more
common for the aged women in poor families. The activities such as, home
management, gardening, teaching small children and telling stories appeared to be very
less performed by the rural aged (Mukharjee, 1998; Dandekar, 1998; Mahanta, 1993;
Nayar, 1998; and Messkoud, 1999).
While economic problems play a significant role in the well being of the aged, it
alone does not result in the problems for the aged. Even in case of affluent elders, if
they do not get family support, or kin members, or suffering from severe diseases, they
may not cope up better with the old age. Hence, looking at problems of the aged with
only economic perspective may not give us proper understanding. Such an
understanding of economic aspects alone would not help to tackle problems of the aged
in all spheres.
Psychological Dimensions:
The good psychological status and level of life satisfaction have a bearing on the
problems of the aged. The psychological condition of the aged is dependent on a
number of factors. It is related to their familial background, support of the family
members and kinsmen, economic well being, state of health, ability to participate in
economic and familial activities, etc. Psychological status is found to be good in the
elderly belonging to lower age cohort than the middle and upper age cohorts. It is found
that elderly who owned property and looked after their family are satisfied with their
life. Similarly, the aged living separately from their children were also found to be most
satisfied than those who were living with their children. Depression is found most
167
common among the elderly and this is related to many aspects. For instance, those who
do not get recreation and do not involve in leisure time activities are not happy with life.
Some studies found that the aged suffer from adjustment problems with families in rural
areas, irrespective of gender. It was also observed that the aged who are not affluent and
are not involved in any work are psychologically more depressed, more so in rural areas.
The urban elderly feel loneliness because they lack company to share their feelings.
However, in case of those whose spouse is alive feel comparatively satisfied with life
(Kohli and Verma, 1999; Jaiprakash, 2000; Singh, 1999; Revati, 1993; Birren, 1978; and
Sonar, 2001).
Health Dimensions:
Low health status has a bearing on problems of the aged. As the age increases, in many
cases, health condition decreases and thus making the condition of the aged more
vulnerable. The aged suffering from severe health problems, if they get proper treatment
with moral support from the family members, relatives and friends, it is enough for them
to overcome from any kinds of diseases. Even if they do not recover from diseases in
such cases, they take last breath happily. If the elderly are not given proper treatment or
no one cares for them, or no one is ready to take care of their expenses, in such cases the
condition of the aged may become vulnerable.
Diseases like chronic cough, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, cataract

and deterioration in eyesight, rheumatic pains, skin disorders and sugar are more
common in old age. These diseases are observed more in urban than in rural areas.
Similarly, it was found that the rural elderly are healthier than those who live in old age
homes (Gurumurthy, 1998; Vijaykumar, 1993; Sati, 1998; Nayar, 1998; Dandekar,
1998; Jaiprakash, 1999; and Hussain, 1998).
Institutional Dimensions:
Old age home and day care centres are the only institutional services available for the
aged in India. These are mostly managed by voluntary organisations / charitable trusts
and only few are managed by Government. Government gives financial assistance to
168
some old age homes and the admission for most of the deserving is free. Some of the
old age homes are both free as well as pay homes, while some others are only pay
homes. Very few old age homes are meant for the aged women. In most of the old age
homes and day care centres, the male inmates are more than the females. The inmates
admitted under pay system are affluent and from the urban background. The inmates
freely admitted to old age homes are destitute, orphans and neglected by the family
members, who have no financial means. Also, most of them are illiterate and from rural
and semi urban background. The reasons for the aged to join institution are: neglected
by family members, poor economic conditions, in search of mental peace, to escape
from / unable to bear social responsibilities, etc.
Old age homes need to have proper shelter with adequate bathrooms, good
hygienic condition, provide nutrient food, healthcare facilities, recreation, proper
ventilation, electricity, ceiling fans, reading room, etc. Most of the government-
supported homes are not able to provide many of these facilities. The major stated
problem is financial problem and this is due to inadequate grants from the government.
Besides, most of these homes are built in isolated places away from families and
community. Many studies point out that most of the inmates are not satisfied with the
maintenance of old age homes (Sati, 1998; Mukharjee, 1998; Muthayya, 1998; Mishra,
1998; Hussain, 1998; and Sonar, 2001).
The nature of organisation and the persons behind have a bearing on proper
functioning and quality of services offered by the old age homes. The quality of services
depends upon the nature of institutions and dedication of the persons looked after them.
If the personnel of the organisation are dedicated and committed, they may look after the
aged well. Where as the government supported old age homes, in most of the cases, may
not look after the aged properly, as its personnel lack dedication, motivation and
commitment. Sometimes, they may even indulge in exploiting the inmates.
Policy Dimensions:
National Policy on Older Persons (1999) emphasises on the areas to be strengthened.

They are financial security, health care, shelter, welfare, protection against abuse and
169
exploitation. The State extends support in all these areas. State also provides
opportunities for the development of older persons‘ potential. In this regard, special
attention is given to the elderly persons of rural areas and older women (Tyagi, 2000).
Making policy is one thing, but how far it is implemented and reaches the needy
is much more important. For instance, the concessions made under Senior Citizens‘
Scheme to travel over train and air mostly benefit the aged belonging to upper middle
and upper class, as the poor lack financial resources to avail these benefits. Providing
relaxation on income tax and telephone facility also benefit the upper middle and upper
class aged. By practice, these programmes/schemes exclude the vast majority of the
elderly living below poverty line (30%) and slightly more elderly living marginally over
it (33%).
The Old Age Pension Scheme is aimed at giving financial assistance to the
destitute persons. The assistance given to the elderly is Rs.400/- per month in Karnataka
State. First of all, compared to the need this amount is very meager. Further, all the
deserving destitute are not benefited from this scheme. Helping the elderly this way
may not provide a permanent solution. What is needed is to help the elderly to help
themselves. Any programmes which does not fill the gap between need and the
resources, will be a wasted effort and wastage of precious and scarce resources. Hence,
policy needs to be reviewed based on the felt needs of the different categories of the
aged. It should not take a uniform approach both for targeting and implementation.
Theories on the Successful Aging:
The problems of the elderly may be viewed from the perspective of individual
satisfaction by adopting micro approach (Dandekar, 1996:26). To understand successful
aging, some scientists have suggested two kinds of theories to view individual cases, the
disengagement theory and activity theory. The disengagement theory, originally
formulated by Cumming and Henry (1961), emphasizes on the withdrawal from social
interaction, which occurs in old age, as a natural universal and inevitable process.
Disengagement, therefore, implies a triple loss for the individual: a loss of role, a
restriction on social contact and relationships, and a reduced commitment to social
170
values. Thus, successful aging implies a reduction in activity levels and a decrease in
involvement. This theory does not take into consideration of the fact that aging is a
gradual process and traditional societies like that of India have evolved their socio-
cultural responses to the problems of the aged, irrespective of the status of the aged.
Since this theory takes a sectional view of the problems of the aged, it either ignores or
cannot explain successful aging in developing countries like India.
According to Chadha (1997) ashrama theory represents the Indian version of

disengagement theory. It is pertinent to note that individual roles and responsibilities are
specified in each ashrama. As one moves from one ashrama to another the roles and
responsibilities change. The theory of ashramas considers social change as a natural
phenomenon. The adoption of vanaprasthashrama is voluntary as the couple has
fulfilled all their obligations to their family members. Thus there is a difference between
voluntary option and withdrawal due to natural factors. Hence, it may be erroneous to
treat ashrama theory as a version of disengagement theory.
The drawback of the disengagement theory is that it may be applicable to a small

