msw 009 community organization management for community development

Community OrganizationManagement for

Community Development

EditorProf. Gracious Thomas

School of Social WorkIndira Gandhi National Open University

Maidan Garhi, New Delhi 110068

July, 2010

© Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2010

ISBN: 978-81-266-4776-7

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in anyform, by mimeography or any other means, without permission inwriting from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Further information on the Indira Gandhi National Open Universitycourses may be obtained from the University’s Office at MaidanGarhi, New Delhi-110 068.

Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University, New Delhi, by Director, School of Social Work.

Print Production: Shri Kulwant Singh.

Laser typeset by Nath Graphics, 1/21, Sarvapriya Vihar,New Delhi -110 016.

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Preface

Community has been a central focus of social workpractice since its inception. Communities are one ofthe many social systems that touch people’s lives andshape their individual and group identities. As aprofessional you must have knowledge of the basicconcepts pertaining community organizationmanagement for community development. In this book‘Community Organization Management for communityDevelopment’ we shall discuss on various aspects ofcommunity and community development, meaning,nature and characteristics features of urban, rural andtribal communities; place of community work withinsocial work practice and community developmentprogrammes in rural, tribal and urban areas. Apartfrom explaining the values, purpose and assumptionsunderlying community organization, this book alsooutlines the philosophy and history of communityorganization in the USA, UK and India. We also discussabout similarities, differences and relationship betweencommunity organization and other methods of socialwork models of community organization, concept anddimensions of power, relevance of power in communityorganization practice, impact of globalization oncontemporary communities, community practice, socialaction for community development, concept, historyscope and relevance of social action, various models ofsocial action, strategies and tactics in social action,values, ethics principles of social action, history, nature,scope, functions and principles of social welfareadministration and types and characteristics of socialwelfare organization . the discussion and deliberationin this book is very important for social workprofessionals because we have covered several

important topics that are needed for a social workstudent in the field of social work.

In the first chapter we shall provide an understandingof communities, its characteristics, and how acommunity is relevant in social work practice. Thesecond chapter deals with urban communities. Youwill read about the meaning of urban community,historical development of urban areas, spread andcharacteristics of urban communities, spatialsegregation and specific urban communities. The “Profileof rural Communities” elaborates on different aspectsof rural communities. You would come to know aboutthe meaning of rural community, diversity of ruralcommunities, rural, social and economic structure andpolicies and practices in rural community. The writeup in the chapter on “Tribal Communities” talks aboutanother type of community, i.e. tribal community. Aftergoing through this chapter you will know what a tribeis, what are the demographic features of a tribalcommunity and their social economic structure. Youwill also be able to distinguish between denotified andnomadic tribes, and some of the major concerns of tribalcommunities. The chapter on “Community DevelopmentProgrammes and Accountability” deals with the variouscommunity development programmes and the conceptof accountability. You will get to know about the historyof community development progrmmes and programmestargeting rural, tribal and urban areas. The chapter on“Community Organization: Concepts, Value Orientationand Assumptions” will give you an idea of what iscommunity organization and how communityorganization is related to social work. It also discussesthe guiding values, purposes and assumptions ofcommunity organization.

“History of community Organization” gives you a pictureof the history of community Organization in the United

Kingdom, USA and India. You will be able to comparethe content and process of the method of communityorganization in India and the West. The deliberation on“Community Organization as a Method of social Workpractice” aims to provide an insight about communityorganization as a method to find solutions for communityproblems. You will also be able to establish therelationship between community organization and othermethods of social work, and the relevance of communityorganization for the development of communities. Thischapter the distinction between community organizationand community development and the underlyingprinciples of Community Organization. The discussionon the “Models and Approaches of CommunityOrganization” will brief you about the steps involved incommunity organization process, different models thatare followed in community organization and otherstrategies and approaches relevant to communityorganization. “Current Issues in CommunityOrganization and the role of the community Organizer”elaborates on the concepts of power structure and itsrelevance in community organization. You will get toknow the issues related to gender injustices andcommunity practice with the marginalized groups. Thischapter also deals with community organization practicein terms of globalization and its impact on communitypractice as well as the role being played by a communityorganizer.

“Social Action: Concept and Application” deals with theconcept and terms related to social actions, how socialaction has been discussed by different scholars, thehistory, scope and relevance of social action. “IntegratedApproach to Social Work and Social Action” deals witha detailed discussion on the integrated approach tosocial work and social action, various social system theprocess of intervention under integrated approach to

social work and the interrelationship between SocialAction and community Work. The chapter on “Modelsof Social Action” elaborates the Elitist model,Institutional and Non-institutional models, Popularmodels, and Gandhian model of social action.“Strategies and Skills in Social Action” talks about thestrategies and skills required for social action and willacquaint you with different strategies at different stageslike planning, mobilization, management communicationand networking in the context of Social action. Thechapter on “Social Action: A Method of Social Work”discusses on social action as a method of social work.You will learn about the values, ethics and principles ofsocial action and how social action is related with othermethods of social work and social movements.

The chapter on “ Social Welfare Administration: concept,history and nature explains different terms like socialdevelopment, social welfare and how they are related tosocial work and social welfare administration, thefunctions that are carried out by the Social WelfareAdministrator, the principles needed to be followed, andthe scope of Social Welfare Administration as a methodof Social Work, different welfare organizations that areworking in the social welfare sector which includeGovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations;Bilateral and International organizations as well asDonor agencies and United Nation Bodies, theorganizational climate, communication and socialmarketing, public relations, fund raising, socialauditing, conflict resolution, relation between socialpolicy and Social Welfare Administration, and differentsocial policies like Health Policy and its Programmes,education policy as well as social welfare policies.

The preparation for this book extended for a period oftwo years and several eminent scholars from social workdiscipline made their valuable contribution. I am ever

grateful to Prof. K.K. Ghosh, Dr. A Malathi, Dr. NeeraAgrimitra, Dr. Archana Kaushik, and Dr. Beena Antonyfor their expertise, time, commitment and the timelycompletion of the various chapters. I am sure, thisbook will be of immense help to several social workprofessionals working in NGO sector, governmentagencies and other related institution engaged in socialwork.

Prof. Gracious ThomasDirector, School of Social Work

IGNOU, New Delhi

Contents

1. Concepts of Community and 1Community WorkA. Malathi

2. Urban Communities 22A. Malathi

3. Profile of Rural Communities 42A. Malathi

4. Tribal Communities 61A. Malathi

5. Community Development 81Programmes and AccountabilityA. Malathi

6. Community Organisation: Concept, 104Value Orientation and AssumptionsNeera Agnimitra

7. History of Community Organisation 130Neera Agnimitra

8. Community Organisation as a 155Method of Social Work PracticeNeera Agnimitra

9. Models and Approaches ofCommunity Organisation 187Neera Agnimitra

10. Current Issues in Community 221Organisation and the Role ofthe Community OrganiserNeera Agnimitra

11. Social Action: Concept and Application 260Archana Kaushik

12. Integrated Approach to Social Work and 282Social ActionArchana Kaushik

13. Models of Social Action 306Archana Kaushik

14. Strategies and Skills in Social Action 327Archana Kaushik

15. Social Action: A Method of Social Work 347Archana Kaushik

16. Social Welfare Administration: 375Concept, History and NatureBeena Antony

17. Functions, Principles and Scope of 397Social Welfare AdministrationBeena Antony

18. Social Welfare Organizations 419Beena Antony

19. Management of Social Welfare Services 442Archana Kaushik

20. Social Policy and 470Social Welfare AdministrationArchana Kaushik

Concepts of Community andCommunity Work

*A. Malathi

Introduction

Community has been a central focus of social workpractice since its inception. Communities are one ofthe many social systems that touch peoples’ lives andshape their individual and group identities. People areborn in social contexts, they grow, mature and learnabout and form perceptions of social structures. Theyalso develop individual and group identities throughassociations that connect them to life-long communityexperiences.

Community provides the context and setting for socialwork at all levels of intervention. For social workersengaged in direct practice at the micro level there isneed to understand the macro environment in whichtheir client groups live and work, how the resourcesare made available to them and how communitydynamics affect individual behavior. For macro levelsocial workers whose practice is focused onprogramme planning and administration, Communityis central to their work. It is also the target or vehiclefor change where interventions are designed toaddress broader social problems that affect a large groupof people.

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* Dr. A. Malathi, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Community Organization Management for Community Development2

Definitions

Community is a set of descriptions of what is implied. Itis essentially a subjective experience which defiesobjective definition. It is felt and experienced ratherthan measured and defined.

The definition of community is linked to its construct.It is useful to look at it from a historical perspective aswell as from the geographical and ideologicalbackgrounds in which it evolved.

Robert Bellah defines community as “a group of peoplewho are socially interdependent, who participatetogether in discussion and decision making, and whoshare certain practices that both define the communityand are nurtured by it”

According to Foundation for Community Encouragement“A community is a group of two or more people whohave been able to accept and transcend their differencesregardless of the diversity of their backgrounds (social,spiritual, educational, ethnic, economic, political, etc.).This enables them to communicate effectively and openlyand to work together toward goals identified as beingfor their common good.”

Bryon Munon (1968) defines “A community is a relativelyself-sufficient population, residing in a limitedgeographic area, bound together by feelings of unity andinterdependency.”.

C. Farrington and E Pine define a community as a “group of people lined by a communications structuresupporting discussion and collective action.”

Random House Unabridged Dictionary has manymeanings on the term community. The meanings thatare closest to social worker’s profession are as follows.

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1. Social group of any size whose members reside in aspecific locality, share government, and often havea common cultural and historical heritage.

2. A social, religious, occupational, or other groupsharing common characteristics or interests andperceived or perceiving itself as distinct in somerespect from the larger society within which it existsexample the business community; the communityof scholars.

3. Community, hamlet, village, town, city are termsfor groups of people living in somewhat closeassociation, and usually under common rules.Community is a general term, and town is oftenloosely applied. A commonly accepted set ofconnotations envisages hamlet as a small group,village as a somewhat larger one, town still larger,and city as very large. Size is, however, not the truebasis of differentiation, but properly sets off onlyhamlet. Incorporation, or the absence of it, and thetype of government determine the classification ofthe others.

In addition to these there is also a concept of VirtualCommunity

A virtual community, e-community or online communityis a group of people that primarily interact viacommunication media such as newsletters, telephone,email or instant messages rather than face to face, forsocial, professional, educational or other purposes. Ifthe mechanism is a computer network, it is called anonline community. Virtual and online communities havealso become a supplemental form of communicationbetween people who know each other primarily in reallife. Many means are used in social software separatelyor in combination, including text-based chatrooms andforums that use voice, videotext or avatars. Significant

Concepts of Community and Community Work


socio-technical change may have resulted from theproliferation of such Internet-based social networks.

It is also possible for virtual networks to be created andused by geographically and interest bound communitiesfor social uplift and collective action. One example isthe case of village blogs created by villagers in Goa totackle the powerful mining lobby.

Understanding Community

Communities come in an infinite number of shapes,social arrangements, population and compositions.Relationships that form the basis of communal life andthe shared perceptions and common interests of itsmembers are the glue that bonds the community into acoherent unit. Moreover these social relationships andshared perceptions transcend time, structure andlocation. Some communities are relational in natureand are based on shared beliefs values or interests.Such communities are not tied to a single location orphysical structure.

In understanding communities Social work draws fromboth sociological and practitioner’s insights, shaped bythe growth of profession in trying out the communityorganization as method of social work practice.

Community Construct: Sociological Insights

The Construct of community has been associated withthe German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies in the late1800s. He considered the relationships characterizingcommunities and accordingly came up with two variantsone named as Gemeinschaft and the other Gesselschaft.

The Gemeinschaft communities are based on naturalpersonal, informal face to face social relationships,where individuals are accepted for who they are, and

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not what they have done. People are recognized andaccepted for their innate qualities. This sort of humanrelationship is reflected in families, small groups andtraditional communities.

Gesselschaft communities are characterized by rationalself-interest and are more contrived in nature. Theyplace greater emphasis on specialized segmented socialinteractions. The interests of the individual supersedethe interests of the group. Utilitarian goals as well ascontractual agreements dominate interactions betweenindividuals. There is division of labor and social controlis more formalized, based on laws and rules with formalsanctions enforced when laws are violated.

This is particularly attributed to the rise of industrialcapitalism in Europe and the United States at the endof the 19th century which was bringing about majortransformations in the nature of human relationships.

It is however true that both forms of community lifeform the current reality of Indian Society and one cannotbe attributed a higher/superior value than the other.These need to be viewed as different forms of humanassociation that are present in the rural, urban andtribal communities. It is best to view them as ends of acontinuum of human interaction wherein communitiesare grounded in both informal personal relationshipsand in the formal institutional structures that are partof contemporary life.

Given the complex and multifaceted nature ofcommunities no single conceptual framework providesan adequate theoretical foundation for understandingcommunity

Further two other aspects besides the above are usefulto understand communities. Community is seen as a)shared physical space or geographic community and



b) community based on shared interest or identity orfunctional community.

Community as Bounded by Geographical Space

Brueggemann (2006) contends that community needsto be embodied to have existence, meaning that itrequires a physical space that symbolizes the communityfor its members and for those who are not part of thecommunity. Bounded is referred to as location basedcommunity. The boundaries of this community are oftenestablished with a recognized authority such as thePanchayat, the Mohalla, the Municipal government,zoning commission etc. Community may also beembodied in a physical structure, such as a panchayatghar, a chaupal, a temple, a mosque, a church, asatsang, a choir group, or a recreation club etc. theseare also known as geographical communitiesthat iscommunities are located in a particular space andlocality such as communities in Okhla, Harinagar,Ambedkar Nagar etc.

Communities of Interest

This refers to Communities where the membership isbased not on shared physical space but on sharedinterests or characteristics that unite members andprovide the basis for one’s personal identity. Things likerace ethnicity, religion culture, social class professionalaffiliation and sexual orientation often form the basisof communities of interest. Because such communitiesare based on identity and interest members carry thecommunity with them. For example one can refer to thecaste Mahapanchayats that are a way to fostercommunity identity and to protect community interest.Similarly communities can be formed of alumniassociations and old boys/girls associations. There couldbe communities based on professional interests such

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as that of artists, professional associations such as theEngineers of India, Indian Medical Association, TradersAssociations, Industrial associations etc. There can alsobe linguistic, religious and cultural associations. Saythe Karnatic Music group, the West BengalMountaineering association etc or even the positivepeople’s network, fish workers forum, the dalit writersassociation, the schizophrenic association of India, theAssociation of Professional Social Workers in India etc.Sometimes they are also referred to as functionalcommunities. Thus community workers sometimes workwith functional communities such as the child labour,the sex workers and so on.

Communities of interest sometimes overlap with localitybased communities as when a residential area containsa high proportion of people whose personal identity istied to one or more specific interest groups, such as theslum and shack dwellers associations, Mahila Milan inMumbai etc. Most people in urban areas belong to morethan one community, with varying degrees ofidentification of interest and engagement. These multiplecommunity affiliations can be thought of as one’spersonal community network, representing variouslocality-based and interest based communities thatconnect the individual to others and to broader society.It is to be understood that the individual is located acrossvarious groups, in a range of formal and informalhelping/hindering systems in the community. Theseprovide important tools for the location of the individualin a social context for developing more realisticinterventions plans that connect the various levels ofhuman interaction, micro to macro.

Community Construct: Social Work Perspective

In addition to the above understanding of communitiesKirst-Ashma(2008) suggests that community theories



can be thought of as a series of lenses that focus ondifferent aspects of community each highlightingdifferent dimensions of the community, its dynamicsand the ways it impacts the lives of its members. Threeframeworks are said to be useful to look at a communityfrom a social work practitioner’s perspective. Theseare:

a) as a social system,

b) as an ecological system, and

c) as a center for power and conflict.

Let us discuss each of the above.

a) Community as a Social System: General systemstheory is used by social workers to understand many ofthe phenomenon they encounter in social reality. Asystem is viewed as being composed of multipleinteracting components that relate to one another inan orderly, functional manner. Moreover systems areembedded within larger systems, thus providing aframework for understanding the connection betweendifferent levels of the systems. For example an individualmight be viewed as one element within a family orkinship group, the kinship group exists within acommunity, the community within a stagnation orsociety, thus a system perspective provides a usefulframework for understanding the structure ofcommunity and the processes that tie the structuralelements together.

This assumes that the community is composed of a setof subsystems that perform specialized functions thatmeet the needs of the entire community. The actions ofthose subsystems are seen as coordinated andintegrated in ways that benefit the community as awhole.

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Five major functions are said to be associated with thevarious social units and systems within a community.These are production- distribution, consumption,socialization , social control, social participation andmutual support.

Social workers need to critically examine how the subsystems meet or fail to meet the needs of their clientgroups. Tools that could be used here are communityassessment, which can identify the community needsas well as community strengths. These also need to beunderstood with respect to global systems that impactand impinge on these functions. These global effectscould be related to the way globalization, privatizationand the dismantling of the social safety net impact onthe lives and livelihoods of communities.

b) Community as an Ecological System: In thiscommunity is seen as having close interrelationshipwith the environment in a symbiotic manner. Thereare regular exchange relationships that occur betweenthe various parts of the community where each partgives and receives in symbiotic relationships with othersin the system. There is a definite interdependencebetween various parts so that equilibrium is achieved.It brings into what is known as geo-cultural perspectivewhere in the spatial features (land use patterns anddistribution of services) of a specific location interactwith the community- its population characteristics (suchas size, density, diversity) and technology (productionof goods and services, transportation, communicationetc) The physical features play a significant role incommunity life and determine the patterns ofinteraction. The location of specific groups vis a vis thelocation of resources (water, land, road) is determinedby the social dynamics of the community. Thus lowercaste communities are often located away fromimportant and central places in the village community.



Thus important territorial boundaries are not onlyphysical in quality but also social and psychologicalthat represents the social hierarchy.

This perspective also enables the social workers tounderstand the community structures emergencethrough dynamic processes of a) competition(competition between various groups for common poolresources) and b) dominance(dominance of a particulargroup or caste in determining service delivery and accessto services) c) centralization (concentration of resourcesboth economic and social in the hands of particulargroups –clustering of these in one area- say thePanchayat and Mahila Mandal or temple location asseat of power and important decisions pertaining to thecommunity in of power), d) concentration (location ofspecific groups – ghettoisation because of affinal andkinship bonds, or regional and linguistic bonds- suchas the Bihari colony, Bengali colony or the Madrasi area-location of specific groups in the urban areas)e) succession (the process where in there is populationmovement as part of a natural process where in themigrants often move to less desirable areas-moving uponce situations are favourable or when they could affordbetter places) and f) segregation( where in even whenthey could move to new areas they cannot because ofantipathy by other groups- the sub groups function asisolated communities- say Seelampur Jhuggi clustersin the North east of Delhi.

Such features can be explored over time by using theGeographical Information systems in the spatialdistribution, concentration of resources and amenitiesjuxtaposed with the location of communities. Theseenable us to understand the relationship between thephysical and social environment of the community.Further the social structure of the community as itevolves over time and the correctives needed become

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immediately visible and also suggest the type ofinterventions that could be carried out.

c) Community as a Seat of Power and Conflict: Theperspective goes beyond the social systems perspectivethat sees community as constituting of subsystems thathave their functional role cut out for them. The conflictsof interests and disagreements as well as dominationare not emphasized. In the ecological system even thoughthere is acknowledgment of power processes ofdomination, concentration and centralization, there isnot much thought provided on how to deal with thedifferences and the inequitable distribution of resources.How can social workers work to bring about changes inthe community to enable those with less power to bettermeet their needs.

The perspective of community as a centre for power andconflict considers power and politics as central to ourunderstanding of community. It assumes that conflictand change are central attributes of most communities.Community Decision-making is not merely seen asrational planning, collaboration and coordination butalso as involving confrontation and negotiation.

Communities are seen as arenas where competinggroups are constantly engaged in conflict over powerand the control of scarce resources. Some groups oftenbased on social class, caste, religious, linguistic andregional affiliations dominate over other groups. Thereis a constant process of negotiation and confrontationto fulfill the basic needs by those who are involved.Sometimes the conflict is resolved in favour of themarginalized, aided by the institutional presence of law,judiciary and administration and at other times theinstitutions take an opposite stand, and conflict isresolved in favour of the powerful. This perspectiveenables Social workers to understand the community



power structures, the way decisions are made to favouror condemn groups, the way conflict positions are takenand perpetuated and the role that change agents shouldplay in strengthening the capacities of those lower inhierarchy to change the situation. Such issues are verywell evident in urban, rural and tribal areas where thecommunities are denied access to resources on theirsocial origins or economic situation or political affiliation.Caste and communal riots are an extreme form of thoseconflict positions.

Characteristics of a Community

Community is a group of individuals having sharedspace, values and practices. They are seen to beintegrated in a network of relationships that fostercommonness and spirit of togetherness. Communitiesare seen to be homogenous entities with a degree ofrelationship that is seen to be the very essence ofcommunity.

Community can be seen to have the followingcharacteristics:

1) Human Scale: Communities have individualsengaging in face-to-face interactions. They are inthat sense primary groups who are in direct contactwith one another. People know each other and inthis sense are in control of the range of interactionsthey are engaged in. Social structures aresufficiently small and people are able to own andcontrol them.

2) Identity and Belonging: There is feeling ofbelonging and acceptance of each other as well assecurity Thus one feels a part of the community ora member of a community. Membership involvesacceptance by others, allegiance or loyalty to the

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aims of the group concerned. This sense of belongingis significant and positively regarded. Communitycan become the person’s self concept. Identity alsoplays a role in the person not only feeling a sense ofbelongingness to one community but a sense ofdifference from the other groups. Institutions withincommunity and shared practices also a play a rolein identity formation and foster a sense of belonging.It also means that people can face a change in thesense of belonging to changing institutions. Thesecan be seen to erode the togetherness within acommunity.

3) Obligations: The belongingness carries with itcertain sense of rights and responsibilities. Thereis a mutuality of trust and reciprocity involved firstlyin maintaining community life in terms ofparticipating in the collective activities ofcommunity, sharing and interacting with others.Participating in community events with adherenceto customs and traditions are ordained by collectivewill of the members

4) Gemenischaft: This implies that the people have awide variety of roles in which they interact witheach other. These interactions are not contractualbut are obligatory. These are important for self-enhancement of individuals as well as for fosteringthe use of a range of talents and abilities for thebenefit of others and the community as a whole.

5) Culture: A community has a specific culture thatis reproduced and continuously being shaped bythe members of the community, through its socialstructures, economic systems and power relations.A culture in that sense is all encompassing and allembracing the way of life of a group of people.



Place of Community Work Within SocialWork Practice

While many of the community work aspects are lookedafter by traditional institutions within Indian society,there are causes of concern related to the inequalityand injustice that are located within the social structure.The norms and values governing Indian society enableCommunity welfare and self-help as binding, thoughthese are confined to their particular social groups.

The development of the community work as a method ofintervention may be viewed from two perspectives. Onefrom its relationship to the history of social work as aprofession and the other from the variety of communityintervention methods that have been pursued by variousprofessions as well as non-professional citizen groups

Historical Perspective

However in terms of professional community workpractice and its place among the methods of social workpractice, we need to trace the history of social workprofession in America and Great Britain.

Social work in the 19th century was often conceived interms of a much broader setting than casework. Thesettlement movement and charity organization societymovements formed the context for the development ofsocial work as a profession and from its genesiscommunity practice has been an essential constituent.

Reform movements to change the situation of thedistressed were at the heart of community developmentand organizing efforts. In the settlement houses inAmerica and in the charity organization societies withwhich the social work profession began had the reformelement as core.

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In America for example, the settlement movement wasinitially focused on the educational and recreationalneeds of the communities served, and later expandedinto many other activities such as housing and legaladvice. Work with young people was also developedthrough clubs and other forms of what might now becalled ‘group work’.

Rapid developments of community chests and planningcouncils in the 1920s and the 1930s paved the way toconceptualize community organization practice andsocial planning in particular. Focus was onimprovements of health and welfare programs and thebalancing of community needs and resources.

Also there was a call for a move from more centralized,elitist and expert ridden to one that is localized andexisting at various levels as well as participatory thatrecognizes the importance of citizenry. There is also theaspect that community organization processes containtechnical skills and knowledge as well as the socialgoals and the value stance.

Community organization emerged in two traditions inEngland- one with the community worker taking theplace of the churches in their role of moral alleviation.Community work is seen to be an attempt to respond tomoral confusion because of the erosion of religious faithin the middle of last century; second with the view thatthe degradation of the poor is a consequence ratherthan the cause of their poverty.

Community organization as a method of social workemerged in Great Britain with a growing dissatisfactionof Casework as a method of social work practice.

The reasons can be seen as follows:

a) The deficiencies of case work, as a method of socialwork seems to be one major force in the developmentof community organization.



b) Increasing knowledge and understanding of thenature of informal caring systems and other formsof voluntary action in their society and the potentialfor interweaving statutory services with suchsystems;

c) The influence of the pioneers in community basedteams and the evidence that their work offersalternative methods;

d) The impact of cut-backs in local governmentspending which have compelled the seriousconsideration of alternative;

e) Political changes on both right and left which fordifferent reasons have favoured the introduction ofpolicies of decentralization. On the right these tendto be founded on policies of self-help and localresponsibility. On the left they are likely to derivefrom local socialism that seeks to revitalize relationsbetween representatives and electorate founded onthe local delivery and control of services.

The term community work itself was coined by a studygroup founded in 1968 as the Gulbenkian Foundation.They saw community work as consisting of threeinterrelated forms of activity – community development,community organization and social planning.

Initially community work was supportive of traditionalmethods of social work practice such as group workand case work but the developments in theunderstanding of societies as well as the growing bodyof knowledge related to practice interventions withcommunities meant that community work became animportant method by itself.

Purposes of Intervention

The purposes of Community work vary with the issuesof each community that are the focus. Developed

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industrial countries have seen the post world war IIperiod. The diversity of purpose of communityorganization has reflected the complex character ofsocieties with their many groupings and the basicdifferences among them in their conditions, status,needs and orientation towards maintenance or changeof existing institutions. The purposes of communityorganization are therefore said to be not uniform but asthe reflection of diverse purposes of groups,organizations and movements.

Indian society is multi cultural and represents adiverse reality that had seen practice of communityinterventions stemming from various social, religiousand political movements. These did consider a changein the social reality and a better life for the marginalizedhowsoever paternalistic they may have been. Thediversity of groups, populations with diverse geo-culturalpositions and livelihoods brings with it diverse needsthat are more commonly concentrated towards economicimprovement. Community efforts in India have beenfostering these efforts to improve the lot of the downtrodden, the powerless in rural, urban and triballocations. These efforts have been at the beginning ofthe century holistic and encompassing all roundimprovement in the life and living of people in health,education, livelihoods and political empowerment.

A major purpose of community work practice isconcerned with improving the way in which socialwelfare services are organized and delivered with thetargeted population being involved in the solutions totheir problems hence their participation is a key.Participation and self-help are key concepts incommunity work.



Social Action as Part of Community Work

Here the objective is not specific and direct problemsolving but the organization of a population to obtainresources and power that it did not have before. Thismay take form of bringing pressure upon existing socialinstitutions, the development of new channels ofrepresentation whereby the voice of the groups previouslyexcluded may be heard in the decision making processor the creation of new political and economicarrangements that will actually transfer resources tothem.

It was the emphasis of enabler role for a communitywork practitioner that made it possible for it to find aplace for community work within the general frameworkof professional social work. It also provided a formulationthat was broad enough to unite community workersoperating in many different settings and fields.

As an enabler, the community worker would help peopleto clarify their problems, identify their needs, and developthe capacity to deal with their own problems moreeffectively. The emphasis is clearly on skill in developingrelationships

Community Development Approaches

Community development thus implies an ongoingprocess of dialogue, consciousness raising, educationand action aimed at helping the people concerned todetermine and develop their own version of community.No single right formula for what constitutes communityand no single right way to develop it. CommunityDevelopment is a much more complex process full ofdilemmas and problems which require unique andcreative solutions. Models of community work are thusvaluable if they provide frameworks within which these

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problems and dilemmas can be understood and creativesolutions derived.

Community programmes must be grounded in the reallife experiences, sufferings and aspirations of the peopleas articulated by the people themselves, while at thesame time these subjective experiences must be linkedto an analysis of broader social economic and politicalstructures which are the cause of people’s oppressionand disadvantage.

Consciousness raising has important implications forsocial worker and client groups relationship. In thisthe social worker is not in an expert of the situation butin a role of service as a resource and is answerable tothem. This change in relationship between theprofessionals and the consumers of human servicesfacilitates their empowerment rather thendisempowerment.

Structures of domination and oppression have resultedin the legitimation of the wisdom of the dominant groups,while alternative wisdoms of the oppressed groups areunrecognized. An essential component of communitydevelopment is not only to acknowledge the wisdom ofthe oppressed, and their right to define their own needsand aspirations in their own way, but to facilitate theexpression of that wisdom within the wider society asan essential contribution to the welfare of the humanrace, Thus community development must incorporatestrategies of consciousness raising and of ensuring thatthe voices of the oppressed are heard, acknowledgedand valued. Social justice perspective also means thatsome who are disadvantaged will continue to bedisadvantaged if seen in functional terms. Functionalcommunities can be there at the expense of localcommunities, then it is to be discouraged andgeographical communities be supported instead.



For this geographical communities represent preferredoption for community development and community basedservices. Functional communities both of the elite andthe powerless have to be recognized to exist and thelatter encouraged and former discouraged.

Community based strategy involves giving central placeto the initiative of ordinary people at grass-roots level,recognizing their voice and efforts in changing theirsocial situation.

Conclusion

We have understood how communities are defined asbounded by place and interest. We have also seen thevarious characteristics of communities in theirinteractions, sense of identity and belonging, theirmutual obligations and rights and the multifarious rolesthat individuals play within communities contributingto the social and economic life and the way this life ismaintained and modified to carry within itself a senseof change as well as stability for human beings to surviveand flourish. We have also understood the various waysin which communities are understood by social workersas social systems, ecological systems and zones of powerand conflict.

We have also understood the nature of communitypractice its origins in Great Britain and America withthe work with poor communities and settlementmovement respectively. We have also understood howthe nature of communities carries with it bothtraditional and modern features that make communitypractice in India different from what it has been inBritain and America.

21

References

Henderson Paul, Jones David and Thomas David N(Ed) 1980 The boundaries of change in communitywork Allen and Unwin, London.

Hadley Roger, Cooper Mike, Dale Peer& StacyGraham.(1987) A community Social Worker’shandbook. Tavistock Publications, London.

Bryon Munon (1968) Changing Community DimensionsOhio State University Press, Columbus, OH accessedfrom http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sg7/eng521spring02/communitydefinitions.html on 14th

August 2008.

Mizrahi Terry and Davis Larry E (2008) Encyclopedia ofSocial Work Vol I NASW Press & Oxford UniversityPress New York.

C. Farrington and E Pine, “Community Memory: A CaseStudy in Community Communication.” ReinventingTechnology, Rediscovering Community. Greenwich,CT: Ablex, accessed from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sg7/eng521spring02/communitydefinitions.htmlon 14th August 2008.

Robert Bellah et.a., Habits of the Heart. Berkeley:accessed from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sg7/eng521spring02/communitydefinitions.html on 14th

August 2008.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary The dictionarymeaning of a community (Dictionary.comUnabridged (v 1.1)) Based on the, © Random House,Inc. 20 accessed on 20th August 2008.


2

Urban Communities*A. Malathi

Introduction

‘Urban’ communities have to be understood in theirvariability and heterogeneity. Cities have also to beunderstood to mean different things to different people.Stakeholders have different perceptions and the waythese perceptions govern the city development has tobe unraveled for community organized communitydevelopment to take place. There is always a tensionand conflict with multiple perceptions regardingdevelopment. The dominance of a particular perspectivedetermines dimensions of the discourse of communitydevelopment.

For us to understand urban communities we draw uponinsights from sociology, economics, and publicadministration.. With regard to interventions we drawupon insights derived from social work methods. Onepredominantly in use is the community organizationmethod along with group work. Communities can beeither defined as vulnerable or communities are lookedat from strength’s perspective. For social workers, thesocial justice perspective becomes the enablingperspective to look at urban communities, be it slums,elite class or displaced communities.


23

Meaning of Urban Community

‘Urban’ means relating to or located in a city. Itrepresents the characteristic of the city or city life. Ithas its roots in the Latin word Urbnus- the root urbmeans city.

Urban refers to the city or town. Several criteria suchas demographic, ecological and socio-cultural attributesare used to identify an urban area. It is the size of thepopulation and degree of complexity of organsiation,which differentiates a village from a town, a town froma city or from a metropolis. The concentration ofpopulation, predominance of non-agricultural activitiesand better provision of social amenities including healthand education infrastructure are importantcharacteristics of urban areas. However there is a starkvariation in the distribution and access to these amongthe various communities living in urban areas.

Sociological Understanding

Max Weber considers urban areas to be more evolvedorganizationally based on the principles of rationalitywith the presence of a market and a specialized class oftraders. Other religious, political, economictechnological and complex administrative structuresfound in a city complement the trade and commercenetwork. There is a predominance of industrial andservice sectors. City is also characterized byheterogeneity, impersonality, anonymity etc.

Louis Wirth (1938) considers urban areas as relativelylarge, dense, permanent settlement of sociallyheterogeneous individuals. Here secondary groups suchas the corporation, voluntary associations,representative forms of government and mass mediareplace the primary group associations that are found

Urban Communities


in a village. Such relationships are also consideredimpersonal, segmental, superficial, transitory and oftenpredatory in nature.

Robert Redfield in the 1940s proposed a folk –urbanmodel in which he contrasted the image of city lifewith an image of the folk community (invariably rural).The latter is considered as small, sacred, highlypersonalistic, and homogeneous in contrast to the urbanas invariably impersonal, heterogeneous, secular, anddisorganizing.

Gideon Sjoberg (1960) divided the urban centres intotwo types, the pre-industrial city and the industrial city,which he distinguished on the basis of differences inthe technological level. Pre-industrial cities are thosewithout sophisticated machine technology, wherehuman and animal labours form the basis for economicproduction. Industrial cities have a predominance ofenergy sources from fossil fuels and atomic power. Thepre-industrial neighborhoods were strongly integratedby personalistic ties of ethnicity and sectarian allegiance.They maintained strong family connections, and socialdisorganization was little in evidence. Industrialproduction was not yet the major concern.

Herbert Gans (1968) on the other hand considers thesefeatures to be the part of main city or inner city, butargues that the suburbanites pursue a different way oflife, which is called quasi primary. The loss of kinshipand primary community ties in the urban area issuperseded by the emergence of neighborliness.Neighborhood ties are more intimate than professionaland other secondary ties but more guarded than primaryties of kinship and extended family.

Census Definitions

As per the 1961 census, an area is considered urban if

25

it meets the following criteria- 1) all places having amunicipal corporation, municipality, notified areacommittee and cantonment board, 2) the places whichsatisfy the following criteria a) population not less than5,000, b) Density of Population 1,000 persons per sqmile 9400per sq km, c) seventy five percent of workersengaged in non-agricultural sector.

Census 2001 distinguishes between statutory towns andcensus towns:

Statutory towns are all places with a municipality,corporation, cantonment board or notified town areascommittee etc so declared by a state law.

Whereas census towns are places which satisfy thefollowing criteria of i) a minimum population of 5,000ii) at least 75% of male working population engaged innon-agricultural pursuits and iii) density of populationbeing at least 400 persons per sq.km.

Another term urban agglomeration is used to understandthe urban spread and growth. It refers to a continuousurban spread constituting a town and its adjoiningurban outgrowths, or two or more physical contiguoustowns together and any adjoining urban outgrowths ofsuch towns. Examples of outgrowth are railway colonies,university campuses, port areas, military camps etc thatmay have come near a statutory town or city but withinthe revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous tothe town or city. As per census 2001, it was decidedthat the core town or at least one of the constituenttowns of an urban agglomeration should necessarily bea statutory town and the total population of all theconstituents should not be less than 20,000. With suchbasic criteria the urban agglomerations could beconstituted in the following way

i) a city or town with one or more contiguousoutgrowths,

Urban Communities


ii) two or more adjoining towns with or without theiroutgrowths, and

iii) a city and one or more adjoining towns with theiroutgrowths all of which form a continuous spread.

Urban communities live in urban areas. There istremendous diversity and complexity that characterizesthese communities. Urban community is a complexmulti-group society.

Historical Development of Urban Areas

Colonial Influences

While earlier cities developed because of theirimportance as trading centres, port towns, as pilgrimageplaces, the colonial history has changed all these andmade their importance hinge on their ability to servethe colonial rulers for processing and marketing of rawmaterial from hinterland and finished goods from theempires. The processing also meant establishment offactories notably the cotton mills for processing rawcotton aided by the development of railways with eachof the trading centres. Industrialization has led to therapid rise in urban populations, urban centres, anddevelopment of urban culture that was starkly differentfrom the pre-colonial city development.

The cities were seen as commercial and trading zonesfor primary exports and manufactured imports. Thiscontinued even after the colonized countries becameindependent.

Postcolonial Influences

The neocolonial city represents city development thathas taken place in third world countries with the capitalfrom advanced industrial nations, creating enclaves ofindustrial production. The commodities produced in

27

neocolonial cities generally are destined for export ratherthan for home consumption, except perhaps by a smallhome elite. There are urban factories and urban-resident wage labourers. There is a developinginfrastructure of urban transport and communicationby which these commodities and labourers are allocated.There is massive urban-ward migration fromneighbouring rural areas. The neocolonial city has givenrise to informal economy consists of urban services andproducts provided by the neocolonial city’s poorestdenizens, the petty hawkers, the shoeshine boys, thehousehold help, the rag pickers, and others who form aclass of petty commodity producers and sellers.

It is useful to look at the concept of urbanization inunderstanding urban communities.

Urbanisation and Spread of Urban Com-munities

Meaning of Urbanisation

The concept of Urbanisation refers to the geographicconcentration of population through movement andredistribution in large human settlements with non-agricultural activities. The concentration of populationis in urban environments of varying size and form.Urbanisation is also seen as the diffusion of urbanvalues, behaviour, organizations and institutions. Someof the interrelated characteristics of modern dayurbanization are: 1) the rapid rate of urban growth andits effect on municipal governments; 2) the upsurge inrural impoverishment and release of large work forceinto the urban informal economy; 3) urban poverty andits effect on the urban economy; and, 4) the proliferationof slums and their vulnerability; 5) the impact ofglobalizing economy on urbanisation through policies

Urban Communities


and programmes that promote urban activity and urbanspread.

Spread of Urban Communities

As per census 2001 742 million live in rural areas and285 million in urban areas comprising of 72-2% and27.8% of the population respectively. Delhi has thehighest percentage of urban population (93%) andHimachal Pradesh has lowest (9.8%)

In 2001, India had 35 cities / urban areas with apopulation of more than one million people. In total,some 108 million Indians, or 10.5 per cent of thenational population, live in the country’s 35 largestcities. Mumbai (Bombay) with a population of more than16 million is now the world’s fourth-largest urban areafollowed by Kolkata (Calcutta) in fifth place.

Maharashtra has the largest share of urban populationof the country(14.4%)followed by Uttar Pradesh (12.1%)and Tamil Nadu (9.5% ) About half the urban populationof the country lives in five states namely Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and AndhraPradesh.

In the 2001 census nine districts were considered asfully urbanized – these were New Delhi, KolkataMumbai(suburban) , Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai,Yanam and Mahe (Pondicherry) While in 1991 censusthere were 129 district that had 30% of its populationliving in urban areas, in 2001 it increased to 148.

Urban slum areas are home to more than 40 millionIndians or 22.6 per cent of India’s urban population.More than 600 Indian towns and cities incorporate slumareas. The largest slum population in cities withpopulation of more than one million) is found in Mumbai(48.9%) and the lowest in Patna (0.25%). As per the size

29

of the population the 2001 census of India has groupedcities into six classes. These are given below:

Class Population Size No of UrbanAgglomerates/Towns

Class I 1,00,000 and above 393

Class II 50,000 - 99,999 401

Class III 20,000 - 49,999 1,151

Class IV 10,000 - 19,999 1,344

Class V 5,000 - 9,999 888

Class VI less than 5,000 191

Unclassified 10

All Classes 4378

Source: Office of the Registrar General of India (population totalsfor India and States for the Census of India -2001)

Characteristics of Urban Communities

The characteristic features of urban communities relateto the economy, social structure, the political system,the cultural life and the spatial organization and theirlinkage and importance in contributing to theinstitutional and economic growth of the region andstate in particular and the nation at large.

Social Aspects

Secondary relations dominate such heterogeneouscommunities. The formal means of social control suchas law, legislation, police, and court are needed inaddition to the informal means for regulating thebehavior of the people. There is mobility and openness.The social status is achieved than ascribed. Occupationsare more specialized. There is widespread division oflabour and specialization with plenty of opportunitiesfor pursuing various occupations. Family is said to be

Urban Communities


unstable. More than the family individual is givenimportance. Joint families are comparatively less innumber. People are more class -conscious andprogressive and supposed to accept changes. They arealso more exposed to the modern developments in thefields of science and technology. Despite these asenduring features of an urban community, we can findvariations in the level and degree of specific features.Thus some communities may be more modern, evenwhile living in the same area. Similarly in major humandevelopment indicators there may be variations withinurban communities though sharing the samegeographical space.

Caste and Class in Urban India

Caste affiliation, kinship ties continue in urban areasdespite the modernizing and secularizing effects of urbanliving. In terms of the urban social structure it is seenthat there is persistence of social relationshipsresembling those of rural areas. The so-called secular,formal and rational behaviour that is portrayed by thetraditional understanding of urban areas does notentirely apply to the Indian situation. There is evidenceof inter-caste/religious /ethnic competition which mayturn into conflict situations too. The power structurethus is not only constituted by the hostilities andopposition that are derived from ones’ affiliations, butalso those derived on account of one’s class. The patternof conflict and cooperation thus cut across caste, religionand class lines.

The urban areas show the co-existence of various formsof social relationships and micro societies thatrepresent, urban, rural, semi-urban – traditional andmodern. There are also immigrants who live betweenthe urban and rural cultures.

31

Families in Urban Areas

The three major family types of nuclear, joint andextended families are found in urban areas.

Since the majority of urban families have to live in areasthat have cheaper accommodation, often their place ofwork is located at a considerable distance This createspressures on the time available for house care, childcareand maintenance of family bonds. Consequently familiessuffer a lot of strain. The frustrations experienced atthe work place and the degradation of environmentcontributed by both indoor and outdoor air pollution,takes a heavy toll on the health and mental healthaspects of urban families. This is compounded by therising costs of urban living and privatization of healthcare.

Economic Aspects

The urban economy is predominated by industrial andservice sectors. The secondary and tertiary sectorspredominate. The mode of organisation of the economyis to achieve the above results in various groups andclasses, with an uneven distribution of social andeconomic resources. There is great diversity of the labourforce with a few in the organized sector, receiving ahigh salary packages and a larger number in theinformal economy receiving marginal and sustenanceincomes with lack of social security benefits.

There are two types of sectors – the organized or theformal sector and the unorganized or the informalsector. Organized sector consists of large-scaleoperations in terms of capital labour wage labour withthe use of advanced and modern technology- withinstitutional arrangements known as public and privatesector partnerships. This sector is also closely linkedwith the global financial and economic systems. With

Urban Communities


the result any changes in the global economy affect itdirectly.

The unorganized sector on the other hand consists ofsmaller scale of operation in terms of capital and labour,private or family ownership, labour intensive, lessadvanced technology, unregulated markets andunprotected labour(almost no social security benefits-)this is being modified with the social security bill forthe protection of unorganized(recently ratified by theRajya Sabha). This also is affected by government policyregulation as in the case of protection of industry forcapital or for labour. The small-scale industrial policy,the programmes of National Institute for micro, smalland medium industries institute are some suchexamples. 93% of the labour force is employed inunorganized sector.

There is a growing evidence of feminisation of povertyand feminisation of labour force especially in the informalsector. That is more and more women joining the labourforce for lower rates of wages as their men folk areunemployed or are unable to seek a place in the formaleconomy.

Inter Relations between the Social and EconomicCharacteristics

It is necessary to view the social and economiccharacteristics of urban communities as interrelatedaspects. The economic structure is closely linked to thesocial settlements. Social and economic features of thecity thus get enmeshed in a complex web of localeconomic relations and global economic transactions

The economic structure is closely linked to the socialsettlements. Social and economic features of the citythus get enmeshed in a complex web of local economicrelations and global economic transactions. The settings

33

for the local economy are influenced by the localgovernance systems.

Urban Poverty

It is important to understand urban poverty for socialworkers to design appropriate interventions. Workersengaged in the urban informal economy constitute thebulk of the urban poor. A large section of this populationconsists of low skilled rural migrants or migrants fromsmaller towns. Since they have neither the skills northe opportunities to enter better paid and more secureformal sector jobs, they join the informal work force assoon as they enter the city. They thus move from onelevel of poverty in their place of origin to another levelat their destination. In addition because of cost cuttingmeasures by the formal sector and recession – there isa growing section of workers in the formal sector whohave lost their jobs and are compelled to work in theinformal sector. This change in their lives means areduction in their standard of living as well as insecureand unregulated employment.

23.62 percent of India’s urban population is living belowthe poverty line. The urban poor population is 3.41percent less than the rural poor.

The tenth five year plan notes that urban poor can bedefined in a declining scale such as core poor,intermediate poor, and transitional poor. Or they canalso be classified in terms of declining poor, coping poor,and improving poor, with different degrees of priorityfor the three basic needs of survival, security, andquality of life.

The urban poor are characterized by inadequate incomeand unstable asset base, inadequate shelter, provisionof ‘public infrastructure’, and provision of basic services,limited or no safety net, protection of poorer groups

Urban Communities


rights through the operation of law and poorer groupsvoiceless ness and power less ness.

