'Issues of deprived communities marginalised in modern society'

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Hyderabad, Regional Director G Krishna Reddy said, Rohit Vemula’s death case was not only a Dalit issue but also an issue about the lack of diversity in the universities.

He was delivering the keynote address on ‘Crises in Social Science/Political Science: Identity, Reach and Relevance’ during a national seminar, organised by the University of Mysore (UoM), department of Studies in Political Science and ICSSR, Hyderabad, at Rani Bahadur auditorium, here, on Wednesday.

Reddy said, “From the past five years, nine students have committed suicide in Hyderabad University and it could be due to lack of diversity. A set of social scientists are anxious as the government and the society are showing negligence towards them. Today, hierarchy is a major concern, the scientists are facing. Conflict between ‘matter’ and ‘idea’ still exists in the society.”

“The problem of theory making in social sciences was raised in late 20th century. In the modern society, issue of Dalits and deprived communities are of marginal interest. ‘Justice’ as condition is more important than its value,” he said.

Reddy said, in the eyes of the government and society, value of social science has come down and research works are suffering.

Earlier, the government was offering various projects to universities. But, in recent years, the projects are reduced and many research works are being conducted by non-social scientists. Here, the primary question is, whether the universities and government colleges are equipped to train students from marginal sections. The government should make social science teachers to train students. Skill development programmes should be conducted at public places like universities,” he said.

Highlighting the objective of the seminar, Political Science department Chairman Muzaffar Assadi said, social and political sciences were in crises. “Management and Commerce subjects are taking over these subjects in metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities as social sciences are rural and semi-urban areas centric. Also, social sciences are not uniform globally,” he said.

Stressing on Indian Social Science, Assadi said, even though subjects exist from past many years, it was not possible to address issues like poverty, illiteracy and others. He said the events like seminars and workshops are needed to discuss about social science in different perspective. Teaching faculty of various streams like Economics, Sociology and Criminology, were present in the two-day seminar. UoM V C K S Rangappa presided over the inaugural programme.