minority of the elderly, usually the very old. But for the vast bulk of the older people,
the continuance of a moderately active life style will have a distinct perspective effect on
their sense of well being. Thus, the activity theory, which is diametrically apposed to
disengagement theory, was developed by Havighrust (1953). It is primarily an action
theory of successful aging. According to this theory, happiness is associated with
involvement and adjustment. The theory claims that, to be happy in old age, individuals
need to keep active (Chadha, 1997). All activities do not provide sustenance for the
self-concept. Hence, many older individuals may not be happy even when they are
active. In fact, there is no retirement from working in unorganised sector and
work/activity itself might become drudgery for the aged. Hence, many older individuals
may not feel happy even though they are active.
Conclusion:
The problems of the aged are at rapid increase irrespective of urban and rural divide.
Due to impact of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation the supportive
171
mechanisms got threatened. The values and contributions of elderly are largely
neglected due to increased concentration on money and material. They face myriad of
problems. If elderly are not able to cope up constructively and adjust positively, their
experience and expertise is likely to waste which is very important in attaining
development goals of the nation. There is a need to focus on active, productive and
successful aging in the developing countries like India.
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175
Status of the socially excluded children in urban high schools: need for
inclusive strategies for social justice
Channaveer R.M.
The paper intends to address a major research question as to comprehend if any disparity
exists between the public and private urban high schools in their infrastructure,
academic and social domains, and also know if it resuls in disparity in the representation
of the socially excluded urban children in the public and private high schools. The SC,
ST, OBC and minority children in the urban schools significantly enroll in the public
high schools rather than in the private high schools. There appears to be a social divide
and social exclusion in urban high schools. It indicates the social and economic
deprivation of the urban children that, has put them at disadvantage to avail the quality
education in schools of their choice. Therefore the study supports the need of extending
the scope of Sarva Shiksh Abhiyan. as an inclusive public program, to secondary and
higher secondary education, to sustain the quality of education and ensure social justice
to the socially excluded children.
Key words: Social Exclusion, Inclusive Initiatives, Public Schools, Private Schools,
Social Justice
Dr. Channaveer R.M., Reader and Chairman, Department of Social Work, Davangere
Univeristy, Davangere – 577002. Karnataka, India. Email:[email protected]
INTRODUCTION
The SSA program could certainly enable the public education system to include the
socially excluded children in the rural elementary schools of India. The situation of
elementary schools in the urban India is not satisfactory. The SSA program what it
could achieve in rural India is not able to do the same in urban India. The introduction
of SSA has further raised the issue of extending its scope to secondary and higher
secondary education to sustain the growth of education in India. Presently, the situation
176
of high schools is very grim in both rural and urban India. In urban India the high
school present not a satisfactory scenario as the schools are very much neglected,
extremely unhealthy, show disparity, discrimination causing injustice and inequity to the
socially excluded. The present study could able to comprehend the plight of high
schools and the status of the SC, ST, OBC and minority children due to their social and
economic disadvantages to have access to the high school education. In urban schools,
the socially excluded children are prone to abject poverty, hunger, unsustainable
livelihood, poor housing, crime, delinquency, riots, conflicts and polluted environment,
which further put them at disadvantage to get into the mainstream society. The slum
communities house the SC, ST, and minority families, struggling to maintain their day to
day life (Mathew, A. et al, 2005, Kingdon, 2007).
It is commonly observed that the private high schools are at greater advantage as
compared to the government schools, which are not able to produce the competent
children and maintain the minimum standards in the schools both in qualitative and
quantitative terms. This has caused greater disparity and discrimination between the
private and government schools, which has further created a greater divide between the
private and government schools. The issues of urban high schools are different from
that of the rural high schools. The problems of the socially excluded are more alarming
in the urban places rather than the rural places. On the other hand, the public high
schools in urban places are far from the minimum standard to accommodate and address
the learning and livelihood needs of the socially excluded children (Richard Buddin,
2009, Herbert, 1999, Ouimette M. Feldman, J. Tung, R., 2002, Dechenla Tsering et al
2008).
Context
In the wake of the growing demand all over the country for primary and high school
education, there has been speedy growth of educational institutions in the Karnataka
state also. High schools in particular, have also shown spurt in the number. Urban
centers have become the hub of primary and high schools. In this scenario, Karnataka
state is not lagging behind in assuring access to elementary and high school education
177
for the children of rural and urban areas. The spending is increasing from year to year.
However, despite the increasing financial allocations, the ground realities are quite
unfavorable contributing to the growth rate of the state in the field of school education.
It is surprising to know some of the heartbreaking realities of high school education in
Karnataka. In Karnataka, 53 per cent of children between the ages of 7 to 10 years
attending schools (private and government) in villages cannot read even a simple small
paragraph (level 1) and 72.5 per cent cannot read a story (level 2). Of the same age
group, 60 per cent cannot solve numerical sums of subtraction and a whopping 91 per
cent cannot do a division (3 digits divided by 1 digit) (Govt. of Karnataka Education
Report, 2009).
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan - A critical view
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) national program gained momentum soon after the
introduction of right to education act. The achievements that it could achieve are –
improved infrastructure of the primary schools, laboratory support to schools,
recruitment of teachers, 100 per cent enrolment of children, 0 % drop out of children and
remedial teaching for the children who are lagging behind. A matter of achievement is
that the Karnataka state also could reach enrolment and drop out targets. The only
feeling of sigh is that the children of the state are enrolled and drop-out rate has come
down significantly due to the effective implementation of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan – a
National Mission towards universalizing the elementary education. Our country spends
Rs. 60,000 crore towards this mission. Achievements in primary education can not be
sustained unless there is support of SSA to high school education. The right to
education needs to cover the universalization of high school education. Hence, there is a
justice and equity-based demand that the national program (SSA) needs to be extended
to support the high school education.
Origin of research
The challenges in high school education, is not mere providing infrastructure and
teaching manpower. The quality education, child friendly environment, uniformity in
the progress of children, culture, motivation and vision of the schools form the
178
significant place. The major questions having current relevance are- despite the national
initiatives and private initiatives, where does the status of high school education stands?
Are there any social disparities at any level of school education? To what extent the
rising high schools are able to include the socially excluded children? What is the
direction of high school education in the urban centers? Whether the schools have
justice and inclusion motives? The present study intends to address these questions.
Aim and objectives of study
The principal aim of the study is to present the status of socially excluded children in the
private, aided and public urban high schools of Karnataka, and suggest inclusive
initiatives and strategies to ensure justice to the socially excluded children.
Specific objectives of the study are –
1) study the comparative infrastructure status of high schools
2) study the comparative status of the socially excluded in the high schools
3) know the demand-supply status of high schools, and
4) give a comparative disparity scenario of private, aided and public high schools
5) suggest inclusive initiatives and strategies to ensure justice to the socially

excluded
Methods and material
The study was undertaken in Karnataka State. Five district places (Bellary East, Bellary
West, Koppal, Gadag and Haveri) and three towns (Sandur, Kottur, Hospet) were
covered in this study. There are 163 high schools in these districts, which form the
universe of study. It was decided to give more representation to the schools to make the
study more comprehensive in its scope. The schools were selected through multi state
stratified random sampling method giving proportionate representation to the private,
179
public and aided schools. As a result 41 non-grant schools, 21 aided schools and 16
government schools represented in the sample of 81 high schools. A structured interview
schedule was prepared. The schedule was self-administered to either head master or in-
charge teacher of a school. Observation checklist was also prepared for verification of
the physical infrastructure of school.
Major Findings
High School infrastructure in Karnataka
It is generally presumed that the aided schools have better facilities for their children as
compared to their counterpart the government schools. This presumption is rather true in
the context of the schools in Karnataka. The scenario infrastructure status justifies it.
There are 2926 govt. schools and 2,682 aided schools having 14,474 and 17,053
classrooms respectively. General toilets are 1,624 (55.50%) in government schools and
2,263 (84.38%) in aided schools. Girls toilets are 1,350 (46.14%) in govt. schools and
2,183 (81.39%) in aided schools. Electricity facility is in 1,945 (66.47%) of govt.
schools and in 2,337 (87.14%) schools of aided schools. Water facility is in 1,945
(66.47%) of the govt. schools and 2,337 (87.14%) of aided schools; where as 1,238
(42.31%) govt. schools and 1,945 (72.52%) aided schools have compound facility (Dept.
of Education, 2009).
Infrastructure of schools under study
50 of the schools under study have 1 to 5 acres of land at their disposal. 27 schools have
less then 10 rooms and 38 schools have 11 to 20 rooms. Non-granted schools have more
number of rooms for the instruction. Most of the non-granted schools have good play
ground for conducting sports activities.
As far as location of school is concerned, 66 schools are inside city and 15

schools are outside the city. Of them, only the private schools are located at the
outskirts of the towns.
180
Profile of schools
The sample distribution covers 44 non-grant schools, 21 grant schools and 16

government schools.
Out of 81 schools, 31 schools are Kannada medium schools, 24 schools are