Urban-rural Linkages

It is to be recognized that many poor households havelivelihoods that draw on rural and urban resources oropportunities. Urban and rural areas are closely linked,each contributing to the other. These linkages need tobe taken into account while planning for communitydevelopment programmes

Spatial Segregation

All urban communities are spatially segregated. Thatis, communities can have particular location becauseof their occupations, linguistic, regional, class and casteaffiliation. Further the migrants to a city can settledown owing to group affiliations and informal ties. Forexample in the case of Delhi, the colonial administrationensured that the city development was to benefit therulers, after annexation of Bahadur Shah Jaffer, theearlier walled city was neglected as the colonial rulersdeveloped the vast New Delhi area, with wide roads,gardens and parks. There was more spatial segregationafter partition, when refugees settled in new areasfollowed by continued influx of surrounding urbanpopulations . Spatial segregation of city thus was not aone time phenomenon, but took place because of thewaves of migrations and political upheavals in the sub-continent. Segregation of the city also took place as themigrants cluster to one particular area because of theinformal connections and networks that had with citydwellers. As the refugees because of partition or otherpolitical conditions came into the city, the city got itsethnically based groups like the Tibetan community,the Nirankari Colony, the Nizamuddin Basti etc.

35

Specific Urban Communities

A) Refugee and Displaced Communities

The partition of Indian sub-continent into India andPakistan had deleterious effects on millions of people.There was not only the trauma of leaving one’s place ofresidence, occupation and property but also theapprehension of reaching a safe place. Refugeecommunities have placed a tremendous strain on theresources of the state/area to which they move. Besidesthese there is also the trauma experienced when leavingloved ones behind or on the way to a safe destination,they are subjected to violence and loss of dignity. Theseproblems were compounded by the settlements that wereestablished for refugee populations that had the bareminimal facilities. Communities had to establish theirlives all over again.

The problem of urban resettlement of the refugees anddisplaced (2-5 million displaced persons from WestPakistan) was accentuated with the differences in theeconomic situations of the incoming and outgoingpopulation. This difference has been the more markedin the case of displaced persons from West Pakistan.There was also a difference between refugees related totheir origin. Thus, while the Muslim migrant from thePunjab, PEPSU, Delhi, etc., was often a labourer or anartisan, with a comparatively low standard of life, theincoming non-Muslim was frequently an industrialist,a businessman, a petty shopkeeper or one belonging tothe white-collar professions and used to much betterconditions of living.

Government initiated special agencies, such as theFaridabad, Rajpura and Hastinapur Development Boardsand the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation were involvedin meeting the housing requirements of the refugees.The experiments at Nilokheri and Faridabad are

Urban Communities


significant in themselves. They are based on the principleof self-help on a cooperative basis.

Rehabilitation of refugees involved providing educationalfacilities, training in vocations, grants for runningbusinesses or setting up small enterprises etc.

Besides this there is internal displacement ofcommunities that is taking place continually when theirlands are taken away as in the case of tribalcommunities or when rivers are submerged during damconstruction- the case of communities displaced say inNarmada valley, or the communities that are displacedbecause of economic pressures- drought and flood movingaway from their place of birth to places far off in searchof food and work.

Also there is displacement as a result of ethnic or casteviolence that makes communities to move to newer areaswithin a city or elsewhere- through either a governmentrehabilitation scheme or on their own. Urban areas aremade of many such people and major metropolitan areasare seen strewed with such communities.

B) Slums

Areas that are overcrowded with dilapidated structures,faultily laid out and lacking in essential services aregenerally termed as slums.

Slums are considered as the physical and socialexpression of inequalities in the distribution of thebenefit of economic growth. Slums are neglected partsof cities where housing and living conditions areappallingly lacking. Slums range from high density,squalid central city tenements to spontaneous squattersettlements without legal recognition or rights,sprawling at the edge of cities. Some are more than fiftyyears old, (infact in Kolkata some of the slums are 150years old)

37

Slums have grown because of the poverty of rural areas.When all livelihood options fail, the rural communitiesmove to urban areas in search of work. Sometimes theymove with their entire families or only men migratefirst, bringing their families with them later.

The migrants settle down in vacant places, which arenot in the control of civic authorities. These areas lackbasic civic amenities and these areas have soon growninto slums where people perforce live in unhygienic andunsanitary conditions. While slums are consideredderogatively, the work force of the slum is an importantconstituent of the informal economy, which has linkswith the formal economy. The communities in slumsare settled in groups which maintain their affinal andother bonds.

Definition of Slum

Slums have come to form an integral part of thephenomena of urbanization in India. It is for this reasonthat first time in the history of census in this country,the census 2001 has compiled slum demography.

As per the Census of India, 2001, the slum areas broadlyconstitute of:

(i) All specified areas in a town or city notified as ‘Slum’by State/Local Government and UT Administrationunder any Act including a ‘Slum Act’.

(ii) All areas recognized as ‘Slum’ by State/LocalGovernment and UT Administration, Housing andSlum Boards, which may have not been formallynotified as slum under any act;

(iii) A compact area of at least 300 population or about60-70 households of poorly built congestedtenements, in unhygienic environment usually withinadequate infrastructure and lacking in propersanitary and drinking water facilities.

Urban Communities


UN-HABITAT definition denotes a slum as ‘a wide rangeof low-income settlements and/or poor human livingconditions.’ characterized by the following attributes:a) lack of basic services; b) substandard housing orillegal and inadequate building structures; c)overcrowding and high density; d) unhealthy livingconditions and hazardous locations; e) insecure tenure,irregular or informal settlements; f) poverty and socialexclusion; and, g) minimum settlement size.

Characteristic Features of the Slums

Physically, slums consist of clusters of huts comprisingseveral rooms constructed with temporary buildingmaterials, where each room is inhabited by a familysharing a common latrine, without arrangements forwater supply, drains, disposal of solid waste andgarbage within the slum boundaries.

Slums are characterized by a) Lack of basic services,b) Overcrowding, c) high density doubtful and insecuretenure, d) Inadequate housing, e) Hazardous orprecarious environments, f) Lack of access to basicfacilities, g) Poverty or social exclusion.

It is to be understood that each locality, eachmetropolitan area has different slum types and none ofthem could be subsumed in one broad category. Theyare locally known with different names and differentfeatures with differing histories, different physicallayout, pattern of ownership, political patronage andsocial make-up.

In case of Kolkata, these slum types could be categorizedas the unauthorized bustees located on the sides ofcanals, large drains, garbage dumps, railway tracks androads.

Among the unauthorised slums types are those, whichare simply encroachments by the poor people either

39

displaced from the city itself or retrenched from theirwork place, on the roadside (locally called jhupri), canals(called khaldhar), or any vacant place (called udbastu)another type of displacement is reported as displacementdue to an excessive increase in family size. It has beenfound that the predominant structure types in the slumareas are pukka, semi-pukkaand kutcha (crude orimperfect).

The authorized slums are the hut type settlements onleased land from landowners, which is let out tomigrants; The second type of slum called “thika tenantslums” where the slum dwellers have taken possessionat a fixed rent and have constructed their houses; Thirdtypes of slums are those constructed by zaminders(landowners) themselves and let out to the slum dwellers.These types of slums are locally called bustees; Thefourth type of slums is Refugee Resettlement Colonies(locally called udbastu colonies) where land has beenleased out for 99 years to the refugees from present-dayBangladesh by the government at nominal rents. (Thesetypes of houses are called Berar Ghar).

Conclusion

This chapter has provided you with an understandingwith respect to urban communities. We have seen thatUrban communities are not homogenous. There is avariation with respect to their demographic, social andeconomic features. This variability is not only acrossurban areas in India but within cities themselves.

Further urban and rural communities are interlinkedwith each other in myriad ways- both for economic andsocial reasons. Urban communities borrow from theirrural brethren, the culture and customs as well as playa part in rural economy through remittance economy orparticipation in major agricultural operations. Also when

Urban Communities


the informal economic activity in urban areas getsaffected they immediately fall back on the ruralagricultural economy to provide a safety net.

We also have seen that there are economic interlinkageswithin the urban communities. Thus both the formaland informal economies are interlinked with each other.

This variegated situation of urban communities bringswith it a different set of problems, strengths andlimitations of each of these communities affecteddifferentially by the various policies at the national,regional, state and local levels. In working forcommunity development thus provides a backdrop inwhich community based interventions have to bedesigned.

References

UN-Habitat (2003) The Challenge of Slums: Global Reporton Human Settlements, Earthscan London http://w w w . u n h a b i t a t . o r g / d o w n l o a d s / d o c s /GRHS.2003.0.pdf accessed on 16th September 2007.

Sandhu Ranvinder Singh (Ed) (2003) Urbanisation in IndiaSociological Contribution. Sage Publications NewDelhi.

Kundu Nitai Urban slums Reports The case of Kolkata,India http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/pdfs/Kolkata.pdf accessed on 16thSeptember 2007.

Kundu Amitab (2000)Inequality Mobility andUrbanisation.Indian council of Societal ScienceResearch and Manak, New Delhi.

Smith David Drakakis (2000)Third World CitiesRoutledge, London & New York.

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Jack Malcolm 2006 Urbanisation, Sustainable Growthand Poverty reduction. http:// www.asia2015conference.org/pdfs/Jack.pdf accessed on 16thSeptemeber 2008.

Mitra Arup (1994) Urbanisation, Slums, informal sector,employment and Poverty B.R. Publishing Corporation,Delhi.

Unnayan (1992) Basti Movements in Calcutta:. HousingStruggles of Basti Dwellers in the 1950’s inCalcutta.Unnayan, Calcutta.

Nagpal H(1994) Modernization and Urbanisation in IndiaRawat Publications Jaipur.

Kasambi M.(1994)Urbanization and Urban Developmentin India.ICSSR New Delhi.

Benjamin S( 2000) Governance, economic settings andpoverty in Bangalore Environment & Urbanization Vol.12 No 1 April 2000.

Gregory Pam (2005) Final Report of the Project R8491,Natural Resources Systems Programme http://www.nrsp.org/database/documents/2812.pdfaccessed on 5th October 2008.

Jan Lin, Christopher Mele (2005) The Urban SociologyReader Routledge New York & Oxon. http://books.google.co.in/ books?id=19gkifse5N0C&printsec=copyright&dp=definitions+of+urban+community&lr=#PPT10,M1 accessed on 14th October2008.

Report of the Steering Committee on UrbanDevelopment, urban Housing and Urban poverty forthe Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) from theTenth plan approach on urban development, urbanhousing and urban poverty document accessed fromh t t p : / / w w w . a r c h i d e v . o r g / I M G / p d ftenthplan_approach_on_urban_development.pdf on20th September, 2008.

Urban Communities

Profile of Rural Communities*A. Malathi

INTRODUCTION

Rural communities form the backbone of India- adheringto the adage that India lives in its villages. Village lifeis much talked about in terms of its serenity, idyllicsurrounding, free from conflict and having a beautifulrelationship with nature. But there is much more tounderstand about the rural communities in the vastterrain of India. The geographical and cultural variabilitybrings with it social arrangements that are adaptive tothe specific context- hence defy the notion of uniformityin village communities. Also the various villages aresubject to a number of factors, be it in the ecological,cultural, geographical and political or economic spheresthat provide a dynamism to the village community, itsexistence and their ways of living.

A rural society is better understood through certain keyaspects like size, populations, physical structure andtheir social and economic way of life. Also one needs tolook at the way the economic and political policiesinfluence the life of the villagers for any meaningfulsocial work intervention. Social work interventionspertaining to village community have as much to dealwith their economic condition as with their politicalcondition and access to power. As much as theirvariability is a factor, some common elements can beunderstood to be the pervasive factors of rural living.


3

43

These and the institutional presence and its access alsomake an important focus for social work interventions.Like in the case of urban communities we draw uponinsights from sociology, economics, and publicadministration to develop our understanding of ruralcommunities. Similarly with regard to interventions wedraw upon insights derived from social work methods.One predominantly in use is the community organizationmethod.

There is homogeneity across villages in terms of certainbroad features of social and economic characteristics.The technological and organizational aspects are alsosimpler compared to the urban areas and also well laidout within the socialization processes. Within the villagethere are bounded societies that clearly demarcatebetween various social groups. This is seen in therestrictions and taboo on rituals and customs andinteractions with others. There is village endogamy orcaste endogamy. The relationships are informal andprimacy is accorded to face-to-face interactions withpersonal and kinship intimacy being predominant.

Meaning of Rural Community

Rural communities reside in rural areas. Rural areasas per census consider the village as the basic area ofhabitation. A village is usually considered as thesmallest area of habitation. The village generally followsthe limits of a revenue village that is recognized by thelocal administration. The revenue village need notnecessarily be a single agglomeration of the habitations.It could comprise of a large village or a cluster of verysmall villages. It has a definite boundary and definitename. But the revenue village has a definite surveyedboundary and each village is a separate administrativeunit with separate village accounts. It may have one or

Profile of Rural Communities


more hamlets. The entire revenue village is one unit.There may be unsurveyed villages within forests etc.,where the locally recognized boundaries of eachhabitation area are followed within the larger unit ofsay the forest range officer’s jurisdiction.

The other meaning relates to the nature of livelihoods.Rural thus refers to livelihoods that are based onagriculture and something to do with nature. It wouldalso refer to the scale and nature of technology used inrural areas. Thus in rural areas the technology followedis simple with production levels meeting one’s family’sneeds and some surplus that could be sold in themarkets nearby.

Rural Urban Continuum

The rural urban dichotomy is experienced in somestates but not in others. For example in some stateslike Kerala the distinction of a village and town isimpossible to discern. Instead there is a continuum.The left end of the continuum consists of the rural whilstthe right of the urban having a mix of characteristics.Those which are having mixed features are placed inthe middle. Changes from rural to urban are calledurbanization. There is nothing like the ideal model ofrural or urban but an increasingly urban flavour torural locales. The rapid process of urbanization throughthe establishment of industries, urban traits andfacilities has decreased the differences between villagesand cities.

There are some sociologists who treat rural-urban asdichotomous categories differentiating the two at variouslevels including occupational differences, environmentaldifferences, differences in the sizes of communities,differences in the density of population, differences insocial mobility and direction of migration, differences

45

in social stratification and in the systems of socialinteraction.

A third view regarding rural and urban communities,believes that both village and city are elements of thesame civilization and hence neither rural urbandichotomy, nor continuum is meaningful.

Some sociologists have used the concept of rural-urbancontinuum to stress the idea that there are no sharpbreaking points to be found in the degree or quantity ofrural urban differences. M.S. Rao points out that bothvillage and town formed part of the same civilizationcharacterized by institution of kinship and caste systemin pre-British India. But there were certain specificinstitutional forms and organizational waysdistinguishing social and cultural life in towns fromthat in village. In this one can consider the degree ofurbanization as a useful conceptual tool forunderstanding rural-urban relations. The factorsdistinguishing rural from urban communities includeoccupation, size and density of population as well asmobility, differentiation and stratification.

However there is no clear conceptual difference betweenrural and urban as every village possesses someelements of the city and every city carries some featuresof the village.

Diversity of Rural Communities

Rural society includes a number of communities thatlive in what are known as villages. Villages in Indiavary with respect to their natural resource base,population density, demographic features, amenities,connectivity, historicity, and diversity of lifestyles,languages, cultural features and their proximity to citycentres. Some villages have very old population as the



majority of younger generation migrates in search ofjobs. Such villages are known as Gray villages. Some ofthe villages are also uninhabited. There are other villageswhich are known as fringe villages which are located inthe outskirts of the towns that eventually become partsof the urban whole. Such examples abound in themetropolitan areas for example, Nayabans in Noida –Harola etc which have been surrounded by the plannedcity of Noida in the south eastern outskirts of Delhi.

A village can have varying composition of social andoccupational groups such as agriculturalists, artisans,craftsmen and other occupational groups and all dependone way or the other upon agriculture. One majorunderstanding was that communities, which are non-tribal as well as tribal, tend to live in rural areas.Persons belonging to the former are often known aspeasant societies or communities in which there is adefinite bonding with the nearby market towns. Thesecommunities are not isolated like the tribalcommunities. Their linkage with the nearby towns isalso through some forms of shared governance that bindthem within the region to other constituents. They havealso well established market links with the nearby town’speople for the sale of surplus agricultural produce andfor the purchase of useful items for daily livingmanufactured in the urban areas.

Villages are primarily food producing units and theyare agriculture based. They produce not only for theirown subsistence but also for the urban societies, whichare non-producing. Land and the natural resources arethe primary means /unit of production in rural societies.Ecological conditions influence the pattern of their stay,with hamlets that are stringed together or individualhouses surrounded by their fields.

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Housing Patterns and Settlements in Rural Areas

a) Different kinds of villages are found all over thecountry. In some, the fields of the village surrounda tight cluster of houses. An outlying hamlet orseveral satellite hamlets are also found attached tosome villages in this case.

b) Linear settlements – e.g. in Kerala and Konkan andin the delta lands of Bengal. In such settlementshouses are strung out each surrounded by its owncompound. However there is little to physicallydemarcate where one village ends and anotherbegins.

c) Here there is scattering of homesteads or clustersof two or three houses. In this case also physicaldemarcation of villages is not clear. Such settlementsare found in hill areas, in the Himalayan foothills,in the high lands of Gujarat and in the Satpurarange of Maharashtra.

Usually a village is conceived as a physical entity havingan aggregation of houses of mixed architecture (some ofmud and thatch and some of cement) in the midst ofsurrounding agricultural fields. Of course there may besome exceptions to the general image of a village. Villagecan have more than ten thousand population as in thecase of Kerala. Or the village may be a conglomerationof cement houses inhabited by people who maypredominantly be in service or may be self-employednon-agriculturalists as in the case of a number of villagessituated near towns and cities in Himachal Pradesh.

Size of the Villages

In 1981 census there were 5, 57, 137 inhabited villagesin the country. By the year 1991 this number increasedto 4689 towns and 5, 80,781 villages. According to 2001census there are 5161 towns and 6,38,365 villages



including uninhabited villages with 72% of the totalpopulation living in villages. Further rural life ischaracterized by direct relationship of people to naturei.e, land, animal and plant life. Agriculture is their mainoccupation. Agriculture provides livelihood to about 58%of the labour force.

Rural Social Structure

Village, community, family and caste are the basiccomponents of the rural social structure. Theyencompass the entire field of life: social, economic,political and cultural life of the rural people. Thecomplexity of social norms and values statuses and rules,rights and obligations is reflected in them. These arelong enduring rural social institutions which havemillennia old historical roots and structures.

Rural social structure would refer to the inter -relationship, inter-connectedness and inter-dependenceof the different parts of the rural society. Caste systemis one unique social structure and the inter relationshipof the different units (castes) constitutes the structureof the rural society. Society, caste and Panchayat havecontrol over the individual.

Caste System

Caste is the fundamental principle of socialorganizations in the Indian village. The structural basisof Hinduism is the caste system.

Caste is also seen as a ‘monopolistic guild’. Theoccupation on which a caste has monopoly may be verysimple. Village is conceptualized as an aggregate ofcastes, each traditionally associated with an occupation.The members of the caste are spread over a region inmore than on village. The members of a caste havematrimonial relations with the neighbouring villages.

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Sometimes, the castes are also named after thecorresponding occupations, eli caste, dholi caste,chakali- washerwomen, Kammari- potters etc. Membersof the caste marry within their own caste-but usuallyoutside their village. In other words, the village isexogamous, while the caste is endogamous. There aresome systems of marriage in which the men of uppercastes marry women of lower castes allowing lower castewomen to move up the hierarchy. This is known ashypergamy, (anuloma). For political purposes, socialcontrol and matrimony, the members of the caste in avillage are dependent upon their caste group located inother villages. Society, caste and Panchayat have controlover the individual.

It is also true that all caste occupations are not foundin the village. A village has some castes – but for servicesit may depend on members belonging to various othercastes from neighbouring villages. Caste and class arelinked to each other with high castes usually beingassociated with higher classes.

Inter-caste Relations

Inter-caste relations at the village level constitutevertical ties. The castes living in a village are boundtogether by economic ties. Generally peasant castes arenumerically preponderant in villages and to performagricultural work, they need the services of carpenter,blacksmith and leather worker castes. It is unlikely thatall castes are located within a village, consequently theydepend on neighboring villages for certain services, skillsand goods.

Inter-caste relations are mediated by a system knownas Jajmani System. Jajmani is sort of mutual give andtake form of relationship in which one family ishereditarily entitled to supply goods and render services



to the other in exchange of the same. The personrendering the services or supplying the goods is knownas kameen or prajan and the person to whom the servicesare rendered is called a jajman. Thus under jajmanisystem a permanent informal bond is made betweenjajman and kameen to meet each other’s need for goodsand services. Exclusive and durable relations existbecause when the family moves out it becomes its moralduty to find an alternative service provider for itspatrons. These rights are also sold. Jajmani system ischaracterized by unbroken hereditary andmultidimensional relationship based on barter system.

Family and Kinship Relations

Rural family functions as the unit of economic, cultural,religious and political activity. In agricultural societiesthe family becomes the unit of production, distributionand consumption. Marriage is a decision of the familygoverned by rules of kinship. Family has a strict controland administrative powers over the individual.

Both nuclear and joint family with their modificationsare found in rural India.

There are Inter regional variations and in thedistribution of family types.

Currently the family is changing in rural India withchanges in the social and economic situation. The familyas a unit of production has changed more into a unit ofconsumption. Rules of marriage vary between Southand North India.

Political and Economic Connections

Political power centered in cities controls villages. Theconflicts between different people pertain mainly to thematters of land disputes, traditional powerarrangements, sharing of common resources such as

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the community pastures, water and forest resourcesand transgressing caste boundaries. Panchayats areusually the forums for dispute resolution. There aretwo types, one the Village Panchayat and the other JatiPanchayat. The former deals with the welfare of thefamilies living in that village undertaking collective tasksof the village such as performing rituals for the welfareof the entire village or organizing programs for thecollective welfare such as building tanks, roads, granary.A traditional caste council called Panch or five,comprises of a small but always an odd number, dealswith issues related to caste matters and inter-casterelations. A particular caste is dominant implying eithera numerical predominance, or control over economicresources, political power or having a high ritual status,or first ones to take advantage of the Western Educationsystem.

Lower castes are often reduced to a marginal status.The dominant castes have often resorted to violence tokeep other castes submissive. The power of thePanchayat is being reduced by the presence of thesecular formal institutions, of the dominant castes.There is also conflict between the traditional castePanchayats and the secular institutions such as theGram Panchayat. Class has an economic dimention.Upper castes are the landed, and lower castes are thelandless, generally.

The power relations are also closely related to thegendered location one has. Thus in rural society womenhave less power in decision-making and their needsand concern do not seem to be well articulated at thehousehold level and in the larger community. Theirinstitutional presence is also considerably less ascompared to men. These are compounded when classand caste are joined together.



Rural Economic Structure

The salient features of a rural economy are related tothe conditions of agriculture that is the predominanteconomic activity. The rural sector consists of agricultureand non-agriculture related activities, which are knownas farm and non-farm economy.

Agricultural Sector

The agricultural sub sector consists of agriculture andallied economic activities such as crop husbandry,animal husbandry, and dairying, fisheries, poultry, andforestry. The non-agricultural sector consists ofeconomic activities related to industry, business orservices. This refers to the cottage and village industries,khadi, handloom, handicrafts etc. Business refers tomicro enterprises, trading of general goods, small shopspetty traders etc, whereas services refer to transport,communication banking and input supply, marketingof farm and non-farm produce etc. The mainstakeholders of rural sector include farmers-agricultural and non-agricultural laborers, artisans,traders, money lenders and those engaged in providingsuch services as transport, communication, processing,banking and education and extension.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Indian economy becauseof its high share in employment and livelihood creationnotwithstanding its reduced contribution to the nation’sGDP. The share of agriculture in the gross domesticproduct has registered a steady decline from 36.4 percent in 1982-83 to 18.5 percent in 2006-07. Yet thissector continues to support more than half a billionpeople providing employment to 52 per cent of theworkforce. This means that the share of the value ofgoods and services produced by the agricultural sectorhas diminished much more than the decline in the

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number of people depending directly on the activities ofthis sector.

It is also an important source of raw material anddemand for many industrial products, particularlyfertilizers, pesticides, agricultural implements and avariety of consumer goods.

Growth of agriculture over a period of time remainedlower than the growth in non-agriculture sectors. Thegap between the growth of agriculture and non-agriculture sector began to widen since 1981-82, andmore particularly since 1996-97, because of accelerationin the growth of industry and services sectors.

Dry Land Agriculture

Dry land agriculture is usually unaccounted for inmainstream agriculture. In India, it is estimated that410 million people depend on the dry lands for a living.Dry land agriculture is another economy in rural areasthat closely enmeshes with the ‘poverty geography’ ofthe country. Other than the arid zones where evenrainfed farming is quite difficult, the heart of thedrylands is in the semi-arid zones. Drylands in thiscountry constitute more than 70% of the cultivable landsand despite several odds stacked against them, produceabout 42% of the country’s food. It is reported that nearly83% of sorghum, 81% of pulses and 90% of oilseedsgrown in the country come from these areas.

Rural livelihood systems in dry lands are usually a mixof natural resource based, non natural resource basedand migrant incomes. These have tended to persist overseveral decades without any change because of the policyfocus on green revolution. The nature of agriculturalstrategy underwent significant changes in the earlyplans to the current. These have important implicationsfor promoting rural livelihood base. Strategy of greenrevolution and spread of irrigation was emphasized.



Much of the technologies, subsidies and public supportsystems provided under this undifferentiated agriculturepolicy fail in responding to the needs or problems of dryland agriculture, thus promoting inequity, whether weexamine input support (irrigation, fertilizers, seeds) orout-put support (minimum support price andprocurement price mechanisms). A similar tendency isvisible in terms of agriculture research priorities,technology development and investments.

Allied Agricultural Activities

Animal husbandry and horticulture, pisciculture,apiculture and sericulture are examples of alliedactivities which are closely related to agriculture andprovide marginal or substantial source of income forrural communities.

Non-agricultural Activities

This sector in rural areas constitutes an importantcomponent of the rural work force constituting 20 to25% of the rural work force. This includes manufacturingof implements and work of artisans and crafts personsthat support the agricultural work.

Rural industries that fall into the Khadi and villageindustries serve as an important support foremployment. Also some of the people are employed inrural services such as health, education and themarkets. In 2001 the workers in rural industriesaccounted for 3.8% of the rural work force and above3% for the total workforce of the country

Basic features of rural economy are:

1) Excessive dependence on Nature.

With 64% of the net sown area in 1993-94 wasrainfed that is crop production depended on the

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quantum and distribution of rainfall over thegrowing season. Indian agriculture is vulnerable tonatural calamities, such as droughts, floods,hailstorms, and cyclones. This means that thedegree of nature induced risk and uncertainty inagriculture is higher than in the non-agriculturalsector, with the burden of risk falling on the farmer.

2) Low capital labour ratio.

This refers to the amount of capital available perworker. As there is a large workforce depending onagriculture this makes the capital available percapita low.

3) Small economic holdings and livestock holdings.

The existing land inheritance law means that theprocess of subdivision and fragmentation oflandholdings continues unabated affectinggeneration after generation. Almost all the marginaland small farmers are poor, producing very littlemarketable surplus. It is estimated that the farmershaving less than four hectare of land are notfinancially viable. Thus over 90% of farms in Indiaare not financially viable. Compounded with this isthe factor of continued low returns which is makingthe cultivators to join the ranks of agriculturallabour

4) Low factor productivity.

There is low average crop yields per hectarecompared to other nations. The inadequate capitalin the form of production of inputs, raw materialand improved machinery and equipment availableper worker/unit of enterprise

5) Long gestation and low rate of turnover.

The gestation period for investments in agricultureis long compared to non-agricultural enterprises.



Three to four month period for crops to mature, sixyears for a calf to the stage where milk productionis possible, and in horticulture the fruit tree takesabout 5-10 years for bearing fruit. Longer time istaken for a return on investment.

6) High incidence of poverty and unemployment.

The poverty in terms of absolute numbers as perofficial figures is 22%. But the incidence of povertyand the conditions for the above poverty line to turninto poverty situations are plenty. There isincreasing rural debt experienced even by the richfarmers specially those in the cotton belt. Theuncertainties unleashed by the economic reformsmake the poor suffer more. Low skills arecompounded by low work availability. Similarlyunemployment conditions are increasing.

7) Preponderance of illiterate and unskilled workforce.

The labour force in rural areas is less skilled becauseof the disadvantaged class and caste status. Theyare unable to complete basic schooling. Bothindividual and collective structural factors make itdifficult for the labour force to acquire skillsrequired to move them from primary sector to thesecondary and tertiary structures.

8) Lack of basic infrastructure.

Basic infrastructure in terms of connectivity andhealth and education facilities as also marketfacilities related to cold storage, etc are still to beachieved in adequate numbers and quality.

Rural Assets and Poverty

The picture of assets in rural areas is skewed. Over78% of the cultivators belonging to the category ofmarginal and small operators cultivate less than one

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third of the land. In contrast less than two percent ofthe cultivators having holdings of more than 10 hectareseach cultivate about 29% of the land.

The average size of holding is bigger in states such asPunjab, Haryana and Gujarat. On the other hand ineastern states like Bihar and West Bengal theoperational size of these holdings is relatively small. Itmay be remembered that the regional differences in thestructure of holdings are related to the pressure ofpopulation on the land, soil, agro climatic conditionsand the extent of irrigation. It is also true that theeconomic value and productive potential of smallholdings in irrigated areas might be higher thanrelatively large landholding in areas where agriculturesis largely dependent on rains.

The incidence of poverty is closely linked to theemployment, ecological setting and ethnic profile of thepopulation. Even if employment is available the natureof such an employment determines whether such aperson is poor or not. The incidence of poverty in ruralareas is linked to such factors as landless or marginalfarmers cultivating low value products, mostly for familysubsistence; self-employed artisans/service renderingpeople catering to low income customers/markets;women headed households and groups with largerfamilies but limited assets and earning opportunities;people with limited skills and education engaging inseasonal casual work; socially excluded, depressedgroups (e.g lower castes), tribals, nomads etc; victimsof the side effects of development of infrastructure andother changes which disintegrated their pastsustenance strategies (e.g people affected by breakdownof traditional occupations because of macro economicchanges, construction of big projects, decimation offorests etc).



Rural Credit Markets

Credit is required in rural areas for consumption andproduction purposes. Consumption needs require smallamounts of credit that meet needs such as food, clothing,shelter, education and health. Credit requirements areusually met from the shaukar/money lender informalinstitutions. However there is increasing evidence thatthe growing SHG movement in several parts of thecountry especially south is able to make inroads intotraditional money lending institutions. Their share isless but growing. The traditional institutions survivebecause of their timely, ready availability of credit andtheir informal linkages that could be caste or kinshipor village based with the client groups. There has beenan effort to meet credit needs from the formal institutionsbut there has been a low presence of these with additionto bureaucratic hurdles in the way.

The growth of formal banking institutions was highduring 1970s and 1980s following nationalization ofbanks in 1969. However there has been a decline in theformal banking services in rural areas since 1990s. Flowof credit to rural areas also declined.

Policies and Practices

Policies and prescriptions related to institutionalpresence, and procedures which govern access or thatcontrol and constrain legitimacy related to citizenparticipation etc strongly influence rural communities.

Reform measures such as reduction in fiscal deficit,reduction of subsidies, devaluation of rupee, exportorientation and reduction of agricultural credit adverselyaffect the rural poor especially in terms of food security,which relates to production, distribution and pricing ofthe food grains. The agricultural sector is worst affectedby the fiscal contraction which invariably result in a

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disproportionate cut in capital expenditure. Agriculturalsector is the mainstay of the rural Indian Economy whichis closely related to the existing pattern of the socialequity. The shrinkage of the flow of resources to therural sector, a misconceived interest rate policy whichdiscriminate against agriculture, a sickening ruraldelivery credit system, the emergence of a new bankingculture nurtured by reforms which is far from friendlyto agriculture and rural development all go against theinterests of rural economy.

Reform and post reform period impact on agricultureare found to be deleterious to the rural poor and therural landless. Reforms have increased the vulnerabilityof these masses and this forms one of the critical issuesfor rural community development.

There are many policies that the government makeswith regard to the rural sector directly- such as policiesrelated to agriculture, rural credit policy, policy oninvestments to be made in social sectors- policies relatedto the provision of infrastructure in rural areas such asin health, education, employment (NREGA) roadconnectivity, housing and sanitation, drinking watersupply etc. At the same time policies related to industrysuch as mining, availability of land for real estate forurban areas affects villages located in urban fringes.Similarly the fiscal policy, which promotes exportpromotion, favouring areas for tourism development suchas in the coastal areas affects the rural people who areliving in these areas. These play a role in affecting thelivelihoods of these communities and make themvulnerable to the point of crisis in survival. Thus thesebecome critical for social workers to working with ruralcommunities. Thus any thing that affects the ruralpopulace be it with governance issues such as servicedelivery or with lack of institutional presence, is of greatconcern for rural community work.



Conclusion

We have seen how rural communities are understoodthrough certain key aspects of like size, populations,physical structure and their social and economic wayof life. We have also seen that despite the diversity thereare certain common features like the social system ofcaste and inter caste relations which are closely relatedto their economic activities. The lower social hierarchyalso means low in assets and income. We have alsoseen the importance of strengthening the livelihood baseof agriculture and allied activities especially in the dryland region for the development of communities at themargins. We have also understood that the livingconditions of these communities are subject to changeboth from external and internal factors especially fromthe policy interventions by the government. These wouldbe important for any meaningful social workintervention.

References

S.C Dube (1955) Indian Village Cornell University Press,Ithaca.

Government of India Economic Survey (2007-08) NewDelhi.

Government of India 10th Five Year Plan New Delhi.

Government of India 11th Five Year Plan New Delhi.

Singh Kartar (1999) Rural Development in India SagePublications.

A.R. Desai (2005) Rural India in Transition, 2nd ed PopularPrakashan Mumbai.

4

Tribal Communities*A. Malathi

Introduction

This chapter looks at the tribal communities of India. Itdoes so by firstly looking at the position of tribeshistorically, the coinage of the term tribe and its variousmeanings, the diversity among the tribes of India, theirlinkages with the rest of the rural society, and theirnatural resource dependent livelihoods. The profile wouldinclude their economic and social aspects and thecurrent issues of the tribal communities.

The Meaning and Definitions of Tribe

The word tribe is derived from Tribus, a Latin wordmeaning “a group”. Dictionary meanings of a tribe rangefrom considering them as:

a) any aggregate of people united by ties of descentfrom a common ancestor, community of customsand traditions, adherence to the same leaders, etc.,

b) a local division of an aboriginal people,

c) division of some other people,

d) a class or set of persons, especially one with strongcommon traits or interests,

e) a large family.

Historically tribal communities have often beenunderstood as exotic and indicative of forbidden cultures



that are ancient and need to be preserved. This has ledto some of their classifications since the colonial timesand their categorization into nomadic, criminal, vanvasi,adivasi etc. These terms are overridden by their inclusionin scheduled tribes list- that by itself tries to build acategory of tribes known as the scheduled tribes. Andalso gives legitimacy to those listed as being recognizedby government as such. The numerous nomenclaturesprovided by the sociologists, census officials and thegovernment have only created confusion as to how shouldtribes be categorized, understood and treated. All thesehave implications for the mainstreaming of tribes thatis actively being encouraged by all those concerned withtribal communities, sometimes with positive outcomesand at other times, deleterious to the very existence oftribe(s).

Robert Redfield considers tribe to be a small communityand possessing characteristic features as

i) distinctiveness: where the community begins andwhere it ends is apparent. This is expressed in thegroup consciousness of the people of the community

ii) smallness: a compact community with a smallpopulation

iii) homogeneity: all the persons do similar activitiesand have similar state of mind. All persons havesimilar livelihood strategies, which continue overgenerations,

iv) self sufficiency: The community is self-sufficient andprovides for most of the activities and needs of itspeople.

Majumdar 1958 defines a tribe as a ‘social group withterritorial affiliation , endogamous with no specializationof functions, ruled by tribal officers hereditarily orotherwise united in language or dialect, recognizing

63

social distance with other tribes or castes without anysocial obloquy attaching to them, as it does in thecaste structure, following tribal traditions, beliefs andcustoms, liberal of naturalization of ideas from aliensources, above all conscious of homogeneity of ethnicand territorial integration’.

According to S.C. Dubey (1960) ‘the tribe generally refersto territorial communities living in relative isolation ofhills and forests’.

Their comparative isolation, in some ways has kept themapart from the mainstream of society in the country.Partly because of this isolation and partly because oftheir limited world view, characterized by lack ofhistorical depth resulting in the early merging of historyinto mythology and an overall tradition orientation,they are integrated in terms of certain themes rootedin the past. These integrative themes and a specialcultural focus gave them a separate cultural identityand they often possess latent or manifest value-attitudeand motivational systems which are remarkably differentfrom those of the other peoples.

Mandelbaum (1956) mentions the followingcharacteristics of Indian tribes:

a) Kinship as an instrument of social bonds.

b) A lack of hierarchy among men and groups.

c) Absence of strong, complex and formal organization.

d) Communitarian basis of land holding.

e) Segmentary character.

f) Little value on surplus accumulation on the use ofcapital and on market trading Lack of distinctionbetween form and substance of religion

In this way we can see that a tribe is a social group ofpeople associated with:

Tribal Communities


a) homogeneity,

b) isolation and non-assimilation,

c) territorial-integrity,

d) consciousness of unique identity and commonculture,

e) animism (now defunct) as an all-pervasive religion,

f) the existence of distinctive social and politicalsystems with an absence of exploiting classes andorganized state structure,

g) multi-functionalist kinship relations,

h) segmentary nature of the socio-economic unit ,

i) frequent cooperation for common goals,

j) self-sufficiency in their distinct economy, and

k) a common dialect, and many other attributes thatseem to have remained unchanged over centuries.

The concept of homogeneity and equality among thetribes has been challenged by social scientists. It hasbeen found that there is considerable inequality in termof economic and political rights related to the control ofmarriage, exchange of allied goods and the redistributionprocess. There is enormous diversity within the tribesof India.

The tribes are said to live in exclusion and isolation ofother communities but the historical relations of thetribes and non-tribes from time immemorial is oftenforgotten.

Many of the definitions of tribes are thus problematic;hence social scientists have conveniently used theofficially recognized Scheduled Tribes to categorizetribes. The constitution of India in its article 342(i)provides that the President of India with dueconsultation with the governors of the states may

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designate the tribe and tribal communities or parts ofgroups within tribes or tribal communities to beScheduled Tribes for each state. This juridicalterminology has received uncritical acceptance. Henceboth for social workers and social scientists the term ispractically synonymous with the list of thosecommunities listed in the Scheduled Tribes.

The definitions of tribes continue to characterize certaincategories of pre-literate cultures covering a wide rangeof forms of social organizational and levels of techno-economic development. In understanding tribes, socialworkers draw upon a variety of contributions drawnfrom sociology, anthropology, history and politicaleconomy.

Given social workers’ desire for changing the conditionof the communities towards self-reliance with socialjustice perspectives, tribes are conceived in two waysfirstly as irrational and traditional with the need tomake them, modern and rational; and second as oneswho are exploited and vulnerable.

However attempts to integrate them with themainstream are done without clarifying what thatmainstream is. As pointed out by Pariyaram M Chacko,there are many areas of tribal life which the mainstreamnon-tribals can profitably assimilate such as the notionsof wealth, of gender, equality, of sex and marriage andof the principle of non-interference.

Common Features between a Tribe and a Caste

However such features are not just the characteristicof tribes but also of castes. Further there is alsotremendous variability among tribes. Hence otherattempts to define tribes consider them as a stage inthe social and cultural evolution. Also with respect totheir economic life, the production and consumption

Tribal Communities


among the tribes is household based and unlikepeasants they are not part of a wider economic, political,and social network. This could be resolved by consideringthe tribes and castes as belonging to one continuum.The tribes have a segmentary, egalitarian system andare not mutually inter-dependent, while castes are in asystem or organic solidarity. They have direct access toland and no intermediary is involved between them andland.

Tribes are always understood in comparison tomainstream civilizations –that it may fight, serve, mimic,or adopt but cannot ignore. In India it has been foundthat tribes have been transforming themselves intolarger entity of the caste system; others have becomeChristians or Muslims. There is further a change intheir economic life – that is a change in the livelihoods-from hunting and gathering to peasantry, and in moderntimes become wage labourers in plantations, mining,and other industries. There is a changing notion oftribe- which has to be the frame work forunderstanding tribes.

Spread Across Regions and DemographicFeatures

The tribal communities are spread in all regions of theEast, West, North and South of India with varyingaltitudes, terrain and resources. This means that eachtribe has a different history, ecology and politicaleconomy and socio-cultural complexities. Further thereis contiguity of the spread both within India and theneighbouring countries. Some of the Scheduled Tribeswithin the borders of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,Manipur and Mizoram have their counterparts acrossthe borders of China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia.

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Tribals constitute only 8% of the population but occupynearly 20% of the geographical area, which containsover 70% of the minerals and the bulk of forests andwater resources.

Demographic Distribution

The population of Scheduled Tribes number only 19million people distributed among 212 communities inthe 1951 census. Their strength has increased to 38and 52 million in 1971 and 1981census. As per 2001census, the Scheduled Tribes population is 84.32million, constituting over 8.2 percent of the country’spopulation. Some tribes were temporarily accommodatedin the other backward classes’ category. In 1950 therewere 212 and in the year 2003, there are 533 tribes asper notified schedule under Article 342 with largest ofthem being in Orissa (62). Of the 698 scheduled tribes,seventy five are considered as primitive tribes. Theyare considered more backward than scheduled tribesand continue to live in pre-agricultural stage havingvery low literacy rates. The listing of tribes in theschedule depends on whether synonyms and sub-tribesare treated separately or not. There are also variationsin the size of the communities, from 31 people of Jarwato over 7 million Gonds. The numerically small tribalcommunities comprising of less than 1000 people areAndamanese, Onges and Toda etc. On the other hand,tribes like the Bhil, Santhals, Oraon, Munda, Mina,Khond and Saora and the like had more than 1 millionpopulation each.

The demographic and geographic spread hasimplications for the policies and programmes they aresubject to as well as their social and economic life. Forexample large population of a tribe means that it isspread over a number of states and therefore the samegroup is treated differently by different state policies

Tribal Communities


and development programmes which influences its socialand economic structure. Also they may be educated inthe language of the state in which they reside – thesehave far reaching implications for questions of identityand entity of the tribal communities.

Let us consider the social and economic structure oftribal communities now.

Tribal Communities: Their Social andEconomic Structure

a) Social Structure

The social structure is unique for each tribe. This comeswith the way the family is organized, the customs andbeliefs and the place of habitation, racial and linguisticfeatures.

There is a wide variation across the communities withrespect to the above. There are also wide variationswith regard to the particular social institutions thatcharacterize all communities such as their family,marriage and kinship relations as also their particularmodes of economy, that are much dependent on theecological conditions of living. Further the relationshipof the community with the nature and the kind of ritualsassociated with it is another facet that distinguishesthem from other communities.

The social life of the tribals revolves round the variousactivities for common existence by sharing in commonactivities under the bonds of relationship. Each tribehas its own structure and organization. As the tribalsform a small community of their own in a particularterritory their relations are direct and intimate. By nomeans such patterns of relations are sacrosanct orunchanging. They are subject to the influences from

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changes in the ecological condition or in the nature ofrelationship with other communities or within their own.Thus the social structure is of dynamic nature.

The social life of Indian tribes can be said to have adesign with the individual forming families, familiesforming lineages, lineages in sub-clans or sub-localgroups and sub-clans in clans or local group and clansin phratries or territorial groups phratries in moieties;moieties in sub tribes and finally sub-tribes making upthe tribe. In this social design the smallest unit is theindividual who forms the minimum or the smallest grouplike family or household. The smaller groups arecombined into a larger one through several levels ofincorporation. It is not necessary that all the above socialunits exist in every tribe

Family

The Family is the basic social and economic unit. Thereare well established roles for the various members ofthe family that are closely related to their authorityand power within their social group. The economic,political, ritual rights are also associated with thedevelopment of the family. The various tribalcommunities differ with respect to the nature of authoritywithin the family and the group; the nature of relationswith outsiders; the kind of work allocation anddistribution within the families, the ritual and secularpower exercised and so on. All of this is dependent onthe habitats they live in – that is the natural livingconditions and their relationship with it.

b) Economic Structure

In India tribals belong to different economic stages, fromfood-gathering to industrial labor which presents theiroverlapping economic stage in the broader framework

Tribal Communities


of the stages of economy. A tribe is usually consideredas an economically independent group of people, havingtheir own specific economy and thus having a living,pattern of labour, division of labour and specialization,gift and ceremonial exchange, trade and barter, creditand value, wealth, consumption norms, capitalformation, land tenure and good-tangible and intangible–economic status. All these are significant markers fora special tribal economy in the broader set-up of Indianeconomy. The interdependence between the cultural,social life and the natural surroundings is of greatsignificance in understanding tribal economy.

The economic life of the tribal communities has to beseen in the light of non-monetary aspects that influencetheir living conditions. They have a very simpletechnology which fits in well with their ecologicalsurroundings and self-dependent nature. Their economycan be said to be of subsistence type in which there isassurance of subsistence livelihood to all the personsin the community. This is achieved through the socialdeterminations of labour and land allocation and thesocial right to receive emergency material in times ofneed. Thus there is a strong and persistent social controlof production and distribution. They follow what isknown as “marginal economy”. This refers to thepractice of different types of occupation at one time bya group of people for their livelihood. That is a tribe canindulge in all kinds of occupations to eke out itssubsistence such as hunting, food gathering, shiftingcultivation, fishing, domestication of animals,horticulture, and also some artisan work like productionof crafts and other items required by other communitiesin rural areas. The complexity of economic subsistenceis indicated by the combination of activities that theyindulge in.

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Also they may have linkages with other ruralcommunities and their economy. Thus, some of the tribespractice settled agriculture, and are in touch with theother communities. They supply honey, medicinal plants,toys, baskets etc in exchange for grains, cereals, clothes,etc. Thus they follow a basket of livelihoods that isdependent upon the ecological cycle of the area theyinhabit.

The mode of production in tribal economy is traditional,indigenous and culturally predominant. This needs tobe understood in its structural arrangements andenforced rules for the acquisition and production ofmaterial items and services in the context of theircultural, social and natural living conditions. Furtherthere are no class divisions within the tribes as theproduction relations are governed by the socialarrangements. They are culturally a social unit, withbeing an enterpriser and worker as well as producerand consumer, all at the same time. The system ofdistribution is linked to the barter system or mutualexchange.

