Social Development through Social Work

1/1/2016

Ashok Antony D'Souza, pp. 176, Rs. 350, Niruta Publications

Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru in his midnight address to the Constituent Assembly on 14-15 August 1947 had observed, “The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over”. Thus, India, being a socialist state, was expected to work towards bringing about a socio-economic transformation based on the ideals enshrined in the Constitution.

Social policies, legislation, and planning are meant to be the means through which the state would achieve ‘social development’ – the development aimed at ending “poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity”. Having made efforts to achieve this goal for the past seven decades, Independent India has many more miles to go before it can claim to have achieved its objectives stated in the form of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy. It is in such a context that Professional Social Workers are expected to join hands with the agencies of the state and civil society to ensure that real social development is achieved so the dignity and sanctity of the term ‘democracy’ is not degraded further. In order to do justice to the role of a change agent, Social Workers are expected to be very familiar with the significance of social development as well as the ways and means of achieving its goals. Hence, course/paper on ‘Social Policy, Planning and Social Development’ forms a very important component in the undergraduate (BSW) and postgraduate (MSW) curriculum. This book has been written to help the teachers and learners of this course/paper gain a clear and comprehensive understanding of various topics related to the subject. Hope this effort of mine fulfills the academic need of the learners.

Ashok Antony D’Souza, Ph.D.