English medium schools, 21 schools are both Kannada and English medium schools and
5 schools are Urdu schools.
Teacher – student ratio
The strength of teachers in the schools range 5 to 15. The strength of teachers is more in
non-grant schools as compared to grant schools and government schools.
The ratio of teachers for number of students range from 10 to 26. The ratio is
less in non-grant schools. This indicates efficiency in teaching and focus on
performance and achievements. The number of non-teaching staff is 3 to 5 in most of the
schools under study. Around 50 of the schools have student strength between 50 to 300
students for high school education.
Basic amenities in schools
Basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, toilet, ventilation and fan facilities are in
good conditions in non-grant schools as compared to the granted and government
schools. Number of toilets is more in non-granted schools as compared to grant and
government schools.
Teaching aids
Most of the non-grant schools have library, laboratory and computer facilities.
Especially the private school children have proper access to computer education.
181
LCD projector, OHP equipment and other use of teaching aids is more
effectively used in the private schools run without grants. More frequently the teaching
aids are used in instruction.
Student attendance
School attendance indicates that the children of non-grant schools have high attendance
than the children of other schools. Absenteeism is more in the government schools as
compared to the private schools under study.
School drop-out is prominently observed in the government schools as compared

to the private schools. There is proper check on irregularity and absenteeism through
admonition to children and their parents in the non-grant schools, which is a missing
mechanism in the government schools.
School results
15 of the schools under study have 100 per cent result in high school. 10 schools have
60% to 70% result, 27 schools have 71% to 90% result, and 25 schools have 91% to
99% result. Private schools have strictly maintained consistency in achieving high
results.
In 20 schools have 10% of the children maintained high distinction result. In 13

schools 11% to 30% children maintained high distinction result. In 8 schools 31% to
50% children achieved high distinction result.
In 14 schools, 10% of the children attained first class result. In 29 schools 11%
to 40% children achieved first class result. The second and pass class result is very less
in the private schools.
In SSLC, 20 schools have less than 70% result, 13 schools have 71% to 80%
result, 22 schools have 81% to 90% result, 20 schools have 91% to 99% result and 9
schools have 100% results.
Socially disadvantaged children
182
The student result profile indicates that most of the SC and ST students are studying in
the government schools. Private schools are not safe walk in, for the socially excluded
children of society as only 20 schools accommodate socio-economically poor children.
Normally, middle and upper class children are studying in the private schools. It
is a progressive sign that both male and female children of SC & ST categories in equal
proportion are seeking high school education. OBC and minority students are in good
number taking high school education. However, their number is more in the minority
management schools rather than the private schools. Christian missionaries run schools
have more number of deprived children and therefore ensuring good education for them.
School intake range from 50 to 100; whereas the number of children for seeking
seat in schools ranges from 70 to 400. Competition to seek admission in private schools
is phenomenal. Many children are deprived of any option to enter good schools of their
choice.
Academic activities
Co-curricular activities like debating, essay writing, sports, drawing, dance and music
competitions found to be the characteristics of private schools rather than the
government and aided schools.
Regarding comprehensive, adequacy and integration characteristics of

curriculum, 64 schools expressed good and very good opinion. 77 schools expressed
confidence in the present curriculum as it rightly fulfills the goals of their school.
Almost all the private schools have computer aided instructional system.
However there is disparity in the access to such instructional system. The government
schools have difficulties in ensuring this facility as part of their curriculum. The private
schools having commercial motive have rightly grabbed the computer aided educational
system for the children.
In most of the schools, teachers prepare teaching plan and remain intact about
teaching outcomes. Learning expectations are clearly defined. Participation of children
183
in teaching is highly encouraged. School environment is highly stimulating to children
for their learning, and it is pro-child development oriented.
Teachers evaluate effectively the performance of children and properly report to

their parents the progress and achievements of their wards. Healthy practices are
maintained in keeping good contact with the parents of children to consider them as
stakeholders in the educational system.
School environment
School environment is for equality of opportunities for all children. Children are
protected from any kind of abuse, harassment and rights-violation. Schools irrespective
of their category ensure safe environment for the children. especially for the girl
children.
Teacher salaries
In 12 schools the Headmaster salary range Rs. 2000/- to 5000/-. In 18 schools, the
salary range from Rs. 6000/- to 10,000/-. In 42 schools, the salary range from
Rs.11000/- to Rs. 20000/-. In 8 schools, the salary of headmaster is from Rs. 21000/- to
Rs. 37000/-.
The salary of teachers range from Rs. 1500/- to Rs. 28000/-. In 30 schools, the
teachers receive salary of Rs. 1500 to Rs. 7000/-. In many private schools, the salary of
teachers is low.
Fees and donations
In government schools the fee range from Rs. 50/- to 180/- for a year. In private schools
the fee ranges from Rs. 150/- to Rs. 220/- per month.
The donation in private school range from Rs. 2000/- to Rs.10000/-. In some
schools the donation is around Rs. 25000/-.
Parent stakeholders
184
Parents as stakeholder takes active part in the private schools as compared to the
government schools.
Conclusion
Following conclusions are drawn based on the results of study –
 There is a sudden sprout of privileged class strata which seeks high school
education of high caliber. Large scale rise of middle class, lower middle
class and upper middle class and upper class has created greater demand for
quality promised and consumerism protected schools. This urban trend is
also causing greater social divide and social exclusion.
 There is growing rush of children to the private high schools. In the post-
globalization, the middle class and upper middle class are able to rightly
perceive the importance of education for their children to sustain their
quality of life.
 There is a growing need to launch innovative initiatives to bring uniformity

in the standards of school education to reduce the knowledge-bound
disparity among the children irrespective of their sex, caste, religion and
region.
 Sports field is neglected in the high schools, which need to contribute for
the budding sportsmen and athletes at the state and national level
 Employing computer aided teaching shall be the major characteristics of the

high schools in order to generate competent children with social, emotional,
spiritual, environmental and technological skills. Public high schools need to
fill this gap in their curriculum.
 The private high schools need to ensure good salaries on the lines of
government schools to the teachers in order to enhance their effective
teaching and job satisfaction. High salaries attract efficient and competent
manpower, which keeps high the achievements and performance of the
185
schools. The paradox is that the teachers in government schools get high
salaries as compared to the private teachers. Despite that the teachers are not
able to improve the standards of children to compete with the children of
private schools.
 There bound to be academic stress and pressures on the children in high

schools. In order to relieve them of such unpleasant and unfavorable
academic experiences, the schools need to employ student counsellors, who
will ensure effective adjustment and higher achievement of children and
schools.
 Teacher – student ratio need to be maintained very strictly at an average 20

children for one teacher. This helps in instruction, supervision, monitoring
and evaluation of study progress of children.
 Commitment, competence and competition need to be integrating in the

public high schools as observed in the private high schools.
 Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan needs to look at social inclusion of the socially

excluded urban children into the public schools at high school and higher
secondary level.
REFERENCES
Assessment of Status Education Report – 2009, Pratham, New Delhi
Dechenla Tsering et al 2008, Tobacco Use Among High School Students of West
Bengal, India,
Geeta Gandhi Kingdon, 2007, The progress of school education in India, Global
Poverty research Group, http://www.gprg.org/
Government of Karnataka Education Report – 2009
Indian Journal of Community Medecine, July; 33(3): 207–208.
186
Mathew, A. et al, 2005, Education of disadvantaged urban children,
http://www.solutionexchange- un.net.in/education/cr/cr-se-ed-24120501.doc
Ouimette, M., Feldman, J., Tung, R. 2002. Parent involvement in the Boston Pilot
Schools: Lessons from a unique urban network, hfrp.org
rbs.org, Improving the Urban High School: What Works and Why
Richard Buddin, 2009, Teacher Effectiveness in Urban High Schools

http://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/2009/RAND_WR693.pdf
Thomas Hebert, 1999, Culturally Diverse High-Achieving Students in an Urban High