Some of the elements of this economic system areseen to be

a) Small economy- smallness of scale which is thefundamental characteristic of tribal communities-the resources, goods and service transactions takeplace within a small geographical area and withina community of persons numbered in hundreds orthousands. Further one or two good crops areconsidered staple and produced in bulk. Within thesmall framework of the tribe and a relatively smallnumber of goods and services are produced andacquired.

b) Use of simple technology compared to theindustrialized economies – may be made by the

Tribal Communities


producer himself or herself or acquired from othersfor a small sum. This also means that large-scaleproduction processes are ruled out.

c) Geographical and cultural isolation- in that theyare self-contained and have very little transactionwith outside communities in a majority of tribalcommunities.

d) The profit motive is usually absent, and the role ofan incentive is fulfilled by a sense of mutualobligation, sharing and solidarity.

e) Cooperative and collective endeavors are emphasized

Interdependence of Tribes and Non-tribalCommunities

The functional relationship between tribes or withintribes or tribal people and non-tribal of the tribal villagesor the region is characterized by interdependence quitesimilar to the Jajmani system. Under the system eachcaste group, within a village is expected to providecertain standardized service to the people of other castes.The head of the family who is served by an individual isknown as his Jajman while the man who performs theservice is known as the Kamin of Jajman. The Jajmanpays his Kamin in cash or kind on a daily monthly oryearly basis.

For example in the Jaunsar Bawar there is a typicalinterdependence seen in the agriculturalist, the artisanand the community servant and the free professional ofthe area. They help each other out. The Koltas till thelands of the Brahmans and Rajputs (khasas) for yearstogether on some annual or periodical agreements andon payment. The Bohars make iron implements foragriculturists. The drummer Bajgis or Dhakis are anindispensable artisan community in Jaunser- Bawar.Their services are required in the temple on communaland ceremonial occasions.

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The Economic Institution of Dhangar

This institution facilitates the agriculturalist activity.One gets the agricultural labour ryotwaris for cultivatingone’s own vast land. The person who is employed by abig landowner is commonly known as Dhangar in tribalBihar. Dhangar is a most familiar word for the tribeslike the Oraon, Minda and HO.

In tribal Bihar the big landowners keep agriculturallabour land the year round. A labourer is engaged themonth of magh on annual basis. Apart from annualpayment in cash or in kind he is provided with food anda roof. From the day he is engaged he becomes a familymember of the employer and gets the same socialprivileges. There is no difference in status between theemployer and his Dhangar or agricultural labourer. Hecan even marry the land owner’s daughter or sister ifhe belongs to a different clan. Generally the Dhangarsare drawn from the same village.

Thus Tribals practice a mixed economy. The economicsystem of any Indian tribe cannot be exclusively placedin a particular typology in its strict sense. The fact thata tribe uses all available means to eke out its subsistenceand combines minor forest produce collection withcultivation or shifting cultivation, simple cultivation withfood collection indicates the complex economy of thesepeople.

Denotified and Nomadic Tribes

De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes andBanjara communities constitute the most vulnerableand disadvantaged sections of the Indian society. Someof these communities were identified as ‘Criminal Tribes’(which included both castes as well as tribes) in pre-independent India. Although the Criminal Tribes Act,

Tribal Communities


1871 was repealed soon after Independence, personsbelonging to these communities are still viewed by societyas habitually criminals.

The terms ‘de-notified’ and ‘nomadic’ do not belong tothe same typology as the former term is legal and thelatter ecological. The communities which were notifiedas criminal during the British rule and which were de-notified after independence are called de-notified tribes.However, as some of the de-notified communities werenomadic and vice versa, they are usually consideredtogether.

As they are constantly on the move, they do not haveany domicile. Though many of them have now begun tosettle down, traditionally they did not possess land rightsor house titles. As a result, they are deprived not onlyof welfare programmes, but also of citizenry rights. Theywere not considered untouchables but occupiedlowermost positions in the social hierarchy.

The Denotified and Nomadic tribes make up about 60million of India’s population. There are 313 NomadicTribes and 198 Denotified Tribes.

Denotified tribes or Ex-Criminal Tribes are the tribesthat were originally listed under the Criminal TribesAct in 1871, as “addicted to the systematic commissionof non-bailable offences.” Once a tribe became “notified”as criminal, all its members were required to registerwith the local magistrate, failing which they would becharged with a crime under the Indian Penal Code. TheBritish authorities listed them separately by creating acategory of criminal castes or tribes. By this act, thegovernment wanted to certify that communities havecriminal tendencies, which are inculcated from birthonwards, and second, once a criminal, he or she is acriminal always.

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The grouping of all such tribes in various parts of thecountry as one is questionable, as it ignores the factthat they differ from each other in their codes ofconduct, modes of signs which they use to conveyinformation to the people. They are considered as castegroups that have failed to adjust themselves to newconditions and have fallen into anti-social activities.

The lack of free social intercourse denies these criminallyhabituated people an opportunity to reclaim themselves.Further their socialization and continued isolation isreinforced by the social security within theircommunities. The problems of segregation wasmanifested in their being isolated and not having socialinteraction with the mainstream society – hence denialof the normal processes of social change, secondly theywere suffering from fear psychosis- fear of police reprisaletc. raids by police etc. This led them to suspect everyone.Mutual distrust was the order of the day. Thirdly theirfamily life suffered as they were jailed frequently andwere away from their families. This also led them toexperience deprivation of love and affection that aredue to human beings and violation of their rights ashuman beings.

The Criminal Tribes Act of 1952 repealed the notification,i.e. ‘de-notified’ - the tribal communities. This act washowever replaced by a series of Habitual Offenders Actsthat asked police to investigate a suspect’s criminaltendencies and whether his occupation is “conducive tosettled way of life.” The denotified tribes were reclassifiedas habitual offenders in 1959.

In order to acquire a comprehensive picture of thesituation of these communities and to suggest actionfor their socio-economic development, a NationalCommission for De-notified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes andSemi-Nomadic Tribes was set up in 2005 whose report

Tribal Communities


was submitted recently to the Prime Minister. In theEleventh Plan, special attention is to be accorded to thewell-being of these groups as per the recommendationsof the Commission.

Despite these there are still some old issues plaguingthese communities. Some of these are:

a) Classification and enumeration of denotified andnomadic tribes, thereby providing constitutionalsafeguards and covering them under the Preventionof Atrocities Act (1989).

b) Strict scrutiny of the caste certificates of DNTs andpenalization of bogus DNTs.

c) Sensitization of the police force by informationdissemination and in-service training, and settingup of special cells (in collaboration with NGOs) forlegal aid and counseling, especially for women.

d) Free and compulsory education to genuine DNTchildren till at least they are up to higher secondarylevel.

Current Issues Facing Tribal Communities

Tribals are at the bottom of social and political ladderin India. In Post-independent India, the requirementsof planned development brought with them the spectreof dams, mines, industries and roads on tribal lands.The major issues facing them are

Land Alienation

They were alienated from their land from colonial times.Their lands were taken away in the name of development,or by money lenders for loan recovery. Also reservingforests in the name of conservation also meant thattribals were kept away from their habitats and livelihoodbase. The expansion of railways in India heavily

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devastated the forest resources in India. In AndhraPradesh, for instance, the non-tribals own half of thetribal land. In Orissa 54% of land of tribals is lost tonon-tribals through indebtedness, mortgage and forcibleoccupation.

The land alienation often is a result of ignorance oftribals in getting their land recorded properly, negligenceof officials involved and sometimes sheer corruption inevicting the tribals from their lands. The mining industryin Goa undermined the tribal rights to cultivate bygetting these lands on lease. Also polluting both landand soil and the rivers make it impossible for tribals tocontinue their subsistence livelihoods.

Poverty Among Tribals

Majority of tribes live under poverty line. Currently, thetribal communities live in the most food insecure areas.

Tribals and Indebtedness

Tribals are heavily indebted to the local money lendersbecause of their poverty.

Loss of access to Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP)sdeforestation, preference for man-made plantations inplace of mixed forests, regulatory framework, diversionof NTFPs and forests to industries, nationalization ofNTFPs, and exploitation by government agencies andcontractors in marketing of NTFPs, has meant loss oflivelihood base for the tribal communities.

Displacement

Tribals are displaced from their livelihoods due toprojects like large irrigation dams, hydroelectric projects,open cast and underground coal mines, super thermalpower plants and mineral-based industrial units. In thename of development, tribals are displaced from their

Tribal Communities


traditional habitats and livelihoods with little or norehabilitation, and are rendered destitute and poor. Inthese large development projects, tribals lose their landnot only to the project authorities, but even to non-tribal outsiders who converge into these areas and cornerboth the land and the new economic opportunities incommerce and petty industry.

Shifting Cultivation

Tribal communities practice shifting cultivation, acustomary practice they have been engaged in throughgenerations. This is becoming difficult with less andless forest land bring available to the communities.

Poor Quality of Governance

There is poor quality of governance that afflicts thetribal areas. Programme delivery has deterioratedeverywhere in India, but more so in tribal areas. Thereis often a transfer of posts from tribal regions to non-tribal regions.

Cultural Problems

Due to contact with other cultures, the tribal culture isundergoing a revolutionary change. This has meant adegeneration of tribal life and tribal arts such as dance,music and different types of craft, and have also raisedquestions of preserving cultural identity.

Lack of Sensitivity in Dealing with Upsurge of TribalAnger against the Exploitative System

The dwindling resource base of the tribal people in theshape of loss of land, restriction on access to forestproduce and lack of opportunities for reasonable wageemployment and money lending have caused hardshipsto tribal people. Significantly, development processes

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have interfered in many cases with traditional tribalinstitutional structure and ethos and have producednegative results. The development process in manytribal areas, instead of providing succor, has beeninstrumental in causing numerous disadvantages,prominent among them being displacement and loss ofland, the tribal’s main resource base. Notwithstandingthe fact that the State Governments have enacted laws/regulations to control/prohibit transfer of land to non-tribals, land alienation still continues.

The various state policies and development interventionshave left the tribal communities alienated from theirnatural resource base and pauperized them due to lossof land.

Education

Educationally the tribal population is at different levelsof development but overall the formal education hasmade very little impact on tribal groups.

Conclusion

We have seen that tribal communities are special groupsof people who have distinct way of life depending ontheir relationship with nature, with distinct habitatsocial and economic life. No tribes are similar. In additionto these features we have also seen some specificfeatures pertaining to the denotified and nomadic tribes.These tribes have been falsely and unjustly categorizedas criminal tribes by the British administration. Hencethey have been subject to lot of hardship throughsegregation with the help of criminal tribes act. Afterindependence this law was repealed and there have beennumerous efforts at their rehabilitation.

We have also seen that these special features makethem vulnerable to the changing demands of modern

Tribal Communities


day living. Their habitats and their life are not as freeas they used to be. Their living is mediated by the forcesexternal to their communities. Their natural livelihoodbase can be taken away and they can easily becomedestitute. Centuries of exploitation of natural resourceshas shaken their ecological base.

References

B.B. Kumar(1998) The tribal societies of India OmsonsPublications New Delhi.

L.P Vidyarthi and Binay Kumar Rai (1976) The TribalCulture of India Concept Publishing company NewDelhi.

Buddadeb Chaudhuri (Ed) 1992) Tribal Transformationin India Vol. III Inter-India Publications New Delhi.

Chacko, Pariyaram M. (ed 2005.)Tribal communities andSocial Change, Sage Publications, New Delhi.

Community DevelopmentProgrammes and Accountability

*A. Malathi

Introduction

This chapter of community development programmesand accountability are built on the earlier understandingof what communities are, and how are they located, inthe social and economic contexts. They also gave ussome idea of the issues facing these communities. Thereare various ways in which these issues are addressed.Community development programmes whether initiatedby Government or non-government agencies seek toaddress the issues and concerns of the communities.The concept of community development programmesfocuses on the interventions for community developmentto be people centered and people led, that seek to changefor better, the conditions of living of these communities.Questions such as what is better for the community,who decides on these, who implements the programmeswhat are the ways in which the programmes aremonitored or implemented, who takes decisionsregarding funding and allocations, who is accountableto whom, form the central focus of communitydevelopment programmes that determine the successin reaching the goals of community development. Thuscommunity development programmes need to beunderstood with dimensions of their context, creationand culmination. The context factors relate to the

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issues, problems, concerns of the community, thebackground of the community and the strengths andweaknesses of the community. The creation refers tothe specific programmes related to addressing the issuesand concerns of the community with whatintentions(values basis and goals), strategies andmechanisms. The culmination would relate to the waythe programme reaches its goals and with clearidentification of people and processes that areaccountable. This trio of C’s is interrelated and veryimportant for community development programmes.

Community Development

Concept of Community and Development

Community development has two terms community anddevelopment both of which need some understanding.The concept of community has already been discussedin chapter I. We reiterate some of its definitions as “Arelatively self-sufficient population, residing in a limitedgeographic area, bound together by feelings of unity andinterdependency”.

“a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharingcommon characteristics or interests and perceiving itselfas distinct in some respect from the larger society withinwhich it exists, for example the business community;the community of scholars”.

Communities refer to people bounded in specificgeographic areas and communities of interest. The pastthree centuries have seen major changes in the notionof community. We have moved from a predominantlyagricultural and rural society, to an urban industrializedsociety, and now to a post-industrial society. In thislatter period of de-industrialization, there has beenerosion of community life and a decline in civil society

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organizations. These have meant a slow degenerationof traditional family networks, heightened inequalitybetween groups of people as well as growth of institutionsto meet the needs of the people, which were hithertomet by the community itself.

Development as a concept would imply that there isprogress or change for the better in such a way toenhance the security, freedom, dignity, self-reliance andself-development of groups of people. This would involvetwin concepts of social as well as economic development.

Concept of Community Development

Community development may be defined as a processby which the efforts of the people themselves arecombined with those of governmental authorities, toimprove the economic, social and cultural conditions ofcommunities to integrate these communities into thelife of the nation and to enable them to contribute fullyto national progress.

Community development is a collaborative, facilitativeprocess undertaken by people (community, institutions,or academic stakeholders) who share a common purposeof building capacity to have a positive impact on qualityof life.

Community Development is the process of developingactive and sustainable communities based on socialjustice and mutual respect. It is about influencing powerstructures to remove the barriers that prevent peoplefrom participating in the issues that affect their lives.Community workers facilitate the participation of peoplein this process. They enable connections to be madebetween communities and with the development of widerpolicies and programmes. Community Developmentexpresses values of fairness, equality, accountability,opportunity, choice, participation, mutuality, reciprocity

Community Development Programmes and Accountability


and continuous learning. Educating, enabling andempowering are at the core of Community Development.

Community Development is about building active andsustainable communities based on social justice andmutual respect. It is about changing power structuresto remove the barriers that prevent people fromparticipating in the issues that affect their lives.Community Development Workers support individuals,groups and organizations in this process on the basis ofcertain values and commitments.

Community development works for strengthening of faceto face communities to meet the psychological needs ofbelonging, practical needs of mutual care, and thepolitical need for participation and campaigning forrights and resources.

Approaches Used in Community Development

The various approaches used in community developmentare:

● using an asset-based approach that builds onstrengths and existing resources;

● encouraging inclusive processes that embracecommunity diversity; and

● community ownership through collaborativelyplanned and led initiatives.

Aims of Community Development are:

● creating equitable conditions and outcomes forhealth and wellbeing;

● improving the health and prosperity of thecommunity as a whole;

● fostering sustainable community initiatives;

● fostering sustainable self-sufficiency for the peopleinvolved;

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● increasing personal worth, dignity, and value; and

● building awareness of and resolving issues in thecommunity.

Community Development Values

Community development has certain inherent values.These can be termed as:

Social Justice - enabling people to claim their humanrights, meet their needs and have greater control overthe decision-making processes, which affect their lives.

Participation - facilitating democratic involvement bypeople in the issues, which affect their lives, based onfull citizenship, autonomy, and shared power, skills,knowledge and experience.

Equality - challenging the attitudes of individuals, andthe practices of institutions and society, whichdiscriminate against and marginalize people.

Learning - recognizing the skills, knowledge andexpertise that people contribute and develop by takingaction to tackle social, economic, political andenvironmental problems.

Co-operation - working together to identify andimplement action, based on mutual respect of diversecultures and contributions.

Assumptions in Community Development

There are certain implicit assumptions in communitydevelopment. These are:

● Individuals, groups and local institutions withincommunity areas share common interests that bindthem together.

● This commonness also propels them to worktogether.



● The interests of the various groups are notconflicting.

● The state is a supra body that is impartial in theallocation of resources and that through its policiesit does not further inequalities.

● People’s initiatives are possible in the communitiesbecause of their common interests.

Community development workers are committed to:

● Challenge the discrimination and oppressivepractices within organizations, institutions andcommunities.

● Develop practice and policy that protects theenvironment.

● Encourage networking and connections betweencommunities and organizations.

● Ensure access and choice for all groups andindividuals within society.

● Influence policy and programmes from theperspective of communities.

● Prioritize the issues of concern to people experiencingpoverty and social exclusion.

● Promote social change that is long-term andsustainable.

● Reverse inequality and the imbalance of powerrelationships in society.

● Support community led collective action.

Distinction Between Community Development andCommunity Work

Community development is best used to refer to aprocess, or a way of doing something, which entails themobilization, participation and involvement of localpeople on common issues important to them.

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Community work, on the other hand, is often used asa general term and refers to initiatives or activities thatare delivered at a local level that may not actively involvemembers of the community as participants but merelyas users of services.

Within India, we might say all forms of communitypractice go together- that is provision of basic services,campaigning for the rights of people and fosteringcommunity based approaches for self-development andincreasing their stake in the developmental processes.There is an increasing use of professional approaches,techniques and strategies to build the capacities ofcommunities to undertake community developmentprogrammes which aim to bring in self-reliance, freedomand dignity.

Community Development Programmesand Accountability

Community development programmes base themselveson the involvement of people in formulating andexecuting programmes. It also means the developmentand use of large number of local institutions andvoluntary groups local and voluntary groups, use of groupwork techniques and the development of local leadership,development of administration which is developmentoriented rather than bureaucratic in approach.

Local self-help village groups are promoted and activelyinvolved in the development of the village, Mohalla,hamlet, in mobilizing natural and human resources formaking improvements in various aspects of life withthe active involvement of government and non-government agencies.

Thus community development programmes aim atachieving certain goals such as collectively working to



bring about social change and justice, by working withcommunities to:

● identify their needs, opportunities, rights andresponsibilities:

● plan, organise and take action;

● evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the action

● and to do all these in ways which challengeoppression and tackle inequalities.

Accountability in Community DevelopmentProgrammes

In all community development programmes the key liesin the implementation of the programmes for reachingthe goals in such a way that the accountability issuesare taken care of. Any community developmentprogramme has to have inbuilt components ofmonitoring and evaluation and transparentaccountability procedures. The concept of accountabilityneeds to be understood before we proceed any further.

Concept of Accountability

The concept of accountability includes two elements:‘answerability’ of those who hold power to citizens and‘enforceability’ of penalties in the event of failure to doso (Goetz and Jenkins 2001)

Accountability is seen as political and managerialaccountability the former referring to accountability ofdecisions(social) the latter referring to accountabilityin carrying out tasks of according to agreed performancecriteria (input, output, financial etc) In another case,some authors speak of political accountability,community accountability and bureaucraticaccountability.

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Questions such as accountability of who to whom, whenand on what issues, purposes of accountability and howit is to be operationalized are key to put in place a properaccountability mechanism.

Accountability mechanisms could include citizenparticipation in public policy making, participatorybudgeting, public expenditure tracking, citizenmonitoring of public service delivery, citizen advisoryboards, and lobbying and advocacy campaigns.

Accountability requires that one group or individualprovides a professional or financial account (orjustification) of it activities to another stakeholding groupor individual. It presupposes that an organisation orinstitution has a clear policy on who is accountable towhom and for what. It involves the expectation that thegroup held accountable, will be willing to accept adviceor criticism and to modify its practices in the light ofthat advice and criticism.

Characteristics and Principles of Accountability

● Accountability is personal: authority can only bedelegated to one person.

● Accountability is vertical: from top to bottom,responsibilities and authority is delegated fromsupervisor to subordinate (supervisor holdssubordinate accountable).

● Accountability is neutral: It is neither a positivenor a negative concept Excellent results arerecognized, but failure may involve sanctions,including the withdrawal or modifications ofworking systems.

The Four Principles of Accountability

a) Specify responsibility and authority

b) Provide guidance and support



c) Objective comparison of results against targets andstandard

d) Take appropriate action

History of Community DevelopmentProgrammes

Community development efforts have a long historydating back to pre-independence times. There wereprogrammes like the Sevagram and Sarvodaya ruraldevelopment experiments of Bombay State, FircaDevelopment Schemes of Madras State, Pilot projects ofEtawah and Gorakhpur. These efforts were because ofa desire for new techniques, new incentives andconfidence to undertake development work. Some ofthese programmes involved rural reconstructionexperiments that had the thinking and backing ofnationalist thinkers and social reformers.

Community Development Programmesin Rural, Tribal and Urban Areas

There are a number of community developmentprogrammes launched by the government as well asvoluntary organizations. Basic to all these programmesis people’s participation and development. We now lookat some of such programmes in rural, urban and tribalareas. These are only indicative and attempt to give aninsight into the design and functional aspects.

Rural Community Development Programmes

Community Development Programme drew itsinspiration and strategy from erstwhile projects of ruraldevelopment in the 1920s and just before IndianIndependence, as well as the international influenceson community development project that developed bothin the Great Britain and in America.

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The first major rural development programme launchedafter independence in October 1952 in 55 developmentblocks was with the following main objectives.

a) To secure total development of the material and thehuman resources in rural areas.

b) To develop local leadership and self-governinginstitutions.

c) To raise the living standards of the rural people bymeans of rapid increase in food and agriculturalproduce.

d) To ensure a change in the mind-set of peopleinstilling in them a mission of higher standards.

These objectives were to be realized through a rapidincrease in food and agricultural production bystrengthening programmes of resource development,such as minor irrigation and soil conservation, byimproving the effectiveness of farm inputs supplysystems, and by providing agricultural extensionservices to farmers. It had a wide range of programmesfor developing agriculture animal husbandry, ruralindustries, education, health, housing, training,supplementary employment, social welfare and ruralcommunication.

A project area was divided into three development blocks,each comprising about 100 villages and a population ofabout 65,000 people. In areas where a full project wasnot considered feasible one or two development blockswere started to begin with. Subsequently CDP becamea national programme that covered all the rural areasof the country.

Organization

The organizational structure was specifically created toundertake community development projects. The



organizational structure was located at the central,state, district and block levels.

In September 1956, a new ministry of communitydevelopment was created. Then the ministry ofAgriculture and Rural development was in overall chargeof the programme of the country. Currently the entirecentrally sponsored programmes are part of the Ministryof Rural Development. From a centrally sponsoredprogramme it became a state-sponsored one in 1969.

Evaluation

The community development programme was evaluatedby a committee headed by Balwantray Mehta which gaveits recommendation for a three-tier system of localgovernments that are popularly known as PanchayatiRaj. At the grassroots or village level were to be formedat the village Panchayats at the middle or block levelwere to be Panchayat Samitis and at the apex or districtlevel Zilla Parishads were to be formed. It recommendedadministrative decentralization with control vested inelected bodies.

The three- tier structure of Panchayat Raj institutionswas brought into existence in January 1958. Theseobjectives were later incorporated in the 73rd amendmentof the constitution of India ensuring democraticdecentralization through Panchayati Raj system.

Criticisms of CDP

● It has not been a people’s programme

● It has followed a blueprint approach to ruraldevelopment

● It has employed a large army of untrained extensionworkers who lacked coordination

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● There was lack of functional responsibility at theblock level that led to a good deal of confusion andinterdepartmental jealousy

From a community development approach there was ashift towards specific programmes that focused on whichagricultural development strategies (in the newagricultural strategy) - focusing on specific areas. Thischanged the nature of community involvement in theprogramme. A target approach was adopted – theidentification, training and development of these becamethe responsibility of development officials and theresearch scientists with emphasis on scientific,technical and managerial aspects in the intensiveagricultural development strategy.

Other Programmes and the Community Component

A change in these programmes came about with theadvent of the Integrated Rural Development Programmethat had conceived of rural development as that oftargeting specific groups with a focus on asset creationor wage employment. Later on in the Integrated Ruraldevelopment programme launched in the sixth plan,the asset creation has taken a cluster-oriented approachthat emphasized on the creation of groups forparticipation and management. Group approachesbecame the focus in all programmes of rural developmentdealing with the forestry (joint forest management)watershed, National Rural Health Mission or ElementaryEducation other poverty alleviation programmes as wellas the mid-day meal scheme (mother’s committees tobe formed). Participatory management was emphasizedwith a mandatory requirement of neighbourhood groupsin the above programmes. The DWCRA (Development ofWomen and Children in Rural Areas) has beeninstrumental in popularizing the self-help group conceptand its has now become a widespread phenomenon for



community action and development, in both governmentinitiated and voluntary agency initiated programmes.In certain states the nature and extent of communityparticipation has been significant in bringing about theneeded change. Community ownership of programmeshas become the official refrain with emphasis given tothe Panchayats as vehicles for implementation of thegovernment programme. Though in many cases thePanchayats really do not have enough funds at theirdisposal, or allocations reach them late in the financialyear. Here there is always a danger that local caste andclass biases may seep in and maintain the status quo.

The later government programmes of SwarnajayantiGram Swarojgar Yojana(SGSY), in which the focus wason establishing a large number of micro-enterprises inrural areas. This was based on the ability of the poorand potential of each area, both land-based andotherwise, for sustainable income generation. Thisprogramme used the concept of groups that could beutilized for building community led initiatives.

The Self-help groups (SHGs) formed under SGSY mayconsist of 10-20 members and in case of minor irrigation,and in case of disabled persons and difficult areas, i.e.,hilly, desert and sparsely populated areas, this numbermay be a minimum of five. Self Help Groups shouldalso be drawn from the BPL list approved by the GramSabha. The SHGs broadly go through three stages ofevolution such as group formation, capital formationthrough the revolving fund and skill development andtaking up of economic activity for income generation.

Despite the Group approach there are limitations withrespect to making these programmes a truly communitydriven development programmes. There are various otherprogrammes for village and small-scale enterprises,including some special schemes for scheduled castes

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and tribes for promotion of self-employment in ruralareas which relies mainly on formation of self-helpgroups to empower rural communities and enable themto take up economic activities.

Wage employment programmes like the SampoornaGrameen Rojgar Yojana, and the recently launchedNational Rural Employment Guarantee Programme hasenabled 100 days of employment, do not have theprovision of community building by themselves or theformation of groups. However because of NGO or activistinvolvement these programmes are also taking the shapeof movements for community action and development –demanding their rightful share in the employmentschemes promoted by the government.

Tribal Community Development Programmes

The tribal communities received some help throughSpecial Multipurpose Tribal Development Projects(MTDPs) created towards the end of 1954. These MTDPscould not serve the interests of the tribal people sincethe number of schemes were numerous. Later theCommunity Development Blocks where theconcentration of tribal population was 66% and abovewere converted into Tribal Development Blocks (TDBs).Due to failure of this to address tribal communitiesneeds, Tribal Sub-Plan Strategy (TSP) was evolved forrapid socio-economic development of tribal people, andis continuing even now with the following objectives:

1. Over all socio-economic development of tribals andto raise them above poverty level.

2. Protection of tribals from various forms ofexploitation.

The Scheme/programme and projects under TSP areimplemented through Integrated Tribals DevelopmentProjects (ITDPs) which were set up in Block(s) or groups



of Blocks where ST population is more than 50% of thetotal population.

The Government of India formed a Ministry of TribalAffairs in October 1999 to accelerate tribal development.The Ministry of Tribal Affairs came out with a draftNational Policy on Tribals in 2004. The draft policyrecognizes that a majority of Scheduled Tribes continuesto live below the poverty line, have poor literacy rates,suffer from malnutrition and disease and is vulnerableto displacement. It also acknowledges that ScheduledTribes in general are repositories of indigenousknowledge and wisdom in certain aspects. The NationalPolicy aims at addressing each of these problems in aconcrete way.

There are many tribal community developmentinitiatives from the NGO sector that worked closely onthe issues of tribal communities, specially their capacitybuilding and sustainable development.

Many of the initiatives concerned with tribaldevelopment have adopted participatory approachesmade to ensure the successful completion of the projectgoals. There are many tribal community developmentinitiatives from the NGO sector that worked closely onthe issues of tribal communities, specially their capacitybuilding and sustainable development.

During the last 10 to 15 years, with increasingrecognition of the importance of people’s participationfor increasing the effectiveness of developmentinterventions, an extensive array of ‘people’s’ institutionshave been created in the villages for the implementationof sectoral programmes. These include joint forestmanagement (JFM) committees being set up by theForest Department, education committees by theEducation Department, watershed associations andcommittees by the DRDA, water and health committees

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by the Public Health Department, water usersassociation by the Irrigation Department, and MahilaMandals (women’s associations) by the Women and ChildDepartment.

One of the most successful one is the Andhra PradeshTribal Development Project.

The APTDP established a variety of local-levelinstitutions, including SHGs, cluster-level associationsof SHGs, user groups/village development committees(such as for education, health, irrigation, soilconservation and grain banks) and a nodal institutionin the form of VTDAs. The latter were conceived on theone hand as the forum for the expression of communitypriorities and concerns and on the other hand as ameans of delivering projects and programmes to thecommunities. The leaders and members of VTDAs werechosen by the communities as their representatives,and generally this selection required the approval ofthe traditional councils of elders, so that the relationshipbetween the new and the old did exist, albeit on aninformal basis.

In addition, one novel concept introduced was theformation of community coordination teams consistingof groups of dedicated young professionals who lived intribal villages to assist in social mobilization, awareness-building and the identification of needs and prioritiesaround which development interventions could be built.

Overall, the project has created space duringimplementation for a multi-stakeholder approach witha specific focus on tribal people. The project saw tribalpeople as partners in the improvement of their ownnatural resource base and means of livelihood withprogramme management that is initiated, executed andmonitored by the community. The creation of thrift andcredit groups has increased their habit of savings. The



programmes focused on various aspects like, education,health, income generation activities, agriculturaldevelopment, self-help groups etc.

Urban Community Development Programmes

Urban community development programmes can alsobe promoted by government or by voluntary organizationsor member organizations. Such community initiativeshave been reported in the work of urban sanitation,urban housing and urban health. All of this requiresan external element of support or initiative coming froma few individuals or groups. Case studies presentedbelow are only indicative to the extent to whichcommunity groups can actively work towards claimingcitizenship and their fundamental right for a decentliving. Organizations world wide like the Slum and Shackdwellers International and their partners in variouscountries have made a world of difference in housingand sanitation issues. Organizations like the slumJagathu of Bangalore have also played an importantrole in raising community consciousness and invokingmoral responsibility among those who govern includingbureaucracy and legislature.

Some of the successful community developmentprogrammes in urban areas are presented below.

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)

This scheme launched in 1997, has two components ofthe Urban Self-Employment Programme (USEP) and theUrban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) These weresubstituted for various programmes operating earlierfor urban poverty alleviation. Like its rural counterpartthis scheme also builds on the group approach at dealingwith self-employment issues

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Kudumbashree Programme

Kudumbashree is a government programme for povertyalleviation of women experimented first in an urbansetting in Alappuzha, which was later scaled up toselected Panchayats. In this scheme womenrepresentatives of all the neighbourhoods in a ward aregrouped into an area development society(ADS) chairedby the Panchayat member. The ADS of all the wards ina Panchayat are federated into a Panchayat levelDevelopment committee chaired by the Panchayatpresident. In other words, this is a programme for povertyalleviation that seeks to bring all poor women organizedfor micro-credit under the governmental umbrella. Ithas its basic in the neighbourhood groups approach.

This was launched in Alappuza Municipality in 1993for poverty eradication with a difference. The missionwas to eradicate poverty through concerted communityaction under the leadership of local governments, byfacilitating organization of the poor for combining self-help with demand led convergence of available servicesand resources to tackle the multiple dimensions andmanifestations of poverty, holistically. The basic unitwas the neighbourhood group federated as Areadevelopment societies (ADS) at the ward level and thesewere federated to form the community developmentsociety(CDS) at the town level. Various developmentalprogrammes like water supply training for women tostart income generating units managerial training orthe elected members of the ADS and CDS, health andeducation camps, construction of dual pit latrines. Thiscommunity based organizations of AlappuzhaMunicipality contributed to the success of theparticipatory approach for poverty eradication. Theneighbourhood groups of 20-40 women membersbelonging to risk families of the neighbourhoodconcerned elected one woman as their leader and she



was designated as RCV( resident community volunteer).Another women was elected as the president of the NHG.Three other women were elected as communityvolunteers and those volunteers have specificresponsibilities and tasks, focusing on communityhealth, infrastructure and income generation activities.The committee of the NHG comprised of these five electedwomen. NHGs generate the micro plans which areincorporated in an ADS under mini plan, which wasconsolidated into a town plan by the CDS which isregistered society under the Travencore-Cochin Literary,Scientific and Charitable societies Act of 1955.

The Kudumbahshree project because of its in-builtparticipatory character has achieved tremendoussuccess. This has resulted in the government of Keralaextending the CDS system to all the 57 towns in Keralathrough a government order giving legitimacy to theentire project helping the poor women.

The case study of SPARC and its work with cooperativesof women pavement and slum dwellers (Mahila Milan)and the National Slum Dwellers Federation, shows agreat range of activities involving hundreds of thousandsof urban poor which have received little foreign funding.

The NGO SPARC, was earlier working with pavementdwellers in Mumbai by providing them with a space tomeet and discuss their problems. This led to theformation of women’s groups for savings and credit andthe establishment of Mahila Milan, a women pavementdweller’s organization. Mahila Milan took up thechallenge of making themselves visible, developing waysto deal with such common crises like eviction, policeharassment, and obtaining water and ration cards.Various groups’ experiences were collectively andcontinuously analyzed to develop the organization’sstrength and bargaining power with the authorities.

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Then an alliance was stuck between National SlumDwellers Federation (NSFD), a loose coalition of localfederations active in many cities and Mahila Milan. TheAlliance began to develop an educational andorganizational strategy for community learning, withpilot projects. The learning was expanded throughcontinuous exchanges between low-income settlements;this has been at the centre of its work ever since.

The alliance began to explore the building of securehouses (in terms of tenure). This it did through a seriesof activities that involved upgrading member’s knowledgeand confidence in building and undertaking such tasks.“Shack-counting”, through community-initiated andmanaged surveys and maps, helped communities toidentify their problems and develop their priorities. Thisalso produced a visual representation of their situation,which helped the development of physical improvementsand helped in the negotiations with external agencies.Community members learnt how to develop their ownhomes - how to get land, to build, to keep costs down, tomanage professionals, to develop new materials, toinstall infrastructure and to negotiate with governmentagencies. They developed designs through collectivehouse-modeling, which usually included developing full-scale models which are discussed through communityexchanges. This has resulted in the construction of over3,500 houses built with permanent collective tenure,and 5,000 borrowers.

Conclusion

We have discussed the concept of communitydevelopment as a process facilitated by externalagencies, with people and their development as a centralfocus. In community development the social worker isconcerned with issues of social justice, equity, self-



reliance and participation. The leadership of communityis encouraged.

We have explored the concept of accountability to meananswerability to the people, the donor agencies,government bodies and NGO partners. There is a needfor proper accountability systems so that responsibilityis clearly mentioned and people held accountable totheir work. Community participation is a key toaccountability.

We have explored the various community developmentprogrammes within the rural, tribal and urban areasin some detail. There are initiatives that are both peopleled and government and NGO inspired. There is a needfor convergence of all these programmes especially thosefor poverty alleviation that are truly participatory andcommunity monitored and implemented. We can learnfrom the success of the initiatives and transfer these tovarious other programmes.

References

Butcher H., Glen A; Henderson P; and Smith J: (1993)Community and Public Policy, London, Pluto Press

Jim Ife (1995 )Community Development Wesley LongmanSydney

Mizrahi Terry and Davis Larry E (2008) Encyclopedia ofSocial Work Vol I NASW Press & Oxford University PressNew York.

Marie Weil (2004) The Handbook of Community PracticeSage Publications London.

Uphoff Normon and Krishna Anirudh & Esman J.(eds).(1998) Reasons for Hope: Instructive Experiences inRural Development Sage Publications New Delhi,

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Singh Kartar (1999) Rural Development in India SagePublications

A.R. Desai (2005) Rural India in Transition, 2nd ed PopularPrakashan Mumbai

History and concept of Kudumbashree programmewww.kudumbashree.org accessed on 26th October 2008.


6

* Dr. Neera Agnimitra, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Community Organisation:Concept, Value Orientation and

Assumptions*Neera Agnimitra

Introduction

There are three basic methods of working with people(individuals, groups and communities). You have alreadystudied two methods namely social case work and socialgroup work. While social case work is oriented towardshelping individuals on one to one basis, social groupwork aims at facilitating the growth and developmentof individuals through the medium of a group. The thirdbasic method of working with people is communityorganization. This method aims at developing thecapacity of the community to function as integrated unit.This empowers the community to take planned andcollective action to handle its own needs, problems andobjectives. Community organization is a well establishedmethod in social work. It has value orientation and itspractice is guided by a set of general principles.

Meaning and Definition of CommunityOrganisation

Meaning

In the earlier chapters, you have been oriented to thedefinition and concept of community, as also the profiles

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of rural, urban and tribal communities. The communityprovides the setting and its needs, problems, issuesand concerns provide the focus for communityorganisation, as a method of social work practice.

Community is one of the several levels of interventionin society. There are personal or interpersonalinterventions with individuals and families; andmacroscale efforts to influence public policy in the largersociety. Community interventions are the ones that takecollective action and mediate between the individualand the society (Weil, 1997).

The terms community work, community practice,community organization and community empowermentare often used in social work literature. Sometimes theyare used to refer to the same type of work, while attimes they are used to refer to different types of work.In general however, the terms community work,community practice and community organization aretreated synonymously, both in the liberal as well as inthe tradition of community intervention. In the morecontemporary context, the term “community practice”is acquiring greater usage as it encompasses withinitself of four central processes: development,organization, planning and action for progressive socialchange. Together, these processes form social work’smajor method of actively working for social justice (Weil,2005).

Definitions

To study and to be able to engage in communityorganization practice, it is necessary to have a cleardefinition or set of definitions. There are severaldefinitions available in literature. These have evolvedat different times and in differing contexts. Let us lookat some of the more widely accepted definitions ofcommunity organization.

Community Organisation: Concept, Value Orientation...


1. Lindeman: Lindeman’s book in the year 1921 wasthe first to appear on what became known in NorthAmerica as Community Organization. He definedcommunity organization as “those phases of socialorganization which constitute a conscious effort on thepart of a community to control its affairs democratically,and to secure the highest services from its specialists,organizations, agencies and the institutions by meansof recognized interrelations.”

2. Murray G. Ross: In the second half of 1940s, anumber of works on community organization appeared,perhaps the best of which was that by Murray G.Rossin 1955. His work contributed to the immensepopularization of the practice of community organisationin the U.S. He saw community organization as “a processby which a community identifies its needs or objectives,develops the confidence and will do work at these needsor objectives, finds the resources (external and internal)to deal with these needs and objectives, takes action inrespect of them, and in doing so, extends and developscooperative and collaborative attitudes and practicesin the community”. He goes further to identify threemain approaches to community organization: (i) the`specific content’ approach, whereby a worker or anorganization identifies a problem or set of problems andlaunches a programme to meet them; (ii) the `generalcontent’ approach, whereby a group, association orcouncil attempts a coordinated and orderly developmentof services in a particular area; (iii) the `process’approach, where the objective is not the content(facilities or services), but initiation and sustenance ofa process which will involve people within thecommunity in identifying and taking action in respectof their own needs and problems. All these threecomponents related to `content’ and `process’ find a placein his definition.

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3. Harper: Harper (1959) perceived communityorganization as an effort to “bring about and maintainprogressively a more effective adjustment between socialwelfare resources and social needs”. It is concerned with(i) the discovery and definition of need; (ii) theelimination and prevention of social needs anddisabilities; (iii) the articulation of resources and needs;and (iv) the constant readjustment of resources in orderto meet the changing needs better. On a similar noteArthur Dunham (1958, 1970) who was another importantcontributor to the practice of community organizationfelt that social work methodology most commonlyassociated with society, as opposed to individual changeis community work, alternatively defined as communitydevelopment or the new community organization. Thiswas “a process of bringing about and maintainingadjustment between social welfare needs and socialwelfare resources in a geographical area or a functionalfield”.

4. Younghusband: In 1973, Younghusband definedcommunity organization as “primarily aimed at helpingpeople within a local community to identify social needs,to consider the most effective ways of meeting themand to set about doing so, in so far as their availableresources permit”.

5. Peter Baldock: Peter Baldock’s (1974) concept ofcommunity work was very close to the definition ofcommunity organization given by Ross andYounghusband. Baldock opined that community work“is a type of activity practiced by people to identifyproblems and opportunities and to come to realisticdecisions to take collective action to meet these problemsand opportunities in ways that they determine forthemselves. The community worker also supports themin the process of putting decisions, to help them developtheir abilities and independence”.



6. Kramer and Specht: Another definition by Kramerand Specht in 1975, referred to community organizationas “a method of intervention, whereby a professionalchange agent helps a community action system,composed of individuals, groups, or organizations toengage in planned collective action in order to deal withsocial problems within a democratic system of values”.Further, according to them, this method of interventioninvolves two interrelated concerns: (a) the interactionprocess, which includes identifying, recruiting andworking with members and developing organizationaland interpersonal relationships among them, whichfacilitates their efforts; and (b) the technical tasksinvolved in identifying problem areas, analyzing causes,formulating plans, developing strategies and mobilizingthe resources necessary to have effective action.

7. Mc Millan: Mc Millan also contributed to theunderstanding of the concept of community organizationby describing it in a generic sense as “deliberatelydirected efforts to assist groups in attaining a unity ofpurpose and action”. He further elaborates its characterby specifying that “it is practiced, though often withoutrecognition of its character, whenever the objective isto achieve or maintain a pooling of talents and resourcesof two or more groups on behalf of either general orspecific objectives”.

Contemporary Definitions of Community Organisation

In a more contemporary context, Murphy andCunningham (2003) have defined community organizingas “the systematic process for mobilizing and advocatingby using communal power”. They opine that “Organizingfor Community Controlled Development (OCCD)combines community organisations’s mobilization andadvocacy power with neighbourhood investmentstrategies to build a strengthened and revitalized

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community”. They stress on community organizing as itrelates to the small place communities. Further, theycharacterize `place based community organising’ as “aprocess in which local people, united by concern forrenewing their own small territory, plan and act togetherto form an organizational base that they control. It is apractice that involves collective human effort centredon mobilization, advocating, planning and thenegotiation of resources”. In this practice, `mobilisation’includes the building and maintenance of anorganizational base, `planning’ includes fact gathering,assessment and strategic and tactical thinking and`negotiation’ refers to persistent pressure and bargainingfor sufficient resources to achieve goals.

According to this perception, community organizing asa process of change continuously operates on two tracks,the first being the path of pursuit of agree-uponprogramme goals, and the second is the path of building,maintaining and continually renewing an organizationalbase. The ultimate aim of this process is to build‘strengthened’ and ‘revitalised’ communities, wherestrengthening pertains to the unifying and educatinginitiatives of the residents to meet their social, civicand economic responsibilities and ‘revitalizing’ refersto making the place livable, democratic, equitable andtolerant, thereby helping its residents to live with dignityand moral integrity.

Marie Weil has been instrumental in popularizing thebroader term ‘community practice’ to instead ofcommunity organization. Community practice includes“work to improve the quality of life and increase socialjustice through social and economic development,community organizing, social planning and progressivesocial change”. She visualized it to be “a cooperativeeffort between practitioners and affected individuals,groups, organizations, communities and coalitions”. It



is also interesting to delve a little deeper into the fourcentral processes of (a) Development, which focuses onempowering citizens to work in united ways to changetheir lives and environments in relation to their livingconditions, economic conditions, and social, employmentand opportunity structures; (b) Organizing whichincludes the processes of community organizing thatengage citizens in projects to change social, economicand political conditions. It includes neighbourhoodorganizing, development of local leadership and coalitiondevelopment; (c) Planning, which relates to socialplanning engaged in by citizens, advocacy groups, publicand voluntary sector planners to design programmesand services that are appropriate to given communitiesor regions. It also involves design of more effectiveservices and the reform of human service systems; and(d) Progressive change, encompassing the actions takenby groups to effect positive social, economic and politicalchange.(Weil, 2004)

Scholars and practitioners like Rubin and Rubin,¸ in2005, added another dimension to the definition ofcontemporary community organising. Their definitionas also other definitions based on the consensus modelsof community organizing have sought theoreticalgrounding and support from scholars like Putnam whohave studied social networks and ‘social capital’. Putnamstudied associational behaviour and proposed that“joining enabled people to build social capital, whichwas much like economic capital. People could rely onsocial relationships and use them as an exchange forsupport and assistance”. (Putnam, 2000)

Putnam’s work was quickly adopted by, those workingwith communities, and ‘social capital’ has subsequentlybeen as the core of community organizing.

Rubin and Rubin incorporated this core element in theirdefinition of contemporary community organization. The

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process of community organization has been describedby them as “the process of helping people understandthe shared problems they face while encouraging themto join together to fight back”. According to them,“organizing builds on the social linkages and networksthat bring people together to create firm bonds forcollective action. It creates a durable capacity to bringabout change”. (Rubin and Rubin as cited in Weil, 2005)

In a similar vein, Loffer defines community organizationas “the process of building trusting relationships, mutualunderstanding and shared actions that bring togetherindividuals, communities and institutions. This processenables cooperative action that generates opportunityand/or resources realized through networks, sharednorms, and social agency”. (Loffer et al, 2004)

Similarly, Staples (2004) focuses on a definition thatincludes “dual emphasis on participatory process andsuccessful outcomes” and the establishment ofdisciplined and structured organizations as vehicles forchange. This conception of community organizationincludes both community or social development in whichpeople use cooperative strategies to create improvements,opportunities, structures, goods and services thatincrease the quality of community life, and social actionin which people convince, pressurise, or coerce decisionmakers to meet predetermined goals. Therefore,according to contemporary practitioners like Staples,community building models that encourage consensusand social action models that promote conflict can beused simultaneously or sequentially.

