Emphasising on the need for a regulatory mechanism in the social work scenario, professor and dean of School of Social Work in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Mumbai), Dr Vimla Nadkarni said there was an inevitability of establishing an exclusive council for social work professionals at the national level.

She was delivering a key-note address on “Social work and social legislation” during ‘Sambhrama-2008’, a South India meet of social work schools, held under the aegis of PG Department of Social Work, SDM College Ujire at Sri Siddhavana Gurukula here on Friday.

Dr Nadkarni said similar to the councils established for people in medical or nursing field, there should be a council for social work too, to deal with the aspects like licensing, compulsory continuing education and such. Though there has been a national association of social workers, further efforts are required to push up the demand for a council having regulatory powers, she observed.

She also said advocates, psychiatrists and professionals from other fields should be invited as resource persons in social work schools in order to make exchange of knowledge more meaningful, as social work was a concept of multiple faces.

If we are working in a system, we need to be aware of the legislations governing the system.

Though confrontation may lead to conflicts, the social workers should be ready to face such extremes, Dr Nadkarni noted.

Supporting her views regarding the national council, Mr K Sivakumar from Villianur College for Women in Pondicherry said a separate council for social workers was must to provide them a kind of protection while fighting against any discrimination or exploitation.

Mr Prashanth Patil from Government Medical College, Hubli said though there had been a regulation of Medical Council of India that each branch of medicine like Gynecology or Oncology,  should include a qualified social worker within its set-up, the rule was not being followed properly in most of the cases.

Ms Sharika Rai from SDM Law College, Mangalore said social workers play a predominant role in bringing forth new legislations.

Ms Yashaswini from PG Department of Social Work observed that many working women were not aware of the social legislations which might help them in critical situations.

Inauguration

Earlier in the morning, Sambhrama’08 was inaugurated by Dr Nadkarni, who said laws played an important role in social change and transformation. Stressing on the need for social workers knowing various laws like RTI Act and Domestic Violence Act, she revealed the vast scope for their profession. 

Dr Nadkarni advised the social workers to be watchdogs towards cases like child abuse and harassment on women.

Presiding over the ceremony, PG Department of Social Work Dean Prof J Mahaveer said social work was the only professional subject among all social sciences and appealed the students to respond to the issues of weaker sections. The department head Dr K G Parashurama was present.