School, Urban Education, Vol. 34, No.4, 428-457
187
Activists’ Understanding of Neo-Liberal Globalization:
Some Implications to Social Action in India
Ramesh B and D’Souza Ashok Antony Jacob
Neoliberal globalization has been pointed out by many scholars as responsible for many
ills faced by the majority of the people today. It is argued that the countries have been
destabilized as a consequence of the debt burden, of the collapse of national currencies,
often resulting in the outbreak of social strife, ethnic conflict and civil war. Many NGOs
too have been experiencing resource crunch and genuine social activists have been the
targets of the repressive approach of the state. This process has negative impact on the
nature and volume of social action in India. Consequently activism has taken a backseat
and is struggling to revive itself with new models and strategies. Against this backdrop
the paper attempts to present the views of a cross-section of the social activists in India
Key words: Social activists. Neo liberal Globalization. Social action.
Dr. Ramesh B, Assistant Professor, Department of Post Graduate Studies and Research
in Social Work, Kuvempu University, Shimoga- 577451, Karnataka. Email:
[email protected]
Dr. D’Souza Ashok Antony Jacob, Assistant Professor, Department of Social work,
Tumkur University, Tumkur, Karnataka, India. Email: [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
It is commonly accepted today that the processes of globalization, actively embraced by

India since 1991 in the form of New Economic Policy, have contributed in large
measure to many of our recent successes and failures as a nation (Bhambhri, 1996). The
states have been forced to redefine their role and create opportunities for the market,
new technologies and hitherto unfamiliar interactions and exchanges or face the danger
of being left out (Power, 1997). It is also argued by scholars that the traditional,
domestic powers of domination have found a new lease of life due to the opportunities
188
provided to them by the forces of neoliberal globalization (Aloysius, 1998). Thus, the
processes of the present day globalization are highly turbulent and lead to anti-
globalization movements throughout the world. In this context, the present study
attempts to assess the level of sensitivity on the part of social activists to the changing
dynamics of globalization to find out if their ‗experiences‘ and analyses are sufficient to
understand and counter the oppressive forces of the neoliberal globalization.
Statement of the Problem
A well-known section of Indian and Western scholars including Amit Bhaduri and
Deepak Nayyar (1996), Vandana Shiva (1997), Byres (1998), Jean Dreze (2000), Basu
(2001), Buggi, Reddy & Gowda (2001), Nayar (2001 & 2003), Mukhopadhyay (2002),
Jagadish Bhagwati (2004), Varshey, (2004), Bhambhri (2005), Bardhan (2005),
Choubey, Pendse & Shukla (2005), Chandrasekhar & Ghosh (2009), and Prabhat
Patnaik (2009) have argued that the processes of globalization have greatly impacted the
political and economic policies of the country. The effects have been mainly felt in our
country through New Economic Policy of 1991. The major argument of these scholars is
that globalization, as practiced today, has been primarily spearheaded by advocates of
the investor-rights style of integration that is built into the so-called ―free trade
agreements,‖ with their complex mixture of liberalization, protectionism, and
undermining of popular democratic control over policy. The basic feature of this form of
globalization is the marginalization of the majority for the profit of a few.
They have also argued that the term ―neo-liberal policies‖ is a misnomer. The
policies are neither ―new‖ nor ―liberal‖, and liberalization itself is being shaped into an
instrument of power. It is because liberalization is actually eating into the core of
democracy by its anti-democratic practices (Chattopadhyay & Chaudhuri, 2001). One of
the crucial aspects of this form of globalization is to undermine democratic functioning,
to move decisions from the public democratic arena to private hands, to the
unaccountable concentration of wealth and power. It has taken resources away from
education and the public and transferred them into private hands which are
unaccountable to the public (Chomsky, 1994).
189
As a result of the above, the poor in general and the rural poor in particular feel
greatly impoverished. On the one hand they are forced to make a shift from subsistence
economy to market economy and on the other the development process is getting
centralized in the urban areas (Datt, 2001). In general the scope for employment,
especially in the unskilled and semi-skilled areas has been drastically reduced. The
safety nets for the poor and the subsidies in the agricultural sector have been reduced to
the minimal despite the country facing grave agrarian crisis and hundreds of farmers
committing suicide in despair. Thus we are in a dilemma as to whether we can still call
ourselves a welfare state (Gosh, 2009).
This trend has not left out even the development sector. Today, even the NGOs
and development workers are evaluated based on the market criteria (Prabhakar, 2009).
Development work, which was heavily dependent on foreign aid, has suffered as funds
are more and more getting channelized directly through the governments and not
through NGOs. The purpose of all this is the control of the political and economic
policies and programs of the beneficiary government by the funding government (Cohen
& Arato, 1994). The state too has steadily withdrawn from the development
responsibilities, leaving even the responsibility and the right of provision of welfare
oriented services in the hands of the market (Tandon, 2002; Eade & Ligteringen, 2006).
It has been noted by some writers that the challenges and dilemmas of social
activists have tremendously increased in the recent past. In the 1970s and 80s the social
activists had very radical views regarding the system and policies of the government
(Joseph, 1995). They were actively involved in protests and rallies. However, in a
country like ours, that too in very challenging times like the present, social action should
be the last thing to be given up.
At the heart of all these is the need for social activists to be critically aware of
the actual dynamics of globalization. This alone would enable them to determine their
values, priorities and response in the highly indoctrinated and misleading environment
led by the market forces. It is with this conviction that the researchers took up the task of
conducting an experience survey of a cross-section of the Indian social activists to learn
190
if their understanding of the dynamics of neoliberal globalization is in some way close to
that of the analyses presented by the scholars discussed at the beginning of this paper to
ascertain if they are genuinely aware of the larger processes shaping the reality as well
as their own response in this highly globalized scenario.
Methodology
The research design used is ‗exploratory‘ in nature. The universe of this study consists
of all the social activists in India. However, as the number of social activists is too vast
and spread out, the researchers decided to delimit the area with the help of inclusion and
exclusion criteria.
It was decided to cover a cross-section of the population by multistage sampling

techniques. This was done with the hope of getting representation of the population
according to region and the area of involvement. As a first step of sampling, the total
geographical area under study (i.e. whole of India) was divided into three regions: i)
Southern region, ii) Northern region, and iii) North-eastern region. In order to enable a
better focus and reduce the administrative constraints only two states were chosen from
each of these three regional categories. The states randomly chosen for the study were
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu from the southern region; Delhi and Gujarat from the
northern region; and Assam and Nagaland from the north-eastern region.
Table No. 1: The Region-Wise List of the Social Activists Included in the Sampling
Frame
Male Female
Region Total
activists activists
Southern region
843 221 1064 (165)
Northern region 641 215 856 (50)
North-eastern region 96 32 128 (25)
TOTAL 1580 468 2048 (240)
(The figures in the parentheses refer to the number of respondent considered for the
study)
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The respondents for the study were randomly selected from the sampling frame for
collecting the data for the study. A mailed questionnaire method was used as the primary
tool of data collection. The respondents to be included in the study were finalized based
on the time taken to return the filled-in questionnaire.
The study included very few older (i.e. only 18.7%) and women respondents (i.e.
35.83%). The results of the study also suggest that the respondents, by and large, lack
formal training in professional social work. It is also worth noting that the social work
trained respondents were found to be either absent or lesser in number in very important
but conflictual areas such as environment (only 2.5% social work trained respondents)
and dalit movement (totally absent).
Results
In keeping with the objectives of the study, relevant data was gathered on the views of
the social activists regarding the present form of globalization to see if their views
support the perspectives of scholars. Presented below are the results pertaining to this
aspect of the study.
192
Table No. 2: General Perception of the Respondents towards Globalization and
Their Reasons for It
Frequency Chi square
General
Reasons & value and p
Perception
Percentage value
All of Rich become richer and poor become poorer 14(35.0)

globalization
is bad Increases the vulnerability of weaker sections 11(27.5)
40(16.7) Destroys our polity and economy 03(7.5) X2(4) =9.750,

p=0.044, HS
Globalization is led by aggressive transnational
06(15.0)
capitalism
It is nothing but imperialism in another form 06(15.0)
Total 40(100.0)
Only certain Only the rich grow richer 26(13.6)

aspects of
globalization Harms the indigenous economic interests 25(13.1)
are bad
Displacement and environmental degradation 43(22.5)
191(79.6)
Lack of protection to workers and environmental
35(18.3)
degradation X2(7)
=43.764,
Creates competition and stress 21(11.0) p=0.000, HS
Negative impact on agriculture and small-scale