An examination of the aforementioned definitions ofcommunity organization reveals certain importantelements. These are:

1. Community organization has been perceived bothas a ‘process’ and a ‘method’. The use of the word



‘process’ brings into focus the movement from theidentification of an objective or a set of objectivesto the attainment of the same. It also signifies thecapacity of the community to function as anintegrated unit, as it deals with one or more commonproblems. Moreover, this process may be consciousor unconscious, voluntary or involuntary, short orof long duration. The use of the word ‘process’ todescribe community organization also connotes acourse of action aimed at preparing the members ofthe community for developmental action. Thiscourse of action includes a number of inter-relatedsteps including: (a) Identification of needs, problemsand objectives; (b) Prioritisation or ranking of theneeds, problems and objectives according to theirrelative importance and urgency; (c) Developingconfidence and determination among communitymembers to meet their needs and solve theirproblems; (d) Helping them to take appropriatedecisions in all these regards; (e) Mobilisingresources, in the form of men, money and materialsfrom within the community and outside, necessaryto deal with their decisions and plans; (f) Executingtheir plan of action with proper monitoring of theactivities, and taking corrective measures, ifrequired; and (g) Educating others on the strengthof collective action, collaborative attitudes andprocesses of self help.

When described as a ‘method’, communityorganization implies the use of a systematic,structured, ordered and conscious way of actionused by the change agent or the communityorganizer to achieve certain pre-determined aims/objectives. The use of specific skills at the level ofthe organizer ensure that this method of communityorganization is distinct from the occurrence of

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sporadic community events which break theotherwise normal community life.

2. Community organization is directed towards theachievement of both short-term and long termobjectives. While the short term objectives involveidentifying and ranking the needs and problems ofthe community and conscious intervention by thechange agent to facilitate the community to fulfillneeds or overcome problems, the long termobjectives are oriented towards building the capacityof the community to function as an integrated unit.The latter involves helping the community to developits problem solving and self help qualities, so thatit can address the recurrence of the problem or theemergence of newer problems or work towardsfulfillment of its future needs with full confidenceand autonomy. Viewed in this perspective,community organisation is an empowering andcapacitating enterprise.

3. Community organization involves working with thecommunity system, and thus entails working at thelevel of individuals, groups, organizations,community and coalitions.

4. Community organization has also been viewed as aprocess of change which concurrently operates attwo levels, the first being the pursuit forachievement of certain programme/service orientedgoals, the second being the path of building,maintaining and continually renewing anorganizational base. Thus, community organizationas a concept focuses both on development orientedgoals as also the ultimate goal of “getting organized”.Organizing is the process by which people developsome sort of structure for joining together over time.It takes its most basic expression when individualsform a coherent unity and establish a mechanism



for systematic planning and limited effort. Thisorganizing is the key dynamic in the process ofcommunity change (Biddle and Biddle, 1965). In fact,as the community goes through the drill of planning,procuring, operating and reviewing, it produces aunique organization shaped by its local social,political and economic conditions. Building,maintaining and renewing this organizational baseis of immense significance for community change.

5. The process of community organization may notalways be a natural, spontaneous process. It mayalso be a deliberative and engineered one. While itmay sometimes evolve without the assistance of theprofessional change agent, it often has to beinitiated, nourished and developed by a professionalworker, who has the requisite skill and theexperience to help people to plan and progressivelymove toward achieving their agreed on goals.

6. Community organization is not value free, as itadopts democratic values; accepts the culturalfabric of the community and aims at creatingequitable, tolerant and socially and economicallyjust communities. It operates on the basis ofbuilding consensus and self help and simultaneouslydirects the community towards a positive changethrough appreciation of this value system.

7. ‘Community practice’ and ‘community work’ aremore broad-based terms which find a greater usagein contemporary context. They are used to describethe cooperative effort between the practitioners andthe community system. They include work to achievesocial and economic development of the community,community organizing, social planning andprogressive social change. Thus, communityorganizing, which encompasses neighbourhoodorganizing, local leadership development and

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coalition development is one core component ofcommunity practice

8. Social capital has been recognized as a coreingredient in community organizing. It refers to theconnections among individuals and the norms ofreciprocity and trust worthiness that facilitate civicengagement, social solidarity and cooperation formutual benefit. It is therefore the fundamentalsource of strength for the community. Incommunities with strong social capital, thecommunity organization process is fostered. On theother hand, in communities with weak social capital,people find it difficult to cooperate, collaborate andjoin together for collective action.

9. Community organization as a conception has beenshown to include both community or socialdevelopment and social action. In other words,community building models that encourageconsensus, and social action models that promoteconflict often co exist and can be usedsimultaneously or sequentially. While thecommunity building model is also the prevailingmodel used in many international settings,endeavors to bring about large scale systemicchanges are also increasingly being undertaken andthey represent the social action approach. (We willhowever consider Social Action as a distinct methodof social work and will focus on it as a separateblock altogether).

Community Organisation in Social Work

We have discussed the meaning and definition ofcommunity organization in the last section. Now let usbriefly locate its position in the domain of social workpractice.



Although community residents have always workedcollaboratively on common needs and concerns, theevolution of formal practice interventions for communitywork has its origins in the United Kingdom and theUnited States in the late 19th century. With theformalization of social work as a profession, communityorganization came to be recognized as a method of socialwork practice. As a result, an increasing number ofprofessionals began working in communities. Duringthe initial phase, community work was primarily aimedat trying to help community members to enhance theirsocial adjustment, and viewed in this context it wasrecognized as a method of social work. It was also viewedas a means to coordinate the work of voluntary agencies.

In India, the experience of working with a slumcommunity in the city of Mumbai led to theestablishment of the first institution of social work inthe year 1936. Community work, as a method of socialwork in the Indian context has been largely seen as aprocess of developing local initiatives, especially in thearea of education, health and agricultural development.The focus of work has been, to encourage people toarticulate their needs and facilitate them to avail theexisting resources to meet their needs. Further, in thesituation where there exists a gap between needs andresources, further efforts are made to initiate newservices/programmes.

In social work literature, we find the terms “communitywork”, “community organization”, communitydevelopment” and “community practice” being used. Attimes these terms are used interchangeably for the workundertaken with communities. Some authors have usedthese terms for the same type of work while others haveused them to refer to different types of work withcommunities. For example, Dunham has used the termscommunity work, community development and new

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community organization alternatively, to refer to thesame type of work. According to him the social workmethodology most commonly associated with society asopposed to individual change is community work,alternatively referred to as community development orthe new community organization. (Dunham, 1958, 1970).Peter Baldock’s concept of community work is very closeto the definitions of community organization given byRoss and Younghusband.

Ross has identified three approaches to communityorganization: (i) the ‘specific content’ approach; (ii) the‘general content’ approach; and (iii) the ‘process’approach (which have been elaborated in the previoussection). However, while he has included all theseelements in his definition of community organization,he describes community organization as essentially a“process by which the community identifies its needsor objectives…….and develops cooperative andcollaborative attitudes and practices in the community”.In essence, when engagement with the community takesthe form of a “process”, comprising of a series ofinterrelated steps or stages, it can be characterized ascommunity organization.

Authors like Marie Weil have popularized the usage ofthe term “community practice”. According to her“communities are the context of all social work practice,and community practice emphasises working mutuallywith citizen groups, cultural and multicultural groupsand organizations, and human service organizations toimprove life options and opportunities in community”.Additionally, she describes it as “work to improve thequality of life and enhancement of social justice for thecommunity through social and economic development,community organizing, social planning and progressivesocial change”. In other words community practice relieson community organizing as a means to achieve its goals.



The Encyclopedia of Social Work (20th Edition), 2008also describes “social work that has emerged from thefocus on community issues as community practice”. Soin the contemporary global context, the term “communitypractice” is being applied to denote the broad set ofinterventions with geographic and/or functionalcommunities, and is therefore, finding a much widerusage as compared to the term “communityorganization” or “community work”.

Thus, we see that the aforementioned terms may beused to represent different components/areas ofcommunity work or may be used inter changeably.However, it is easy to see that there are fundamentalsimilarities in their interpretation and usage and theirmeanings are found to be overlapping.

What is also important for us here is to understandthat the community has not only been a context and asetting for social work practice ever since the genesis ofthe profession, but has also been a means and a vehicleto usher in social change. Being a core method of socialwork, community work is used to attain the same basicobjectives as case work and group work. Like all methodsof social work, it is also concerned with the initiation ofthat process which enables the community to overcomethose blocks (apathy, discrimination, dependency,injustice, vested interests etc.) which prevent thecommunity from working together; facilitate release ofpotentialities; encourage use of indigenous resourcesand promote growth of cooperative attitudes and skillswhich make possible achievement of increasinglydifficult community objectives.

Another important aspect that needs to be understoodis the change in the stance assumed by the definitionsof community work/organization. Most definitions whicharose in the western context in the earlier time framerepresented the consensual approach to community

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work. This concept of community work/organizationprimarily looks at the community as a well definedgeographical or functional unit, and the process ofcommunity organization is seen as an effort to meet theneeds of the target population through internal resourcesand initiative coupled with outside help, in the form ofexpertise and resources.

Viewed in this framework, community work wasprimarily concerned with affecting social change througha process of analyzing social situations and formingsocial relationships with different groups to bring aboutdesirable change. The three main objectives ofcommunity work were (1) To involve people in thinking,deciding, planning and playing an active part in thedevelopment/operation of services; (2) To facilitateachievement of personal fulfillment of belonging to acommunity; and(3) To work under constant tensions between people’sdiverse, often conflicting demands and the scareresources available to meet them.

Gradually, interpretations of community work startedacquiring a more radical tone. As early as 1968, theGulbenkian Study Group set up by the GulbenkianFoundation argued that community work is a means ofgiving life to local democracy and is a part of a protestagainst apathy and complacency and against a remoteand anonymous authority. Others like Ecklein (1972)also felt that community organizers are concerned with“advancing the interests of the disadvantagedgroups…..with redistribution of power and influence”.

Community work in the West was primarily conceivedin urban locales with incidence of poverty, delinquency,unemployment and poor housing. It laid stress onproviding necessary expertise in getting people to bebetter organized and to identify more efficient strategiesfor meeting their needs.



The important factors that were expected to facilitatepeople’s participation in community work were (a) theleisure time available to people; and (b) the level of civicand social consciousness which helped people to takeinitiative. However, the situation has been quite differentin the Indian context, where people neither have thetime, nor civic and social consciousness. The socioeconomic milieu, high rates of unemployment andabsolute poverty, coupled with the dominance of caste,religion and regional affiliations make it difficult for acivil society to emerge community work in Indiatherefore throws up concerns which are vastly differentfrom those which pertain to the west. These howeverform the focus of another unit elsewhere in this block.

Additionally, at this stage we also need to be cognizantof a number of contemporary challenges confrontingcommunity workers. They must grapple with much morerapid and far reaching social changes than in the past.The shift to a global economy, increased privatization,the decline of the welfare estate, changes in informationand communication technology represent significant anddifficult challenges for community workers today. Weshall delve deeper into some such challenges confrontingcommunity work in another section. At present itsuffices to understand that it is this increasingly complexand multidimensional nature of the modern societywhich makes the increasing use of communityorganization method an essential pre-requisite for thesmooth functioning of the society itself.

Guiding Values And Purposes of Commu-nity Organisation

Community organization, as we have understood it sofar is an integral part of social work practice. In thepractice of community organization some questions arise

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as to how it should be undertaken. Are there any guidingvalues and purposes of community organization? Arethere any guidelines or principles that may guide it indeciding as to what is sound or socially desirable in thecommunity organization process? How do we ensurebetter chances of success in achieving the objectives ofcommunity organization? We will deal with suchquestions in this section.

Value Orientation in Community Organisation

Community organization derives from a unique frameof reference, the nature of which is based on a particularvalue orientation. As in social work, the focus ofcommunity organization practice is also guided by asystem of personal and professional values.

What are these values? Values are beliefs that delineatepreferences about how one ought or ought not to behave.Such formulations of values obviously have somesubjective element. We seek a position or an objectivewe prefer; we value what we think embraces humandignity. There may not be any data to prove that this is“right”, “better” or “desirable”. It is largely a matter ofchoice based upon preference for a particular positionor objective. There may be a combination of wisdom,experiences and facts that may support this position,but ultimately it is a matter of choice and preference.

The value orientation of community organisation as ofall social work methods derives from acceptance ofcertain basic concepts and principles as a foundationfor work with people. These core values which are nowincreasingly being reflected in the professional code ofethics in many countries are also reaffirmed in theinternational definition of social work, given by theInternational Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) inthe year 2000. This is as follows:



“The social work profession promotes social change,problem solving in human relationships, and theempowerment and liberation of people to enhance wellbeing. Utilizing theories of human behaviour and socialsystems, social work intervenes at the points wherepeople interact with their environments. Principles ofhuman rights and social justice are fundamental tosocial work” (IFSW 2003).

The core values reflected in the aforementioneddefinition of social work as also those which find a placein the code of ethics adopted by professional associationsof social workers include: dignity and worth of the person,importance of human relationships, social justice,human rights and human dignity, integrity andcompetence, and professional conduct.

Ross has provided certain articles of faith whichrepresent the value orientation to communityorganization (and, indeed all of social work). Among theseare: (i) the essential dignity and ethical worth of theindividual; (ii) the possession of potentialities andresources in each person for managing his own life; (iii)the importance of freedom of expression of one’sindividuality; (iv) the great capacity for growth withinall social beings; (v) the right of the individual to basicphysical necessities; (vi) the need for the individual tostruggle and strive to improve his own life andenvironment; (vii) the right of the individual to help intime of need and crisis; (viii) the need of a social climatewhich encourages individual growth and development;(ix) the right and the responsibility of the individual toparticipate in the affairs of the community; (x) thepracticability and importance of discussion, conference,and consultation as methods for the solution ofindividual and social problems; (xi) the importance of asocial organization for which the individual feelsresponsible and which is responsive to individual feeling;

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and (xii) “self help” as the essential base of anyprogramme of aid. Ross refers to these and otherorientations as constituting the “bias” of social work,which condition its goals and precludes certain types ofaction as being more useful (Ross, 1967).

So we see quite clearly that community organization amethod of social work practice is value-oriented anddedicated to the implementation of those goals whichare implicit in the value orientation of the social workprofession. As a method, community organization strivesto secure certain value laden goals.

Guiding Purposes of Community Organisation

To engage with community groups, community workersmust also be able to define specific purposes for suchengagement. These purposes should be developed inconjunction with those with whom the practitioner worksand provide the central motivation for practitioners andcommunity members to move toward a commonmutually supported goal.

Weil and Gamble have provided a set of eight purposeswhich provide the basis for most community practiceengagement. (Weil and Gamble 2004). Thesepurposes are:

1. Improving the quality of life of the members of thecommunity.

2. Extending human rights by developing participatorystructures and opportunities and deepeningdemocracy for citizens who are excluded and feelpowerless to influence policies that have an effecton their lives.

3. Advocacy for a community of interest, such aschildren; for a specific issues such as political andsocial rights for women and marginalizedpopulations.



4. Human social and economic development to assuresocial support, economic viability and sustainabilityby expanding participation and building grassrootsleadership; building economic, social and politicalassets for the poor in impoverished urban and ruralareas.

5. Service and programme planning for a newlyrecognized or re-conceptualized need or to serve anemerging population.

6. Service integration developing local to national andinternational means of coordinating human servicesfor populations in need.

7. Political and social action to build political powerfor the economically and socially marginalized,protect the weak and the poor, foster institutionalchange for inclusion and equity, and increaseparticipatory democracy and equality of access andopportunity in local, regional and internationalefforts.

8. Social Justice to build toward human equality andopportunity across race, ethnicity, gender andnationality.

In conclusion, the community worker who has a focuson values and purpose, and who makes those explicitwith community groups, will have a greater capacity todevelop mutually respectful relationships with the groupmembers and to work as a facilitator to find sufficientcommon ground for collaborative action.

Assumptions Regarding Method

According to Ross, community organization derives froma unique frame of reference, which assumes a distinctform due to a particular value orientation which stemsfrom traditional religious values which have been

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expanded to form the basis of social work philosophy; aparticular conception of the problems confrontingmodern man in the community and certain assumptionsthat influence the method (Ross, 1955). While we havecovered the first component in the previous section,and we will cover the second component in another unit,let us look at the assumptions that influence the methodof community organization, which derive in part fromthe value orientation of, and in part from experiencesin social work. Some of these are as follows:

1. Communities of people can develop capacity todeal with their own problems. This implies thatthe community people may confront situations inwhich they feel disenchanted and hopeless, but theycan nevertheless develop attitudes and skills whichpermit them to work towards shaping theircommunity appropriately to meet their needs.

2. People want change and can change. This impliesthat communities of people constantly change theirways of life and are interested in making their livesbetter. The will to change is often paralysed bychallenging social forces, but if blocks to freethinking and feeling are removed, all people willparticipate in changes which aim to meet their needsmore adequately.

3. People should participate in making, adjusting,or controlling the major changes taking place intheir communities. This assumption implies thatpeople should have the opportunity to organize toachieve their own common goals, plan theadjustments which must be made in response tocertain changes which are beyond their control, andto regulate their own communities as far aspossible.



4. Changes in community living which are self-imposed or self-developed have a meaning andpermanence that imposed changes do not haveIn the community, people as they strive towardsachievement of their goals, modify and developcapacities consistent with these goals. In the processthe culture as a whole adjusts to the changes thatare taking place. Changes such as these are selfimposed and determined last longer than those thatare externally imposed, because in the lattersituation, the community does not feel any sense ofparticipation or conscious planning for adjustmentto such changes.

5. A “holistic approach” can deal successfully withproblems with which a “fragmented approach”cannot cope. This implies that social problems canbe dealt with by adopting more coordinatedapproaches rather than piecemeal initiatives by theseparate social agencies working apart from eachother. Most of the problems have multiple causationand a single specialized approach to the problemwill have limited value.

6. Democracy requires cooperative participationand action in the affairs. Of the community, andthat people must learn the skills which make thispossible. There must be active participation in thedevelopment and use of an effective communicationprocess, which facilitates the identification ofcommon objectives and implementation of collectiveaction. People may require practice and the help ofexperts to establish and maintain democraticcommunity institutions.

7. Frequently, communities of people need help inorganizing to deal with their needs. This help maybe of diverse types, ranging from advice, to

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resources/inputs, or programme designing etc.While people may possess their own resources andcapacities, they may often require professional helpin mobilizing them effectively.

The aforementioned assumptions condition the natureof community organization, the methods used by thecommunity organizer in the field and the principlesapplicable in the process.

Conclusion

The aim of this chapter was to provide you guidelines tounderstand the basic concept of community organizationas a method of social work practice. We have discussedin detail the meaning of community organization andalso provided the different definitions in a chronologicalorder, along with their explanations. You have also beenoriented to the more contemporary definitions andunderstanding of community organization andcommunity practice. An analysis of the definitions hasalso been undertaken to reveal the core components ofcommunity organization.

Having explained the meaning and definition of socialwork, this unit also highlighted the role and importanceof community organization as a method of social workpractice. Additionally, we have discussed the valueorientation, purposes and assumptions underlying themethod of community organization. Having done this,you are now in a position to recognize and appreciatethe importance of the values and assumptions and willbe able to integrate them while practicing communityorganization in the field.



Reference

Baldock, Peter. (1974). Community Work and SocialWork, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Biddle, W.E., & Biddle, L.J. (1965). The CommunityDevelopment Process: The Rediscovery of LocalInitiatives, Holt, Rinehard, & Winston, New York.

Dunham, Arthur. (1957). Community WelfareOrganisation: Principles and Practice, Thomas Y.Crowell Company, New York.

Ecklein, Joan. (Ed.). (1972). Community Organisers,Johan Wiley and Sons, NewYork.

Gangrade, K.D. (1971). Community Organisation inIndia, Popular Prakashan, Bombay.

Harper,E.B., & Dunham Arthur. (1959). CommunityOrganisation in Action, Association Press, New York.

Henderson, Paul. & Thomas, David. N. (Eds.). (1981).Readings in Communty Work, George Allen andUnwin, London.

International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW). (2003).Ethics in Social Work: Statement of Principles, http://www.ifse.org?GM2004//GM-Ethics-draft.html

Kramer, Ralph. M., & Specht, Harry. (1975). Readingsin Community Organisation Practice, Prentice-Hall,Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Lindeman, E. (1921). The Community, Association Press,New York.

McMillan, D.W., & Chavis, D.M. (1986). Sense ofCommunity: A Definition and Theory, Journal ofCommunity Psychology, 14:6.

Murphy, P.W., & Cunningham, J.V. (2003). Organisingfor Community Controlled Development: RenewingCivil Society, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks,C.A.

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Putnam, R.D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse andRevival of American Community, Simon andSchuster, New York.

Ross, M.G. (1967). Community Organisation, Harper andRow, New York.

Rubin, H.J., & Rubin, I. (2005). The Practice ofCommunity Organising. In M. Weil (Ed.), TheHandbook of Community Practice, SagePublications, Thousand Oaks, C.A.

Staples, L. (2004a). Roots to Power: A Manual forGrassroots Organising (2nd ed.), Praeger, Westport,CT.

Siddiqui, H.Y. (1997). Working with Communities, HiraPublications, New Delhi.

Weil, M. & Gamble, D. (1995). Community PracticeModels, In R.L. Edwards, (Ed.). Encyclopedia ofSocial Work, Nineteenth Edition, NASW, Washington,DC.

Weil, Marie. (Ed.). (1997). Community Practice: Modelsin Action, The Haworth Press Inc, New York.

Weil, M. (2005b). The Handbook of Community Practice,Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, C.A.

Younghusband, Eileen. (1973). Which Way for SocialWork, Community Development Journal, 8(1).


7

History of CommunityOrganisation

*Neera Agnimitra

Introduction

An orientation to the history of community organizationhelps us to understand the genesis and evaluation ofwhat we now recognize as community organization. Itenables us to familiarize ourselves with the problemsand challenges faced by the human service professionalsin different phases of practice, the strategies andapproaches developed to overcome them, and the concretelessions learnt for maximizing possibilities of change inthe context of present day action.

In a broad sense we can say that the history ofcommunity organization is as old as the history ofmankind. Wherever people have lived together, someform of organization must have always emerged andfunctioned in order to achieve some common goals or tomeet certain common needs of the community.Gradually, together with these informal associations,formal organizations also must have been set up to givea more formal shape and form to such initiatives ofsocietal welfare.

Community organization as a process and a method isaimed at solving the contemporary problems existing ina specific time frame, by adopting democratic principlesand people participation. Viewed in this context, the


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beginning of community organization for social welfarecan be traced to seventeenth century England, whenthe Elizabethan Poor Law (1601) was set up to provideservices for the needy persons. The formation of theLondon Society for the organization of Charitable Reliefand Repressing Mendicancy and the origin of theSettlement House Movement in 1880 were the otherlandmarks in the history of community organization.

Although little has been documented about the historyof community organization, it has been practiced as amethod of social work in many western countriesincluding Australia and the United States of America.Apart from the United Kingdom, it has had a long andactive history in the United States of America. Thepractice of community organization in these twocountries has influenced the practice of communityorganization in the Indian context.

As students of social work, especially of communityorganization, it is important to understand the past,draw lessons from it, and develop and evolve newmodels, methods and strategies required to work withthe new and emerging problems confrontingcontemporary communities. In this chapter, we will betracing the history of community organization in theUnited Kingdom and the United States of America,followed by a brief historical profile of communityorganization practice in India

Community Organisation in the UnitedKingdom

British community work emerged from the charity workof the Anglican Church and the University SettlementMovement. It was primarily a response to the sufferingof the people in the clutches of urban poverty. In otherwords we can say that the genesis of community work

History of Community Organisation


in the U.K. was inspired by philanthropic motives;particularly of the church.

As the 20th century progressed, there began to emerge agradual transition away from charity and benevolentpaternalism towards a philosophy of liberation. This inturn led to a change in class and gender consciousness.It was during this time that people like Sylvia Pankhurstand groups like the Women’s Housing Associationadapted ideas of self help from the Chicago settlementthat Jane Addams had modeled based on Toynbee Hall.Pankhurst set up a cooperative factory to provideemployment, and a crèche based on education throughplay. She also initiated community action when duringthe First World War (1914-18), she supported familiesto occupy empty houses, in the wake of escalating rents.The Women’s Housing Association organized a masstenants strike, leading the government to regulate rents.Thus, collective action became popular throughout theearly years of the 20th century, ending in the GeneralStrike of 1926.

Community centres were also built with the aim ofintegrating the marginalized groups, and were seen tooffer a form of social work response to the needs of theworking class and an intervention to control unrest.

In the 1950s, community work practice in the U.K.became influenced by the theory that emerged fromNorth America, based primarily on the work of MurrayRoss. This inspired a new approach to neighbourhoodand interagency work (Popple, 1995).

Community work began to emerge as a distinctoccupation with a strong educational component in the1960s, following the Younghusband Report (1959),which identified community organization as a keycomponent of social work, based on the American Model.Community organization was perceived to be an

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approach to help people identify and define their ownneeds, and identify ways in which these could be met.In this context, Kuenstter (1961) presented the firstcollection of community work material, relevant to theBritish context. This was really the beginning of BritishCommunity Work.

The term ‘community development’ gradually came tobe applied to community work that was based on localneighbourhoods. In 1968, the Gulbenkian Report, basedon research into the role of community work in the U.K.projected community work as an “interface betweenpeople and social change” (Calouste-GulbenkianFoundation, 1968). It defined community work as a fulltime professional practice based on neighbourhoods,which helped local people to decide, plan and take actionto meet their needs with the help of outside resources.Within this, the key components were recognized asimproving the delivery of local services; developinginteragency coordination; and influencing policy andplanning.

A number of other influential reports were alsopublished which had impact on the development ofcommunity work in the country. One of these was theSeebohm Committee Report, 1968, whichrecommended the expansion of community workespecially through social service provision and theSkeffington Report, 1969, which recommendedincreased public participation in urban planning.

The British Community Development Projects werelaunched in 1969 as one among a series of initiativesdesigned to deal with urban deprivation. The projectsaimed at evolving cost effective welfare measures totackle the high concentration of deprivation and adopteda variety of strategies to work with the communities.While some projects operated on ‘dialogue model’ of



social change, and focused largely on ameliorativeactivities, some rejected such approaches, as they onlyprovided ‘support for the status quo’. By and large, theprojects rejected conflict-based community action as ameans of achieving their goals, as it was felt that suchaction was sporadic, alienated the decision-makers andled to group instability. In their view the way to achievechange at the local level was to increase access to, anddemocratic control over the resources that were alreadyavailable. Its goal was to radically change theorganization of resources within the local area, and notto act as an outside pressure group.

The findings of some projects however argued that peopleaffected by inequality need to be facilitated to influencethe way in which their needs are tackled and thereforesaw value in conflict-based community action. Theseprojects recognized the wider structural issues. Theyrecommended a ‘social planning’ strategy, concludingthat the provision of empirical evidence was the mostuseful strategy for influencing policy.

In the period since 1968 a substantial number of thoseprofessionally engaged in community work becameadvocates of ‘community action’, a form of communitywork whose main features included a support ofdisadvantaged groups in conflict with authority and anaccompanying reformist or Marxist perspective onsociety. There were a number of reasons for thisdevelopment. The impulse of urban community actionwas encouraged to some extent by the example of urbanaction among the blacks in the U.S. from Martin Luther.Secondly, developments in community work practice inthe form of the Urban Programme in 1968 and the TwelveCommunity Development projects which emerged fromthis programme in 1969 also impacted the emergenceof community action. The Projects which focused ontwelve poor communities, closely reflected on the impact

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of poverty on people’s lives and advocated that it wasthe radical/structural Marxist analyses of discriminationwhich was responsible for the continued existence ofpoverty and the plight of the urban poor.

Thirdly, the work of community organizers like Gramsci,Paulo Freire and Saul Alinsky started impacting thecommunity work practice in the subsequent phase. Theywee strong advocates of the radical tradition ofcommunity action were largely instrumental inpopularizing the radical stance in community work.

Fourthly, the early seventies had witnessed anincreasing recognition and expansion of communitywork, both through the voluntary and governmentsectors. However as the decade progressed, there was agreater emphasis on state sponsorship of communitywork. This resulted in some inherent contradictions.While community workers were working with the localpeople to organize them and to facilitate them to demandbetter public services, they were employed by the verystate which was responsible for the provision or the‘non’-provision of these services.

As a result of all of the aforementioned developments,two spilt/distinct approaches to community work arose.The first approach believed that there is a multiplicityof competing power bases in society which are mediatedby the state and that community work is only capableof ameliorative small scale neighbourhood organizingand small scale reforms. This approach wasconservative, with an emphasis on consensus andcooperation. On the other hand, the alternate approachstrongly proposed community work as the locus ofchange within the struggle for transformation of thestructures of society that were recognized to be the rootcause of all oppression. This approach, also known asthe radical approach to community work, took on the



‘hard issues’ of social justice and sustainability, whilethe former ‘consensus’ approach focused on the local‘soft issues’ such as provision of services and interagencywork.

Many community practitioners realized the advantagesin combining these two approaches, which had incommon the ultimate objectives of enabling people tocope with their life situations and of developing improvedprovision of services/resources. It was also felt thatboth approaches could support each other. Communityaction might ignore the immediate needs of people, inthe interest of collective cause, while provision of socialservices might ignore the importance of such conditionsand attempt to deal with community problems as thoughthey were individual problems. However, working withand against the state continued to pose an ongoingchallenge for community work, with the state acting asboth employer and oppressor.

After the election of the Thatcher government, the anti-state approach of radical community work became anincreasingly ineffective mechanism to challenge theNeoliberal ideology that emerged and which embraced:a free market economy; minimum government;acceptance of inequalities; nationalism and the welfarestate as a minimal safety net (Giddens, 1998). Thewelfare state ideology which had survived until the1980s now started receding in the wake of economicrecession and the immense welfare burdens on accountof rising unemployment. Ideals of collective responsibilitywhich had formed the basis of the welfare state, gaveway to a competitive culture driven by consumerism.Under Thatcherism, social reforms devoured rights andreduced benefits for some of the most vulnerable groupsin society. These risks of poverty were further multipliedon account of class, gender, ethnicity, age and disability,all of which went to imply that poverty was not a result

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of personal failings of an individual but arose on accountof structural anomalies.

With the election of the Blair government in 1997, asmall change took place. Community and civil societycame to be recognized as the interface between the peopleand the state. With the state playing an enabling role,voluntary organizations were encouraged to tackle thenew needs. There was increasing concern about thoseneighbourhoods which had a high incidence of poverty,unemployment and associated problems of crime, poorhealth, poor service delivery, poor quality schools etc.The focus therefore became the regeneration of poorneighbourhoods. In the year 2000, the National Strategyfor Neighbourhood Renewal was initiated for thispurpose. Area based programmes emerged to tackle thespecific local problems. The idea of community cohesionwas revised. Although it is too early to assess the impactof the National Strategy, limited research evidence hasshown that the community involvement programmesare poorly planned, inadequately resourced and not veryeffective (Burton, 2003).

Thus, in the contemporary phase of community work inthe United Kingdom, both the radical perspective andthe more moderate and consensus based approaches tocommunity work co-exist. There is no consensus onwhich approach is more effective and workable in dealingwith the current dilemmas faced by community workprofessionals.

Community Organization in the UnitedStates of America

The movements in England also impacted the turn ofevents in the United States. In 1880, the CharitiesOrganisation was set up to put rational order in therealm of charity and relief. The development of



community organization within American communitiessince 1865 was concerned both with communityactivities in which professionals were engaged and alsowith indigenous community efforts, especially withinoppressed groups.

For the purpose of analysis American history can bedivided into five phases (Gavin and Cox, 2001). Theseare as follows:

1865 to 1914

During this period between the end of the Civil War andthe beginning of World War I, a number of social issuesemerged in the US and these had a strong impact onthe welfare practices. These included the rapidindustrialization of the country, the urbanization of itspopulation, problems emerging out of immigration andchanges in oppressed populations. These issueshighlighted the need for the emergence of communityorganization practice. Immediately after the Civil Warthere were organizations that sought to support andsustain the newly won civil rights. The blackcommunity, the Chicanos*, the Native Americancommunity and the Asian American Community wereall confronted with problems related to poverty, racerelations, cultural conflicts and marginalization.

Community organization activities during this periodcan be divided into two categories: the first being thosewhich were carried out by institutions related to presentday social welfare activities and the second category ofactivities were those conducted by those with no directconnection to contemporary community organizationprogrammes, but which nevertheless have been ofinterest for community practitioners. The latter includethe organization of political, racial and other actiongroups.

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A number of factors had contributed to the developmentof the Charity Organization Societies in England in 1869and by 1873 in the United States. These Societiesinitially came into existence to coordinate the work ofthe private agencies which provided for the needs of thepoor. Soon they began to offer direct relief and otherservices. A number of social factors contributed to thisdevelopment. These included the movement of largepopulations into cities like those defended fromMexicans, large scale immigration to meet themanpower needs of growing industries and theemergence of many social problems associated in thewake of these, like poverty, inadequate housing,declining health status and exploitation. This led to thedevelopment of agencies directed to ameliorating theseconditions. Separate efforts were also made by groupsassociated with different neighbourhoods, as also ethnicand religious groups.

The main functions of the Charity OrganizationSocieties(COS): were (a) cooperative planning amongcharitable institutions for the amelioration of varioussocial problems and the creation of new social agenciesand the reform of old ones. They were actively engagedin securing reforms in tenement housing codes,developing anti-tubercular associations, obtaininglegislation in support of juvenile court and probationwork, establishing programmes for care of dependentchildren, beggars and vagrants. Some of the mostsignificant contributions of the COS to communityorganization included the development of communitywelfare planning organizations and social surveytechniques.

Social Settlements emerged fifteen years after CharityOrganization Societies with Toynbee Hall being one ofthe first settlements in the slums of East London in1884. Stanton Coit who visited Toynbee Hall in 1886



established the University Settlement in New York laterthat year. Unlike the COS, settlements had nopredetermined scheme for solving the problems ofsociety. Their leaders saw environmental rather thanindividual factors as responsible for the prevailingconditions. Services like kindergartens and clubs forchildren, recreational programmes, evening schools foradults etc. were the major thrust of their programmeand social reform was the most basic focus point ofsettlements. Settlement workers fought for laws toprotect employed women and abolish child labour. Oneimportant component of social settlements was stresson participation and democracy. Residents involvedthemselves in the life of the community and helpingneighbours to develop their potentialities to deal withtheir problems more effectively. The settlement ideaspread very rapidly and by 1910 there were over fourhundred settlements in the U.S.

During this era, a number of associations were createdin many ethnic groups. In 1890, the Afro-AmericanLeague of the United States was created to procurefunds, legal and voting rights for the black Americanscoping with their shifting status in American life. TheCommittee on Urban Conditions among Negroes in NewYork city later become the National Urban League, andin this many social workers were employed. From the1880s many organisations came into existence topreserve a Mexican-American way of life. Organisationsfor the benefits of women also emerged. They showed aconcern with the poor working conditions for womenand equal rights. The women’s suffrage movement andthe movement for the abolition of slavery becameimportant.

As far as social work education was concerned,community organization as a specialization had not yetemerged as a separate entity. There were individuals

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concerned with coordinating charity, organizingneighbourhood settlements, or mobilizing protest inracial matters, but they had little professional identity.Some training activities began to emerge in 1898 whenthe New York COS initiated a summer training course,expanded to a one year programme later. By the end ofWorld War I, seventeen schools of social work came intoexistence. The Association of Training Schools forProfessional Social Work was also formed. The emphasishowever was more on case work than on communityorganisation.

1915 to 1929

After World War I, several new conditions emerged thathad a significant impact on community organisationpractice. The development of community organisationinstitutions like the Community Chest and United Fundwas one such condition. This period saw an increase inthe number of welfare institutions, which generateddemands for coordination, and better fund raisingmethods. While the philanthropists established theCommunity Chests or United Funds to supply aid, theprofessionals supported the community welfare councilto dispense this aid. Community Chests were initiatedby large contributors and most of the work was handledby volunteers. World War I gave great impetus to thedevelopment of chests like war chests.

The Council of Social Agencies and the CommunityWelfare Council developed as a result of the increasingprofessionalism among those who helped the poor. Thefriendly visitor was replaced by the paid agent. The COSsfounded schools of philanthropy, which became graduateschools of social work. A growing cadre of welfareprofessionals with the support of many volunteers wereinterested in organising a rational, systematic approachto the welfare needs of communities. They formed



councils which were often assigned the responsibilityof distributing the money raised by community chests.

The Social Unit Plan became a very importantdevelopment in community organisation. It was launchedin 1915 and led to the development of block councils,block workers and federations referred to as CitizensCouncils.

By 1920 Joseph K. Hart had written a text entitled“Community Organisation” and between then and 1930at least five books were written on the subject. Casework emphasis had hitherto existed in view of theprevalent ideologies and emphasis on individualconformity to the “System”. In fact communityorganisation practice during this period was largelyaimed at enhancing agencies orientated towardspersonal adjustment. Except for workers in settlementhouses, and the Social Unit Plan, little thought wasgiven to changing social institutions. Nevertheless somedifferent ideas began to emerge Linderman spoke of thevalue of “an attempt on the part of people who live insmall compact local group to assume their ownresponsibilities and guide their own destinies”(Linderman, 1921).

1929 to 1954

Social Work in this period was deeply affected by thedepression and the World War II. There was a vastincrease in unemployment, as also bank and stockmarket failures. The expansion of governmentprogrammes was a direct result of the depression. Thegovernment became the most significant planner andpromoter of welfare prgrammes through the enactmentof legislations and social security and minimum wages.The Federal government through its agencies becamethe main impetus for social planning. While this was

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not really a period of innovation in communityorganisation, it was a time during which efforts weremade to conceptualise the nature of communityorganisation practice. The relation between communityorganisation and social work was examined, theobjectives of community organisation were reflectedupon and the role of the community practitioner wasdeliberated upon.

The depression also stimulated a major upsurge of tradeunionism. The passage of legislation showed that thegovernment was facilitating the development of unions.Many minority communities and depressed classes gota major boost of strength due to this development.

However, in the period the community organizationagencies found themselves unable to cope with themassive needs of the country. This period marked ashift of emphasis in operations from local and privateto regional or national and public. The governmentbecame the main impetus for social planning.

As far as development of the profession was concerned,this was a time during which intensive efforts weremade to conceptualise the nature of communityorganization practice. There were three overridingconcerns. These were: (i) the relation betweencommunity organization and social work. While oneschool of thought contended that communityorganization was not really a legitimate form of socialwork practice, the other school made efforts to establishcommunity organizations affinity to the basic valuesand concerns of social work (ii) an interest in theobjectives of community organization, ranging fromstrengthening community cohesion to prevention/amelioration of a wide ranging set of social problems,and (iii) the appropriate role for the practitioner, whichwas envisaged to “strike a balance between giving helpand fostering self determination of the community”.



1955 to 1968

The growth of the Civil Rights Movement, the end oflegal school segregation and the rising dissatisfactionof the black Americans gave birth to a number oforganisations which sought to end the inequality ofopportunity for the black people. Martin Luther King,Jr emerged as a leader in this struggle. As theseorganisations fought for black pride, they also demandedautonomy in black affairs including neighbourhoods.Subsequently, other minority groups also startedasserting themselves, claiming their rights and theirspecial identity. Thus, there was a growing effort tocreate ethnic minority institutions, includingneighbourhood control of schools, business, professionalsocieties, labour unions, interest groups and rightsorganisations.

Late in this period, other groups also assertedthemselves. These included the elderly, the gay menand lesbians, the handicapped and women. Studentactivism also increased phenomenally. Many studentactivists turned to social work and particularly tocommunity organisation in search of a career compatiblewith their personal commitments. Many were influencedby the community organisation projects carried out bythe students for a Democratic Society, and also by thedynamic organizing style of Saul Alinsky and the manyorganisations he helped found.

The Federal government took increasing responsibilityfor dealing with a wide range of social problems, likemental health, alcoholism, physical disability etc.through grants-in-aid to state and local governments.Many programmes encouraged preventive measures inthe local communities, a process requiring communityorganisation skills. Programmes like VISTA,Neighbourhood Youth Corps, Adult Education, and othercommunity action programmes offered opportunities for

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local initiatives. Programmes like Model CitiesProgramme were also established in 1966 to solve urgenturban problems.

This was the time when on the one hand, the Americanpeople supported the development of responsibilities ofthe government in solving the problems of welfare andon the other hand, there was a renewed emphasis uponparticipatory democracy and “maximum feasibleparticipation”. Along side there was also a strong senseof disengagement from society on the one hand and ofopposition to those who controlled society on the other.These currents were also reflected in social work, withsome students taking up government jobs, while othersparticipating in anti-establishment grass-rootsorganisations. Moderation and social planning formedthe dominant orientation of community organisation.Training for community organisation grew substantiallyand by 1969 the number of schools of social workproviding training programmes for communityorganizers increased to forty eight. Efforts were alsomade to clarify the nature of community organisationand give recognition to the development of communityorganisation as a specialized form of practice withinsocial work. In 1962, the Council on Social WorkEducation gave formal recognition to communityorganization as a method of social work comparable withcasework and group work. An effort to developcurriculum for training community organizers wasinitiated in 1963. One of the most important developmentduring this period was the recognition that communityorganization practitioners required professional training,different from that in other social work specializations.

1969 and After

The year 1969 marked the beginning of the Nixonadministration, followed by the Carter and Reagan



administrations. The thrust of these administrationswas on reducing the role of the government, particularlythe national government in social welfare. Three maindevelopments during the period, specifically in theeighties and thereafter shaped the social conditions andthe trends in social work practice at the communityand societal levels. These were: (i) The emergence of aninformation society, characterized by “high technology”in every sphere of life; (ii) The growth of a world economy,leading to vast shifts in investment patterns and inter-organisational relationships on a global scale; and (iii)Decentralisation, leading to the increased role that stateas opposed to national government started playing inthe U.S., and the vast increase in neighbourhoodorganizations and the shift of population to rural areasand small towns (Naisbitt, 1982).

The most important development with the most impacton the current phase of community organizing is thebelief in the value of self-help activities. Hundreds oforganizations have arisen for mutual aid in the lastmany years and continue to be created on almost adaily basis in the U.S. The move towards participationhas grown, together with a rise in initiatives, activismand a greater say of people in determining their ownaffairs. Another important trend which has emergedaccording to Naisbitt is “networking”, particularly thatenabled by computer utilization, in which people seekways of locating that American society has movedtowards becoming a society of even more diversity. Thisis reflected in the many forms that the family is taking.The options available to women to work and to play anyfamily role is accepted, and if not, is fought for. Thetraditional family has given way to blended families,one parent families, gay male and lesbian couples and“living together” families.

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As far as development of community organizationinstitutions is concerned, the major shift in communityorganization practice since the seventies has been thewithdrawal of the federal funding and the terminationof many community oriented federal programmes.Nevertheless, the number of grassroots organizationshas expanded substantially. These organizations havegenerated many alternative forms of support includingstate and local governments, voluntary donations, fundraising efforts, support from multiple constituencies likelabour organizations, churches and businesses.Organizations have developed in all ethnic communitiesand among all socio-economic groups.

As far as the development of the profession is concerned,a major shift has taken place during this period andthis is a shift to thinking of community organizationactivities as part of “macro” practice that also includesinterventions at organizational and societal levels. Thisshift recognizes that social change takes place througha set of activities that sometimes focus on a singleorganization, sometimes on a community, andsometimes on a society as a whole. The skills that thepractitioner uses are specific to the particular level,but more often are appropriate to several levels.Opportunities to practice include roles which may beoriented towards management within an organization,organizing within a community, or policy creation and/or implementation within regional and societalinstitutions. The tools available to practitioners havegrown over this period as has knowledge regardingorganizational, community and societal phenomenadrawn from major advances in social sciences,particularly sociology, social psychology, anthropology,political science and economics. A unity of thinkingamong all social workers regarding micro and macropractices of change has been encouraged by the spreadof systems-oriented and ecologically based thinking.



Social workers are increasingly recognizing the necessityfor systems changes and the participation of theconsumer of social services in these changes.(Rothman,Erlish and Tropman, 2001).

History of Community Organization inIndia

Community work preceded social work education whichformally began in India in 1937. The experience ofworking with slums in the city of Mumbai led to theestablishment of the first institution of social workeducation, which was the ‘Tata Institute of SocialSciences’, followed by the ‘Delhi School of Social Work’in the year 1946. No serious cognizance of communitywork was however taken before the 1950s. It was onlyin the year 1951 that a massive government programmeof community development, the first of its kind in post-independent India was launched.

Community work in India was largely seen as a processof developing local initiatives, particularly in the areasof education, health and agricultural development. Thiswas to be undertaken by liasoning needs with availableresources. The major thrust was on motivating peopleto express their needs, and to avail themselves of existingresources. (Siddiqui 1997).

From 1937 to about 1952, community work in indiawas fairly dormant. This was the time when the socialwork profession was in its infancy and trainees wereprimarily absorbed as case workers in different settings.While community organisation was being taught as amethod of social work, there were hardly any jobopportunities which provided avenues for communitypractice. Some opportunities only emerged with thelaunching of the Community Development Programmein India in 1952.

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In this initial phase a prominent advocate of communitydevelopment in India, was Mukherji. He describedcommunity development as “a movement designed topromote better living for the whole community, withthe active participation and if possible at the initiativeof the community”. Further, he emphasized that“whenever the initiative is not forth-coming, effortsshould be made to arouse and stimulate this initiative”(Mukherji 1961). Mukherji contributed significantly tothe development of community work in India. Heperceived community development as an amalgamationof two processes: `extension education’ and `communityorganisation’. `Extension education’ was expected toimprove the knowledge and skill base of people; and tochange their attitudes to make them progressive anddesirous of improving their living conditions.`Community organisation’, on the other hand entailedsetting up of three institutions in the village. Thesewere: the village panchayat, the village cooperative andthe village school. Other associated organisations suchas women’s organsiations, youth groups, farmers andartisans associations were also sought to be developedto assist the three main institutions in achieving theoverall development of the community.

In U.K. something similar had transpired in the secondphase of community development, from 1930 to 1950,wherein people were encouraged to look for solutions tosocial problems in their own neighbourhoods. However,while in the U.K., this effort was initiated by voluntaryassociations, in India the programme was launched bythe government. Moreover, while the focus of communitywork in India was primarily rural, in the U.K. and U.S.A.and in other European countries, community work waslargely urban in nature. In India, a variety of peoplefrom diverse fields like health, education, agricultureand administration were a part of the team working at



the block level. Specific methods to work were howevernot evolved. Urban community development was verylimited and very limited number of social workers wereinvolved in the same. In such a context, it would not bewrong to say that in this phase, community work inIndia, by and large remained rural, whereas social workeducation and practice remained urban, both in locationand character.

In the 1970s, the nature of community work largelyremained ameliorative, and not radical or conflict-oriented. Social workers started working in urban slumsin sizeable number. This was primarily on account ofthe fact that a large number of voluntary organisationsstarted undertaking work in the realm of literacy,provision of basic amenities of life, women and children’sdevelopment etc. Many other organizations, previouslyconfined to institutional work started adopting acommunity focus. This led to a wider practice ofcommunity work, where ‘community’ mainly impliedtarget population in a defined geographical area orneighbourhood.

The current phase of community work in India ischaracterized by a growing dissatisfaction largely onaccount of the slow and less than envisaged outcomeof practice. The impact of globalization and privatizationand the following neo-liberal offensive on welfare,accompanied by a gradual withering away of the statehas led to a weakened community fabric and substantialerosion of the notions of popular participation. Whilemuch of this will be covered in a separate section in asubsequent unit, it suffices to mention here that therapidly changing community context and a new set ofcommunity issues necessitate rethinking on ways ofengaging the communities in purposeful action topromote better living for themselves.

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Over the years, there has been a growing recognition ofan alternate approach to community organizing whichis more ‘radical’ in its stance. It pre-supposes theexistence of a disadvantaged section of the populationthat needs to be organized in order to make demandson the larger community for increased resources or equaltreatment (Bobo, Kendal, and Max, 1996). The style ishighly adversarial and intervention seeks to redistributepower and resources, change legislative mandates andpromote social justice. This approach has come to beknown as the Social Action approach. In fact, SocialAction has found recognition as a distinct method ofsocial work practice. While some schools of social worktreat it as a part of the broader community organisationmethod, some treat it as a separate method in itself.

As far as the practice context is concerned, social workprofessionals in India have not been prominent in thesocial action arena, although there has beenparticipation on a small scale basis. By and large,, thenature of community practice has remainedameliorative, welfare oriented or having the usual‘problem-solving’ roots.

An important factor that has impact on the contemporarynature and scope of community work undertaken bysocial work professionals has been their employability.Most community practitioners work in context ofcommunity based voluntary organisations, which in turnare increasingly governed by the mandates of fundingorganisations. Thus, the nature of community work inIndia is often project oriented and ‘externally’ driveni.e. originating from outside the community. This setslimits on the practice of community work that canactually be undertaken.

Since the early nineties, the popularization ofCommunity Outreach (in context of health, education,



child guidance, disability rehabilitation etc.) and morerecently the involvement of business houses andcorporates in promoting welfare in their neighbourhoods(commonly referred to as Corporate SocialResponsibility) has also broadened the scope ofinvolvement of professionals in community practice. Thishas also provided the much needed boost to the practiceof community work.

In the same time frame, there has also been adiscernable movement into the notion of capacitybuilding, which stresses the fact that people have theright to an equitable share in the world’s resources,and to be authors of their own development.Strengthening people’s capacity to determine their valuesand priorities and to act on these is increasingly beingrecognized as the basis of community practice. Capacitybuilding as part of community organization is beingperceived as an approach to development rather than aset of pre packaged interventions. Capacity building isnot doing development for the needy, it is in essenceassisting people to plan and exercise their choice ofdevelopment. However, although there is a strong casefor expediting the incorporation of these notions in reallife community organizing, this has not really been thecase. Presently, these notions are visible more intheoretical deliberations than in practice situations.Nevertheless, exceptional initiatives at the grass rootslevel in several parts of the country raise the hope andconfidence of professionals that desirable changes inthe practice of community organizing are on the anvil.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have discussed the history ofcommunity organization as a method of social workpractice. We have seen how the early efforts of the social

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reformers and the activists to improve the livingconditions of the deprived communities in the Westgradually evolved and transformed into a formal methodof social work.

Besides elaborating on the genesis and evolution ofcommunity organization in the U.K., the chapter alsotraces the development of this method in the USA. Aprofile of the history of community organization in theIndian context has also been presented to enable us tounderstand the nature and trends in the practice ofthis method from the commencement of social workeducation in 1936 to the present time. This chapterfacilitated us to develop a comprehensive insight intothe developments which have shaped the contemporarypractice of this core method of social work.

References

Burton, P. (2003). Community Involvement inNeighbourhood Regeneration: Stair way to Heaven orRoad to Nowhere? Available at<www.neighbourhoodcentre.org>

Dunham, Arthur. (1958). Community WelfareOrganisation, Principles and Practice, Thomas Y. CrowellCo., New York.

Friedlandder, W. A. & Robert, Z. (1982). Introduction toSocial Welfare, Prentice-Hall India Pvt. Ltd.

Gavin, C.D., & Cox, F.M. (2001). A History of CommunityOrganising Since the Civil War with Special Referenceto Oppressed Communities. In J. Rothman, J.L. Erlich,& J.E.Tropman, (Eds.), Strategies pf CommunityIntervention, F.E. Peacock, Itasca, IL.

Giddens, A. (1998). The Third Way: The Renewal of SocialDemocracy, Polity Press, Cambridge.



Gulbenkian Study Group. (1968). Community Work andSocial Change, Longman, London.

Kuenstler, Peter. (1961). Community Organisation inGreat Britain, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

Naisbitt, John. (1982). Megatrends: Ten New DirectionsTransforming Our Lives, Wanner Books, New York.

Rothman, J.L. Erlich, & J.E. Tropman. (Eds.). (2001).Strategies of Community Intervention (6th ed), F.E.Peacock, Itasca, IL.

Siddiqui, H.Y. (1997). Working with Communities: AnIntroduction to Community Work, Hira Publication, NewDelhi.

Stener, F.D. (1958). Community Organisation, The NewCentury Co., New York.

Community Organisation as aMethod of Social Work Practice

*Neera Agnimitra

Introduction

Community organization is one of the core methods ofsocial work, just as case work, group work, social welfareadministration, and social work research. While thecontext of the caseworker is the “individual”, and thatof group worker is the “group”, the community organizeroperates in the “community” context. The caseworkerseeks to help the individual client identify his/herproblems; develop the will to deal with these problems;facilitate action with respect to them; and in doing so,increase the individual’s understanding of himself/herself and his/her capacity for integration. Similarly,the community organizer works with the wholecommunity as the `client’. He/she deals with itsmajor subcultures; enables the community toidentify its important needs and problems; develop thecollective will to deal with these; and to take actionwith respect to them; and in doing so, enhances thecapacity of the community to function as an integratedunit. In short, the term community organization is usedto describe a method of social work used to intervene inthe life of a community in order to solve communityproblems.

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Community Organisation as a MacroMethod

Work with communities when viewed from thehumanitarian perspective, is as old as society itself.One or the other form of community work has alwaysbeen existing. But when viewed from the perspective ofmethods of social work profession, community work isof relatively recent origin. It was the Lane CommitteeReport (1939) which first recognized communityorganization as a method of social work.

Community organization is considered as a Macromethod of practice in social work (Fink 1978) or macrolevel social work, as it is used to address the broadersocial problems that affect a large group of people. Theterm ‘macro’ is used because of ability of this methodto involve a large number of people in solving the socialproblems collectively. This method thus enables us toenhance the scope/degree of intervention. Unlike casework, which deals with only one individual at a time orgroup work, which deals with a limited number ofparticipants, community organization deals with a largenumber of people at any given time.

Individual approach is not practical in a context wherethe magnitude of problem/s faced is alarming. In suchcases we have to use a method which can concurrentlyhelp a large number of people. This is especially true incase of developing countries where the magnitude ofseveral problems faced by people is immense and sothere is an urgent need to work with largerconstituencies. In such a context, the community becomes an important level of social work interventionand community organization emerges as an effectivemethod of social work practice to ameliorate thewidespread economic and social problems faced by thesecountries.

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Community organization is also characterised as amacro method because it can be successfullyimplemented at the local level (i.e. at a locality/neighbourhood level) or at state level or even at theregional or international level, depending on how wedefine the ‘community’ in community organization.

Community Organisation as a ProblemSolving MethodAs mentioned earlier, for community organizationmethod, the community is the client. Just as the othermethods of case work and group work, the method ofcommunity organisation also strives to solve theproblems and fulfill the needs of its ‘client’, which isthe community.

It is also concerned with:

a) the release of its latent potentialities;

b) the optimalised use of its indigenous resources;

c) the development of its capacity to manage its ownlife; and

d) the enhancement of its ability to function as anintegrated unit.

The end goal is the development of self confidence andself help; the emergence of cooperative and collaborativeattitudes, skills and behaviour, which then form thebasis of sustainable action and change in the clientsystem.

Like the other methods, community organization alsorelies on similar assumptions, namely the dignity andworth of the client, the resources possessed by the clientto deal with its own problems; the inherent capacitythat the ‘client’ possesses for growth and development;and the ability to choose wisely in the management ofits own affairs. A case worker assumes that often

Community Organisation as a Method of Social Work Practice


individuals become overwhelmed by the complexities oflife and thereby become psychosocially paralysed, whichin turn curtails their own capacity for response by wayof action. But with appropriate facilitation, this stagecan be overcome, and the normal process of growth canbe resumed for the individual concerned. Moreover, likethe case worker who accepts the client as he/she is;develops a professional relationship with the client;starts from where the client is; and helps the client tobecome functional and autonomous, the communityorganizer also has the same general orientation andrelies on a similar approach in working with thecommunity, which is the client for him/her.

Community organisation therefore shares a commonbase, and a common core of philosophy and methodwith case work and group work. It is also committedtowards solving problems and facilitating change in theclient system. The nature of problems dealt with in thecontext of Indian communities relate to poverty,unemployment, exploitation, lack of access to basicservices and denial of social justice/rights. The problemsmay also be more group specific i.e. as they relate toparticular groups like women, children, youth, elderlyor the backward classes.

While there are common objectives, assumptions andcertain generalized approaches to be followed by allsocial work practitioners, there are also significantdifferences between community organization and theother methods. As the social work practitioner movesfrom the general to the specific context, he/she has todevelop certain distinctive ways of dealing with theproblems of the individual, the group and thecommunity. In addition to the fact that some of thesame insights and methods develop differently indifferent settings, each process has distinctive insightsand methods of its own.

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Since the worker in community organization works ona larger canvas, he/she is (a) concerned with thedifferent sub-groups and sub-cultures within the same;(b) has to develop insights about the value systems,behaviour patterns, social organization, formal andinformal leadership as they pertain to the diverse groups;(c) understand the interests and problems that thesegroups have in common; and (d) assess the degree ofcooperation and competition that exist in them. Themethods of understanding and operation used willtherefore be different from that of the case worker orthe group worker.

In any process of problem solving there are three basicsteps viz. study, diagnosis and intervention/treatment.First, the problem has to be studied by collectinginformation. From this information, the main causesleading to the problem have to be identified. This stepis referred to as ‘diagnosis’. Based on the diagnosis, asolution or intervention is evolved called ‘treatment’. Inany context, problems can be solved only after followingthis three step procedure.

In the context of a community, this problem solvingprocedure can be used only with the collectiveinvolvement of the people who are individually andcollectively the stakeholders in the causation and thesolution of the specific problem being dealt with. Fore.g. people in a certain community may be confrontedwith the problem of high incidence of morbidity. Withthe help of the community organiser this problem firsthas to be studied. The link between the commonlyprevalent disease/s and their causal factors may beestablished. In case these causal factors are related tothe accumulation of stagnant water in the open drainsoutside the houses and/or an ineffective system ofgarbage collection, then it is only with peoples’participation that a treatment/intervention can be



devised. The latter will be in the shape of a collectiveendeavour at the level of all the people affected by theproblem, whereby a participatory system of garbagecollection/disposal and timely cleaning of the communitydrains can be established. The lesson learnt throughthis illustration is that often problems confrontingindividual members of the community have their rootsin the community and therefore their solution also liesin the community. Unless the community works out acollective solution and acts on it, problems such as theone illustrated above cannot be solved.

Relationship Between CommunityOrganisation and Other Methods ofSocial Work

1) Community Organisation and Case Work

Case work forms an integral part of communityorganization. When the community organizer enters thecommunity, he/she interacts with people on anindividual basis, identities their needs and workstowards their mobilization into groups and organizations.In other words, work with individuals and familiesbecome the beginning point for community mobilization.Individual contact strategy is also used to createawareness on relevant issues/problems.

The community organizer also has to deal with a numberof significant individuals in the community. These maybe (a) individuals who may be expected to oppose andresist change; (b) individuals in special positions likeleaders, power holders; (c) individuals belonging toweaker/marginalized sections, who may be lacking thewill and the capacity for participation. It is in suchinstances that knowledge and skills related to case workbecome an absolute must for successful communitywork.

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2) Community Organisation and Group Work

The community can be understood as a collectivity ofgroups, existing in a web of interlinked social chains.In the course of community organization, the organiser’smost prominent preoccupation is to deal with the smalland large groups and subgroups. Communityorganization therefore is also described as inter-grouppractice. An understanding of group work helps thecommunity organizer to strengthen inter grouprelationships and facilitate their convergence on acommon platform. He/she often identifies small groupswhere a beginning can be made and then strives todevelop inter -group linkages to achieve widerparticipation on commonly perceived needs. In such acontext, dealing with groups and group processesbecomes an integral part of community organization.

It is therefore clear that, a community organizer has towork with individuals, families and groups to achievecommunity goals, and should possess case work andgroup work skills, apart from community organizationskills.

Community Organisation and Social Work Research

During the process of engagement with communities,the community organizer has to also rely on researchknowledge and skill sets. Community organization as aprocess has to start with fact finding. Use of researchis inevitable in locating, identifying and understandingthe community. It is also relied upon to undertake need/problem assessment, which requires an objective andsystematic gathering of quantitative and qualitativedata. Research also furnishes important qualitative dataon priorities and preferences of people, their attitudesand perceptions towards an issue or a problem. It mayalso be used for specific purposes like conduction of



epidemiological studies or for the study of socialindicators. Monitoring and evaluation also requires anongoing use of research through the conduction ofbaseline and end line surveys.

In contemporary context, participatory researchtechniques are increasingly relied upon to elicitcommunity participation in assessing and prioritizingneeds, as also in drawing up preferred communityinterventions.

Relevance of Community Organistion forCommunity Development

Community organization and community developmentare interrelated. To achieve the goals of communitydevelopment the community organization method isused. According to the United Nations, communitydevelopment deals with total development of acommunity, that is in its economic, physical, and socialaspects. For achieving total development, communityorganization is used as a means. In communitydevelopment the following aspects are considered asimportant:

a) Democratic procedures

b) Voluntary cooperation

c) Self-help

d) Development of leadership

e) Educational aspects.

All the above aspects are relevant from the perspectiveof community organization. (a) Democratic proceduresdeal with allowing all the community members toparticipate in decision-making. It is possible to achievethis through community organization. The selected orelected members or representatives are helped to take

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decisions. Thus democratic procedures help people totake part in achieving the community development goals.The community organization method also valuesdemocratic procedures for enlisting people’sparticipation. (b) Voluntary cooperation means that thepeople volunteer their participation. For this they haveto be first convinced. They should feel that they need toinvolve themselves in the process of developmentwithout inhibitions. This attitude is supported by thecommunity organization method. People’s emotionalinvolvement is necessary for successful communityorganization. If discontentment about their conditionsis created, then people will volunteer for participation.Community organization emphasizes thediscontentment aspect only to make them initiateparticipation. (c) Self-help is the basis for communitydevelopment. It deals with the capacity of people tomobilize internal resources. Self-help is the basis forself-sufficiency and sustainable development. Even inthe context of community organization, self-help isemphasized and promoted. (d) Development of leadershipis an important aspect in community development.Leadership deals with influencing and enabling peopleto achieve the stipulated goals. Community organizationalso places great emphasis on leadership development.It is only with the help of leaders that people aremotivated to participate in action. (e) Educationalaspects in community development imply helping peopleto know, learn, and accept the concepts of democracy,cooperation, unity, skill development, effectivefunctioning etc. In community organization the abovementioned aspects are considered to be extremelyimportant. Thus, both emphasize the educationalaspects for the progress of the community. All thissupports the statement that community organizationand community development are interrelated andmutually supportive. Both emphasize democratic method



and self-help principles. So, in community developmentprogrammes, the community organization method isused as the implementing method.

Distinction Between CommunityOrganisation and CommunityDevelopment

There are many similarities between communityorganisation and community development. But fortheoretical purpose it is possible to differentiate betweencommunity organization and community development.

a) Community organization is a method of social workwhile community development is a programme fora planned change send development.

b) Community organization emphasizes the process,but community development emphasizes the end orgoals.

c) Community organizers are mostly social workersand social change agents. But communitydevelopment personnel can be from otherprofessions including agricultural experts,veterinary experts, and other technical experts.

d) Community organisation is not time bound. It isachieved step by step according to the pace of thepeople. But community development is time boundand time is specified for achieving the developmentobjectives.

e) In community organization people’s participation isimportant. But in community development people’sdevelopment is more important.

f) In community organization the assistance providedby the government and external agencies is not acritical factor. But in community development

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external assistance from the government or otheragencies is considered important.

g) Community organization is a method of social workand this method is used in many fields. But unlikecommunity organization, community developmentis considered as a process, a method, a programme,and a movement for planned change.

h) Community organsiation is used in all the fieldsbut community development is mostly relied uponin context of economic development and forenhancing the living standards of the people.

i) In community organization planning is undertakenby the people but community development planningis mainly carried out by an external agency mostlybelonging to the government.

j) In community organization people are organized tosolve their problems, but in community developmentgoals have to be achieved and it is for this purposethat people are organized.

k) Community organization is universal to allcommunities, but community developmentprogrammes differ from people to people dependingupon whether the area is rural, urban or tribal, asalso other characteristics of the area.

Thus, we see that even though there are differences,both community development and communityorganization are interrelated. The ideal communitydevelopment takes places where community organizationmethod and its various steps and principles areeffectively put into practice.

Principles of Community Organisation

The principles of community organization can beunderstood as the generalized guiding rules. They also



refer to a “rule of right action” or “a value judgment asto what is sound or good community organization”. Itfollows therefore that principles are usually expressionsof value judgments.

Moreover, principles are shaped and limited by the frameof reference of community organization, as has beendiscussed in the previous sections, and in harmony withthe nature and spirit of social work in a democraticsociety. This implies that we become concerned withthe dignity and worth of individuals, their freedom,choice of options and right to self determination,security, participation, all of which could lead to a morewholesome and abundant life for them. It also impliesthat these principles are in alignment with such generalprinciples of democracy such as self-reliance,cooperation, partnership, transparency andsustainability.

These principles are also shaped by an understandingof the social forces which impinge on the individualsand the groups comprising the community, as also theplanning process, and some knowledge of the empiricalwork in groups and communities (Ross, 1955).

In the literature on community work, we find varioussets of principles evolved by different practitioners toinform community practice. These are as follows:

A) Dunham, in 1958 suggested a set of twenty eightprinciples of community organization, broadlycategorized under seven headings:

1. Democracy and social welfare.

2. Community roots for community programmes.

3. Citizen understanding, support, participation andprofessional service.

4. Cooperation

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5. Social welfare programmes.

6. Adequacy, distribution, and organization of socialwelfare services, and

7. Prevention.

In identifying these principles, Dunhan broadlyconceptualized community work as a process ofdelivering social welfare services in a community. Thecommunity which formed the context for evolving hisset of principles was a typical urban middle classneighbourhood in a western society. Thus, thiscommunity was vastly different from a typical Indiancommunity in which a professional community workeris expected to work.

As can also be observed from the aforementionedheadings, Dunhan visualized an ideal type of socialservice network and highlighted the benefits ofdemocracy, participation, cooperation and adequacy ofprogrammes to meet the needs of the community. Inessence, the principles formulated by Dunham werereally a broad based set of guidelines or ideal conditions,rather than specific principles of communityorganisation.

B) Murray, G Ross also developed an elaborate setof thirteen principles to guide communityorganization

According to him, the process of community organizationrequires some kind of structure and social organization.The task or problem is expected to be dealt with bysome group, committee, council, commission or someother form of organization, formal or informal. Sincethis organization or association becomes the mainchannel through which the community organizationprocess moves, the principles which guide thedevelopment and work of this association therefore



become the relevant principles of communityorganization. The thirteen principles identified by Rosswere:

1) Discontent with existing conditions in thecommunity must initiate and/or nourish thedevelopment of the association

This implies that some deep and widely shared feelingsof discontent with some aspect/s of community life willbe a more effective springboard for the creation anddevelopment of the organization/association. Althoughdiscontent is not the only motivational factor leading tocommunity participation, it is likely to lead to a moredynamic involvement than other motives. Such dynamicinvolvement of people is desirable, if the communityassociation is to sustain, and overcome the manydifficulties that come its way. Only if there is a profoundconviction about community problem(s), and “a deepfeeling that the prevailing community situation is wrongand must be righted”, does the group get commonmotivation to overcome the problem.

It is when the often dormant discontents are expressedand agreed upon, that a community association mayemerge, or become dynamic so that the community isfacilitated to resolve cooperatively some of its commonproblems.

2) Discontent must be focused and channelled intoorganization, planning and action in respect tospecific problems

Discontent per se is of doubtful value. In fact unfocusseddiscontent is often a major block to any purposefulaction, because it then translates into a situation ofchronic dissatisfaction. Only when discontent is focusedand ordered that it becomes a suitable and healthymotive for action. Discontent should therefore be specificand focused in terms of specific achievable goals.

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3) The discontent which initiates or sustainscommunity organization must be widely sharedin the community

Community organization, according to Ross, is not aminority movement. It cannot be initiated solely byreason of needs or discontents which appeal to only avery small group in the community. The discontent musttherefore be recognized by the major parts of thecommunity, so that they all may be motivated to dosomething about it.

Community organization is not concerned simply withsolving certain problems, important as they may be,but also with developing the capacity of the communityto deal with its own problems. It is essential, therefore,that the discontent focus on those problems about whichthere is, or can be, unanimous agreement, so that theycan provide a common framework for cooperative workby the community. If such widespread agreement is notalways possible, efforts to “spread the area of sharedconcern” need to be necessarily made.

4) The association must involve leaders (both formaland informal) identified with, and accepted by,major subgroups in the community

Community organization requires the participation ofpeople of the community. However, everyone in thecommunity cannot always be involved in face to facecontact with all other members of the community,especially if the size of the community is large. Therefore,some means must be evolved for participation throughrepresentation. This is made possible by first identifyingall major groupings of people in the community andsubsequently, identifying the leaders of these groups.The major groupings should not only include the formalgroups but also the multiplicity of informal groups whichsometimes exist in communities and which hold the



allegiance of the people. These groups can be broughtinto dialogue with each other around some commonproblem/s. This can be done most effectively throughthe accepted group leaders, both formal and informal.These leaders know their people and in turn are knownby their people. They can therefore act as effectivecommunication links between the diverse groups.

5) The association must have goals and methods ofprocedure of high acceptability

The association brings together different groupings ofpeople, each having their specific interests, attitudesand behaviour. The task of integrating these groups intoa unified association which can work on a cooperativebasis is a difficult one. If the association is to sustain,it requires a statement of general goals and methods ofprocedure. These should be known and accepted by thepeople so that they provide a way of life for theassociation and for carrying on its business. These willconstitute the common frame of reference, which inperiods of disagreement and conflict can be referred toas a means of finding direction and emphasizing thecommon purpose for which the association exists.

6) The programme of the association should includesome activities with emotional content

To bind together the diverse groupings of peoplecomprised in the community and to develop cohesion,common ideas, feelings, traditions, celebrations andfestivities play an important role. These contribute tothe building of the community sentiment which is soimportant for community integration. Thus there is needto encourage activities directed towards providing richemotional experiences to the members. Rituals whichsymbolize the values for which the association standsare valuable because they reinforce loyalty to those goalsand unify the group around these goals.

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7) The association should seek to utilize the manifestand latent goodwill which exists in the community

According to Ross, there are extensive sources of goodwill and support in the community which can bemobilized in cooperative community initiatives. They maybe in the form of people who may be willing to contributeand participate in any constructive community effort;other professionals who may be keen to associate withthe community practitioners; or leaders who mayrepresent groupings of people who could be associatedwith the community endeavor

However, this goodwill is seldom recognized and rarelyutilized. Its underutilization is primarily on account oftwo reasons: (a) lack of awareness about the existenceand sources of goodwill at the level of the communityworkers; and (b) inability to tap, release or utilize thisgoodwill due to lack of compatibility of the proposedinitiative with people’s real needs, concerns andinterests. The latter is important as the associationneeds to orient its work in such a way that it fits intothe experiences and belief systems of the people, sothat the initiative becomes meaningful to the peopleand thereby receives their whole hearted support.

First of all, community leaders can be utilized tounderstand (a) how to communicate with communitygroups; (b) the real and ‘felt’ needs and concerns ofpeople; and (c) methodologies of seeking support fromthem becomes imperative in this scheme of things.Secondly, appeals for support should be made on apersonal basis to people, as person-to-person contactsare much more helpful in establishing contacts andstrengthening the community spirit. Thirdly, peopleshould be given the opportunity of participating andcontributing at the level at which they are comfortableand in a manner that has meaning for them.



8) The association must develop active and effectivelines of communication both within theassociation and between the association and thecommunity

Communication, which is undoubtedly the essence ofcommunity life is a process by which the area of commonunderstanding and shared values is widened in thecommunity. Such a process does not often emerge/develop easily.

To begin with, effective communication within a groupor between groups depends on the quality ofrelationships between the people. When negativeemotions predominate in these relationships,communication is likely to be far less effective than insituations where there are positive feelings offriendliness, respect and trust. Therefore the essentialtask in the association devoted to communityorganization is the development of an atmosphere inwhich participants feel safe and are able to expressthemselves freely.

Secondly, the way in which communication is structuredalso becomes important. Practitioners of communityorganization have recognized the advantage of smallgroups if meaningful interaction between members isto take place. Communication is also likely to be moreeffective in situations where leadership functions areshared, and where informal and intimate discussion ofproblems is undertaken. Accordingly, if a realunderstanding of the community organization processis to be achieved, the content of a single interactionmust be limited to a few manageable items, and sufficienttime must be provided for interaction. This is based onthe assumption that people need time and opportunityto understand, assimilate and use new ideas and newinformation. It is a known fact that messages move more

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effectively through ‘accepted’ channels than through newchannels. These ‘accepted’ channels may vary in allcommunities and only a study of the local customs willyield information about them. Community groups arealso likely to be more receptive if messages aretransmitted to them by their own leaders instead of anoutsider. It makes sense to tap the wisdom of the localpeople themselves as they are the best judge of whatkind of communication and what media are mosteffective.

9) The association should seek to support andstrengthen the groups which it brings togetherin cooperative work

The association, which seeks to be an organization ofthe community, is made up of community groups. Ifthese groups are disorganized or apathetic, theassociation is likely to have a narrow base ofparticipation and support. Therefore, if the associationis to emerge as a strong one, the groups composing itmust be strong and cohesive units. There needs to beconsistent efforts to help the constituent groups toachieve cohesion and capacity to function cooperatively,as also independently. The weak groups must becapacitated to identify their problems and undertakeaction for the resolution of the same.

10) The association should be flexible in itsorganizational procedures without disrupting itsregular decision-making routines

Acceptance and establishment of rules and methods ofprocedure lead to a sense of security in the operation ofthe association. Flexibility in the association does notimply any disruption of these established procedures.What is however implied is the opportunity to use avariety of methods in undertaking the proceedings ofthe association. The use of studies, visits, appointment



of committees, camps etc. may be contemplated foracquiring data and generating consensus, withoutimpinging on the decision making responsibilities of thegroup assigned to do so.

11) The association should develop a proper pace forits work and relate it to the existing conditionsin the community

First, the association must obtain a proper pace for itsown work. This develops as members learn to worktogether, when procedures are established andresponsibilities are accepted. Establishment of objectiveswith agreed upon time schedules help to bring about apace of work in the association to which all graduallyadjust.

Further, the pace at which a community will involveitself in a community initiative is very important. Justas in case work, where we try to adapt treatmentprocedures to the pace at which the client is comfortable,the same principles also apply to the practice of community organization. Here our ‘client’ is thecommunity. Any community project requires adjustmentto the change that is created in its wake. Based on thedisposition and capacity of the people making thechange, a time period is certainly required to adjust tothe change. Establishing a pace that is consistent withthat of the community and comfortable for it thereforebecomes imperative.

12) The association should seek to develop effectiveleaders

Development of those leaders who will facilitate thecommunity organization process; help the associationto be productive; and contribute to the development ofmorale both in the association and the community isan important requirement. It is more realistic to accept

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that instead of one central figure, there are actuallymany persons contributing to the leadership of a group.For eg. “popular leader” and a “task leader” may bothbe desirable. While the latter may keep the groupengaged in its work, the former may help to maintainand restore group unity and keep members happy. Thecustoms and expectations of the group may determinehow many, and what kind of leadership functions, thecentral figure should assume. Any change in the sharingof leadership functions should be made with all membersof the group actively participating. Such a process ofgroup training can be the most realistic and effectivemeans of leadership training.

13) The association must develop strength, stability,and prestige in the community

Community organization seeks to increase cooperationamong community groups, as they deal with communityprojects. The successful achievements of the associationcan facilitate this. The association must have strengthboth in terms of the involvement of accepted groupleaders and its ability to work through difficultcommunity problems. Only such an association will winthe participation and support of the people and becomea symbol of community cooperation.

Due to the heterogeneous membership of the constituentgroups, the association must be prepared to faceoutbursts of hostility, scapegoating, withdrawals orfailure. These must be worked through. It is only throughself understanding, will the association be able toachieve cohesion, stability and productivity.



C) In the context of working with actual practicesituations in India, Siddiqui (1997) also evolveda set of eight principles to guide communityorganization practitioners. These are brieflydescribed below:

1) The Principle of Specific Objectives

It is difficult to organize the community as a cohesiveunit, particularly in the early stages of work. Thecommunity consists of different client groups, all ofwhom may have differential needs, thus necessitatingdifferential programmes. For example in the Indiancontext, a separate forum for women is required due tocultural constraints. The principle of specific objectivesprescribes the practice of consciously formulating specificobjectives of working with different client groups on theone hand, and formulating specific community orientedobjectives, on the other. This enables the worker to makea beginning at the group level, which otherwise isdifficult to achieve.

2) The Principle of Planning

The worker must adhere to meticulous planning ofcommunity work. This implies developing a blue printfor the entire work to be undertaken in terms ofprogrammes, financial/resource requirements,personnel requirements, space etc. Planning also helpsto anticipate problems one is likely to face inimplementing the programme and devising contingencyplans for meeting them. For example, a communityworker may disregard the cultural milieu of thecommunity and try to encourage girls to attend a co-educational school. This is an example of lack ofplanning, leading to failure of the programme and evencommunity displeasure.

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3) The Principle of People’s Participation

People’s participation is the most important componentof any community cooperative venture. Ambitious plansof community development in the Indian context havefailed partly due to lack of peoples effective participation.Eliciting and sustaining people’s participation oftenrequires special insights and years of experience ofworking with people. Identification of the ‘felt needs’ ofpeople; critical examination of the project feasibility;development of a realistic strategy to involve people;assumption of a pace of work which is in consonancewith community’s adjustment and capacity; adherenceto community’s right to self determination and givingequal importance to all groups/factions are some waysto elicit people’s participation. Helping people toparticipate in accordance with their capacity is a betterstrategy than expecting them to participate in all issues.

4) The Principle of Inter-Group Approach

Small communities as described by Robert Redfield inhis book ‘The Little Community’, have four definingqualities of distinctiveness, small size, self sufficiencyand homogeneity. But such communities seldom existin contemporary context. Most communities consist ofpeople of different backgrounds, occupations, castes,religions and political affiliations. There are what canbe described as “communities within communities” and“overlapping communities”. The community worker istherefore expected to first identify the smaller groupswith whom he can make a beginning and later developinter-group linkages for achieving targets which requireinvolvement of people on a larger scale. These groupscan function independently to a certain extent but canalso come together to form a wider network of communitypeople in order to deal with the common problems. Theinter-group approach can also work on the basis of



dividing the geographical area of the community intosmaller units (clusters or lanes) and then forming groupsin the same.

5) The Principle of Democratic Functioning

This principle is based on the belief that there is atendency among common people to remain passive andallow others to take decisions for them. In this process,a few people tend to dominate and take control of allresources and benefits. The community worker thereforehas a primary obligation to educate people and to createappropriate mechanisms to facilitate a widerparticipation and to curb the tendency of dominationby a privileged minority. The principle of rotatingleadership is also a step in the same direction.

6) The Principle of Flexible Organisation

The creation of a formal organization is difficult task,as people in general are not used to confirming to rulesand set procedures, and often do not immediatelyperceive the benefits of allocating specific roles andresponsibilities to specific people. Thus, it is better ifcommunity workers opt for a more flexible approach toorganization in order to accommodate people with variedabilities to function effectively. Informal arrangementswork better in the initial phase. Rules and proceduresare very important, but they should be made to facilitaterather than hinder participation. Formation of variouscommittees may also prove more helpful as more peoplecan thereby obtain the valuable experience of takingthe lead in participating and decision making.

7) The Principle of Optimum Utilisation ofIndigenous Resources

Countries of the third world are generally short ofresources. The governments are unable to provide

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adequate basic services like housing, drinking water,sanitation, health etc. The community worker thereforehas to largely depend on the mobilization of resourcesfrom various sources, including the government. In thecontext of the given shortages, efforts to mobilizeindigenous community resources become imperative.These include indigenous human resources in the formof voluntary labour (Shramdan) and locally trainedcommunity volunteers (to undertake health, educationand other programmes) as also space (in the form ofavailable buildings like schools, panchayat ghars etc.or open spaces like playgrounds, chaupal etc.). It isalso an accepted practice to avoid provision of freeservices and to encourage people’s contribution for theservices provided. It promotes the self esteem of people,and curbs dependency on outside help. It also resultsin the proper utilization of services as dependence onindigenous resources leads to greater sustainability ofprogrammes.

8) The Principle of Cultural Orientation

In most third world countries, traditions and customsare very important. It becomes important for thecommunity worker to be oriented to the cultural milieuof the community and show respect to its customs,traditions, values etc. This will enable her/him to gainthe acceptance and respect of the community. However,this does not imply that the worker should support suchcustoms which may harm the people or are detrimentalto them (e.g. belief in supernatural powers, earlymarriage, sati etc.). In such cases, a gradual effort tochange community’s perception and practices is calledfor.

Based on the above elaboration of the sets of principles,the following are most relevant for guiding the practice



of community organization in the Indian context; Theseare as follows:

a) Community organization is a means and not an end

Community organization is a process by which thecapacity of the community to function as an integratedunit is enhanced. It is therefore a method or a means toenable people to engage in planned collective action inorder to deal with their own needs and problems on asustainable basis.

b) Community, like individuals and groups aredifferent

Each community has its own peculiarities, uniquepoints, problems and needs. To deal with communitieseffectively, they must be individualized.

c) Communities like individuals have a right to self-determination

In community organization, the worker enables thecommunity to develop its own policies, plans andprogrammes. They should not be superimposed. This isbased on the premise that people are the best judge oftheir own situation and the process should originate inthe experience of the people themselves.

d) Community welfare rather than agency selfinterest should be the first consideration indetermining programme

The programmes of an organization should be definedin relation to the programmes of other agencies, and inrelation to the needs of the community. Moreover, noagency should cover so large a portion of the communityproblems or so large a geographical area as to inhibitthe development of other organizations as the overallproblem is apparently beyond its own resources. The

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welfare and development of the community assumesparamount importance for the agency initiatingcommunity intervention.

e) Community organization is to promotecommunity solidarity and the practice ofdemocracy

Community organization should seek to overcome thedisruptive influences which threaten communitysolidarity and vitality of democratic institutions.Discrimination, segregation and exclusion should bediscouraged while integration, inclusion andcohesiveness should be promoted.

f) Community organization requires a clearidentification of the community

The client of the community organization process is thecommunity. It follows as a first prerequisite that thiscommunity be clearly identified.

There are various interpretations of the community andthese have been covered in an earlier section. It isimportant to determine and define the community, itsnature and limits. Once the community is identified,the entire community must become the concern of thecommunity practitioner. The welfare of the wholecommunity is always more important than the interestof any one section/group in the community.

g) Community organization should have its roots inthe community

Proper fact finding and assessment of community needsis the pre-requisite to starting any communityprogramme. Community organization should have itsorigin in the real “felt” needs of the community andshould not be superimposed from outside.



h) Community Organisation requires theidentification and mobilization of availableresources, both external and indigenous

The fullest possible use should be made of the existingresources or services. In the absence of resources/services, the same have to be tapped from varioussources such as government, non-government agenciesand the community. Use of indigenous communityresources must be stressed. These include both physicaland human resources.

i) Participation is the basis of communityorganisation

The concept of self help is the core of communityorganization. Participation of the community throughoutthe process of community organization should beencouraged, both from the perspective of democraticprinciples and feasibility. Participatory planning,followed by participatory implementation and evaluationshould be encouraged and fostered.

j) Reliance on Voluntary Cooperation

Community organization must be based upon mutualunderstanding, voluntary acceptance, and mutualagreement. It should be free from authoritarianpressure, repression and regimentation. It should notbe imposed from above or outside, but must be derivedfrom the inner freedom and will to unite all those whopractice it.

k) Emphasis on coordination of effort

The practice of community organization should be basedon the spirit of cooperation and coordination, ratherthan competition.

Emphasis on collaboration and cooperative attitudesand practices does not imply elimination of all differencesor tension, or of conflict. In fact, these latter forces

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provide life and vitality to any process. However, it isimportant to keep in mind that conflict can be bothdisruptive and destructive, or positive and creative. Whatis required is that the community organization workeridentify such forces and modify them so that theybecome beneficial to the community as a whole.

l) Limited use of authority is preferred

Application of authority or coercion may sometimes berequired in community organization, but it should beused as sparingly as possible, for as short a time aspossible, and only as a last resort. Such a situationshould be followed as soon as possible, by resumptionof the cooperative and collaborative process.

m) Community organization structure should be keptsimple

The structure of the community organization should bekept simple and as per the preferences or traditions ofthe community. Sometimes too much of machinery bogsdown and gets in the way of the process.

n) Recognition and involvement of indigenousleadership is necessary

While people’s participation in the process of communityorganization is imperative, everyone in the communitycannot be involved in face to face contact with all othersin the community. Therefore, it is important to identifythe leaders (both formal and informal) who are acceptedby the different groups and sub-groups in thecommunity. Inclusion of these leaders is an importantstep in community integration, as they act as importantcommunication links with their groups/sub-groups.

o) Dynamic and flexible nature of programmes andservices is desirable

Social welfare agencies and programmes must beresponsive to the changing conditions, problems and



needs of the community. The community is a dynamicentity, which constantly changes and evolves.Additionally, the circumstances, needs and concerns ofthe people also keep changing. Therefore, it is necessarythat the programmes and services be flexible toaccommodate such change/s.

q) Broad representation should be given to all groups

Every group/sub group or faction in the communityshould be given the opportunity for participation andfor explicit voicing of its interests in the organization.

r) Services/benefits must be distributed equitably

The social services, resources and benefits of theprogramme/intervention should be made availableequally and without discrimination to all members whoneed them.

s) Barriers to communication must be broken down

Community organization should result in free contactsamong different social groups in the community.Attitudes of concern for the welfare of the totalcommunity must be developed through opportunities towork together on common projects.

The greater the differentiation in community life, thegreater is the need to develop an understanding of theneeds and contributions of the other groups.

t) Communities often need professional help

Sometimes communities organize spontaneously to makeway for change. However, in most cases, the professionalworker is required to help the community discover,identify, plan and implement to meet its needs. Thesuccess of community organization depends in large partupon the ability of the worker to bring about voluntaryparticipation in achieving common goals. The workerhowever has an obligation to make the community

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autonomous and not to create undue dependence onhimself/herself.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have discussed the significance ofcommunity organization as a macro method of socialwork practice and as a problem solving method in thecommunity context. We have also deliberated on therelevance of community organization for achieving theends of community development. The significance ofusing community organization in integration with othermethods viz. case work, group work and social researchhas also been highlighted in some detail.

Finally, a detailed depiction of the principles underlyingthe community organization method have beendiscussed. These will facilitate a meaningful engagementwith the community as the ‘client’ of the communityorganizer.

References

Chekki, A. Dan. (1979). Community Development, VikasPublishing House Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

Cox, M. Fred & Erlich, L. John. (1987). Strategies ofCommunity Organisation, F.E. Peacock PublishersInc, Illinois.

Fink, Arthur. E. (1978). The Fields of Social Work, HoltRinehart and Winston, New York.

Harper, E.B. & Dunham, Arthur. (1959). CommunityOrganisation in Action, Association Press, New York.

Ledwith, Margaret. (2006). Community Development: ACritical Approach, Rawat Publications, New Delhi.



Murphy, Patricia. W. & Cunningham, James. V. (2003).Organising for Community Controlled Development:Renewing Civil Society, Sage Publications, ThousandOaks.

Ross, Murray. G. (1955). Community Organisation,Harper and Row Publishers, New York.


9

Models and Approaches ofCommunity Organisation

*Neera Agnimitra

Introduction

The previous chapters have given you a reasonably goodunderstanding of the concept of community organization;its application as a method of social work practice atthe community level; its relationship with other methodsas also its historical growth and development in theU.K., U.S.A. and India. You have also been provideda detailed orientation to the general and specificprinciples underlying community organization.

In this chapter, we will be presented a detaileddescription of the models, approaches and strategies ofcommunity organization. They will serve as a referencefor work and give you a clear understanding of whatyou can expect in specific contexts. They will guide youin assuming a specific stance and direction based onthe needs and the problem condition of the communityat hand. Additionally, the series of steps to be followedin engaging the community for purposeful action havealso been highlighted to elaborate on the ‘process’orientation of community organization.

Steps in Community OrganisationAs mentioned earlier, community organization is a“process”. This process is representative of a movement,



which may be conscious or unconscious, voluntary orin voluntary, from the identification of a problem orobjective to the solution of the problem or attainment ofthe objective/s identified by the community. From thebeginning to the end, this process involves a series ofsteps which although distinct may overlap in realpractice. The sequence of these steps or stages mayalso vary, depending on the specific context in whichthey are applied.

These important steps or stages in the communityorganization process are presented below:

1) Role Searching

The first step in the community oranisation process isan analysis of the proposed goals that the worker or theimplementing agency proposes to pursue. In practicethis decision is usually influenced by the objectives ofthe parental organization which employs the workerdirectly or which funds the organization which employshim.

However, if a community organizer wants to achievesome degree of conviction in his efforts and wishes toavoid failure, he should subject his idea and theorganization’s objectives to a critical analysis. Are theobjectives in line with the needs of the community?How will the proposed programme help? These questionscan help the organizer to become clear about his work.He may not be in a pposition to change agency policy/programmes, but clarity will help him to see what hecan or cannot achieve in his work. Moreover, an analysisof the resources that the organizer/agency possessesor hopes to invest (including time inputs, financialresources, human resources etc.), as also the selectionof the geographical or functional community needs tobe undertaken at this initial stage.

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2) Enlisting People’s Participation

The organizer is expected to develop a positive andpurposeful rapport with the people in the community.He may either adopt a formal way of introducing himselfdirectly or through a known community contact like aleader, school teacher, or anganwadi worker, or utilizean informal approach, wherein he may simply startvisiting the community and meeting people. The basicpurpose is to acquaint himself with the community andto explain his presence.

It is important to remember that at this stage theorganizer should not give false hopes to the people ormake false promises just to elicit a positive responsefrom the people. He should also avoid developingrelationships based on caste, regional or religiousaffiliations, as it could prove counter productive.Excessive reliance on any particular leader or group toestablish initial rapport and working base in thecommunity should also be avoided. The organizer shouldconvey the impression of being open, flexible andaccommodating.

3) Developing a Community Profile

A community profile is information about the communityand its members. It is necessary to include a variety ofinformation to provide a good description of thecommunity. The knowledge should be acquired inpartnership with the community. The knowledge shouldbe acquired in partnership with the community membersand its key persons.

The important components of a community profile are:

i) Identification Data, including the name,geographical location, part of the administrativedivision etc.

Models and Approaches of Community Organisation


ii) Local History, including the genesis, changes inpopulation/resources, important events etc.

iii) Transportation and communication, including thespatial dimensions, nature of transportation andcommunication links with the community.

iv) Population characteristics, including

a) Total approximate population

b) Distribution as per age, gender, caste, religiousaffiliation, regional background, languagesspoken.

c) Educational background, in terms of averageeducation level, position of women in terms ofeducation, identification of disadvantaged groupswith respect of education.

v) Employment and Income Features, includingsources/types of employment for the community/for women/for disadvantaged social groups; averagefamily income.

vi) Housing Pattern and Characteristics, includingprevailing housing types, ownership dimensions,size of dwellings, layout and its basis.

vii) Resources Available/Infrastructure, including

a) Health related infrastructure: nature and typesof facilities available; analysis of accessibility,availability and affordability.

b) Educational facilities: types, capacity,management, availability of teachers, teacher-pupil ratio, gender division, etc.

c) Drinking water facilities and Electricity supply.

d) Issues related to sanitation.

e) Availability of financial institutions like banks,cooperatives, markets etc.

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f) Non-governmental organizations, like voluntaryorganizations, women’s clubs, youth clubs etc.

g) Community recreation centres.

h) Agricultural and veterinary services.

i) Public Distribution System: Eligibility, process.

j) Governmental schemes/programmes

k) Places of worship

l) Other facilities like library, panchayat ghar,barat ghar/community hall, police station.

viii)Major Problems in the Community, like

a) Health related issues

b) Income/livelihood related issues

c) Education related concerns

d) Potential for inter-group tension

e) Other problems or issues with specification

4) Needs Assessment

The community organizer has to assess and understandthe needs and problems faced by the community people.The needs could range from:

i) Basic needs such as housing, electricity supply,water supply, sanitation etc.

ii) Economic needs such as need for employment,increase in agricultural productivity, procurementof credit etc.

iii) Educational needs, such as needs for non formaleducation, remedial coaching, improvement inquality of education, available/infrastructure, needfor vocational courses etc.

iv) Health needs, such as need for health facilities/staff.



v) Recreational needs such as need for sports facilities,community centre, reading room, playground, parketc.

vi) Information needs, with regard to available resourcecentres, services, schemes/programmes beingimplemented.