23(12.0)
industries
Wrong priorities and lack of preparedness 16(8.4)
No response 02(1.0)
Total 191(100.0)
Nothing of It offers opportunities for development 05(55.6)

globalization
is bad It is a process which inevitable and hence needs
04(44.4) NA
to be effectively used to one's advantage
9(3.8)
Total 09(100.0)
(Figures in parentheses are percentages)
193
N=240, X2(2) =237.025, p=0.000, HS
Table no. 2 shows that there are significant differences in the general perceptions
and the reasons relating to the phenomenon of globalization. Another notable finding is
the acceptance of few of the respondents (3.8%) that nothing of globalization is bad.
Many of these respondents have even justified their statement in support of globalization
saying ‗it offers opportunities for ―development‖‘ and that ‗it is an ―inevitable‖ process
which needs to be effectively used to one‘s advantage‘. Only 2.5 percent each (i.e. only
6 respondents each) of the total respondents have recognized that ‗globalization is led by
aggressive transnational capitalism‘ and that ‗it is nothing but imperialism in another
form‘.
Majority of the respondents (79.6%) have corroborated scholars‘ observation that

―free trade agreements‖ are really not free but are used as a trap. About 67.1 percent of
the respondents corroborate scholars‘ view that the present form of globalization has
been undermining popular democratic control over policy.
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Table No. 3: Opinion on If Globalization Has Weakened Labour Movements in
India and the Reasons for the Opinion
Frequency
Chi square
Response Reasons & value and p
value
Percentage
Yes Dilution of labour laws 33 (18.3)
180(75) Lack of protection by the state 59 (32.8)
Loss of jobs due to advanced technology 30 (16.7)
Division among the working class 22 (12.2)

X2(7)
Total control by the capitalists 14 (7.8) =101.244,
p=0.000, HS
Political ploy in collaboration with the
04 (2.2)
capitalists
Weakening of bargaining power due to fear

09 (5.0)
of unemployment
No response 09 (5.0)
Total 180(100.0)
No Greater awareness of their rights 06 (27.3)

Binominal
22(9.2) Insulation of Indian labour movements from p=0.022, Sig
16 (72.7)
the negative effect
Total 22 (100.0)
Not Sure NA
NA NA
38(15.8)
N=240, X2(2) =189.100, p=0.000, HS
195
Only 75 percent of the respondents have corroborated scholars‘ view that
globalization has been attempting to break the unity and strength of the workers all over
the world to ensure the free reign of finance capital. Some of the respondents (6.7%)
have stated that the Indian labour movements are insulated from the ill-effects of
globalization due to strong pro-worker labour legislation in the country. Only 68.3
percent of the respondents say that liberalization of Indian economy has not benefitted
all sections of our society.
Table No. 4: Opinion on if the Government Has Been Withdrawing From Its
Welfare Responsibilities
Frequency
Chi square
Response Reasons & value and p
value
Percentage
Structural Adjustment Programs
Yes 10 (6.3)
Need for Economic Efficiency
158 (65.8) 16 (10.1)
Capitalistic Agenda of the Indian Corporations
68 (43.0)
Vision of a Vibrant Economy
07 (4.4) X2(7)
Structural Adjustment Programs and =155.722,
Need for Economic Efficiency 26 (16.5) p=.000 HS
Structural Adjustment Programs and
Capitalistic Agenda of Indian corporations 21 (13.3)
Need for economic efficiency and
capitalistic agenda 05 (3.2)
Need for Economic Efficiency and Vision
of a Vibrant Economy 05 (3.2)
Total 158(100.0)
No NA
NA NA
53 (22.1)
Not Sure NA
NA NA
29 (12.1)
N=240, X2(2) =117.675, p=.000, HS
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Table no. 4 shows that a large number of respondents (65.8%) have said that the
government has been withdrawing from its welfare responsibilities. About 22.1 percent
of the respondents have opined that the government has not been withdrawing from its
welfare responsibilities. About 12.1% of the respondents have said that they have ‗not
sure‘ of the answer. Opinion of the respondents on the influence of globalization on the
people they have been working with is also highly divided.
Discussion
Out of the results presented so far, most notable aspect is the acceptance of the few of
the respondents (3.8%) that nothing of globalization is bad. Although the number of
respondents who have taken this position is negligible the fact that such a view also is
strongly adhered to by saying that ‗it offers opportunities for ―development‖‘ and that ‗it
is an ―inevitable‖ process which needs to be effectively used to one‘s advantage‘ in fact
dislodges the common belief that all those who identify themselves as social activists are
anti-capitalists or anti-globalizationists. Thus, the views held by only a minority of
respondents comes close to the analysis of many eminent critics of who argue that the
present day globalization is primarily spearheaded by the advocates of the investor-
rights style of integration led by the capitalists.
Many scholars have held that the basic feature of the present form of
globalization is the marginalization of the majority for the profit of a few (Barsky,
1997). There are a few respondents (6.7%) who believe that this is not true while an
equal number of them say that they are unsure of the actual condition. Both these
positions seem to be strange as empirical studies on the effect of globalization have
clearly shown that even though the GDP of certain nations has risen under the
globalization regime the gulf between the rich and the poor has only increased. This fact
points towards lack of a minimal awareness regarding the effects of globalization on the
part of some of the persons claiming to be social activists.
Another important aspect stressed by the scholars on globalization is that

globalization has been undermining popular democratic control over policy. The
analysis of the data shows that only 67.1 percent of the respondents corroborate this
197
view. ‗Democracy‘ is a value held in high esteem by most of the social activists. Hence,
it does not seem proper that many of them are not aware of the dynamics of the present
day globalization which in reality has scant regard for people‘s opinions and concerns.
It has also been observed by scholars that globalization has been consistently
attempting to break the unity and strength of the workers all over the world to ensure the
free reign of finance capital. Only 75 percent of the respondents support this view. Some
of them have even asserted that the Indian labour movements are insulated from the ill-
effects of globalization due to strong pro-worker labour legislation in the country. This
view seems to be in direct opposition to the research findings that show diluting and
flouting of the labour laws after the onset of globalization in India (Nayyar, 1996;
Chandrashekar & Gosh, 2009; and Sen & Himanshu, 2004).
The response of the activists to the question on ‗if liberalization of economy has
benefited all sections of Indian society‘ too is quite divided. Only 68.3 percent of the
respondents say that it has not benefitted all sections of our society. Eminent scholars
have found that Dalits, women and certain sections of children are either highly
exploited or simply left behind by the various processes of globalization (Telumbde,
2003; Buggi, Reddy, & Gowda, 2001 & Byres, 1998). Hence, the opinions of some of
the ‗social activists‘ is diametrically opposed to such scholarly expositions.
Also, strange is the explanation of some of the respondents who believe that
liberalization has benefited all sections of Indian society that globalization has made the
Indian economy inclusive. This again is challenging the views of scholars that
globalization has a homogenizing effect while in reality promoting divisive and
individualistic attitudes. It is also quite striking that most of the other activists are
neither able to recognize the role of the upper castes nor the capitalists in utilizing the
designs of globalization to their advantage.
Opinion of the respondents on the influence of globalization on the people they