During needs assessment/problem identification, thefollowing points should be kept in mind:

a) It is important to differentiate between the ‘felt’needs of the community people and the needsperceived by the community organizer. Often, theorganizer presents his own appraisal of communityneeds and initiates action based on this appraisal.However, such action is neither relevant to thecommunity nor is it sustainable, as it is not basedon the real needs of the people.

The ‘feeling about’ is therefore the prime determinantof the importance of a need or a problem, and suchneeds are therefore referred to as `felt’ needs. It isonly when the felt needs of the community areidentified and form the basis of action, that theprocess is likely to be productive and sustainablefrom the perspective of the community.

b) There is often a gap between expressed needs andactual needs of the community. People may express/articulate the need for literacy, while their actualneed may be stable livelihood options. This confusionoften leads to the initiation of programmes whichmay not elicit people’s long term participation.

c) Many a times the community organiser assumesthat a consciousness of the different needs/problems exists in the minds of the people. However,this may not be so. People often live with their unmetneed/problems for so long that they learnt to acceptthem or adjust to them to such a degree that their

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feelings about them lie deeply buried. In such cases,the community organizer is expected to facilitatethe process of bringing these feelings to a consciouslevel. It is only when people explore and reveal theirlatent feelings that their genuine needs, concerns,hopes and expectations are identified.

d) There may also be diversity in the concept of need.In such a context it becomes important tounderstand what people mean by a certainarticulation of a need. For example, when peopleexpress the need for housing, what exactly do theymean? Do they want regularization of their land, orrequire low income dwellings or financial help forrepairs/additions? Exploring the diverseexpectations is important, as the programme hasto cater to people’s real aspirations.

5) Ordering/Prioritizing Needs

All the identified needs and problems of the communityare first listed by the community with the help of thecommunity oraniser. This is a process which makes thepeople understand their own situation. This involvementof the community in listing their needs and problemswill ultimately lead to their participation in the solvingof the problems or fulfillment of the needs.

Further, amongst the host of needs and problems listed,all cannot be considered together for further action.They will have to be analysed for their magnitude,severity, symptoms and causes. Based on this they willhave to be ordered and a priority will be given to them.It will be in this order/priority that they will have to betaken up for action.

6) Problem Analysis and Redefinition

The selected need/problem has to be examined, analysedand stated in order to be fully understood in its multiple



dimensions by the people. This step is also imperativein order to undertake purposeful planning and action.

Need/problem analysis involves (i) making a statementof the need or problem, in a way that it most clearlyexpress the difficulty experienced by the affected people;(ii) identifying the direct causes and direct effects ofthe core problem/s; and (iii) stakeholder analysis.

The latter will involve the identification of thestakeholders who are affected by the problem; thosewho cause the problem; those who may contribute indealing with the problem; and those who may resist/work against the proposed action. Thus, the need/problem has to be thoroughly analysed, redefined andclearly stated at this stage.

7) Formulation of Achievable Objectives

The redefined need/problem is converted into achievableobjectives for further action. At times the objectives/goals will have to be split into many parts, so that theycould be converted into specific programmes andactivities oriented towards fulfilling the needs and solvingproblems.

Let us assume that low educational attainment of girlsis a problem identified by the community. However, nonavailability of the school is not a reason for the same. Itis analysed and found that parents do not send theirgirls to the community school. Again this arises not somuch from the low priority accorded to girl’s educationat the level of the parents, as from the absence of femaleteachers in the school. When the cultural milieu of thecommunity does not favour the teaching of girls by amale teacher, the root cause of the problem is theabsence of female teachers, while the general problemexternally appears to be a general low educationalattainment by girls.

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8) Development of Community Confidence andWillpower

Many communities identify needs and problems whichthey feel incompetent to achieve or deal with. This isparticularly true of those communities in which apathy,indifference, and complacency has set in. In suchcircumstances, identifying, analyzing and stating theneeds/problems is of little use if the people do not findthe will and confidence for action. Communities lackingthese will find it difficult to mobilize for action.

Sometimes a crisis situation shakes them and mobilizesthem for action. For example, a demolition of a slumcluster or the occurrence of a disaster or an accident inthe community may spontaneously awaken thecommunity and prepare it for purposeful action.However, often support has to come from an externalagent, such as the community organizer whosestimulation, encouragement and support is essential togive them the confidence that “we can do it”.

9) Work Out the Alternatives

Based on the objectives, different options are exploredby the community through brain storming. In order tosolve the selected problem the community has togenerate a number of alternatives to address theproblem. For example, the problem of a high drop outrate from the school in the community may be directlyrelated to the defective functioning of the school. Whatare the different options open to tackle this problem?The concerned teachers can be met and advised. Thedefective functioning can be brought to the notice of thehigher authorities in different ways. The higherauthorities can be met by representatives or a signaturecampaign may be conducted or a protest march couldbe organized. There could be many such options whichcould be either exercised singly or in combination withothers.



10) Selection of an Appropriate Alternative

Among the proposed alternatives, the best alternativeor set of alternatives is selected for dealing with theselected problem. Often one starts with exercising amild option, and gradually going on to other more strongmeasures. If nothing works out the use of the radicalsocial action method also offers a possibility.

11) Work Out a Plan of Action

To meet the selected need or deal with the selectedproblem, an action plan is proposed in whichresponsibilities are assigned and a tentativeorganizational structure is prepared. The time frame,resources required and personnel involved are decidedat this stage. Suppose the drop out problem consideredearlier is to be tackled, it may be decided to first meetthe school authorities and present a petition. This hasto be planned in terms of date, time, who, how many,where, etc.

12) Mobilisation of Resources

To implement the proposed plan of action, requisiteresources are to be assessed, identified and mobilized.These resources may be in the form of money, time,manpower and material. An estimate is made and thesources are identified for mobilization.

It is important to strike a balance between internal andexternal resources. The organizer must involve thecommunity in identifying the potential sources (internaland external) from which to obtain resources. Theinternal resources of the community are of primaryimportance and they have to be tapped. The communitycan provide resources in the form of space, materials,money/service charges, manpower in the form ofvolunteers and its traditional/indigenous wisdom.

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However, where necessary drawing upon resources fromoutside the community also becomes important. Externalresources may be in the form of funding, expert advice,technical assistance etc.

What is required in dealing with most community needs/problems is an awareness in the community about “whatwe can do for ourselves” and “where we need outsidehelp”. To attempt to deal with the problems for whichlocal resources are inadequate may simply causefrustration and a sense of failure in the communitypeople in the long run. At the same time, too muchreliance on external resources often leads to overdependency on outside help.

Communities like individuals seldom use their ownresources to the full. In communities where the processof community organization is initiated and continued,people are often surprised at their resources andcapacities to take part in community initiatives.

13) Implementation of Action

Taking action is the most vital component of thecommunity organization process. While implementingthe plan of action, the active participation of peoplethrough acceptance of responsibilities has to be ensured.The people have to be prepared and guided to holdresponsibilities and become partners in the problemsolving process. There has to be a gradual taking overby the community and a simultaneous withdrawal ofthe agency/worker to facilitate sustainability of theprocess.

In the community organization process, it is this tangiblepractical action leading to some achievement, evenpartial, which ultimately tests and proves the validityof the process. If something is accomplished, thedifficulties will be suffered, and a new satisfaction,



confidence and strengthened resolve will develop in thecommunity participants.

14) Evaluation of Action

The implemented plan is evaluated to assess the successand determine the limitations/constraints faced duringimplementation. Maintenance of accurate records of allwork done and development of a framework for analysisare necessary pre-requisites for objective evaluation.The positive and desirable results need to be appreciatedand the shortfalls/undesired results need to beidentified, analyzed and discussed.

Evaluation can be undertaken either on a periodic basisor at the end of a phase or at the end of the programme/activity. Again, it can be either undertaken by theorganizational personnel in collaboration with thecommunity or by an outsider or an expert. It is desirableto have both types of evaluation, as communityparticipation in evaluation leads to capacity building incommunity members. Moreover, it strengthens thefeeling of responsibility and accountability in them.

Evaluation should be done with reference to possibilitiesfor the future and should be perceived positively by allconcerned.

15) Modification

Based on the evaluation, necessary modifications areplanned and incorporated. The learning derived throughthe evaluation process enables the community to identifythe strong points and the weak points of its action plan.In order to enhance the effectiveness of the interventionand to bring about a permanent solution of the selectedproblem, modifications are imperative. Thesemodifications facilitate a more effective response to theneed/problem taken up for collective action.

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16) Development of Cooperative and Collaborative Attitudes

While all the aforementioned stages are important andin fact inseparable, certainly none is more importantthan the final one viz. the development of cooperativeand collaborative attitudes and practices in thecommunity.

What is implied here is that as the process of communityorganization evolves and progresses, people in thecommunity come together to understand, accept andwork with one another. In the process of fulfilling acommon need or dealing with a common problem/s, thediverse sub groups and their leaders become aware andinclined towards cooperation with other sub groups insimilar endeavors.

This process may not necessarily lead to the eradicationof all differences between the subgroups and subcultureswithin the community or the achievement of completehomogeneity, but it often leads to an increased abilityof the groups to understand this diversity and acceptthe same. They will be more inclined to develop theskills of overcoming the conflicts which may arise fromtime to time. At the same time it may also lead to thedevelopment of a common frame of reference withinwhich all can work together for common ends.

Through this experience, the community will be in abetter position to deal more readily and skillfully withsimilar problems which may arise in the future, by beingable to recognize them earlier and by being betterequipped to cope with them as they arise.

Thus, community organisation is not simply concernedwith the development of a new community centre or awater system or a balwadi, but more important is thedevelopment of an enhanced capacity to undertake other



collaborative projects in the community. For manypersons participating in the process it will be theaccomplishment of the immediate objective which willbe more important, but for the professional worker, it isthe long term goal of development of the community’scapacity to function as an integrated unit with respectto its needs, problems and common objectives. This goalwill gradually come to be understood and cherished bythe community too.

Models of Community Organisation

What is a Model?

A model can be understood as a medium through whicha person looks at the complex realities. It serves as areference for the work undertaken and gives a clearerunderstanding of what could be expected. A model canalso be understood as a strategy or an approach foraccomplishing a vision, and the appropriate steps to befollowed to get there. Some models have evolved out ofthe specific ideologies of change, while some have arisenin response to certain concrete situations or experiences.

A number of persons have attempted to develop aclassification of models of community organisation.

A. Murray. G. Ross (1955) preferred to use the term‘approach’. He identified three main approaches tocommunity organization. These are:

1) The General Content Approach

2) The Specific Content Approach

3) The Process Approach

1) The General Content Approach

The focus of this approach is on the coordinated andorderly development of services in the community. This

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approach incorporates two sub-approaches viz. (a) thestrengthening of the existing services and (b) initiatingnew services. The general objective is effective planningand organization of a group of services in the community.

2) The Specific Content Approach

This approach comes into operation when an individualorganization or the community itself becomes concernedwith some specific issue of concern or some requisitereforms, and consciously launches a programme toachieve the stipulated goal/s or objective/s. Thus, thisapproach involves specific issue oriented organizationof services.

3) The Process Approach

This approach does not focus so much on the ‘content’,as on the initiation and sustenance of a ‘process’ inwhich all the people of the community are involved,either directly or through their representatives. Itinvolves identification of problem/s and takingpurposeful action with regard to the same. The emphasisis more on building the capacity of the community forself-help initiatives and collaborative enterprise. Fourfactors are very important for this approach. These are(i) Self determination of the community; (ii) Indigenousplans; (iii) People’s willingness to change; and (iv)Community pace.

B) In the year 1968, Jack Rothman introduced threemodels of community organization. These were:

1) Locality Development

2) Social Planning

3) Social Action

These three models construct were revised and refinedby him in the year 2001 (Rothman, 2001), taking intoaccount the changes in practices and conditions in



communities. Instead of referring to the threeapproaches as the ‘Models’, he preferred referring tothem as the ‘Core Modes of Community Intervention’.Moreover, these three approaches or modes aredescribed as ideal-type constructs, which to a very largeextent do not exist in pristine, full blown form in thereal world, but are useful mental tools to describe andanalyse reality.

According to Rothman, these three modes of interventionto purposive community change can be discerned incontemporary American communities andinternationally. Community intervention is the generalterm used to cover the various forms of community levelpractice, and has been used instead of the termcommunity organizing, as it has been found to be auseful overarching term to employ. The three modes ofintervention are:

a) Locality Development

b) Social Planning/Policy

c) Social Action

Mode A: Locality Development

This approach presupposes that community changeshould be pursued through broad participation by a widespectrum of people at the local community level indetermining goals and taking civic action. It is acommunity building endeavour with a strong emphasison the notions of mutuality, plurality, participation andautonomy. It fosters community building by promotingprocess goals: community competency (the ability tosolve problems on a self help basis) and socialintegration (harmonious inter-relationships amongdifferent ethnic and social class groups). The approachis humanistic and strongly people-oriented, with theaim of “helping people to help themselves”. Leadership

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is drawn from within and direction and control are inthe hands of the local people. “Enabling” techniquesare emphasized.

Some examples of locality development includeneighbourhood work programmes conducted bycommunity based agencies, and village level work incommunity development programmes.

While locality development is based on highly respectedideals, it has been criticized by people like Khinduka,who characterize it as a “soft strategy” for achievingchange. Its preoccupation with process can lead to aslow pace of progress and may divert attention from theimportant structural issues. Embracing consensus asa basic modus operandi, those who stand to lose fromthe proposed reforms may be in a position to vetoeffective action. Moreover, in contemporary context,locality is steadily losing its hold over people andpowerful national, regional and global forces areinfluencing the patterns of life of people.

Mode B: Social Planning/Policy

This approach emphasizes a technical process of problemsolving regarding substantive social problems, such ashousing, education, health, women’s development etc.This particular orientation to planning is data-drivenand conceives of carefully calibrated change being rootedin social science thinking and empirical objectivity. Thestyle is technocratic and rationality is a dominant ideal.Community participation is not a core ingredient andmay vary from much to little depending on the problemand the circumstances. The approach presupposes thatchange in a complex modern environment requires expertplanners who can gather and analyse quantitative dataand manoeure large bureaucratic organizers in order toimprove social conditions. There is heavy reliance on



needs assessment, decision analysis, evaluationresearch, and other sophisticated statistical tools.

By and large the concern here is with task goals:conceptualizing, selecting, arranging and deliveringgoods and services to people who need them. In additionfostering coordination among agencies, avoidingduplication and filling gaps in services are importantconcerns here.

Planning and policy are grouped together because bothinvolve assembling and analyzing data for solving socialproblems.

Two important contemporary constraints impacting thismode, according to Rothman are: (1) Planning hasbecome highly interactive and diverse interest groupsrightfully go into the defining of goals and setting thecommunity agenda. It involves value choices that gobeyond the purview of the expert or bureaucrat; and (2)Impact of reduced governmental spending on socialprogrammes, due to economic constraints, leading to alower reliance on the elaborate, data driven planningapproach.

Mode C: Social Action

This approach presupposes the existence of an aggrievedor disadvantaged segment of the population that needsto be organized in order to make demands on the largercommunity for increased resources or equal treatment.This approach aims at making fundamental changes inthe community, including the redistribution of powerand resources and gaining access to decision makingfor marginal groups. Practitioners in the social actiondomain aim to empower and benefit the poor and theoppressed. The style is primarily one in which socialjustice is a dominant ideal (Karp, 1998).

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Confrontational tactics like demonstrations, strikes,marches, boycotts and other disruptive or attentiongaining moves have been emphasized, as disadvantagedgroups frequently rely heavily on “people power”, whichhas the potential to pressure and disrupt’. Practitionersof this approach mobilize low power constituencies andequip them with skills to impact power. This approachhas been used widely by AIDS activists, civil rights powergroups, environmental protection organizations, feministgroups, labour unions and radical political actionmovements. Human service professionals have not beenprominent in the social action area, but there has beenparticipation on a small scale basis. Modest salaries,absence of professional expertise and need for long termcommitment are important deterrents in this approachbecoming more widely used.

Three Community Intervention Approaches

(Rothman, 2001)

The aforementioned table lists a set of practice variablesthat help describe and compare each of the three modesof intervention. These include goal categories;assumptions; basic change strategy; change tactics;practitioner’s roles; orientation towards power structure;definition of beneficiary system; uses of empowermentetc. The three approaches differ in terms of most ofthese practice variables.

Rothman further points out that each communityintervention mode is not as self contained and mutuallyexclusive as it appears to be. Actually interventionapproaches overlap and may be used in mixed form inpractice. (Rothman, 2001).


Com

mu

nity

Orga

niza

tion M

an

agem

ent for C

omm

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evelopm

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206Selected Practice Locality Development Social Planning/ Social Action

Variables Policy

Goal categories of Community capacity Problem solving with Shifting of powercommunity action and integration; Self regard to substantive relationships and resources;

help (process goals) community problems basic institutional change(task goals) (task or process goal)

Assumptions concer- Community lacks viable Substantive social Disadvantagedning community relationships and problems exist like populations, social injustice,structure and problem problem solving poverty housing, deprivation, inequalityconditions capacity health etc.

Basic change strategy Involving a broad cross Gathering data about Crystallizing issues andsection of people in problems and rational mobilizing people to takedetermining and solving decision making action against enemytheir own problems enabling an effective targets

course of action.

Characteristic change Consensus; communi- Consensus or conflict Conflict confrontation,tactics and techniques cations among community direct action, negotiation

groups and interests;group discussion

Practitioner roles Enabled-catalyst coordi- Fact gatherer and Activist advocate: agitator,nator, teacher of analyst, programme broker, negotiator or,problem solving skills implementer, expediter partisanand ethical values

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Medium of change Guiding small, task Guiding formal organi- Guiding mass organizationsoriented groups zations and treating and political processes

data

Orientation toward Members of power Power structure as Power structure as externalpower structure structure as collaborators employers and target of action: oppressors

in a common venture sponsors to be coerced or overturned

Boundary definition of Total geographic Total community or Community segmentthe beneficiary system community community segment

Conception of Citizens Consumers Victimsbeneficiaries

Use of empowerment Building the capacity of Finding out from Achieving power for thea community to make consumers about their beneficiary system-the rightcollaborative and needs for service; and the means to impactinformed decisions informing consumers community decisions;

about their service promoting a feeling ofchoices mastery by participants

Mod

els an

d A

pproa

ches of C

omm

un

ity O

rgan

isation


C. Another categorization of models of practice quitesimilar to the one suggested by Rothman, has been givenby Siddiqui (1997). This also comprises of three modelswhich are outlined below:

1) Neighbourhood Development Model

2) System Change Model

3) Structural Change Model

1) Neighbourhood Development Model

The general assumption underlying this model is thatpeople living in a community (neighbourhood) have thebasic and inherent capacity of meeting their needs/problems through their own initiative and resources.The worker is expected to induce a process which willmake the community realize this and consequently makeefforts to achieve a greater degree of satisfaction for itsmembers, individually and collectively. Recent changesin this model of community work lay more emphasis onthe development of a self sustaining, indigenousorganization within the community to take over thisrole from the worker or the agency as soon as possible.Thus, the role of the worker is seen as unleashingdevelopmental energies within the community, ratherthan as a provider of services.

Contrary to its name, the model’s application is notlimited to generating services to cater to people’s needsor improving the physical/resource infrastructure of theneighbourhood. The model can be employed to developnew ideas too. The emphasis is to encourage thinkingon the part of people themselves, to adopt progressiveattitudes, rather than doing things for them.

This model of effecting change has the limitation of beingconfined to the micro perspective only. It does not lookat linkages of the micro with the macro realities, and

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the impact of the latter on the community. However,inspite of this limitation, this model has continued tobe practiced in India and other third world countriesmore commonly than the other models.

The experience of community work in India has shownthat a complete withdrawal of workers/agency, even inthe best planned neighbourhood model is not possible.A long term involvement of the social worker/agencydue to the change process being a long drawn andgradual one is required.

The specific steps involved in this model are:

1) Identification, local and demarcation of the physicalarea

2) Entry into the community

3) Identifying the needs of different sections

4) Programme Planning

5) Resource Planning

6) Developing an organizational network in thecommunity

7) Partial withdrawal within a time frame

2) System Change Model

This model presupposes the existence of variousarrangements in society to cater to the basic needs ofeducation, health, housing, employment etc. These areconsidered as independent systems, which in turn arecomprised of sub systems. The ultimate rationale forthe existence of these systems is social production andsocial consumption.

These systems can become dysfunctional due to a varietyof factors, which in turn create strain and pressure onthe system. The system may become dysfunctional eitherbecause what it is producing is not relevant for people,



or because many people do not have access to what isbeing produced, on account of disparities betweendifferent socio-economic or spatial segments of thepopulation. Symptoms of this dysfunction appear withinthe community as a problem or a set of problems. Forthese to be tackled, first the system and its sub systemsneed to be understood in order to arrive at a usefulframework for understanding what one finds at the grassroots level. Subsequently, the worker attempts a strategyof either restructuring or modifying the system. This istermed as a “system change” approach/model tocommunity work.

The specific tasks associated with this model are:

1) Collecting relevant facts about the specificdeficiencies in the system, e.g. urban bias; disparityin access to services; lack of trained functionaries,inadequate delivery structure; lack of funding etc.leading to inadequacy.

2) Sharing of the findings within the community/communities.

3) Selecting an appropriate strategy to influencedecision making bodies or to focus attention on theissue.

4) Mobilising community and outside support to putthe plan into action.

5) Developing an organization in the community andlinking it to similar organizations in othercommunities and other agencies which can helpthem in demanding change.

3) Structural Change Model

This model visualizes the community as a small cellwithin the larger body of society. In other words, varioustiny communities constitute the bigger whole i.e. the

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society or a nation state. The model assumes that themanner in which the relationship between differentsections of the population is structured, formally(constitutional framework, law, policies etc.) orinformally (customs, public opinion etc.) determines thesocial rights of individuals. This also determines therelationship of the state vis-à-vis the individual or acommunity, as also the intra-community and intercommunity relations.

In the structural change model, the worker analysesthe link between the macro structuring of socialrelationships and the micro-reality (the latter could bethe problem of unemployment in the community, or lackof access of large sections of the people to education orhealth facilities or credit/other resources). The workertries to mobilize the community to participate in theradical alteration of the macro structure so as to impactthe micro reality.

This is a very complex task for the community workeras it calls for very different kinds of skills. It also requiresthe worker to possess an understanding of humansociety in all its dimensions: economic, political, socialand cultural. It also calls for an understanding of thelink between micro and macro realities.

A structural change model has to work out analternative form of society, which will transform theexisting conditions at the micro level of the communityat hand. In other words, it would translate into theadoption of an alternative political ideology. The ‘macro’does not often include only the policies of the nationstate, but also factors and powers outside the nationstate. For e.g. the influence wielded by the InternationalMonetary Fund, World Bank and big powers on manythird world countries, which impact the distribution ofgoods and services in the society. At times, therefore,



there is need to influence the larger world order, inorder to be able to bring changes in either the nationstate or a whole group of nations suffering from biased/skewed international policies.

Thus, the complex nature of the model, a lack ofpreparedness on the part of the worker, a feeling of lackof faith/relevance within the community, and theconflict such a model is likely to generate, make this byfar the most difficult and rarely practiced model ofcommunity work.

The specific tasks involved in the model are:

1) To develop an understanding of the link betweenmicro and macro social realities.

2) To make a conscious decision about an alternativepolitical ideology.

3) To share this understanding with the community,to enable it to make its own decisions.

4) To help the community identify a plan of action topursue its goal by locating specific issues andconsequent action to launch a long struggle.

5) To help the community sustain its interest,enthusiasm and capacity to meet the strain whichis likely to arise out of an inevitable conflict withthe existing power structure.

This form of community work is therefore radical in itsorientation. The achievement of any goal may be theobjective; however, it is equally important that peoplegain in terms of greater self confidence, organizationaland social skills and derive an understanding of thevital issues which concern them in society. In otherwords, the use of this model may be to sow the seeds forsocial change.

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A type of community work which is distinct from theaforementioned three models, in terms of its scope istermed as the Inter-Community Model of CommunityWork (Siddiqui, 1997).

The Inter-Community Model of Community Work

The scope of this model is wider than the neighbourhoodmodel. There are certain problems/needs in thecommunity which may not be tackled, either within thecommunity or through community resources. Forexample, the problem of unemployment or lack oftraining facilities or health facilities cannot be tackledwithin a community. Low income levels and resourcebase of the community make it difficult to initiate andsustain a programme which aims to meet some suchneeds within the single community context. This callsfor an inter-community approach.

The worker locates the programme in a place wherepeople from different communities can come andparticipate. The worker visits various communities, tomake people aware of the programme and motivatesthem to participate. A community nucleus is usuallyestablished, comprising of beneficiaries and otherinfluential persons, to dispense information about theinitiative. In such efforts, the representatives of thedifferent communities participate in deciding theprogramme, its location and the mode of sharingresources and responsibilities for its management. Thismodel can lead to the establishment of an organizationor council to provide specific services in differentcommunities.

The inter community work model is different from theneighbourhood model, as the scope of its coverage iswider. It differs from the other two models since its goalis to meet local needs, rather than change the systemor structure.



Other Strategies and Approaches toCommunity Organising

A) Peter Dreiver (1996), another writer has given atypology that confines itself to locality, but in the smallcommunity world he finds the same tripartite divisionby dimensions: social, political, and economic. Dreiver(1996) called his typology “Community EmpowermentStrategies” and identified the following alternativedirections:

1) Community Organising: Mobilising people to combatcommon problems and to increase their voice ininstitutions and decisions that affect their lives andcommunities (a direction with political emphasis).

2) Community Based Development: Neighbourhoodbased efforts to improve an area’s physical and financialcondition such as new construction or rehabilitation ofhousing (a direction with economic emphasis).

3) Community-Based Service Provision: Involvesneighbourhood-level efforts to deliver social services (e.g.child care vocational training, maternal and child healthetc.) and is called “building human capital”. (a directionwith social emphasis).

These are rather narrow directions that are insufficientby themselves. They depend on other organizations beingaround to take care of the distress not addressed by thesingle-dimension approach. For e.g. if we were dealingwith a community organizing approach, then theneighbourhood would also need the community baseddevelopment approach to work with economic distressand a service provided to handle social distress (Murphyand Cunningham, 2003).

B) Robert Fisher (1984) presented a much broaderperspective of approaches. He identified “three dominant

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approaches”, to neighbourhood organizing. These areas follows:

1) Social Work Approach

In this approach, the society is viewed as a socialorganism and all efforts are oriented towards buildinga sense of community. The community organizer playsthe role of an enabler, an advocate, a planner and acoordinator, who helps the community to identity aproblem in the neighbourhood, attempts to procure therequisite resources by gathering the existing socialservices and by lobbying with those in power to meetthe needs of the neighbourhood. This approach isconsensual and gradualist in nature. The goals was theSocial Settlement Movement in the US and the War onPoverty Programme of the Johnson administration inthe sixties.

2) The Political Activist Approach

This approach is characterized by militant confrontationand heavy pressure on the power institutions of society.Power sharing is a major goal. This method is based onadvocacy, conflict and negotiation and is used by massbased organizations such as those initiated by SaulAlinsky, who is also considered to be the founder of thisapproach. The organizer is a mobiliser and leadershipdeveloper, and the problem condition is social andeconomic oppression arising out of powerlessness. Theultimate goal is the elimination of social, economic andpolitical disparities (a direction with political emphasis).

3) Neighbourhood Maintenance Approach

This approach arose out of both the previous approaches,and is characterized by middle-class residents and theirsmall business and institutional allies who seek to“defend” their community against change and perceivedthreats to property values. The “problem conditions may



include decline in municipal services, deterioration inneighbourhood sanitation, water supply, or increasedcrime. The organizer might be a volunteer communityleader or a trained specialist in urban planning,community development etc. The method used may bepeer group pressure may be a civic association/neighbourhood association. In the initial phase, peergroup pressure may be used to convince the officials todeliver services to the community, but later it couldassume the form of the political activists approach asthey realize that goals can only be achieved throughconfrontation.

C) Saul Alinsky (1945) one of the founders of modernneighbourhood organizing reflected deeper into thedifferent approaches of community organizing. Accordingto him social change and community organization couldeither be primarily reformist or revolutionary, dependingon how fundamental the changes are, which are sought.

Organizations with a reformist stance primarily striveto modify or reform the system, trying to make it fall inline with the needs of the people. On the other hand,revolutionary organizations question core assumptionsand propose radically different alternatives to theexisting ones. For example, the latter would involvethemselves in basic changes related to gender roles, oroverthrow of casteism etc.

Saul Alinsky presented two distinct approaches ortraditions to organizing. These are:

1) The Social Mobilisation Tradition

Here the core strategic goal is to get people to acttogether; to gain power through the numbers of peopleinvolved. This is based on the assumption that suchpressure will make those in power comply with thedemands that are made.

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In this tradition, emphasis is on the mobilizing efforti.e. contacting people and encouraging them to becomesocially and politically active. Social mobilizationtradition encourages people to petition vigorously;protest; demonstrate and not to fear direct action andconfrontation. Social mobilization efforts are also labelledas “campaigns”, as they utilize collective power to createchange. Moreover, the changes brought about throughthe campaigns are sometimes less important than thestrength and unity that comes about through themobilization, as mobilization in itself is empowering.

2) Social Production Tradition

In this tradition, the strategic goal is to acquire services,material goods and resources for the people in need.The core emphasis is on achieving the outcome i.e.helping those in need with the problems they face. Inorder to achieve the core goal of acquiring goods/servicesfor the target group/s or to attempt redistribution ofresources/benefits, supporters of this tradition are morelikely to work with those in power. People are encouragedto learn to participate in the political system and tomanage relationships with agencies that provideservices. The social production initiatives are usuallylabeled as “projects” as they are primarily endeavors tocreate services that benefit those in need.

Alinsky preferred to refer to “Community Organisation”as “Community Organising” with emphasis on power,pressure and high profile public actions. His favouredapproach was confrontative and rested on displays ofpeople’s strength through marches, parades, publichearings, disruptive boycotts, picketing and sit-downs.He created the “Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF)”comprising of organisers who carried his methods allover the U.S.



When Alinsky began his work, community organizationwas a social work approach, wedded to traditional formsof cooperation and consensus. However, throughout the1950s, Alinsky trained residents into adopting theconfrontationist mode to tackle the chronicimpoverishment and joblessness. Many faculty andstudents of social work and neighbourhood groups beganto accept power organizing.

Some 40 years later power tactics are still latent inmost organizations, but are not so widely used as duringthe 1960s.

D) Hanna and Robinson (1994) also advocated therelevance of the transformative model, as opposed tothe more traditional approaches. Like Alinsky, theirtypology also sprung out of the soul of the oppressedresident, and included the following three strategies:

1) Traditional Politics, which involves elite, nonparticipative efforts that bend the status quo just enoughto preserve it. It involves rational problem solving, butincome, resource, and status gaps remain.

2) Direct Action Community Organising, whichinvolves mass-based organizing, sometimes usingconfrontation. It is power oriented and aims to empowernon elites to negotiate with the elites for a share inpower.

3) Transformative Social Change, which involves smallgroups, intensive study and reflection, and peoplebecoming acutely aware and knowledgeable about theoppressive forces. Emphasis is on self-directed learningand a fully collective approach to group awareness,decision making and social action, which liberatesparticipants from the mind set of dependency andoppression.

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Hanna and Robinson judged the first two strategies tobe inadequate and favoured the transformative socialchange practice. They drew on the work of Friere (1972),author of “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” to recommend“liberating education” as an essential pre-actioncomponent of community change, which they called“overall transformation of a society”.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have discussed the different steps,models, strategies and approaches to communityorganization. While the steps in the communityorganization process include role searching, purposefulentry and assessment of ‘felt’ needs of the communityas the initial few steps, it usually completes the cyclewith capacity building and the building of collaborativeand cooperative attitudes among community members.

A number of writers and practitioners of communityorganization have forwarded a number of models,approaches and strategies for community organising.Varying between the more conservative and traditionalmodels based on consensus, and the more radical andtransformative models and strategies, these provide uswith alternative options of engaging the communitysystem for collective action. Having understood andanalysed these you will become more clear about theapplication of specific models/approaches in specificsettings and contexts.

References

Murphy, Patricia. Watkins & Cunninghan, James V.(2003). Organising for Community ControlledDevelopment: Renewing Civil Society, SagePublications, Thousand Oaks.



Ross, Murray. G. (1955). Community Organisation-Theory and Principles, Harper Bros, New York.

Rothman, Jack & Erlich, John, L. & Tropman, John. E.(2001). Strategies of Community Intervention (SixthEdition), F.E. Peacock Publishers, Inc., Itasca,Illinois.


Weil, Marie. (Ed.). The Handbook of Community Practice,Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.

10

Current Issues in CommunityOrganisation and the Role of the

Community Organiser*Neera Agnimitra

Introduction

A nexus of serious challenges faces communityorganizers in the 21st century. While some of the issueslike persistence of poverty are old, others such asglobalization have emerged recently. The connectionsbetween the diverse problems are becoming increasinglycomplicated. In the contemporary context, communityorganizers must not only deal with problems related topoverty and marginalization but also tackle the effectsof global economics on developing countries like ourown. Globalization has increased deprivation and povertyworld wide and is playing a primary role in shrinkingthe role and propensity of governments of developingcountries to fund social progammes for their populations.In such a context, all social workers, and communityorganizers in particular, need to be better equipped toaddress conflicts within and across the diverse groupscomprising Indian communities, so that they can focuson social and economic achievement for all groups thathave been marginalized.

Contemporary communities are showing a decline insocial relations, emotional bonds and sentimental tiesthat characterized the communities of yesteryears.



Community consciousness and community spirit areshowing a decline. The decrease in attachment to thegeographical ‘locality’ or ‘neighbourhood’, arising onaccount of the enhanced mobility of the population iscontributing to a decline in the sense of attachment,social ownership and public responsibility. Power politicsis tending to permeate all aspects of community lifeand people are getting divided into different politicalgroups and sub-groups. The joint family system isdisintegrating, especially in urban communities and thetensions of daily living are leading to increased physicaland mental stress. Communal disharmony, gender basedinequality, factionalism, deprivation andimpoverishment of the marginalized, and denial ofhuman rights are some of the urgent issues challengingthe practice of community organization today. This unitgives you a broad understanding of power and the impactof power dynamics on community life. It also explainsthe relevance of power in community organization.Besides, it also gives an insight into the other issueswhich are affecting community dynamics andcommunity functioning like gender inequality, caste/class dynamics, factionalism and the resultantmarginalization of the weaker sections. Additionally, abrief orientation to the major impact of globalization oncommunities and community organization is also beingpresented. The role of the community organizer, andthe range of skills required to tackle the challenges ofcommunity work, are depicted in a separate section inthis chapter.

Working With the Community PowerStructure

Power is the ability to influence others, their beliefsand behaviour. It is the ability to make things happen.It also implies political or social ascendancy or control.

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Floyd Hunter explained the nature of power and powerstructure. Power appears in many forms and in a varietyof combinations. It flows from many sources like money;votes; law; possession of information, expertise or skills;group support; links and contacts; charisma, social roles,access to rewards and resources; position, titles, abilityto gratify important needs; monopoly of essentialresources, alliances, conviction, courage etc. Power oftenaccumulates in a person or a constituency and this isusually referred to as a power centre. Every society ischaracterized by a power structure. Power is notconfined within a single or specific power centre. Everylevel or organization of society is characterized by thepresence of some power. Even the so called ‘powerless’persons and constituencies within society possesspower, only it is latent and yet to be discovered anddeveloped.

Generally speaking every community has a powerstructure which is specific to itself. It varies from onecommunity to the other. Usually, some individuals orgroups of people are at the top of the power pyramidand thus constitute the power centres. They wieldinfluence on the community, drawing power from diversesources. They may influence the community throughformal and informal connections and also throughsubordinate leaders. With money being an importantsource of power, it is usually the rich and the affluentpersons and groups who possess most power. In theIndian context, the possession of land as the mostimportant economic resource also contributes to theaccumulation of power in certain persons and groups.

In Indian communities a multiplicity of power sourcesexist. In other words, power is usually dispersed acrossmany persons and groups. There is often a flexibility inthe power structure that is noticed. The primary aim ofsome community groups is to gain or extend their power.

Current Issues in Community Organisation and the Role...


While those in power are concerned with maintainingor even enlarging their power base, those with relativelyless power strive to bring about a redistribution of powerand exerting an influence on the decisions taken bypeople in power. All community groups are likely to comeup against, and have to recon with the exercise of powerin their locality.

The community organizer has to necessarily understandthe power dynamics in the community. He has tounderstand who wields the power in the communityand how do these persons/groups influence the actionof others. These aspects need to be understood andanalyzed by the organizer for the effective practice ofcommunity organization, and is known as communitypower structure analysis.

Indeed the community organizer can learn a great dealabout community power by actually grapping with it inthe pursuit of the goals of community practice. But actionis likely to be more effective if it can be planned andorganized in the light of some prior analysis of the localpower distribution.

The perspective of the community as a centre for powerand conflict places power and politics front and centrein our understanding of the community. It assumes thatcommunities are composed of competing groups andpower centres, which are constantly engaged inexpanding their power base and control over scarceresources. Some groups, based on social class or castehave less access to power and must constantly challengethose with power to acquire access to communityresources, such as education, employment opportunities,health care, housing, police protection etc. This ongoingtussle/conflict can produce significant pressure forchange in the distribution of power and resources inthe community.

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The idea of class conflict has its origins in the work ofthe 19th century German economist and philosopher KarlMarx, who argued that society is divided into twogroups-those who have access to wealth and power andwho control the means of production, and those whohave little or no power and are exploited by the smallprivileged group. Economic power and control overeconomic resources extends beyond the means ofproduction into the realm of politics. Economic poweris transformed into political power as the capitalist eliteuse their economic resources to dominate the politicalarena. This leads them to strengthen their position ofpower and to further subordinate the lower classes.

In any community, people with power make importantcommunity decisions and even control theimplementation of such decisions. For e.g. the traditionalleader or pradhan of a village is an important centre ofpower. He can influence the people to act or even not toact. If he exerts a positive influence on the community,positive and purposeful community change becomespossible. On the other hand, if he so desires, he canalso be instrumental in stalling any intervention fordesirable community change. Thus, communitydevelopment is greatly influenced by the powerstructures of the community. People who are influentialcan mobilize the participation of a major segment of thecommunity.

In the Indian context, the social structure becomesimportant to locate power centres and leaders in society.In rural India, power centres are found in variouscontexts, such as caste, lineage, and territorial groups.There are mainly two primary sources of power in therural communities. First, are those who derive powerfrom traditional sources like caste and kinship. As casteand kinship still form the core of village socialorganization, they go a long way in defining the power



structure and decision making process in rural India.The second category comprises of those who derive powerby occupying positions in the organizations introducedin the context of developmental activities like panchayatsarpanch/members, functionaries of voluntaryorganizations/community based organizations,chairpersons of mahila mandals/nav yuvak mandalsetc. In certain cases, some persons may acquire powerdue to their personal qualities and abilities, as alsotheir commitment/past experience at handling orsolving community problems.

Power is often dispered and there are usually severalpower centres. Beginning with the joint family, thepower and authority in the joint family centres aroundthe senior male member of the family, who is consideredas the head or ‘karta’ of the family. His authority isunquestionable and his decisions are binding on allmembers. Heads of large and important householdsenjoy a dominant position and exert great influence incommunity matters. The senior member of the lineagegroup (i.e. the kunba) also weilds significant power andauthority on account of his seniority and heriditoryrights. He is the leader and the representative of thekunba, and solves the inter-kunba problems. He attendsall village meetings and is the spokesperson for hiskunba. His decisions are binding on the members/constituents of his group. The family, lineage and kinshipgroups merge into caste, which is all pervasive. Theprinciple of seniority in age, inherited privileges andeconomic power determine the position of individualsor groups of individuals as caste leaders. The membersof the dominant caste wield great power and influencein the village. The headman or the lambardar usuallycomes from the dominant caste.

The village temple and priest/maulvi also hold positionsof power. They are not merely religious heads but are

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also consulted on a number of other issues affectingthe community, like settling disputes. Besides thesesources of power, age is another factor which hasconsiderable significance in determining villageleadership. Seniority in age is respected and revered.

External sources of power and outside leaders derivepower from their specialized knowledge, skills and ideasthey bear. Besides, their position or designation mayalso facilitate them to acquire a position of power withinthe community. They may unwillingly compete withestablished leaders. They gain their position of powerand prestige and influence established groups. They mayalso create new groups. School teachers, village healthworkers, doctors, heads of local NGOs and block officialscomprise this category of leaders/power holders.

The Relevance of Power and Leadership inCommunity Organisation

Development is influenced by the power structure ofthe community. People who are influential can mobilizea major segment of the community. There are two modelsof community power structure. These are theStratification Model and the Pluralist Model. TheStratification Model suggests that social class principallydetermines the distribution of community power.According to this model, the power structure in thecommunity is composed of the stable upper class elitewhose interest and outlook on community affairs arerelatively homogeneous. The Pluralist Model, rejects theidea that a small homogeneous group dominatescommunity decision-making. It states that there arenumerous small special interest groups that cut acrossclass lines, which are represented in the communitydecision-making process/system. These are interestgroups with overlapping memberships, and widelydiffering power bases. Community decisions are the



result of the interactions of these different interestgroups. Their theoretical orientation can help thecommunity organizer in his action.

The organizer has to identify the members of the powerstructure. He can rely on the Reputation Approach tolocate the community elites. According to this approach,the basic procedure is to ask a group of informants whoare knowledgeable about the community to list thepeople they believe to be most influential in thecommunity affairs. There may be variations in thisprocedure with regard to how informants are selected,and how questions are put up. By tallying those peoplemost frequently named as influential leaders, he canidentify the core of the community power structure.

The Position approach is another method of locatingthe members of the power structure based on theassumption of the Stratification Model. This approachassumes that people holding the highest office in thecommunity are at the top of the power structure. Byscanning the executive lists of the important social,political and economic organizations in the community,one can compile a list of members occupying the powerstructure. This approach requires fewer efforts thanthe Reputation Approach.

Locating the power structure and the leaders, who maybe both formal and informal and who can influence thethinking and behaviour of the community members thusassumes primary importance. These power holders areinvolved to induce peoples’ participation in order toachieve the organizational objectives. If the existingpower centres are not in line with the communityorganizational objectives, then a new centre of power isidentified and developed to get peoples’ commitment andparticipation, and thereby facilitate purposefulcommunity change.

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The community organizer must therefore concern himselfwith the identification of those leaders who willencourage the participation of the other members oftheir groups. Some specific advantages of working withleaders are: (1) Leaders contribute by bringing thedifferent factions in closer contact with the largercommunity and thereby integrating groups into a morecohesive whole. (2) By working with the power centresand leaders of the different factions and groups, theorganizer is indirectly able to work with the wholecommunity. It is not possible for him to work with eachand every member of the community. However, leadersbeing representatives of their respective groups facilitateparticipation from members of these groups. (3) Leaderscan also be used as a leverage point for initiating aprocess of change, which may eventually spreadthroughout the whole system. (4) Leaders providereadymade communication channels to reach thecommunity. If the organizer is able to reach the leaders,his message is sure to reach the people. (5) In a similarvein, leaders also provide ready made cooperative groupsfor self help projects and thereby obviate the greateramount of work that would be necessary in a lessorganized and more individualistic type of society. Ifthe leaders are convinced about the desirability andutility of a proposed community initiative, then theycan be instrumental in influencing/convincing themembers of their group, thereby rendering the task ofthe organizer much simpler than it would otherwise be.Thus, leadership from within the community canfacilitate mobilization, organization and participationof the community in community initiatives and istherefore the key to enlisting peoples participation.

However, it is important to identify and include the ‘real’leaders, who are accepted and respected by thecommunity. Often, the organizer makes the mistake to



assume that the pradhan or other prominent figuresholding important offices are the leaders, but in realitythey may just be nominal leaders. There may be otherinformal leaders who may be the ‘real’ leaders in thesense of being in a better position to exert a positiveinfluence on the community people. It also needs to beremembered that in Indian communities, power andleadership is not confined to one person or source. It isoften dispersed and therefore there are several personswhose involvement may be necessary to secure theeffective participation of the community as a whole. Thefact that leadership is spread out rather thanconcentrated is an advantage to the organsier, as he/she is bound to come in close contact with at leastsome of them. Moreover, there is greater likelihood offinding some leaders who may be progressive andsympathetic to the new programmes/initiatives.

Gender Sensitive CommunityOrganization Practice

The Oxford dictionary defines gender as sexualclassification i.e. the classification of persons into malesand females. But gender is not merely a biologicalattribute. It is created by society and is thus sociallydefined. The social system in India, and in fact the worldover has evolved its own set of rules which have led tosocio cultural differences between men and women.These is turn are responsible for discrimination andsubjugation of the female sex in society.

The gender system gives different values to men andwomen. Society is organized around specific parameters,the functionality of which is ensured by developing aset of systems and institutions. The system of patriarchyprovides basis to male –female differentiation and theunfavourable conditions that girls and women face. The

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practice of male female differentiation is created andfostered by the adoption of differential norms, codes ofconduct, life styles and discriminatory practices formales and females. The biological differences betweenmales and females are extended to become the criteriafor the economic and social positioning of the two sexes.

Allocation of differential roles in a certain manner is acore aspect of the gender system. Roles are allocatednot only in accordance with the biological function ofprocreation, but are misappropriated according to thevalues prescribed to males and females. Patriarchyprescribes ‘dominating and controlling’ social functionsto males, while ‘supportive’ functions are in the domainof females. Right from birth, males are attributed to besuperior, as they are the inheritors of resources, andthe carriers of the family name and lineage. The functionof the main earner is also attributed to the male, scalinghis position of importance. The females are expected tobe the ‘family caretakers’ and perform secondaryfunctions of child nurturing and running the households.

Along with role allocation, certain norms, beliefs, values,as well as practices reinforce this male female hierarchy.Males therefore procure access to economic resourceslike land and property, inheritance, education, skills,productive employment and the associated high status.On the other hand, women are deprived of all suchprivileges, including nutrition, medical care, education,skill development and opportunities for productiveemployment. Multiple social handicaps and atrocitieskeep them in a position of subjugation. The decliningsex ratio and increasing incidence of female foeticideand infanticide are grim reminders of this unfortunatereality. The practice of male-female differentiationresults in deprivation and oppression for the female atall stages and in all spheres of life.



Community organization and community development,if they are to be consistent with the social justiceperspective must take into account the fundamentalnature of gender discrimination and oppression. Thecommunity organization initiatives must ensure thatthey do not reinforce the different forms of structuraloppression, against women, and preferably counter themin whatever way or ways are appropriate within thespecific context.

This requires the community organizer to be aware ofthe complex, subtle and pervasive ways in which gendersubjugation/oppression operate, through the media, theeducation system, organizational structures, etc. It alsorequires them to be critically aware of their ownbackgrounds and sexist attitudes (if such exist).

Community development structures and processes caneasily reinforce the dominant structures of oppression.For e.g. inviting male members for meetings, or callingfor meetings during a time which is unsuitable forfemales or calling ‘mixed’ meetings in a context wherethe cultural context restricts female participation inthe presence of men, or nominating male members forall important positions or including male beneficiariesin the programme can easily minimize femaleparticipation in the initiative. An unthinking oruncritical approach reinforces rather than challengesstructural disadvantages based on gender. Morepositively, community organization should ideallyaddress issues of gender. While there is oppression ordisadvantage, a community will not reach its fullpotential, and the goals of social justice will not beachieved. Strategies specifically designed to overcomesuch disadvantage, and based on affirmative action,equal opportunity, consciousness raising, education andsensitization of the male members will need to bepurposefully employed.

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Community Practice with theMarginalised Groups

Apart from gender, caste and class dimensions also actto reinforce inequality in society. Caste and class areboth status groups, which implies an association ofindividuals who enjoy a distinctive style of life and acertain consciousness related to the group to which theybelong. While caste groups are hereditary groups withfixed status, classes are defined in terms of the relationsof production. The members of a class have a similarsocio-economic status in relation to other classes inthe society, while the members of a caste have either ahigh or a low social status in relationship to other castes.

Caste

Caste is understood to be both a structural and culturalphenomenon. As a unit, it can be defined as a ‘closedrank status group’, that is, a group in which the statusof the members, their occupation, the field of mateselection and interaction with others are all fixed. As asystem, it refers to interrelated status and patternedinteraction among castes characterized by anaggregation of restrictions like restrictions on changeof membership, occupational mobility, marriage andcommunal relations. In understanding caste as a system,there is a pre-supposition that no caste can exist inisolation and that each caste is closely linked with theother castes in a network of economic, political andsocial relationships. As a cultural phenomenon, castemay be viewed as a specific set of values, beliefs andpractices.

Class

A social class is “one of two or more broad groups ofindividuals who are ranked by the members of the



community in socially superior and inferior positions”(Ginsberg, Morris, 1961). Thus, the social class ischaracterized by (a) a feeling of equality in relation tomembers of one’s own class; (b) a consciousness thatone’s mode of behaviour will be in harmony with thebehaviour of those with similar standards of life; (c) achoice of occupations within a limited range; (d) a feelingof inferiority in relation to those who stand above in thesocial ranking; and (e) a feeling a superiority in relationto those falling below in the social hierarchy.

The axis of inequality of caste, class, and genderresults in marginalizing large sections of thepopulation. Not only does it restrict the mobility of thesesections, it leads to the practice of untouchability,bondage, oppression and the prevalence of social evilslike dowry system, purdah system, female foeticide, childmarriage etc. Thus, these three principal forms ofstructural disadvantage namely caste, class and gendercan be considered to be fundamental, in that they areall pervasive and identifiable in most, if not all socialissues, social problems, and inequities. For this reason,the victims of caste, class and gender oppression mustcome first in any consideration of the disadvantaged inmodern society. Included among the victims of classoppression must be the poor and the unemployed, as itis their relationship to the means of production whichhas resulted in their disadvantage. These forms ofoppression and marginalization obviously interact andreinforce each other, thus to be a dalit woman in povertyis to be trebly disadvantaged.

There are other groups which can also be regarded asdisadvantaged and marginalized, while not necessarilybeing the victims of the primary structuraldisadvantage. They include the aged, the disabled(physically and intellectually), the tribals and theindigenous people.

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The Notion of Empowerment

The notion of empowerment is itself a complex one andis central to a social justice strategy. It is central tocommunity work and many community organizerschoose to define their role in terms of an empowermentprocess. Simply stated, empowerment aims to increasethe power of the disadvantaged. It involves givingpower to individuals or groups, allowing them to takepower into their own hands and redistributing powerfrom the ‘haves’ to the ‘have nots’. (Ife, 1995)

As we have already seen, power is a complex andcontested notion, thus giving us different perspectivesof empowerment.

The pluralistic perspective visualizes empowerment asa process of helping the disadvantaged groups andindividuals to compete more effectively with otherinterests, by helping them to learn and use skills inlobbying, using the media, engaging in political action,understanding how to ‘work the system’, and so on. Thework of Saul Alinsky in empowering the blackcommunities in the USA was based on the pluralisticperspective. Alinsky, one of the most influential figuresin community work did not aim to change the Americanpolitical system, but simply aimed to teach thedisadvantaged group how to work more effectively withinthat system and to become more skilled in competingwith other groups for power through social action,political pressure, covert threats, publicity, etc.

The elite perspective to power and empowerment requiresnot only learning the ability to compete for politicalpower and learning political skills, it also entails focuson the power elites. The latter is achieved either byjoining them to change or influence them (wherein theactivist joins the group to change its policy or havesome involvement in, and influence over, local decisions),



or to seek alliances with powerful elites (e.g. by enlistingthe help of the legal profession in pursuing issues ofhuman rights or anti-discrimination legislation andpractices) or by seeking to reduce the power of the powercentres through more fundamental change (for e.g.limiting power by legal challenge).

The structural perspective views the empowermentagenda as much more challenging, as it can onlyeffectively be achieved if the forms of structuraldisadvantages can be challenged and overcome.Empowerment is therefore considered to necessarily bea part of a wider programme of social change, with aview to dismantling the dominant structures ofoppression. Thus, a broad based agenda specificallyaddressing the issues of class, gender and caste becomesimperative.

The post-structural perspective visualizes empowermentas a process of challenging and changing discourse. Itdiffers from the other three perspective in that itsstrategy for empowerment is primarily intellectual ratherthan activist; it emphasizes understanding, analysis,deconstruction, and education rather than action.

From the point of view of a community organizer, thereis some value in each of the aforementionedperspectives. The specific choice of a particularperspective or the option of intermixing more than oneperspective to define one’s strategy will have to be madeby the community organizer based on the specific contextand the ideological base of the organization to whichhe/she belongs. However, important and rich insightscan be obtained from a broad understanding of thedifferent perspectives to empowerment.

There still remains the important question as to whatsort of power is involved in the term ‘empowerment’, i.e.what kind of power is it that we as community organizers

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wish to enhance? While this is primarily a valuequestion, we can identify certain parameters of power,as they obtain in community based empowermentstrategies. Jim Ife (1995) identifies seven main categoriesof power. These are:

1) Power over personal choices and life chances

Many disadvantaged groups have little power todetermine the course of their lives and make decisionsabout their lifestyle and occupation. This may arise outof consequences of poverty, patriarchal structures andvalues, caste based restrictions or oppression againstindigenous people and minorities. Cultural norms andvalues can also restrict people’s options. Anempowerment strategy will therefore seek to maximizepeople’s choices, to increase their power over decisionsinvolving their lives.

2) Power over the definition of need

‘Dictatorship over needs’ implying that needs often tendto be determined and defined not by the person who isexperiencing them but by others (the state, professionalsetc.). This is disempowering, and an empowermentperspective would require that people be given the powerof defining and prioritizing their own needs. This mayrequire education and access to information.

3) Power over ideas

Empowerment should necessarily entail the power tothink autonomously, and not have one’s world viewdictated by force or by being denied access to alternativeframes of reference. It should legitimize the expressionof these ideas in a public forum and the capacity ofpeople to enter into dialogue with each other. Thisapproach emphasises the educational aspect ofempowerment.



4) Power over institutions

A good deal of disempowerment comes from the effect ofsocial institutions, such as the education system, thehealth system, the family, etc. An empowerment strategyshould therefore aim to increase people’s power overthese institutions and by changing these institutionsto make them more accessible, responsive andaccountable to all the people.

5) Power over resources

Many people have little access to resources and littlediscretion over how these resources will be utilized. Thisapplies to both economic and non-economic resourcessuch as education, opportunities for personal growth,recreation, health etc. An empowerment strategy tomaximize the effective power of all people over thedistribution and use of resources and to redress theinequality of access to resources is necessary.

6) Power over economic activity

The basic mechanisms of production, distribution andexchange are vital in any society, and to have power,one must be able to have some control over and accessto, these mechanisms. This power is unequallydistributed, and is a cause of significantdisempowerment. An empowerment process would,therefore, seek to ensure that power over economicactivity be more evenly distributed.

7) Power over reproduction

Control over the process of reproduction has been asignificant issue for feminist critique. It not onlyincludes the process of birth, but also child rearing,education and socialization: all the mechanisms bywhich the social, economic and political order isreproduced in succeeding generations.

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Achieving Empowerment

The various strategies which can be adopted by thecommunity organizer to achieve the empowerment ofthe marginalized and disadvantaged groups can bebroadly classified under the following headings:

1) Policy and Planning

Empowerment through policy and planning is achievedby developing or changing structures and institutionsto bring about more equitable access to resources,services and opportunities to participate in the life ofthe community. Apart from facilitating people to useexisting policy provisions, programmes and services,through widespread awareness generation, and helpingin setting up of appropriate mechanisms for redressalof problems pertaining to lack of access, the communityorganizers can focus on pressing for more progressivepolicies of affirmative action or positive discriminationto redress the existing disadvantages faced by the specificgroups.

2) Social and Political Action

This approach emphasises the importance of politicalstruggle and change in increasing effective power. Itemphasises the activist approach and seeks to enablepeople to increase their power through some form ofdirect action.

3) Education and Consciousness Raising

Empowerment through this approach emphasises theimportance of an educative process adopted to equippeople to increase their power. This incorporates notionsof consciousness raising: helping people to understandthe society and the structures of oppression and givingthem the vocabulary and skills to work towards effectivechange. These forms of empowerment provide the basisfor an empowerment model of community work practice.



Globalization and its Impact on Commu-nity Practice

The advent of economic globalization has led to atransformation of the environment of communitypractice, in both industrialized and developing countries.While the implications for both the block of countriesare distinct, certain fundamental changes are commonto both sets. Globalization has fundamentally changedthe relationship between the market and the state, withserious consequences for low income people and lowpower constituencies. The growing dominance of marketmechanisms has affected policy making at the nationaland local levels in ways community organizers are justbeginning to understand. The spread of privatizationand the concentration of transnational corporate power,as also the influence of such organizations as the WorldBank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and theWorld Trade Organisation (WTO) is impacting the local,national and regional frameworks. The emergence ofthe well integrated global market is leading to a numberof changes including the shift of manufacturing andservice industries to those areas of the world whichhave the cheapest labour and least restrictiveregulations; the increasing use of technology; the needfor fewer workers with high skills; a decline in thegender distinction of work with its resultant impact onfamily and work relations, and a widening gap in income,wealth, education, skills and status between differentgroups. Many of the changes that underlie globalizationare particularly damaging to the poor nations and tothe low-income or disadvantaged communities.

Governments of poor nations like India have been forcedto divert human resources and funds away from themore urgent development priorities, such as education,public health, and the social service sector. The choice

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of the development strategy is increasingly beinginfluenced by the powerful nations and internationalorganizations and is therefore moving away from publicdebate. Removal of subsidies in agriculture, removal ofimport restrictions, dilution of the Public DistributionSystem, unrestricted entry of foreign MNCs into thecountry, acceptance of intellectual property rights andmany such changes are already having seriousimplications on both rural and urban communities.While on the one hand, the public sector is forced toeffect funding cuts on social programmes, the privatesector is quite naturally concerned with lowering thecosts of production, especially wages and benefits. Allthis will ultimately result in the destabilization of longstanding institutions and communities, particularly inthe subsistence model economies like India.Globalization is also leading to environmentaldegradation and commercialization of the naturalresources, which often form the basis of livelihoodsustenance for the poor and marginalised communities.

In such a context, community organizers have toreassess their strategies and approaches in order toeffectively respond to the consequences of economicglobalization. They need to recognize that previousstrategies, which viewed communities and nations inisolation from the international environment are nolonger adequate. Community organizers will need astrong international knowledge base and the ability toanalyse the complexity of local and global situations.They will have to create new approaches to respond tothe growing gaps in employment, income and wealth.The focus of community practice at the local level willhave to shift to take into account the changing prioritiesof national policies and their consequences. In thecontext of the withdrawal of state welfare intervention,a larger role will have to be played by the non-profit



organizations in resolving community problems.Community based planning will increasingly becomethe responsibility of local NGOs, self help groups andvolunteers. The organizers will have to facilitate thecreation of alternative economic and political institutionsat the local level, such as cooperatives and peoples’organizations, and focus on how communities canbecome self sufficient centres of alternative, lifesustaining culture through grassroots empowerment.(Weil, 2005) There will have to be a renewed emphasison building social capital at the community level andon developing innovative models of fund raising andresource mobilization. Skills in facilitation of groupsand organizations as the key to enlarging the focus ofcoalitions to represent communities to respond to theirproblems will need to be developed and utilized. Theirskills as advocates and facilitators to prepare groups,communities and organizations to participate in socialaction and social movements will also need to bemobilized.

Thus, community organizers will have to assumeresponsibility to influence the direction of majoreconomic and political trends by combining long standingprinciples of self determination, social justice, anddemocratic participation with updated skills andknowledge that reflect new social and technologicalrealities. As the South African proverb states “we willlearn the road by walking”.

Roles of Community Organiser

The community organizer having the essentialcharacteristics and skills as also knowledge about theprinciples, process and steps of community organization,will be in a position to apply the same in the communitysetting through the assumption of appropriate roles.

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The diverse roles of a community organizer are discussedhere. These roles are neither exhaustive nor mutuallyexclusive.

1) Guide

The primary role of the community organizer is that ofa guide who helps the community to discover the waysand means of achieving its own goals. As a guide, hehelps the community to move effectively in the directionwhich it sets for itself. While the organizer has someresponsibility to help the community choose thisdirection wisely, based on the many factors which mayoperate in the given context, the choice of direction andmethod of movement must ultimately be that of thecommunity. Thus, he is not a person to shoulder theresponsibility or solve problems of the people. Instead,he provides the various options or avenues, and showsdifferent ways of dealing with the community problem/s. As a guide, he is required to provide the much neededinformation and ideas which the community mayinitially lack. For example, in a community facing theproblem of unemployment, he should be able to provideinformation about the various employment schemes,options for self employment, the terms, conditions andsources of availing credit, and other relevant informationto those seeking employment. The ultimate choice andmeans of deriving employment/income generation restswith the community.

In a situation where the community organizer perceivesthe need and relevance of a particular project forcommunity development, he may stimulate a need withrespect to this project. He may encourage discussionon the project and may suggest the advantages of actionon the same. But his role as a guide does not permithim the liberty of launching action on this project unlessthe community is ready and is desirous for such commonaction.



2) Communicator

The community organizer transfers or transmitsinformation and knowledge to the community. Oftencommunity members demonstrate an ignorance ofinformation and ideas. Sharing of information enablesthe community to use this information to meet its needsor resolve its problems. Thus, the organizer being anessential link between the community and the outsideworld is expected to play the role of an effectivecommunicator. The communication between him andthe community may be handled through diverse forums,including individual contacts, group meetings, groupdiscussions, public meetings, written material etc.

The community organizer can also rely on the use ofdifferent techniques like skits, role plays, street theatre,and audio-visual shows to disseminate the requisiteinformation. A greater reliance on the locally acceptedand indigenous channels of communication is desirable,as it leads to more effective communication. Localleaders, and local groups like women’s groups, youthgroups, children’s clubs etc. are some such options.The ability of the community organizer to play this roleeffectively will, to a very large extent, determine thequality and the intensity of the community organizationprocess.

3) Enabler

The community organizer plays the role of an enablerby facilitating the community organization process. Asmentioned earlier, he is not expected to carryout thework by himself but is expected to enable the communityto plan and execute work related to achievement of itsneeds/problems autonomously. It is through theperformance of this particular role that the communityorganizer is able to facilitate a process of capacitybuilding and empowerment of the community.

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Within the ambit of his role as an enabler, the communityorganizer enables by first awakening and focussingdiscontent about some community condition/s, followedby facilitating members to verbalise their discontent.Thereafter, he helps them to see the commonality oftheir feelings and nourishes the hope that somethingcan be collectively done about the same. He furtherenables the community to organize to act. The role ofthe enabler requires judgment about how much ofencouragement can be given, how much anxiety relieved,how much support provided at different stages so thatthe community is able to move at a comfortable paceand with sufficient self confidence. Enabling thecommunity to maintain good interpersonal relations,cooperative and collaborative attitudes and practices,and to deal with inter-group tensions, conflicts and otherblocks also fall in the domain of the communityorganizer.

4) Expert

As an expert, the organizer’s role is to provideinformation, knowledge and advice in a number of areasabout which he has specialized expertise. Often, theorganizer has to provide research data, technicalexperience, and resource material, advice on methodswhich the community may need and require in theprocess of achieving its goals.

The organiser may serve as an “expert” in communitydiagnosis and analysis and may help the community tounderstand its own structure, dynamics, potentialitiesand constraints. He is expected to be skilled in researchmethods, able to conduct studies and formulate researchpolicy. He may also have expert knowledge oforganization and procedure. He should also be wellinformed and able to provide information aboutprogrammes, policies, legislation as also resources



provided by government departments, private agencies,international organizations, and ways of securing thesame. He should be able to facilitate the bridging ofgaps between community’s needs and availableresources.

The worker as an expert does not superimpose or insiston the acceptance of his “expert knowledge”. This isonly offered for consideration and discussion, to be usedas effectively as the community is able to adopt it.

5) Counsellor

The community organizer initiates work by developingan intensive understanding of the community. Often heis expected to enable the community to understand itselfin terms of its multiple dimensions. It may entaildiagnosis and treatment of the community as a whole.He may help the community to face its underlying forcesand attitudes which may be creating tension and conflictamong the groups in the community. Further, afterenabling the community to recognize these deep rootedideas and practices, verbalise about them, and begin tocope with them, the community is helped to develop acapacity to function more effectively as an integratedunit. Thus, as a counselor and social therapist, theorganizer deals with the deep-lying and often latentforces which threaten to disrupt the communityorganization process.

6) Animator

In the process of community organization, the organizerencourages and provides direction to the community tocarry out collective, self help initiatives. In developingsocieties like India, people are often victims of a chronic‘dependency syndrome’ and therefore fail tospontaneously mobilize of action or even take crucialdecisions on their own. In such a context, the organizeras an animator helps the people to come forward and

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participate in all phases of the process, from planningto evaluation. By raising suitable questions/issues, heassists in conscientising the community and stimulatingpeople to overcome their attitudes and blocks toparticipation.

7) Collaborator

The community organizer collaborates with hiscolleagues, co-professionals and other organizationsworking in the community. In contemporary context,the importance of maintaining collaborativepartnerships with other organizations is well recognized.In the situation where there are also other organizationsworking towards similar problems, a collaborative effortis not only more desirable but also more productive andfeasible. Therefore, the community organizer is expectedto network with such other organizations to establisheffective linkages and collaborations.

8) Consultant

The community organizer enjoys the trust and confidenceof the people and is often relied upon to advise themabout matters of vital importance to them. His expertiseand experience is relied upon by the people, who oftenseek his guidance and expert advice. As a consultant,he makes himself available to people, who are in needof his inputs. He is also able to furnish his expertise tocommunity groups and community organizations.

9) Model

The community organizer is often perceived as a rolemodel and a source of inspiration by the people. Heneeds to be conscious of the influence that he is able toexert on the community. His behaviour and approachare often emulated by the people who look up to him forhis knowledge, skills and expertise. He also setsinnovative models of working on community issues



which could be replicated in other communities facingsimilar circumstances/problems. By proper planningin approaching a problem and executing the plan anddocumenting the whole process will be of great help toothers. The problem solving process sets a model forothers to follow.

10) Innovator

The community organizer innovates, performs andconstantly strives to improve upon the techniquesthrough the process of community organization. Thisgives a lead to the people of the community and enablesthem to try out new ways and means to find solutionsto their needs and problems. Community organizationis not merely for solving problems, but the broader goalsof capacity building of individuals, groups and thecommunity as a whole have to be meaningfully achieved.Innovative ways of improving the capacity of the people,introducing new and more effective ways of communitybuilding, as also reviving the traditional and indigenoussystems from within the community form an integralpart of the role expected from the organizer.

11) Motivator

The community organizer stimulates and sustains activeinterest among the people for reaching a solution totheir needs and problems. The community organizerencourages the community to take up a minor task andcomplete it successfully. This in turn enables the peopleto take up more difficult tasks. In such a process, thepeople at times may not take any initiative or may becontent to live with the existing situation. In such acontext, the organizer motivates the people by makingthem observe, analyse, understand and respond to thesituation. When people are discouraged, because theyare not able to achieve what they wanted or there isresistance and opposition, in such situations the

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organizer plays the role of a motivator to help themcontinue efforts inspite of difficulties.

12) Catalyst

In the process of community organization, thecommunity organizer enables the people to becomeempowered by gaining accessibility and control overresources and acquiring skills in decision making. He/she accelerates the actions and reactions of people sothat they are able to achieve the desired results. As acatalyst, the organiser is able to increase the responselevel of the people. The catalyst role further enables thepeople to become independent and become betterequipped in responding to their own needs and problems.

13) Advocate

The role of the advocate is to represent or persuade themembers of the community and prepare them torepresent their issues to the concerned authorities inorder to bring about an effective solution to their unmetneeds. The advocacy role is an important one in thepresent context of community work. The needs andproblems of the people have to be presented atappropriate forums and the required support andnetworking obtained in order to increase the pressureon the oppressive forces. In the role performance of theadvocate, the community organizer champions the rightsof community groups. He/she speaks on behalf of thecommunity to gain access to services or to improve thequality of services provided. Thus, as an advocate, thecommunity organizer argues, debates, bargains,negotiates, and confronts the forces working againstthe interest of the community.

14) Facilitator

The community organiser helps the community toarticulate its needs, clarify and identify its problems,



explore appropriate strategies, select and applyintervention strategies, and develop people’s capacitiesto deal with their own problems more effectively. Afacilitator provides support, encouragement, andsuggestions to the community so that people may proceedmore easily and skillfully in completing tasks or solvingproblems. A facilitator assists the community in findingcoping strategies, strengths and resources to producechanges necessary for realizing goals and objectives. Afacilitator helps client systems to alter theirenvironment in the desired direction.

15) Mediator

The community organizer intervenes in disputes betweenparties to help them find compromises, reconciledifferences, or reach mutually satisfying agreements.The mediator takes a neutral stance between theinvolved parties. A mediator is involved in resolvingdisputes between members or between the communityand other persons in the broader environment.

16) Educator

The community organizer as an educator conveysinformation to the community and those in the broaderenvironment. The organizer provides informationnecessary for coping with problem situations, assiststhe community in practicing new behaviour patterns orskills, and teaches through presentation of role models.The community organizer makes available informationnecessary for decision making.

Community organization is a macro method in socialwork. The community organizer, with the requiredqualities and skills will be able to work with the people.While working with people of different backgrounds orfrom different geographical settings, the different rolescan be applied. All the roles need not be, or cannot be,

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applied in all the settings or in dealing with all theproblems. Moreover, there is no one role which issuperior or inferior and while dealing with any problemthe organizer has to play more than one role. Therefore,depending upon the situation and the needs andproblems of the community appropriate roles have to beperformed.

Skills in Community Work

Community organization, like any other method, orintervention strategy of working with people, requiresspecific skills. These skills help the worker in carryingout specific tasks with precision and with minimumeffort. “Skill” means the worker’s capacity to applyknowledge and understanding to a given situation(Trecker, 1948). However, to identify the different typesof skills needed for community work practice is difficultfor a variety of reasons. Firstly, as is evident from thediscussion on models, the scope of community work isvast. Secondly, working with a community entailsworking with groups and individuals. And lastly, thereis no consensus on what constitutes “skill” (Siddiqui,1987) in social work literature. A closer analysis of theattempts made so far to identify helping skills revealsthat usually the author tries to conceptualize the varioussteps in the helping process, and accordingly identifiesskills around these steps.

McMohan (1996) has identified the following skills forsocial workers and refers to them as the ‘FoundationSkills for Social Work’. These hold relevance for thepractice of community organization:



I) Relationship skillsListening Responding

Feeling/sensing Paraphrasing

Clarifying Information giving

Referring

II) Problem solving skillsProblem identifying Data Collecting

Assessing/goal setting Planning/task defining

Selecting and Evaluatingimplementing

intervention

Terminating

III) Political skillsAdvocating Taking legal action

Providing evidence Bargaining

Organizing Publicizing

Demonstrating

IV) Professional SkillsRecording Research

Time-management Teamwork

Rivera & Erlich (1995) have identified some skills alongwith values and attitudes, the community organizer isexpected to possess:

1) Similar cultural and racial identification.

2) Familiarity with customs and traditions, socialnetworks, and values.

3) An intimate knowledge of language and subgroupslang.

4) Leadership styles and development.

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5) An analytical framework for political and economicanalysis.

6) Knowledge of past organizing strategies, theirstrengths, and limitations.

7) Skills in conscientization and empowerment.

8) Skills in assessing community psychology.

9) Knowledge of organizational behaviour and decision-making.

10) Skills in evaluative and participatory research.

11) Skills in programme planning and development andadministration.

12) An awareness of self and personal strengths andlimitations.

Siddiqui (1997) categorized skills in the following elevencategories:

i) Skills in Rapport Building

ii) Skills in Identification of Needs

iii) Skills in Resource Mobilization

iv) Skills in Programme Planning

v) Skills in Programme Management

vi) Skills in Evaluation

vii) Skills in Recording

viii) Skills in Encouraging Community Participation

ix) Skills in Working with the Group

x) Skills in Working with Individuals

xi) Skills in mobilizing Community Action

I) Skills in Rapport Building Include:

a) Skill in developing professional relationshipswith the community



b) Skill in developing rapport with fundingorganizations

c) Skill in developing relationship with colleagues

II) Skills in Identification of Needs include:

a) Skill in identifying the needs of differentcommunities

b) Skill in classifying needs and fixing priorities

c) Skill in helping people arrive at a consensusabout the community needs

III) Skills in resource mobilization include:

a) Skill in identifying sources which can beharnessed for resources

b) Skill in preparing a project proposal

c) Skill in locating indigenous resources

IV) Skills in Programme Planning include:

a) Skill in developing a programme in accordancewith the needs of the community

b) Skill in keeping the programme in harmony withthe cultural needs and traditional practices ofthe community.

c) Skill in achieving self sustainability withminimum resources

V) Skills in Programme Management include:

a) Skill in developing a blueprint for a division ofroles

b) Skill in finding the right person for the job

c) Skill in developing an adequate system ofmonitoring and supervision

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VI) Skills in Evaluation include:

a) Skill in identifying a specific set of indicators

b) Skill in data collection

c) Skill in analysis of the data

VII)Skills in Recording include:

a) Skill in process recording

b) Skill in maintaining proper records

c) Skill in keeping personal records

viii) Skills in encouraging community participationinclude:

a) Skill in identifying ways to involve people indecision-making at every stage in communitywork

b) Skill in developing suitable structures toinstitutionalize peoples participation

c) Skill in a gradual transfer of programmemanagement to people to achieve selfsustainability of the programme

IX) Skills in working with groups include:

a) Skill in analyzing the group situation

b) Skill in dealing with group feelings

c) Skill in developing inter-group relationship

X) Skills in working with individuals include:

a) Skill in identifying and accepting individualcases

b) Skill in assessing the problem

c) Skill in using referral

XI) Skills in mobilizing community action include:

a) Skill in identifying a suitable issue

b) Skill in using multiple strategies

c) Skill in using the mass media



Weil (2005) has identified the following range ofspecialized skills relevant to community practice in the21st century:

Practice Skills

Policy practice

Lobbying

Advocacy

Programme design, implementation andmanagement

Financial management

Management

Organizing

Non-profit development

Social marketing

Fund raising

Facilitation

Citizen participation

Leadership development

Volunteer management

Proposal development

Contract management

Human resources management

Grassroots planning

Sectorial planning

Cross-sector planning

Campaigns

Public education

Contest skills

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Confrontation tactics

Negotiating

Mediation

Position-taking and writing

Group and intergroup development

Economic and social development

Social planning

Political and social action

Coalition/network development

Research Skills

Program evaluation

Participatory research

Use of administrative data

GIS

MIS

Community assessments

Community mapping and asset mapping

Neighborhood analysis

Policy and poverty research

Cost benefit/cost-effectiveness analyses

Community analysis

Empowerment research

Action research

Statistics

Use of social indicators



Conclusion

In this chapter, you have gained an understanding ofsome of the important contemporary issues incommunity organization. The concept and dimensionsof power, and its relevance to community organizationhave been discussed. Besides, the prevailing notions ofempowerment and how they contribute to defining morebroad based and specific strategies to combat inequalitystemming out of caste, class and gender have also beenanalysed in this chapter. The chapter has also providedyou with an insight to gender sensitive communityorganization practice and the scope of communitypractice with marginalized groups.

Another important component highlighted in this unitis the impact of globalization on contemporarycommunity practice and the role that communityorganizers can play in the prevailing context. Lastly,the unit has focused on the wide range of skills andcompetencies required by community organizers toperform their challenging roles effectively.

References

Cox, F.M. et al (Ed). (1987), Strategies of CommunityOrganization: A book of Readings, 4th ed. Itasca, 12,FE Peacock.

Dubey, Muhkund (ed.) (1995), Indian Society Today:Challenges of Equality, Integration andEmpowerment, Har Anand Publication, New Delhi.

Gangrade, K.D. (1971), Community Organization inIndia, Popular Prakashan, Bombay.

Ghurya, G.S. (1961), Class, Caste and Occupation,Oxford University Press, Bombay.

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Ife, Jim (1995), Community Development: CreatingCommunity Alternatives-Vision, Analysis andPractice, Longman, Melbourne.

Pascual, Gisbert S.J. (1999), Fundamentals of Sociology,Hyderabad, Orient Longman Ltd., IIIrd Edition.

Pathania, Sunita (1999), “Globalization, Culture andGender: Some Issues: Globalization, Culture andWomen Development, Rawat Publications, Jaipur.

Paulo, Freire (1992), Pedagogy of the Oppressed, PenguinBook.

Siddiqui, H.Y. (1997), Working with the Communities:An Introduction to Community Work, HiraPublications, New Delhi.

Weil, Marie (ed.) (2005), The Handbook of CommunityPractice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.


11

* Dr. Archana Kaushik, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Social Action:Concept and Application

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

Social Action has been used to signify a wide range ofprimarily voluntary initiative to bring out change insocial systems, processes and even structure. Socialworkers, more often than not, have divergent opinionabout the scope and relevance of social action. Thisambiguity has even accelerated the debate whether torecognize social action as a method of professional socialwork.

It may be reiterated that in professional social work,six methods of working with people have been identified— casework, group work and community organizationare the primary methods while social action, social workresearch and social welfare administration are theauxiliary or secondary methods. You may recall thatdifferential social situations led to emergence of casework and group work in the western countries, whilesocial action was more popular in countries like India.

As trained social workers, our aim is to help distressedpeople remove their problems and resolve conflicts.Whatever method, we opt to use in a social situation,we seek to improve the barriers and divisions betweenpeople, promote the bonds that cement socialrelationships and ensure well-being. At times, skewed

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power equations and resource accumulation in thehands of a few create hurdles in the way of ensuringwell-being of the disadvantaged clients. And no optionis left for social workers but to come in conflict with thecurrent configuration of inequality and diswelfare.Through social action, we, the social workers addressthe basic issues causing inequalities and injusticewithin the social system and structure that push aparticular population group on marginalization.

Social Action is one of the most controversial methodsof social work practice that has brought about a lot ofdebate among the social work practitioners as itaddresses and uses the conflict present in social systemto realize the goal of social justice and empowerment.Social workers advocate for the rights of the marginalizedsections of the society. They may have to employstrategies like hunger strike, sit-ins, protests and suchother ways to demonstrate their discontent. It is theusage of such strategies that have made social action adebatable issue and a controversial method of socialwork.

There are situations in the social environment thatprecipitate inequality and injustice, adding to thevulnerabilities and impoverishment, hardship andmisery to certain sections of society, which, even aftermuch of efforts, are not resolved amicably — suchcircumstances call for social action. It is a method ofsocial work by which rights and interests of marginalizedpeople are protected by coming in conflict with systemsand structures that perpetuate accumulation ofresources and power to disburse those resources in thehands of a few who are insensitive to the needs of weakersections of society. Through social action, skewedresources and power are redistributed to uplift thedisadvantaged groups in the society. Added to this, scopeof social action is also to build a democratic and just,

Social Action: Concept and Application


transparent and harmonious social structure and effortsare directed towards achieving these objectives too.

In this chapter, the meaning, process, relevance andscope of social action would be covered at length. Youmay realize that social action is one of the mostapplicable and appropriate methods in the India’scontext. Narmada Bachao Andolan and movement thatled to realization of Right to Information Act, aresome of the finest examples to show how pertinent socialaction is in the contemporary social environment. Letus look into the concept of social action in detail.

Social Action: Concept and RelatedTerms

The term Social Action is being used to depict aspectrum of voluntary action or initiatives that aim toaddress relevant social, political, economic, ecologicaland ethical issues in the country. In the last few decades,the term has become increasingly ambivalent andambiguous with interplay of varying meanings andcontexts. A wide range of activities like; charity, reliefwork, service delivery, public policy initiatives, advocacycampaigns, social movements, socio-politicalmobilization, networking for desired social change havebeen clubbed under the gamut of the term – social action.In a layman’s understanding, social action would coverwhole rubric of activities directed towards desired socialchange for the benefit of masses. Varying meaningsemerging out of different types and contexts of problemsand their interventions makes social action a complexand yet dynamic concept.

In the Indian context, social reform movement andfollowing movement for political freedom and thetradition of Gandhian approach to social work and socialaction have played a crucial role in shaping the

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perspective of social action meant for the upliftment ofdowntrodden. Social action is taken as atransformational practice to meet the objective ofpromoting well-being by bringing change in thearrangements in social system that lead to inequalityand injustice, preventing people from realizing their fullpotential as self-determining agents. Likewise, fromGandhian perspective, social action as a practice coversvarying degrees of samrachana (reconstruction) andsangharsh (struggle).

Let us understand the concept of social action throughsome of the definitions in the social work literature.

Mary Richmond, for the first time, in 1922, made use ofthe term social action in social work. She has definedsocial action as “mass betterment through propagandaand social legislation”. This definition stresses onimproving the condition of huge sections of populationas an aim of social action with propaganda and sociallegislations as main strategies.

Lee (1937) stated, “social action seems to suggest effortsdirected towards changes in law or social structure ortowards the initiation of new movements for themodification of the current social practices”. Plannedsocial change seems to be the aim of social action asper this definition.

Coyle (1937) noted, “social action is the attempt tochange the social environment in ways, which will makelife more satisfactory. It aims to affect not individualsbut social institutions, laws, customs, communities”.This definition stresses on collectivistic approach ofsocial action rather than individualistic.

Fitch (1940) maintained that social action is legallypermissible action by a group (or by an individual tryingto promote group action) for the purpose of furthering



objectives that are both legal and socially desirable.This definition focuses on inclusion of those strategiesthat are legally permissible in the process of socialaction.

Further, Sydney Maslin (1947) presented limited scopeof social action by regarding it as a process of socialwork mainly concerned with securing legislation to meetmass problems. This definition confines the scope ofsocial action in securing social legislations.

Hill (1951) described social action as “organized groupeffort to solve mass social problems or to further sociallydesirable objectives by attempting to influence basicsocial and economic conditions or practices”. Here,influencing basic social and economic conditions hasbeen highlighted as the function of social action.

Wickendon (1956) applied the term social action tothat aspect of organized social welfare actively directedtowards shaping, modifying or maintaining the socialinstitution and policies that collectively constitute thesocial environment. Desirable change in social structureis the key element in this definition.

Similarly, Solender (1957) maintained that social actionin the field of social work is a process of individual,group or inter-group endeavour, within the context ofsocial work philosophy, knowledge and skill. Its objectiveis to enhance the welfare of society through modifyingsocial policy and the functioning of social structure,working to obtain new progress and services.

Likewise, Baldwin (1966) defined social action as “anorganized effort to change social and economicinstitutions as distinguished from social work or socialservice, the fields of which do not characteristically coveressential changes in established institutions. Socialaction covers movements of political reforms, industrial

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democracy, social legislation, racial and social justice,religious freedom and civic liberty, its techniquesinclude propaganda, research and lobbying”. This is acomprehensive definition of social action, noting itsuniqueness in relation to other social work methods,strategies and techniques being used and dimensionscovered.

Friedlander (1977) stated that social action is anindividual, group or community effort within theframework of social work philosophy and practice thataims to achieve social progress, to modify social policiesand to improve social legislation and health and welfareservices. Modifying social policies and improvinglegislations are significant aspects of this definition.

All these definitions give different viewpoints of socialaction and yet share many common features. To some,its scope is broad while others limit its relevance andsignificance in their definitions. Similarly, differentialopinions are expressed regarding the usage of strategiesand tactics of social action. Let us look at some moredefinitions of social action, especially those by Indiansocial work authors.

Nanawati (1965) considered social action as “a processof bringing about the desired changes by deliberategroup and community efforts. Social action does notend with the enactment and signing of social legislation,but that the execution of the policies was the real testof success or failure of social action”. This definitionfocuses on long term impact of social action as indicatorof its success.

Moorthy (1966) stated that “the scope of social actionincludes work during catastrophic situations such asfires, floods, epidemics, famines, etc., besides securingsocial legislation”. Work during calamities and disastershave been highlighted in this definition.



The Institute of Gandhian Studies defines social actionas the term commonly applied to “social welfare activity,which is directed towards shaping or modifying socialinstitutions and policies that constitute the socialenvironment in which we live.”

Singh (1986) maintained that “social action is a processin which conscious, systematic and organized effortsare made by some elite(s) and/or people themselves tobring about change in the system which is instrumentalin solving problems and improving conditions which limitthe social functioning of weaker and vulnerable sections.It is, on the practical plane, nearer to social reformthan to social revolution, which aims at smashing theentire existing social structure and to build up a newsocial set-up. It is conflictual in nature but at the sametime non-violent”. This broad definition covers manyshades of social action – clarifying the process, goal,target groups, nature, resemblance with social reformand ethical base of non-violence.

Thus, we observe that social action is considered amethod of social work practice that aims at bringingabout structural changes in the social and economicsystems largely through social legislation and alterationsin social policy. Disadvantaged section is the targetpopulation and mass mobilization is crucial, yet, targetgroup may or may not actively participate in the plannedintervention. It is planned and conscious effort withspecific strategies and techniques to be implemented toachieve the goals of equality, social justice andempowerment.

Now, attention may be diverted to some of the socialinterventions and processes that share similar aimsand objectives as social action. One such term isAdvocacy. A Latin word, advocacy means — raisingvoice on behalf of others [ad- on behalf of others and

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voca-raising voice]. It is an activity that influences,motivates and encourages democratic powers to takedecisions on various social issues and problems in favourof downtrodden and marginalized population. Advocacymay be defined as the process of influencing andpersuading those people who have social, political andeconomic powers so that they can bring desired changesin the policies with the aim to ensure equitable resourcedistribution in the social system.

Advocacy, in its aim and even usage of strategies isvery similar to social action. They share same valuesand ethics as their belief in equitable distribution ofresources, human rights and social justice. In fact, manyof the social workers consider advocacy as one of thestrategies of social action, the latter being broader andmore complex.

Another term that shares similarity with social actionis Social Movement. Wilkinson (1971) defined socialmovement as “a deliberate collective endeavour topromote change in any direction and by any means, notexcluding violence, illegality, revolution or withdrawalinto ‘utopian’ community”. In another definition, Blumer(1957) says, “social movements are collective enterprisesto establish a new order of life”. Peasant movement,tribal movement, dalit movement, women’s movement,students’ movement, etc., are a few examples of socialmovement. The downtrodden and the marginalizedcommunities have mobilized themselves and raised theirvoice against the failure of state and society to safeguardtheir livelihood and Rights. Social action and socialmovement share same ideological beliefs and values,but social movements have been, more often than not,unplanned and sporadic while social action is a well-defined process initiated and guided by social workprofessionals in the light of theoretical and conceptual



basis. However, you may recall that Narmada BachaoMovement is led by a social work professional, Ms. MedhaPatekar.

Social action is taken as an auxiliary method ofprofessional social work. It is an organized effort tochange or improve social and economic institutions.Some of the social problems like dowry system, depletionof natural resources, alcoholism, housing, health, etc.,can be and have been tackled through social action.The objective of social action is the proper shaping anddevelopment of socio-cultural environment in which aricher and fuller life may be possible for all the citizens.From the above discussion, certain peculiar features ofsocial action may well be delineated. It is essentially,an intervention directed for solution of mass problem(s)and aimed at improvement of mass conditions. It talksabout influencing institutions, policies and practices.The goal of social action is redistribution of power,resources, human and material. It aims to do advocacyon behalf of, or along with, mobilized sections ofdisadvantaged client population. It tends to influencethe decision-making process at the political and sociallevels.

Thus, we see that social action is seen as a method ofprofessional social work to be used to bring about orprevent change in the social system through a processof making people aware of the socio-political andeconomic realities that influence or condition their livesand by mobilizing them to organize themselves forbringing about the desired results through the use ofappropriately worked out strategies, with the exceptionof violence. Let us take a look at the historical processesrelated to emergence of social action as method ofprofessional social work practice.

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History of Social Action

India has a long tradition and history of reformmovements, voluntary actions and philanthropicinitiatives with the aim to seek welfare of masses, whichyou have read in your other blocks covering history andphilosophy of social work. This must have given you anidea that in the light of social situations, that weremainly social problems affecting the masses, reformmovements took place in India. Even during Bhaktimovement, Kabir, Nanak, and other religious reformersin their preaching addressed the removal or abolition ofsocial evils in the name of traditional practices thatwere creating hurdles in the well-being of commonpeople.

It may be noted that in the West, problems were mainlypsychosocial in nature, more focused to individualbehaviour and social interactions. This resulted indevelopment of methods of social work practice likecasework and group work, which was furthersubstantiated with Freudian psychoanalytical theoriesand Erickson’s psychosocial theories that were developedduring that period only.

In India, problems were of different nature — illiteracy,poverty, exploitation of lower caste people,untouchability, abuse and exploitation of women andinherent practices of gender discrimination and the like.These social evils prevented a large section of the societyfrom getting equitable distribution of resources andopportunities for development and thereby enjoying adignified life. Social reform movement led by Raja RamMohan Roy, Iswarchandar Vidhyasagar resulted inabolition of sati pratha, measures for permitting widowremarriage among Hindus, entry of women in the formaleducation system and so on. Dwarkanath Tagore,Debendranath Tagore, Keshab Chandra Sen and others



worked for founding educational institutions for womenand emancipation of women in West Bangal. In westernpart of the country like Maharashtra, Prarthana Samajestablished in 1867 in Bombay clamoured for castereform. Justice Ranade considered the Father of theRenascence in Western India, founded Widow MarriageAssociation. Similarly, Jyotiba Phule establishedorphanages and schools for girls. In the same way,Ramakrishana Mission founded by Swami Vivekanandadid a lot of social service like starting dispensaries andorphanages, running schools, etc.

All these initiatives set the stage for more concrete formof social action. Certain benefits of these social reformmovements were passage of social legislations likeabolition of sati custom, widow remarriage Act,mobilization of masses and awareness about social evils.Further, historical evidences reflect that though therehave been history of social reform and social movementsfor more than two thousand years in India, a moreformalized and coherent form of social action emergedin the beginning of the nineteenth century. Thisformalized social action which emerged as a politicalresponse to the colonial state by the British in India. Asthe social base for political freedom broadened, thedividing line between social movement for abolition ofsocial evils in the country and political movement asfreedom struggle almost disappeared. Movements ledby socially enlightened individuals, particularly, in thelast half of the nineteenth century, helped in creatingsocial and political spaces for social action.

Freedom movement, especially led by Mahatma Gandhilaid foundation of a strong culture of social action. Itmay be noted that the legacy of the Gandhian socialaction has played a crucial role in laying the foundationof social action in India. Gandhian social action includesa combination of samrachana (that is, reconstruction)

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and satyagraha (insistence on truth). He practiced andpreached for imbibing values of non-violence, stressedon ideas of swadeshi (of one’s own country) and swaraj(self-rule). Gandhian ideology of peaceful protest in thefreedom struggle has made the whole world bow downin front of his ideology, conviction and belief. Alongside,he also stressed on reconstruction — The Tolstoy farmwas set up by Gandhi, with the funding support of hisGerman friend Kallenbach, Sir Ratan Tata, Nizam ofHyderabad, Indian National Congress and MuslimLeague. These led to formation of various kinds ofinstitutions to strengthen social action.

Further, Gandhian activism to protect the rights ofpeasants in Champaran and Kheda and the rights ofmill workers in Ahemdabad demonstrated theeffectiveness of micro-level social action in influencingthe larger political arenas and action. The Gandhianpraxis of grassroots political struggle along with macro-level policy initiatives and broader interventions forsocial reform further set the guidelines for social action.The ideas of satyagrah and swadeshi served both asethical principles as well as political strategies. Thecumulative social action at the socio-political arenahelped in the emergence of a more radical stream inthe freedom movement in the first decades of thetwentieth century. Inspired by Gandhiji, the politicalmovement, infused with the spirit of social reform,became a national movement participated by all,irrespective of caste, creed or community.

After 1920, for about three decades, many otherinstances of social action emerged at the center-stage.Prominent ones are communist movements, Dalitmovement initiated by Dr. Ambedkar, the Hindutvamovement propounded by Hindu Mahasabha andRashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh. In consonance, thesocial reform movement against the hegemonical



Brahmanism, led by Mahatma Phule in Maharashtra,Narayana Guru in Kerala and Periyar RamaswamyNaykkar in Tamil Nadu were other important socialjustice initiatives. The reformist initiatives for the welfareand equality of women by Pandita Ramabai andSavitribai Phule also played significant role in theendeavours of political freedom. Likewise, RamakrishnaMission initiated a number of charitable, reformist,educational, welfare and development activities.