have been working with is also highly divided. Many have opined that it is either highly
(30.4%) or moderately (38.3%) negative while there are a few who opine that either
there is no perceptible change (17.1%) or that the influence is moderately positive
198
(14.2%). This division of opinion of the people could be due to different categories of
people the social activists have been working with. The people working with certain
sections of the middle class would have found that there is no perceptible change or that
there has been moderately positive impact on their lives due to the newer economic
opportunities received by them as a result of privatization and liberalization in the
country. However, this hypothesis requires further data to arrive at valid conclusions.
Conclusion
The study has revealed that social activists are highly divided in terms of their awareness
and analysis of the present form of globalization. This could result in adverse effects on
the overall effectiveness of social action in India. Hence, it is imperative for them to
awaken to the urgent and serious challenges faced by them in this neoliberal context. For
this, the social activists as a body need to take steps to read, discuss and understand the
hidden patterns and dynamics of globalization to fortify their responses to social action
requirements and also come up with newer strategies and approaches to effectively face
the challenges of the present day globalization.
REFERENCES
Aloysius, G., 1998, Nationalism without a Nation, New Delhi, Oxford University Press.
Bardhan, P., 2005, The Political Economy of Development in India, New Delhi, Oxford
University Press.
Barsky, R., 1997, Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent, Cambridge, MIT Press.
Basu, K., 2001, Oct 6, ―India and the Global Economy: Role of Culture, Norms and
Beliefs‖, Economic and Political Weekly, 3837-3842.
Bhaduri, A. & Deepak N., 1996, The Intelligent Person's Guide to Liberalization, New
Delhi, Penguin Publications.
Bhagwati, J., 2004, In Defence of Globalization, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
199
Bhambhri, C.P., 1996, Jan-Mar., ―New economic policy: Indian State and Bureaucracy‖,
Social Scientist, Vol. 24, No. 272-74, 44-58.
Bhambhri, C.P., 2005, Globalization: India, Nation, State and Democracy, Delhi, Shipra
Publications.
Buggi, C., Reddy, S. & Gowda, G., 2001, Jan, ―Impact of Globalisation on Agrarian
Class Structure. It‘s Implications for Indian Villages‖, Third Concept, 17-19
Byres, T.J. (ed.), 1998, The State, Development, Planning and Liberalization in India,
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Chandrasekhar, C.P. and Ghosh, J., 2009, The Market that Failed: Neoliberal Economic
Reforms in India, New Delhi, Leftword.
Chattopadhyay, S.S. and Chaudhuri, K., 2001, Dec., ―An Event in Kolkata‖, Frontline.
18 (25), 08-21.
Chomsky, N., 1994, World Orders, Old and New, Delhi, Oxford University Press.
Choubey, S., Pendse, N.G. & Shukla, N. (Eds.), 2005, Economic Reforms in India:
Need, Effects and Suggestions, New Delhi, Sarup and Sons.
Cohen, J. L. & Arato, A., 1994, Civil Society and Political Theory, Cambridge, The MIT
Press.
Datt, R., 2001, Economic reforms in India: An appraisal and Policy Directions for
Second Generation Reform,. New Delhi, Bookwell.
Dreze, J., 2000, April 1, ―Militarism, Development and Democracy‖, Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 14, 1171-1183.
Eade, D. and Ligteringen, E. (Eds.), 2006, Debating Development: NGOs and the
Future, Jaipur, Rawat Publications.
Ghosh, J., 2009, April 10, ―Time to Change‖. Frontline. 88-89.
200
Joseph, G., 1996, Social Action Groups and their Activists, Unpublished thesis
submitted to School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya, Mangalore.
Mukhopadhyay, S., 2002, "Globalization and Indian Service Sector". Economic and
Political Weekly. 4097-98.
Nayar, B.R., 2001, Globalization and Nationalism: The Changing Balance in India's
Economic Policy, 1950-200,. New Delhi, Sage Publications.
Nayyar, B.R., 2003, July, "Globalization and India's National Autonomy‖,

Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol. 41, No. 2, 1-34.
Patnaik, P., 2009, April 10, ―Time for Change‖, Frontline, 4-6.
Power, G., 1997, June. ―Globalization and its discontents‖, Development, Vol. 40, No.
2, 75-80.
Prabhakar, 2009, ―NGOs – the Development Sector, a Critical Appraisal‖, Deeksha,Vol.

7, No. 1, 18-23.
Sen, A. and Himanshu, 2004, Sep 25, ―Poverty and Inequality in India–II, Widening
Disparities During the 1990s‖, Economic and Political Weekly, 4361-4375.
Shiva, V., 1997, ―Democracy in the Age of Globalization‖, In A. Muricken (ed.),

Globalization and SAP: Trends and impact: an Overview, Mumbai, Vikas Adhyayan
Kendra, 65-78.
Tandon, R., 2002, Voluntary action, Civil society and the State, New Delhi, Mosaic
Books.
Telumbde, A., 2003, Jan-Mar, ―Globalization: Assessing Impact on the Dalits in India‖,
Social Action, Vol. 53, No. 1, 17 ff.
Varshey, A. (ed.), 2004, India and the Politics of Developing Countries; Essays in
Memory of Myron Weiner, New Delhi, Sage.
201
The Socialism of Sarvodaya: M. K. Gandhi’s approach to Collective
Human Welfare
Adarshapally Nataraju
It is argued in this paper that of all the alternatives that are available in solving the
eternal conflict between capital and labour, the one offered by Gandhi seems more
viable. The non-violent social transformation or what is termed as 'Sarvodaya' aims at
achieving collective human welfare wherein the rich would act as trustees of the wealth.
Critical analysis of notions such as doctrinal basis of Sarvodaya, Sarvodaya and non-
violence, trusteeship etc. are made in the paper.
Key Words: Sarvodaya, Trusteeship, Non-violence, Utility, Oneness-of-life.
Dr. Adarshapally Nataraju, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Assam
University, Silchar, Assam, India. [email protected]
INTRODUCTION
M.K. Gandhi as a social scientist had shown remarkable greatness by adopting his
methods to the culture, way of life, and feeling of the people and to their economic and
technological resources. Abolishing the eternal conflict between capital and labour had
drawn the attention of many a thinker over the last few centuries. The concentration of
wealth in the hands of the few rich on the one hand and the semi-starved naked millions
on the other throws greater challenge to any thinker who is concerned with the welfare
of humanity on the whole and his own nation in particular. Gandhi, as we know, adhered
to non-violent methods in solving social, political and economic problems. He did not
seek to destroy the capitalist but he wanted to destroy capitalism. Ahimsa was always a
202
creed for Gandhi and never a policy1. He did not practice non-violence only to give it up
in times of difficulty. Adherence to ahimsa as a creed implied that he had to find a
method for social transformation where the capitalist considers himself as a trustee for
the wealth generated by the millions of workers. If capital is power, so is work. Welfare
of all or what he termed as ‗Sarvodaya‘ was a result of his experiments in the field of
truth, non-violence, and human welfare. The good of greatest number did not attract
Gandhi much, since he believed in ‗oneness of life‘, animate and inanimate, and felt that
one must strive for the ‗welfare of all‘. In this paper I would try to situate the problem of
human welfare within the context of the conflict between selfish interests and selfless
service to society. I would also like to discuss, from writings of Gandhi, concept of man,
welfare of individual, society and humanity at large, utilitarianism and Sarvodaya,
trusteeship and its viability.
It is a challenging task to clearly express the subtle nuances of such a notion as
Sarvodaya in one paper. However, the effort is to express, as precisely as possible, the
doctrinal basis for Sarvodaya philosophy and its practicality in modern times. One of the
remarkable features of Gandhi‘s writings is that they look simple and comprehensive,
but the real challenge lies in grasping the essence of his thought process and the
application of these ideas in real life situations. We know that he is not an arm-chair
philosopher delivering lectures, constructing theoretical frameworks and impressing
audience with intellectual prowess. He believed in experimenting his hypotheses. He
always made a first test of his hypothesis on himself. The mark of greatness lies in
working out the details and establishing organisations and systems to carry forward the
ideas. He excelled in all that. History is a testimony to the fact that he created
203
institutions to materialise the necessary social transformations that he was intending to
achieve. The widespread and difficult social problems on which he has specially worked
are: 1.poverty 2.unemployment 3.violence between individuals, groups and nations
4.disunity and friction between social groups 5.education 6.to a lesser extent, sanitation
and public health, nutrition and agricultural reforms.2
I would like to argue in this paper that Sarvodaya, and its offshoot trusteeship, is
a viable option if at all humanity has to survive, live in peace, and make progress
collectively. Ignoring Gandhi while trying to answer the perennial problem of poverty
alleviation and equitable distribution of national wealth is only to invite disaster. To put
this in right perspective, his success lies in inspiring generations of individuals to come
out of slumber, and think and find answers to the social problems that exist around us.
Generally we withdraw ourselves in to a shell, as it were, and confine ourselves to home,
office and personal security. However, it requires positive energy to get out of ‗Jellyfish
life‘ and contemplate on the problems that plague the society. When there is a severe
calamity, people do respond but in everyday life we tend to ignore the semi-starved
millions, the poor, the downtrodden, and the less fortunate. Our indifference to create
necessary energy levels in solving perennial socio-economic problems raises question
mark on the equality of education that we receive. An individual‘s ability to meditate on
these problems is of importance if only we were to make progress toward ‗collective
human welfare‘. I have preferred always to use this phrase ‗collective human welfare‘ to
signify the fact that an individual‘s and a nation‘s ‗good‘ is ensured only when the
results of modern progress reach the entire humanity instead of selective individuals, or
groups. Gandhi‘s usages of Sarvodaya also points to the same meaning as discussed
204
above. Gandhi used the phrase ‗greatest-good-of-all principle‘ to translate Sarvodaya in
to English. As it is clear from the above lines Sarvodaya differs significantly from the
utilitarian‘s idea of greatest good of greatest number. Isaāvāsya Upanisad inspired
Gandhi toward formulating the doctrine of ‗non-possession‘.
Doctrinal Basis: Oneness of Life and Non-Possession
I would like to discuss a philosophical theory by name ‗Advaita‘ which provides
doctrinal basis for Sarvodaya philosophy. Advaita of Ś ankara says , based on Vedic
authority, that all that exists and has its being is Reality. This school believes that there
is oneness of life and that the same energy principle appears in different forms (animate
and inanimate). The Upanisadic statement such as ‗tad ekam‘ or ‗ekam sat‘, all point to
the existence of one intelligent principle. Gandhi‘s philosophy is based on this idea of
‗oneness of life‘ which gets expressed in his ideas on ahimsa, satyagraha, swaraj,
swadeshi and Sarvodaya. ‗The greatest good of all principle‘ is based on this Vedantic
maxim. The other principle that inspired Gandhi from Isavasya Upanisad is ‗non-
possession‘3 which took the form of ‗trusteeship‘ in the later part of Gandhi‘s life. ‗Non-
possession‘ is allied to non-stealing. A thing not originally stolen must nevertheless be
classified as stolen property if we possess it without needing it.4 Gandhi‘s faith in God
drives him to believe that it is the work of God to give us our daily bread.5 He goes on to
say that the rich have superfluous store of things which they do not need, and which are
therefore neglected and wasted; while millions starve to death for want of subsistence. If
each retained possession only of what he needed, no one would be in want and all would
live in contentment.6 Only very few can think of and reach this ideal. For majority this is
a distant dream.
205
This idea of non-possession helps Gandhi in formulating his doctrine of
trusteeship. As it is clear from his life and works that he did not bother about the number
of people who would follow this ideal. Once he is convinced of veracity of certain
principle, he used to adhere to it, since he believed that in the end people would
recognise its true value. He very well knew that these ideals would take longer time for
the humanity to realise. But this did not deter him from pursuing what appeared to him
as social truth at a given point of time. He wanted to be consistent with truth and not
with his earlier ideas.
Sarvodaya and non-violence:
As it is pointed out in the earlier pages, Gandhi never compromised on the principle of
ahimsa, though he fully recognised that absolute practice of non-violence is possible
only to the disembodied soul and not for mortals. There can be no insistence on truth
where there is no non-violence. Hence, the attainment of human welfare depends upon
the attainment of non-violence7. It is here that Gandhi differed radically from Marx. The
‗levelling up, down‘ of Marx had the provision for violence, destroying the landlords,
the rulers, and the wealthy was to be achieved by mass revolution through violent
means. Gandhi believed that violence breeds further violence and there can be never an
end to it. On being reminded that in the annals of history, there never was a mass non-
violent revolution, he was adamant enough to reject lessons from history and proclaim to
the world the possibility of using non-violent means on a longer scale. Indian freedom
struggle amply demonstrated to the world that non-violent means can be adopted in
conflicts that involve participation of larger number of people. On being questioned that
ahimsā was utterly unworkable in all circumstances and that non -violence is possible
206
only for select individuals, 8 Gandhi answered, ―The social structure is not based on a
conscious acceptance of non-violence, all the world over mankind lives and men retain
their possessions on the sufferance of one another. If they had not done so, only the
fewest and the most ferocious would have survived. But such is not the case. Families
are bound together by ties of love, and so are groups in the so –called civilised society
called nations.‖9 The concept of man in Gandhian philosophy becomes evident from the
above lines.
Prof. J.N.Mohanty remarks that man, for Gandhi, is firmly rooted in truth, and
though he seems to be alienated from it, there is never complete severance for it is truth
as love which sustains human life.10 It is this love that would make the humanity share
their wealth with one another and create a co-operative commonwealth of nations.
Trusteeship:
Gandhi said of himself, ‗I am not built for academic writings. Action is my domain‘11.
He was not systematic and did not write treaties on politics, economy, morals or
religion. ‗Hind Swaraj‘ was written by him in Gujarati; ‗Satyagraha in South Africa‘
talks about the formative years of the movement in South Africa. The unfinished
autobiography ―My Experiments with Truth‖ are the few books that he wrote. However,
his article in Harijan and Young India and his numerous correspondence letters to
seekers after Truth runs into hundred volumes published as ‗Collected Works of M. K.
Gandhi‘. In all his articles he formulated his concepts, entered into debate with those
opposing them, defended them, and came out with application techniques. From this
vast literature, we are to collect material from which we can understand his notion of
207
trusteeship and Sarvodaya. Raghavan Iyer, considered as an authority on Gandhi‘s
writings, feels that there was undue concentration upon the image of the politician and
reformer formed during his active phase of thirty years in India, from 1914 to 1948.12 He
considers the period spent in South Africa between 1903 and 1914 as the important one
where Gandhi did his essential thinking on morals and politics13. His notions on satya,
ahimsa, satyagraha, Sarvodaya and swaraj took shape in his mind during this time14.
The core being of Gandhi is constituted with religiosity. His immovable faith in
God, in Truth (God and Truth are synonyms for him) is to be kept in mind when we try
to understand his socio-political and economic ideas. As I mentioned at the beginning of
this paper ahimsa is the ‗first principle‘ based on which he would develop his solutions
to various problems. His mind was drawn to the idea that class war can be avoided. His
experiments at various times proved that it was possible to destroy capitalism and not
the capitalist15. The realization of the worker that if capital is power, so is work16 is as
important as the change of heart in a capitalist. Gandhi‘s invitation was to the capitalist
to regard himself as a trustee for those on whom he depends for the making, the
retention and the increase of the capital17. Each one is dependent on one another. This
realization brings greater strength to the worker and he becomes co-sharer in the capital
rather than a slave18. The basic idea of Gandhi in this regard is that the fundamental
equality of the capitalist and the labourer needs to be recognized and this recognition
makes one not aim at the destruction of the capitalist but for his conversion.
From the above discussion it is very clear the kind of contrast that exists between
Gandhi and Marx in answering the conflict between classes. I do not venture to write in
detail on the differences between Gandhism and Marxism, except to reiterate the point
208
that Gandhi had to find a means based on non-violence and this ultimately led him to the
idea of trusteeship. How many people would act as trustees is beside the point. Is the
principle sound or not was Gandhi‘s concern.
Conclusion
I have a firm belief that the good of humanity lies in the ‗good of all‘ and not in the
greatest number. Gandhi‘s model of achieving social transformation based on non-
violence would survive the test of time. The inequalities stare us in the face but the
essential equality (oneness of life and fundamental equality) cannot be missed19. Every
man has equal right to the necessities of life even as birds and beasts have20. Gram-
Swaraj is an offshoot of Sarvodaya where a village is self sufficient and can meet the
basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter and if need be can defend itself
against the world. The example of Bill Gates comes to my mind when I contemplate on
‗Corporate Social Responsibility‘. ‗Bill Gates Milinda Gates Foundation‘ is working for
the welfare of the people across the continents and Warren Buffett donated his lifelong
earned money which runs into billions of dollars to this foundation. Narayana Murti of
Infosys does the same work. People like Bill Gates and Narayana Murti reaffirm our
faith in Gandhi and his idea of conversion of a capitalist. Gandhi recognises the
individual‘s capacity to create wealth. This is a very important observation from Gandhi.
It is the individual who has the brilliance to create wealth, but the only necessary
condition is that he has to act as a trustee as far as this wealth is concerned. This wealth,
according to Gandhi, is created, retained and increased by the millions of labourers. The
followers of Marx may not accept this proposition but the fact of the matter is that the
way in which Gandhi recognises the individual‘s capacity to generate wealth is not done
209
by Marx. The Goose that lays golden eggs is destroyed by Marxism, the result is
obvious. Conversion of the capitalist so that he takes up the responsibility of collective
human welfare is very much a viable option. We cannot ignore Gandhi and invite peril.
There is no denying the fact that there are not many who would buy this idea. However,
it is the soundness of the ‗first principle‘ that is more important than the number of
followers.
REFERENCES:
Iyer, Raghavan, 2007, The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, New
Delhi, Oxford University Press. p.192.
Richard B.Gregg, 2006, Gandhiji as a Social Scientist and Social Inventor in
Radhakrishnan (ed) “Mahatma Gandhi: Essays and Reflections”, Delhi, Jaico
publishers.
Isavasyaponisad. (1:1.1).
Raghavan Iyer (ed), 2006, The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, New
Delhi,Oxford University. p.377.
ibid., p.377.
ibid., p.377.
ibid., p.384
ibid., p.385
210
ibid., p.385
Mohanty, J.N., 2004, Essays on Indian Philosophy, New Delhi: Oxford University
Press. p.195
Harijan, March 1946.
Iyer, Raghavan, 2007, The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, New
Delhi, Oxford University Press. p.9
ibid., p.9
ibid., p9-10
Raghavan Iyer (ed), 2006,The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi, New Delhi:
Oxford University. p.396
ibid., p. 396
ibid., p.396
ibid., p.396
ibid., p.396
ibid., p.396
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
211
Note for Contributors
“Social Work Journal” is a professional (refereed) journal to be published bi-
annually (July and December) by the Department of Social Work, Assam University, Silchar,
Assam for strengthening perspectives on social work. The journal focuses on social work
practice, research and development. The journal welcomes the contribution of social work
educators, practitioners and researchers in the form of articles, case studies and book reviews
related to social issues, human development, human rights etc. Articles are selected on the basis
of the relevance to social work research and social work practice. The articles should not
exceed 7000 words. An abstract of 150 words along with the declaration by the author is his/her
original work and has not submitted elsewhere for publication must accompany the articles. The
editorial board reserves the rights to edit the articles to be published.
Within the text reference to other works are made in parenthesis using the last name of
the author and the year of publication as for example (Desai 2009). If more than one work of the
same author is cited, the years of publication of the works are separated with comma as (Desai
2001, 2009). If two or more works of the same author in the same year is cited, they are
distinguished with the alphabets a, b, etc. as (Desai 1988 a, 1998 b). When more than one author
is cited, the authors are separated with semicolon, as (Desai 2001; Singh 2003). For works
authored by three or more authors, et al. is used after the first author, as (Desai et at. 1998). Page
number to the citation is given after the year of publication followed by colon as (Desai 2001:
34).
The list of references should include: for books, author‘s full name, year of publication,
title of book (in italics), place of publication and publisher for example: Singh, R.R., 1985,
Fieldwork in Social Work Education, New Delhi, Concept Publications Co. and for article,
author‘s full name, year of publication, title of article (within quotation marks), title of periodical
(in italics), and volume, issue and page numbers for example: Mitra, Arup, 1998, ―Employment
in the Informal Sector‖, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Vol.41, No.3, 122-27. In the case
of contributions in edited books: author‘s name, year of publication, title of the contribution in
inverted commas, editor‘s name, title of the book in italics, place of publication, name of
publishers, and the beginning and ending page numbers. For example Gangrade, K.D., 2001,
―Gandhi and Empowerment of Women: Miles to go,‖ in Promilla Kapur (ed.), Empowering the
Indian Women, New Delhi, Publication Division, Government of India, 1-21. Online references
may contain author, year, title of the work, website and date of accessing the reference. For
example Wikipedia, 2009, ―Caste System in India,‖
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India, accessed on 2-3-1010. It is expected that
the authors must observe the usual rules and practices regarding the reproduction of copyright
material in their articles, assuming responsibility for obtaining permission where appropriate.
All correspondence should be addressed to:
Dr. B.S. Gunjal
Editor-in-Chief
Assam University
Silchar-788011, Assam, India, Phone: 03842-270821, Email: [email protected]
212
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SOCIAL WORK JOURNAL

Volume 1 Number 1 July 2010

Department of Social Work

Prof. K.V. Ramana

Prof. S.V. Sudhakar

Prof. Gopalji Mishra

Prof. Y.S. Sidde Gowda

Prof. Asok Sarkar

Dr. B.T. Lawani

Dr. Subabratha Dutta

Dr. Molankal Gangabhushan M.

Dr. Tineshowri Devi

Dr. Tarun Bikash Sukai

Dr. Sanjoy Roy

Dr. B.S. Gunjal

Status of Field Work and Research in Social Work Education:

Empowerment of Women through Education –

Adolescence and Social Work Intervention

Plight of Women in Brick Industry:

Rural Development Programmes and Panchayati Raj Institutions:

Globalisation and Civil Society in India

Globalization and Marginalisation: Reflections on HIV/ AIDS

Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development

New Perspectives on Consumer Awareness in Media

A Comparative Study of Stress and Proneness to Various Psycho-Medical Illnesses

Coping With Old Age: A Review

Status of the socially excluded children in urban high schools:

Activists‘ Understanding of Neo-Liberal Globalization:

The Socialism of Sarvodaya:

The Paper -“Empowerment of Women through Education – Need for Radical

A paper on “Adolescence and Social Work Intervention” by Dr. M. Tineshowri

The paper contributed by Dr. M. Gangabhushan on ―Plight of Women in Brick

Another paper “Globalisation and Marginalisation: Reflections on HIV/ AIDS” by

Another paper on “Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Development” by

Dr. Sanjoy Roy in his paper “Socio-economic Conditions and Development of

Dr. Onkar Kakade‘s paper entitled “New Perspectives on Consumer Awareness in

Another research paper by Dr. Channaveer on “Status of the Socially Excluded

The paper ―The Socialism of Sarvodaya: M. K. Gandhi‘s approach to Collective

I am happy to express my sincere thanks to our Hon‘ble Vice-Chancellor, Prof.

With special reference to Hindi Speaking Areas in India

Social Work is an emerging profession directed towards promoting social development

Field instruction is a crucial component of social work education and is

There is a plethora of theories in social work education which need to be taught

On the other side, a professional must be able to academically analyze the

Rationality of the Study

Objectives of the Study

The specific objectives of this study will be:

2. To find out the new process and mechanisms of field work.

Situation in Hindi Speaking Areas

(DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK)

NATURE OF FIELD WORK

Field work is provided by the department through a large number of well-established

Additional qualification aspect showed that 23 respondents were having extra

Involvement in Organization/ Project before joins Teaching

Association with Professional Organization

Teacher-Agency Meeting and its Frequency

Satisfaction with Field Work

Change in Field Work Process

Field Work Helps in Job Profile

Regarding Complexity of Social Problems