All these small scale and large, regional and nationallevel social action initiatives propagated massmobilization, mass awareness and action, providedample opportunity to practice skills, techniques of socialaction, encouraged leadership among few and ability toquestion surroundings among the masses that hampertheir social functioning. This in turn, strengthened thehistorical background of social action in India andcourage and confidence to fight for freedom againstcolonialism.

After Independence, many young idealists expressedtheir dissent to the apathy of the state and to the cynicalmanipulation by the dominant political parties. Socialaction by JaiPrakash Narayan, social movement led byMedha Patekar, Aruna Roy and Arvind Kejriwal’sinitiatives for Right to Information Act and many moreare some fine examples of relatively recent social actioninterventions.

Worldwide trend: Likewise, the world history is alsofull of examples of social action that were expressed inthe form of Civil Rights Movement, Student Unrest inthe USA against the Vietnam War, the revolt in Pragueagainst the authoritarian State, the Naxalite movementin India and the neo-left movements in different partsof the world. Many of these movements were a reactionto an increasingly authoritarian and oppressive state

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and associated insensitive socio-political processes.Emergence of Liberation theology was an expression ofdissent to the oppressive power structures of the state.Feminist movement sought to question the structure ofpatriarchy. The two aspects common in various kindsof movement were the sense of dissent (to traditionalstate, power structures, culture and ideologies) and amass mobilization to bring about change in the existingstructure and system. These social movements, reforminitiatives and social action activities formed thebackground for social action as a method of social workpractice.

Scope and Relevance of Social Action

Being one of the methods of professional social work,social action, undoubtedly shares a striking similaritywith the former term. As the approach of social workpractice has shifted from charity to empowerment, thescope of social work has expanded enormously. Withemergence of rights based approach, relevance of socialwork practice has become almost omnipresent. Ensuringrights of the child would mean that we have to tackleproblems like child labour, processes causing streetchildren, education of children (drop out, retention,quality of education), discrimination against girl childin family and community, child trafficking and childprostitution, poverty, malnutrition, health problems,disability among children, delinquency, child abuse,exploitation, and the like. This would also includeprovision of optimum opportunity to all the children forgrowth, development and participation. The social workprofessionals may have to work at preventive,rehabilitative, ameliorative, curative and promotivelevels. Further, if the causative factors are looked intoand social work professionals decide not to opt for softerapproaches, then dealing with most of the above-



mentioned problems would require practice of socialaction. For instance, abolition of child labour woulddemand policy and legislation initiatives at the macro-level along with mass mobilization that would discourageremunerative child work in all forms.

The scope of social action is very vast and it is one ofthe most apt methods of social work practice even intoday’s context. The innovative approaches, participatorytechniques, outreach, and holistic thinking are criticallyimportant in creating a better world, which is indeedthe vision of social work profession. In fact, it is due tosocial action by some of the socially enlightened peopleand voluntary sector, that various basic Rights- the Rightto Health, the Right to Water and Food, the Right toShelter and Work, the Right to Knowledge, the Right toa Dignified and Just life, the Right to one’s Entitlements,etc., have been put on the table. Recently, the successesmade in terms of legislation like as Right To InformationAct and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act arebecause of concerted efforts and constant pressureexerted on the government by civil society organizations.

Apparently, you may think that if government of ourcountry that has committed itself to be welfare-state,takes adequate measures for the welfare anddevelopment of the weaker section of the society, then,what is the scope left for social action. Hypotheticallyyou may be right but despite the pro-active face of thegovernment, socio-demographic indicators give us adismal picture of the country. Nearly 40 percent of thecountry’s population is living below poverty line. Povertylevels continue to be high even though every year newerschemes and approaches for poverty alleviation aredesigned and implemented. Even after nearly 60 yearsof Independence, there are places like Kalahandi wherestill people die of hunger. At many places like in Orissa,people sell off their offspring for 10-20 rupees because

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of poverty. Crores and crores of rupees are allocated forcombating poverty, and statistics reflect that numbersof people below poverty line are increasing every year.

Further, Female literacy rate in the country is stillnearly 50%. According to one estimate, close to 50% ofstudents in the age group of 6-11 years are not able toread, write and do simple arithmetic. Similarly withrespect to health, the situation is very bleak if not worse— 80% people opt for private health care system whenneed arises as government health care system laysbehind both in quality and quantity. It is estimatedthat about 3% of the population are pushed below povertyline every year because of health expenditure. Socialsecurity system in the country lags behind even thosenations that are economically quite poor off comparedto us.

Nonetheless, taking the broader and optimistic view ofIndia’s fast progress and booming economy would notlet us (the social work professionals) to pay attention toproblems like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, genderdiscrimination, female foeticide, child labour,accessibility and affordability of adequate health caresystem, provision of social security system and so onand so forth. Social action is meant to bring aboutnecessary changes in the policy and legislation for well-being of disadvantaged sections of society. Further, ifpolicies and social legislations are in place, then focusshould be shifted to implementation stage. Socialworkers may have to deal with problems like corruption,red-tapism, insincerity, lack of accountability andtransparency that hamper formation of egalitarian socialstructure. Thus, despite innumerable schemes andprogrammes, policies and legislations, if things atgrassroots are not right, then, social action may becarried out to set the systems right, which indeed isthe need of the hour in the present Indian context. It



may be affirmed again that there is a need to bring outnecessary changes in the system — fixing people whoare not performing their duties sincerely, people whoare corrupt and eat up money meant for the welfare ofthe poor, politicians involved in various scams — allthese situations call for social action as milderapproaches would not work in such cases.

There have been innumerable instances of successfulwork accomplishments through social action. Traineestudents of social work during their fieldwork havedemonstrated excellent use of social action in varioussituations — in urban resettlement colonies, studentshave taken up issues like preparation of ration cardsfor poor, improving bad roads, unhygienic andunsanitary conditions prevailing in the surroundings,non-availability of teachers in government run schools,and the like. They mobilized community people andconfronted the responsible authorities like MunicipalCorporations, Public Works Department, local MLAs/MPs of the area and other elected leaders, createdpressures through signature campaigns, sit-ins, hungerstrikes, morchas, involved media to create pressure andhave got the work done.

Thus, social action is a powerful tool that becomes muchmore effective if the primary stakeholders (beneficiaries)are mobilized to create the pressure. Now-a-days, evenmedia is playing a vital and pro-active role — justice inJussica Lal Murder case, Priadarshini Mattoo case wereresolved after media’s social action. Even Indian cinemahas projected potential of social action in excellentmanner through movies like Lage Raho Munna Bhai,Rang De Basanti that have triggered successful socialaction and advocacy in different parts of the country. Inthis and other units of the block, you would come acrossmany examples of social action that have been carriedout in recent past in various parts of the country that

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would again project the scope of relevance of this methodof social work.

Social Action: Some Reflections

Inspite of being a very powerful tool of social change,social action, for decades together, has not been able toattain adequate attention in social work teachings aswell as practice. It is only in mid-1970s that social workeducators began to visualize social action as animportant instrument in social development. As theempowerment approach gained momentum, therelevance of social action increased further. There wasa paradigm shift in the way planning andimplementation of socially relevant projects andprogrammes were taken up. Initially social plannersand policy makers planned for the people at grassroots‘assuming’ their problems and needs (Trickle downtheory). Then, gradually there was shift in the focusand primary beneficiaries are now involved in theprocess of planning and implementation which is bottomup approach. With 73rd and 74th ConstitutionalAmendments people at grassroots are enabled to takeactive part in social auditing through gram sabha andensure accountability, transparency and judicious useof their resources. Though many evaluation studies haveshown that panchayati raj system is a paper tiger, itmay be visualized as a solid system, at leastanatomically, that needs social action intervention andpeople’s active participation may be sought to make thesystem function effectively.

The radical social work approach could not gain groundstrongly, despite a rich historical and culturalbackground because of several reasons. One, fieldworktraining, in majority of educational institutions, is notdesigned in such a way that trainee students spend



substantial time in the community and develop a rapportstrong enough to mobilize resources. Such restrictionsoften drive students not to take up hardcore issues.Therefore, skills needed for social action are notinculcated adequately among the trainees. Second,many of the voluntary agencies have to depend for fundseither on government or international agencies. Theywere coming in conflict with the system that compriseof government control. International agencies or foreignfunding too have their own guidelines and they may notfund for the hard pressing issues requiring social action.Third, social work professionals may not feel motivatedenough to contribute required time and energy resourcesin the community, which may not be part of their job(employment). Voluntarism has its own limitations,which is, at times, internally driven. Lastly, social actionis very difficult, requiring proficiency in communication,analysis of social situation, perseverance, ability tomobilize people, adequate usage of strategies likesignature campaign, sit-ins, hunger strike, persuasiveskills, which is not everyone’s cup of tea. Medha Patekar,during her Narmada Bachao Andolan, was oftenthreatened for life. Resisting such crisis is not easy formost of the social work professionals.

In most of the Third World countries, welfaristic approachdominates due to charity and religious obligations beingthe starting point of social work. In that context, adoptingan empowerment perspective, largely through consensus,is not an easy task. Facilitating increased access formaximum number of people to the essential socialservice needed for their development, obviously, wouldcall for social action as a primary method of social work.Unfortunately enough literature is not developed onsocial action. The use of the process of social actionrequires far greater clarity on the part of trained socialworkers of its goals and objectives, conceptual

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framework, ideological and belief system. There is a needto build up a new theoretical discourse and perspectiveon social action, based on a fresh look at the varioussocial action practices and institutionalization process,in the context of the paradigm shift in the production ofknowledge, communication and political process.

Thus, we can consider social action as the most‘controversial’ and yet the most challenging method ofsocial work profession. The process of social action isoften moulded by the larger socio-political contexts andcultural ethos. Social action encompasses both moraland political undercurrents. Unfortunately, social workpractice in India has not depicted any significantchanges in the social structure or in major problemslike poverty, child labour, women exploitation, illiteracy,unemployment, etc., and to a large extent, social workprofessionals have confined themselves to servicedelivery roles. Becoming a change agent was taken upby a handful of social work professionals.

One of the interesting facts that you may realize is thatwhile there is no dearth of interventions through socialaction in the country, before or after independence, often,change agents have been the non-social workers. Statedotherwise, social action was done by various people inmany parts of the country and most of them never hadsocial work background, understanding of theoreticalframeworks and professional skills and expertise. It justrequired commitment, understanding of the issue athand and conviction and courage. In the next unit, youwould be able to understand various facets of socialaction in a better way when we will deal with principles,values and ethical considerations in social action as amethod of social work.



Conclusion

Social action is one of the very challenging and powerfulmethods of social work practice. It is used for mobilizingmasses in order to bring about structural changes inthe social system or to prevent negative changes. It isbased on human rights perspective and adopts theprocess of empowerment through redistributitive justice.Certain social problems like poverty, exploitation, abuse,stigmatization, ecological issues, bonded labour, childlabour, women empowerment, substance abuse, etc.,can be tackled through social action. The main objectiveof social action is to bring solution of mass problems,improve in mass conditions and redistribution of power,resources (human, material and moral). Other similarterms like advocacy and social movement were alsomentioned. We discussed the historical evolution ofsocial action tracing bhakti movement, socialreform movements and political struggle led byGandhiji. Gandhian ideology plays a crucial role in socialaction.

While discussing scope and relevance of social action,we explored that majority of developmental issues inthe contemporary world may be resolved through socialaction. If we want to have long term solutions and believein human rights and empowerment perspective, thensocial action becomes apt for us.

Certain problems were also discussed in the light of thefact that social action, though relevant, is not verypopular. Constraints in social work training, ourpersonal value system, dependence on the statemachinery (who may be the perpetrator of injustice)are some of the issues that create hurdles in the usageof social action as a method of social work practice.

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References

Britto, G.A.A., (1984): Social Action and Social WorkEducation in the Eighties, in Social Work and SocialAction (ed) H.Y. Siddiqui, Harnam Publications.

Britto, G.A.A., (1984): Some Principles of Social Action,in Social Work and Social Action (ed) H.Y. Siddiqui,Harnam Publications.

Samuel, J. (2000): Social Action: An Indian Panorama,(ed.),Pune: Voluntary Action Network India.

Chowdhry, D. Paul, (1992): Introduction to Social Work,Atma Ram & Sons, Delhi.

Davis, Martin, (2000): The Blackwell Encyclopaedia ofSocial Work, (eds.) Blackwell Publishers,Massachusetts, pp.317-318.

Friedlander, W.A. (1977): Introduction to Social Welfare,Prentice Hill, New Delhi.

Moorthy, M.V., (1966): Social Action, Asia PublishingHouse, Bombay.

Nanavati, M.C., (1965): Social Action and TheProfessional Social Work” social work forum, vol.III,no.2, pp.26-29.

Pathak, S.H., (1971): Social Welfare, Health and FamilyPlanning, New Delhi.

Siddiqui, H.Y., (1984): Social Work and Social Action (ed.),Harnam Publications

Singh, Surender (1986): Social Action in Horizons ofSocial Work (ed). By Surender Singh & K.S. Soodan,op. cit. p. 161.

Foran, J. (2003): The Future of Revolutions. Landon: ZedBooks.


Integrated Approach to SocialWork and Social Action

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

Social work is an evolving discipline where interventionsare geared up towards initiating, exploring, retainingand modifying the ways and means by which persons,individually and/or collectively are helped in resolvingdisruptions in their social functioning. Like otherdisciplines touching social life of human beings, socialwork too needs to design and re-design conceptualframeworks, theories and models related tointerventions. As social situations change, the outlookto analyze and measure various social situations shouldalso change. Theories and concepts guiding us throughour social interventions also need to be revised, updated,improved and evolved. It is in this context, thatIntegrated Approach to Social Work was developed thatwould provide you a comprehensive framework of socialintervention based on system’s theory, fitting in most ofthe social situations requiring planned, guided socialchange.

Pincus and Minahan have given this framework with aview that social work interventions are not unilateraland ‘people’s participation’ is needed in almost allsituations. In this approach, social worker enters intoa system, thereby consciously altering its previous state

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and balance as a means of attaining explicit goals. Theunderlying assumption in developing the unitary methodor integrated approach to social work intervention wasthat regardless of the many forms social work practicecan take, there is a common core of concepts, skills,tasks and activities which are essential to the practiceof social work and represent a base from which thepractitioner can build. The traditional social worktheories and methods have been woven arounddichotomous terms (person and environment, clinicalpractice or social action, micro-system and/or macro-system) that, in some way, provided a myopic perspectiveof viewing social reality. Pincus and Minahan havesuggested the following criteria for developing a unitaryor integrated model for social work practice:

1) This unitary model should provide an all-encompassing framework, avoiding conceptualizingsocial work practice in dichotomous terms like eithercase work or social action, individualist or collectiveapproach. It is believed that the strength of theprofession lies in recognizing and working with theconnections between these elements.

2) The social worker has tasks to develop and maintainrelationships with a variety of people in any plannedchange effort (and not with the clients and his/herfamily only).

3) The social worker is required to work with andthrough many different sizes and types of systems(one to one relationships, families, communitygroups) in helping a client.

4) There should be selective and judicious use oftheories (ego, learning, communication, etc.) inunderstanding social situations.

5) The Model should be applicable in variety ofsituations and settings.

Integrated Approach to Social Work and Social Action


In the subsequent sections of the unit, you would studyat length about this integrated approach based onsystem’s theory, substantiated with enough fieldexamples. You are also advised to make use of this modelin your field work practicum.

Understanding Various Systems

Social work practice based on system’s approachprimarily focuses on the interaction between people andvarious systems in social environment. People aredependent on systems (say, ethnic and cultural system,economic system, health system, workplace system) forobtaining the material and non-material resources,services and opportunities to growth and development.In this regard, three types of resources have beendescribed, from the clients’ perspective:

1) Natural or informal system (family, relatives, friends,neighbours, etc.),

2) Formal system (membership organizations, - labourunions, support groups, PTA), and

3) Societal resource system (hospital, legal services,schools, work place).

It is assumed that people are dependent or ratherinterdependent on these systems for accomplishmentof their life tasks (Life tasks are activities relating todaily living such as growing up in the family, learningin schools, entering into work force, marriage, bearingand rearing children). At times, despite the helppotentially available from the network of informal,formal, societal systems, in certain situations peoplemay not be able to obtain resources, services oropportunities they need to cope with their life tasksand realize their goals. The role of social worker, here,is to look at the inadequacies in the interaction between

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these systems (or any one system) and the people thatmay cause distress, problems and mal-functioning. Letus analyze this point in some more detail for betterunderstanding:

Inadequacies at informal resource system may be lackof informal helping system (there may be no friends orneighbours, people of a particular social group notincluded in social intercourse) or reluctance to turnto informal system (hesitation to ask for help fromfriends, relatives, etc., past experience, fear of loss offace may add to these inhibitions) or inability of thesystem to meet the needs of the people. For instance,in a village in India, a particular socially marginalizedgroup, may be geographically staying at secluded placeor may be shy in putting their needs across to people inthe neighbourhood. Further, informal system may beresponsive but not well-equipped to solve the problemsof the people in distress.

Likewise, inadequacies of formal resource system maybe as follows — Groups may not exist (say, labourersbeing exploited and no labour unions exist to protecttheir rights) or people may be reluctant to join (HIVpositive people may be fearful of their identity beingdisclosed on joining HIV support group) or are unawareof their existence or the system may be unable to meetneeds, that is, lack of necessary resources and influenceto provide services to its members or to negotiate ontheir behalf with a societal resource system.

Further, there may be inadequacies of societal resourcesystem – one, needed resources or services may notexist in sufficient quantity (e.g., inadequate quality andquantity of food grains for Public Distribution Systemavailable to poor families). Else, needed resources orservices may exist but not geographically, psychologicallyor culturally available to those who need it (e.g., mental



health services not available in rural areas and needypeople not seeking mental health services because offear of being labeled as ‘mentally ill’) or no informationabout existing resources or usage of resources may leadto further problem (say, hospitals labeling patients asHIV positive and discriminating them).

Added to this, there may be conflict between varioussystems which may affect resources/service utilization(health care system exists but may not be affordable ormay be far off and with poor transportation connectivity).At times, there may be other inadequacies like intra-system problems hampering its effective service delivery(say, in a hospital, doctors on strike or no funds to buyequipment for treatment of patients). Thus, you mayrealize that there may be many problems in thefunctioning of various systems in a social environmentrequiring social work intervention.

The purpose of social work, in above mentioned cases,is to enhance the problem solving or coping capabilitiesof people and link people with systems that provide themwith resources, services and opportunities. The aim ofsocial work is also to promote the effectiveness ofoperative systems through improvement of social policyabout which you would study at length in subsequentsections. Let us understand the systems from theperspective of social work intervention.

From the viewpoint of social work intervention, fourbasic systems have been laid down – Change AgentSystem, Client System, Target System and ActionSystem. Detailed description of these systems is asfollows:

a) Change Agent System: Change Agent may be anyperson or group, professional or non-professional,inside or outside a system, who is attempting tobring about change in that system. A change agent

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is a helper who is specifically employed for thepurpose of creating planned change. It may be anagency, NGO or social worker.

b) Client System: It is the ‘specific system that is beinghelped’. Client system may be the individual, family,group, organization or community which, in additionto being the expected beneficiary of services, is asystem that asks for help and engages the servicesof social worker as a change agent.

c) Target System: This system includes the peoplethe change agent needs to change or influence inorder to accomplish his/her goals from the targetsystem.

d) Action System: It is used to describe those withwhom social worker deals in his efforts to accomplishthe tasks and achieve the goals of the change efforts.An action system can be used to obtain sanctionsand a working agreement or contract, in order toidentify and study a problem, establish goals forchange or influence the major targets of change.

Now, let us take an example: a woman (client system)approaches the social worker (change agent system) withthe problem that her alcoholic husband (target system)beats her up daily. Social worker, as a part ofintervention may counsel the husband and get himrehabilitated with the help of de-addiction centre. Here,all those persons - doctors, NGO officials, staff at de-addiction centre – who took part in the rehabilitationprocess would be the action system. The change agentmay like to study the gravity and extent of problem ofalcoholism in the community, may take up a researchstudy intending to find the root cause of the problemwith alcoholism only as a behavioural manifestation.He/she may find that under -employment andunemployment among youth and adults, poor economic



condition and easy availability of liquor coupled withcultural consent to males for alcoholism is the primecause behind the rampant problem, which is affectingthe health status of, say, 80% of youth in the community.

The intervention by change agent may include workingat various levels – state to ensure Income generatingprogrammes, shops selling alcohol in the community tobe banned, creating awareness about harmful effects ofalcoholism, knowledge creation about Prevention ofDomestic Violence Act. In this case, target system wouldbe the state (reluctance on the part of administratorsto run income generating programmes, red tapism,corruption), shops selling alcohol, all alcoholics in thecommunity and all the people believing that alcoholismis associated with masculinity and it is right on thepart of men to ‘drink’.

The action system would be everybody taking part inthe process of intervention (researchers doing study,media propagating messages about anti-alcoholism,domestic violence, NGO functionaries, field workers andso on). So, we understand that client system would beany person approaching change agent with a problem.Action system would be persons participating in theprocess of intervention and target system would be thosepersons who need to alter their behaviours and attitudesso that an egalitarian and just social system would becreated.

Further, you may realize that one problem situationmay call for many action systems, as reflected in theabove example. Depending upon the situation, an actionsystem could be an existing system already in operation(family, peer groups, schools, etc.) or a new systemdeveloped by the change agent as a part of intervention(say opening VCTC at hospital, self help group ofterminally ill patients). The change agent may not be

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directly interacting with all the people in an actionsystem but may have indirect contact at various pointsin the time span of intervention, say, first researchers,then NGO workers involved in rehabilitation of alcoholicclients, then media persons, and so on. The changeagent may require their services only once or regularly.These services may be paid or unpaid.

Next, change agent’s status (as independent citizen,volunteer, honorary or paid staff of NGO), careeraspirations, job security, promotion, his/her own valuesystem, conviction to the ethics and principles of socialwork profession, knowledge level, ability to mobilize,convince people, enthusiasm, creativity — all wouldhave a bearing on the intervention. Added to this, thechange agent (social worker) may also attempt to enlargeaction system by involving other members of a largersystem, (say, elected leaders, policy makers, coalitionof NGOs, free-lancers, media persons) or he/she mayreduce the client system (for example, work withalcoholic and his family; work with neighbourhood andthen reduce some members).

An important diagnostic task of the social worker, usuallyin collaboration with the client system, is to establishthe goals for change and then determine the specificpeople- the targets – that will have to be changed if thegoals are to be reached. Let us look at the process ofintervention under integrated social work approach.

Process of Change Effort

The process of intervention in social work can becategorized in eight phases, details of which are asfollows:

A word of caution: though process has been categorizedinto various phases, the activities may often beoverlapping.



a) Assessing Problem

In first phase, the social worker (change agent) identifiesthe problem area (say, news reports of weaverscommitting suicide in Banaras of Uttar Pradesh) andcollects more information about the nature of problem,social situation, life-style of people, contingent andprecipitating factors causing the problem at hand[community of Julahe (weavers) in Banaras aretraditionally involved in making famous hand wovenBanarasi saris as a small scale family enterprise. Since,hand weaving consumes lots of time and in the adventof technological advancement, industrialization andglobalization, people have options for cheaper electronicmachine made banarasi sarees. Added to this,middlemen take heavy commission for hand wovensarees while giving the weavers meager amount. Withno other livelihood options, no social capital, no backwardand forward linkages, weavers spend weeks together inperpetual hunger and with least hope of anyimprovement in the system, are committing suicide. Theyare mostly from traditionally marginalized communityof Muslims, illiterate, with no financial backup, noexposure to market needs and situations, no contactswith business persons who control marketing ofBanarasi sarees].

b) Collecting Data

It is the second phase, where the social worker collectsdata about the problem at hand in an objective, scientificmanner. She (let us assume social worker is female)may use research tools like questioning (direct verbal,direct written, projective verbal, projective written),observations (participative, non participative) andanalyzes in order to find the root cause(s) of the problem.In the situation discussed above, the change agentcollects all the details of number of weavers, their

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proportion, their family background, their work detailslike time taken in weaving a sari, designs adopted,knowledge about government’s schemes for loans,options of selling to co-operatives, coping patterns andso on. She finds that informal resource system (family,friends, neighbourhood) is unable to take anyameliorative action; the weavers are not aware of Formalsystem (cooperative groups, self-help groups, NGOs) thatmay provide some respite; and they have no say in thesocietal resource system, that is, work-place and as aresult in utter frustration, they are committing suicides.

c) Making initial contacts

In this third phase, the change agent gathersinformation about the systems (other than clientsystem) and tries to develop initial contacts. Stateddifferently, the social worker gains more insight aboutthe functioning and transactions of other systems inthe social environment vis-à-vis client system. It isstakeholders’ analysis that you have read in previousunits of this block. With the information collected aboutvarious systems, the change agent develops action planfor intervention. This would answer the questions as towhich part of the system to contact, and method ofinitiating contact that may include direct approach orasking somebody to influence target system, one to oneor group approach and usage of mass media.

Continuing with the above example, the change agentduring stakeholders’ analysis notes that the middlemenare the unfavourable stakeholders, governmentfunctionaries implementing schemes like Swarn JayantiGram Swarojgar Yojana (SJGSY), providing financialand technical inputs are in ‘unknown’ category in termsof favourability of stakeholders. Further, probe into thesystem provided the information that corruption,lethargy, red-tapism etc. is rampant in the government



and state is apathetic towards the dismal conditions ofweavers. The change agent chalked out the strategy toinvolve media at suitable time in the intervention as apart of action system.

d) Negotiating contracts (means joint agreement on action system)

In this fourth phase, operating procedures are laid downwith respect to client system, action system and targetsystem. More clarity is gained in terms of tasksperformed by each party to achieve the goals. In thisstrategies are explicitly laid down in terms of dealingwith resistance to change in relation to various systemsin the social environment. These would includeinvolvement of other systems or replacing the servicesof one system from the other, upsetting equilibrium,providing hope, motivating, negotiating with the systemon behalf of or with client system (see the similaritywith social action).

In the above example, the employing NGO, its networkswith other organizations would be the constituents ofaction system. In this phase, contractual agreements,if desired so, would be made between various NGOsand Community Based Organizations regarding sharingof responsibilities to achieve the goal(s). The middlemenwould show reluctance to the idea to provide due shareto weavers. The intervention strategy may be to negotiatewith them amicably and if they do not agree, then maybe to develop direct contacts between weavers and themarket. It would also include simultaneously developingthe non-existent services like self-help groups of weaverswho would be associated with local NGOs to facilitatetheir linkages with cooperatives and marketers.

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e) Forming Action System

In this fifth phase, the change agent concretizes theaction system by chalking out all the details of who allwould constitute action system, what roles they wouldperform and what would be their entry points and periodof exit, duration of their intervention and the probableimpact. In any one change effort, the worker may formmany different action systems to collect data, assessthe problem, make an initial contact, negotiate acontract, or influence the major targets to help achievethe outcome goal.

In continuation with the above example, the changeagent includes the counselors (for helping weavers forcounseling to prevent suicides), social work professionals(to form self-help groups of weavers and establishingcontacts with banks), trainers from other organizationsworking in the area of poverty alleviation and incomegenerating programmes (to provide necessary inputs information of self help groups and informing about itsfunctioning and utility to the client system) marketresearchers (to explore direct contacts with shop owners,traders and wholesalers, cooperatives and governmentcontrolled shops; to look for other innovating linkageswith neighbouring countries, NRI and similar groups)mediators/negotiators (to reduce resistance frommiddlemen and facilitating government officials forimplementation of poverty alleviation schemes in thecommunity; legislators and elected leaders at variouslevels for necessary policy intervention), media (forputting up the case before the public in a rightperspective through special bulletins, talk shows, etc.,and if any stakeholders fail to cooperate after muchpersuasion, then defamation through media may formpart of intervention). These would be the vitalcomponents of the action system and in the expectedroles in the intervention process has been described.



f) Maintaining and coordinating an action system

It is the sixth phase, when focus is on the coordinationbetween various components of action system. It wouldalso involve looking at the problems in the developmentof relationships between members of action system, ifany, may, differ in levels of motivation, commitmentamong members, job turnover, knowledge and skillenhancement, etc. Likewise, there may be problems infunctioning that may result from absence of clarity aboutrole distribution, communication gaps, rapport formationby action system, conflicting values and attitudes. Theworker or change agent is required to deal with conflictswithin the action system and finally prepare the systemfor ACTION.

In the case of above example, worker may encountermany knotty issues as when some counsellors may havebiased attitudes about some religious members that mayhamper their effectiveness in counseling. The employingagency may not want to come in conflict with the localgoons working as middlemen and negotiators may nothave perseverance to fight till the end in dealing withcorruption and red tapism. With consistent motivation,persuasion, giving the factual information about theapathetic condition of weavers, shaking conscience andusing similar other strategies, the change agent maybe able to deal with conflicting issues and gear the actionsystem for the intervention.

g) Exercising influence

In the seventh phase, the actual intervention to bringabout desired change is put into action. The changeagent, through the use of relevant knowledge, expertise,and legitimate or charismatic authority, status andreputation, personal attractiveness, control over flow ofinformation and established relationship with the client

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group brings out desired changes. The process,specifically includes change in behaviour, attitude, beliefin target system by providing positive or negativeinducement, (influencing a target system by providingrewards for complying, with an influence effort, orpunishing it for not complying), persuasion and use ofrelationships to achieve desired goals.

With regard to the above example, the change agentmotivates the government officials, middlemen fordesired behaviour by praising their previous works,shaking their conscience by telling them thevulnerabilities of weavers (positive inducement) and ifstill they do not ‘change’, then threatens them to defame,disciplinary action (negative inducement). Further, thepower of mobilized community people, media usage,value of relationship of change agent with clients wouldalso have weightage in the intervention. Fear of defame,isolation, social boycott, changes in the target system(here, government officials and middlemen).

h) Terminating the change effort

This eighth phase is the last one in the process ofintervention. It necessarily does not merely indicate apoint reached at the end of planned change, rather isthe integral part of the whole process. Specifically, itincludes — evaluation of the change effect (meansassessment of success-failure in terms of plannedchange and foresight gained for future action which isself-sustained) and disengaging from relationships(means that formal separation from client system sothat they are no more dependent on change agent systemfor ‘help’ and dealing with reactions like denial,regression, expression of needs, flight and so on) andlastly, stabilization of change effort (creating systems,institutionalizing people’s participation, developingcoping skills towards self-reliance).



In the above example, the change agent develops self-help groups, develops formal linkages with NGOs, Banks,Marketers, Shop Owners, Dealers, Customers and thelike (creating informal resource system andinstitutionalizing community participation) and trainsthe client system to develop leadership, cooperation andcollaboration and gradually reduces their dependence.All patiently deal with reactions showing emotionaldependence of client system. With regular feedback oneanalyzes the success of change effort.

Role of Social Worker

After comprehending the systems and process ofintervention, let us look at the roles, functions, qualitiesof social worker or change agent in the change effort, towhich you can identify yourself.

Specific functions of social worker/change agent maywell be described as:

1) Help client system enhance and effectively utilizetheir own problem solving and coping capacities:Change agent may identify and contact people whoneed help, provide information, developunderstanding, give support, encourage to examinealternative ways of linking with the needed system.

2) Establish initial linkages between people andresource systems: Change agent may locate targetclients (starving community with ‘Meals on Wheels’);provide information about resource systems; helpovercoming hurdles in resource utilization (crèchefacilities so that mothers can work); referrals toresource system and follow up; advocacy to negotiatewith resource system (e.g., patient discharged frommental hospital- persuading his employer to keephim back); forming new resource systems (terminallyill cancer patients’ support groups).

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3) Facilitate favourable interaction between peopleand societal resource system: It is one of theimportant functions of the social worker or changeagent to make societal response system aware ofthe problem that its operating procedures arecausing problems for its consumers (e.g., girls notallowed to go to school in neighbouring village).Change agent acts as consultant helping societalresource system improve its functioning and assistin developing new services (say, conscientizeparents and community people on needs of girl childeducation and facilitate opening a school within thevillage premises). He/she may coordinate betweenvarious resource systems, organize consumers toadvocate on their own behalf, do advocacy,mediation and resolve conflicts between natural,formal and societal resource systems.

4) Facilitate favourable interaction within resourcesystems: This function of social worker is aimed atchanging interactions of people within informal,formal or societal resource systems. Social workeracts as a liaison between various sub-parts of thesystem, transmits information from one part toanother and decreases hostility and conflict betweensubparts. The worker may advocate for the interestof one part of the system which lacks access toresources and power to make decisions or preparessub parts to advocate for their own rights andinterests. He/she acts as a consultant to membersof a system and helps improve their internalfunctioning, role assignment, communication, etc.The worker may help the members towardsempowerment and self reliance.

5) Policy Change: It is one of the most difficult yetvital functions of change agent. It includes collectingand analyzing information related to problems or



issues that demand policy change, mobilizingprimary and secondary stakeholders for social actionand chalking down the strategies and tactics asmentioned in the preceding units.

Let us now pay attention to characteristics and types ofsocial work relationships. Social work relationships arethe sustained interactions between client system andchange agent system that are established with certainpurpose. About this relationship, you had read at lengthin units on casework and counseling. Briefly, three majorcharacteristics of social work relationship are – one,these relationships are formed for professional purposerelated to planned change work; two, worker works forthe interest and needs of clients and not for his/herown interest in a professional relationship and three,the relationship is based on the objectivity and selfawareness where the personal troubles, opinions, beliefsof the worker should not enter or hamper the changeeffort.

According to Pincus and Minahan, there are three typesof relationships between client system and change agentsystem – collaboration, bargaining and conflictual. Itmay be noted that one type of relationship may bechanged to another – say, conflictual relationship mayturn to collaboration and vice-versa. Details of each ofthese are as follows:

Collaboration: It is considered the ‘ideal’ type ofrelationship where there is agreement on the goals andoperative procedures between client system and changeagent system. Commonly, in this type of relationshipdecisions are made democratically and worker practicesclient self- determination. You would find processes andrelationships in community organization very near tothis one. The client system shows trust and confidencein the worker. This relationship is feasible when the

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clients view the goals of change as desirable and intheir self interest. Further, in this relationship, clientsystem believes that demands placed upon it will notrequire major changes in its existing power and status.

Bargaining: This is the typical relationship thatconnotes the beginning of client-change agentrelationship. The initial contacts with target or clientsystem are defined by ‘testing’ each other and thenbargaining takes place with regard to existing resourcesand powers which is followed by collaboration. Further,if no consensus between goals and ways to achieve goalsoccurs between the two parties (change agent and client/target system) bargaining continues. Bargaining occurswhen client/target system perceives that it may not beentirely in its self interest to work for the goalsdelineated by change agent. Added to this, differencesin socio-cultural values, perception of power change,perceived difference between shared goals between thetwo parties also leads to bargaining. Also, you may haveread in psychology that people tend to maintain theirold pattern of values and working style and areapprehensive in trying out newer ways and processes.All these factors lead to bargaining relationship betweenclients and change agent.

Conflict: Conflictual relationship occurs when theshared goals as proposed by the change agent appearsto be threatening to the self-interest of the target system.For example, upper caste people in a village oppressingthe lower caste would not like the idea of land reform(land re-distribution) and would have conflictualrelationship with the change agent. Here, the targetsystem, the land owners, perceive that the demandslaid down by the change agent would snatch away theirexisting prestige, power and status and hence wouldresist redistribution of resources and power. In this case,social workers may not operate with expected social



work values, ethics of openness, mutual trust andhonesty with target system.

It may be reiterated that the relationship between client/target system and change agent is quite dynamic andliable to change during the course of time. Target systemmay initially have conflictual relationship which canturn into bargaining and later to collaborative one.

Let us now briefly comprehend the skills and qualitieschange agent must have in order to bring about desiredchange in various systems. The obvious expectationwould be that the worker inherently believes in theworth and dignity of human beings and sees problemsin the functioning with various sub-systems andperceives client/target system as ‘diseased’. Firmconviction in the values and ethics of social work is amust. Regarding skills, social worker is not expected tobe dexterous in all the faculties (communication,programme media, ability to mobilize people, counseling,research and the like), rather he/she should be able tonetwork with different people having differentialproficiencies and get the work done to achieve the desiredgoals [skills of a social work have been at length coveredin Unit 4].

Social Action in Relation to CommunityWork

The term ‘community development’ refers to a processaimed at economic and social progress of the wholecommunity with active participation of the communitypeople. Community development is an amalgamation oftwo vital components — first, people’s participation andsecond, the technical and financial assistance providedfrom the government agencies and both thesecomponents complement each other. Communitydevelopment is not possible if any one of the aspects is

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missing. People’s participation, their ability to cooperateand assimilate, along with the technical know-how fromgovernment agencies is a must for realizing the goal ofcommunity development. Initiating and implementingcommunity development programmes on a large scale,say, at the national level, would require adoption ofconsistent policies, motivating and enablingadministrative arrangements, recruitment and trainingof dexterous professionals in various related fields,mobilization of local and national resources, research,experimentation and evaluation and involvement ofcommunity people in the process of their owndevelopment. How it is linked to social action?

Community development as well as social action, havethe same inherent goal — overall development of thecommunity. They both correspond to the basic needs ofthe community and all their activities are initiated inresponse to the expressed needs of the communitypeople. Both these processes adhere to concerted actionand the establishment of multi-purpose programmesfor achieving the goal of long-term, sustainable and well-balanced community development, where all sectionsof the society get their equitable share of resources andpower. In fact, social action is taken as one of the modelsof community organization and community development.

Looking at the programme aspect, both the processes,i.e., community development and social action sharesimilarity in terms of tasks that include problemidentification and focus on felt needs, identification,encouragement and training of local leadership,involving community people in resource identification,discussing various alternative action strategies andpicking up the most suitable ones, bringing aboutdesirable change in attitudes and behaviours of thecommunity people, creating a conducive environmentwhere values like interdependence, sharing, cooperating



and coordinating, are encouraged and thereby ensuringpeople’s participation. Social action as well ascommunity development share the basic belief thatgreater participation of women and youth in the processof social change and development would not only leadto their empowerment but would also ensure long termsustainability of the desired results.

Community development aims at increased and betterparticipation of the people in community affairs,revitalization of existing forms of local government andtransition towards effective local administration whereit is not yet functioning. Social action works for re-distribution of power and resources to achieve socialjustice. In fact, in communities where there is inequalityand injustice, community development has to first relyon social action and once resources and powers arereallocated, then only constructive work has anymeaning.

Sometimes, in order to achieve the objective of overallcommunity development, some changes in the socialsystem and institutions, that is social action, arerequired. To exemplify, poverty has remained one of themost pressing problems of our country. For more thantwo decades, many piece meal programmes were plannedand implemented in a number of poverty-affectedcommunities in the country to reduce the povertyproblem. Still, the situation kept on worsening as thenumber of people living below poverty line rose. Duringlate 60s and early 70s, a rethinking was done on thewhole concept and strategies of development,highlighting the need for structural changes in society,to bring about a substantial change in the standards ofliving of the masses which means greater access toessential services such as education, health, housingand employment. As a result, ‘Structural AdjustmentProgrammes’, Land Reforms, 20-point poverty alleviation

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programmes, etc., were evolved. These strategies ofradical change emphasized a more equitable distributionof resources and the organization of people to strengthentheir capacity for claiming a better deal in society.

However, to be fully effective, communities’ self-helpprojects require both intensive and extensive assistancefrom the government whereas social action is anti-authoritarian. Community development is done at themicro-level whereas the social cause for which socialaction is required, most often, has wider range. Lastly,the most basic factor in social action is a method ofworking with people in professional social work whilecommunity development is the process and a goal to doconstructive and developmental work with people’sparticipation and government assistance.

Conclusion

In this chapter, you studied about integrated social workapproach that rests on general system’s theory. Thereare four systems – client system (who approaches witha problem to) the change agent (social worker, any personcommitted to the cause) for help; change agent studiesthe situation in a holistic manner and develops plan forchange effort; all the people who participate in thechange effort would constitute the action system whilethe system requiring change is termed as target system.

Three types of resource systems were described in theunit. They are — Informal resource system like family,peers, friends; formal resource system like self helpgroups, counseling centre, formal clubs, institutions,etc.; societal resource system would be the workplacesystem, legal system, political environment and so on.Social worker studies the linkages between thesesystems and plans intervention after studying thesystems in a holistic manner.



Following this, eight phases of intervention are dealtwith at length. These eight phases are — assessingproblem, collecting data, making initial contacts,negotiating contracts, forming action system,maintaining and coordinating an action system,exercising influence and terminating the change effort.All these phases have been described with relevant fieldexamples.

Roles of social worker in order to enhance positiveinteraction between various systems were also describedin detail in the unit. Roles are at various levels – micro,meso and macro levels. This apart, a commentary onthe skills required by social workers was given. All thesecomponents of integrated social work approach havebeen covered with pertinent examples.

It is hoped that this would give you a broad perspectiveof integrated social work approach that has wideapplicability in most of the field situations.

Lastly, relation between social action and communitydevelopment was covered, specifying the unifying anddifferentiating trends between the two.

References

Chakraborty, Somen, (1999): A Critique of SocialMovements in India, Indian Social Institute, NewDelhi.

Moorthy, M.V., (1966): Social Action, Asia PublishingHouse, Mumbai.

Parker, Jonathan and Bradley Greta: Social Work Practice:Assessment, Planning, Intervention and Review, UK:Learning Matters Ltd., 2003.

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Pincus, Allen & Minahan, Anne: Social Work Practice:Model and method. Itasca, F.E. Feacock Publishers,1973.

Shah, Ghanshayam, (1990): Social Movements in India,Sage publications, Delhi.

Siddiqui, H.Y., (1984): Social Work and Social Action (ed.),Harnam Publications.


The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (!992): Volume 27,University of Chicago.


13

Models of Social Action*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

The preceding chapters have discussed myriad of areaswhere social action can make a dent in the restrictingconditions that do not allow some people to live theirlives to the full. There are many ‘ways’ in which socialaction is carried out — progressive persons or group ofpeople may raise voice on behalf of people living onmargins, or may mobilize people to take action to bringabout desired changes in the social system. There aremany models of social action. The literal meaning of‘Model’ is the modality or style or pattern of doing aparticular thing, which is replicable. A ‘model’ of socialaction means a peculiar way or process of achieving setgoals with certain identifiable stages and characteristics.Stated differently, social action, in its process ofachieving its objectives, adopts certain manner ormodality, which is termed as ‘model of social action’.

Historical evidences bring out that social action can beinitiated and carried forward by the elites exclusivelywithout the participation of those section(s) of populationfor whom it is being undertaken. Classical example isRaja Ram Mohan Roy playing vital role in enactment ofsocial legislation against ‘Sati-pratha’. Models in whichelites, play pivotal role in social action, with or withoutinvolvement of marginalized sections of population comesunder the category of ‘elitist’ models. Playing a


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facilitative role in mobilization of the masses, preparingthem to take action and in that process empoweringthem to take charge of own life would categorize socialaction into ‘Popular’ model of action. In this, marginalizedpopulation takes up the total charge of the socialmovement in its own hands, though social actionist/activist provides necessary guidance. Freedommovement under the leadership of Gandhiji is a fineexample of popular social action model.

In this chapter, models given by various social workeducators have been presented. Some theorists havecategorized social action into Institutional (social actioninitiated by some institution like government or non-governmental agency) and non-institutional models(those initiated by people). Various sub-groups have beendescribed based on the stakeholder who initiates socialaction and then who follows. Gandhian model of socialaction has also been described with all its sub categoriesand relevant examples.

Elitist Social Action Model

Broadly, Britto (1984) has categorized social action intotwo models — Elitist Social Action and Popular SocialAction. It may be reiterated that when certain motivated,progressive and sensitive people raise voice on behalf ofthe marginalized section of the population, primarilywithout active participation of that population group, itis termed as elitist model of social action. On the otherhand, when marginalized people themselves carryforward the task of liberation from exploitation, may ormay not be with the leadership/guidance of socialactionist/activist/worker, it comes in the category ofpopular social action. Three sub-models can be identifiedin each type of social action. In this section, we wouldfocus on Elitist model of social action.

Models of Social Action


Elitist Social Action

It is the action initiated and conducted by the elites forthe benefit of the masses, either exclusively or withmarginal participation of masses. There are three sub-models of elitist social action — legislative social actionmodel, economic sanction model and direct physicalmodel — as described below:

i) Legislative Social Action Model: In this model, groupof elites undertake social action for bringing about socialchange. This process generally includes understandingthe magnitude, extent and urgency of the problem athand (may be undertaking full fledged research work),creating public opinion (say, involvement of electronic,print media) and designing intervention with the aim tobring about desired change in the social legislation orsocial policy. The differential aspect of this model liesin the fact that the general population or the targetgroup is not involved directly in the process. Some eliteseither themselves or along with like-minded individualstake-up the social issues, which they think is a pressingproblem. Strategies and tactics like media advocacy,legislative advocacy, judicial advocacy, lobbying,networking, coalition and the like are used (about theseyou would study in detail in the next unit). It may benoted that essential pre-requisites for this model ofsocial action is extensive and intensive knowledge ofsocial situation, social processes, micro-macro linkages,excellent analytical abilities and communication andpersuasive skills.

Key terms, here, are elitist and social legislation.Change is brought by liberal minded people (elites)through social legislation. In general, these people belongto intelligentsia of the society, are of radical outlook,believe in social justice and empowerment and havestrong motivation to eradicate causes of exploitation

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and oppression. Another potent variable that acts likea catalyst in the process of elitist model of social actionis the strength of social capital (i.e., linkage with thosepeople who have resources, who are decision-makers,social planners, policy makers). The elites carrying outsocial action have the knowledge about and access tothe people and systems that have the power to influencethe lives of marginalized sections of the society. Toexemplify, Raja Ram Mohan Roy had the relevant legalknowledge, perspective defined by social justice andaccess to decision-makers when he persuaded the thenstate to enact legislation against Sati-system. Likewise,socialists like Aruna Roy, Arvind Kejriwal who playedpivotal role in enactment of Right to Information Actalso, more or less, adhered to elitist model of socialaction. In fact, majority of contemporary sociallegislations like National Rural Employment GuaranteeAct, Juvenile Justice Act, 2006, The Maintenance andWelfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 havebeen tabled because of socially enlightened people whoundertook elitist social action model and tried bringingchange through social legislations.

ii) Economic Sanction Model: In this model of socialaction, the elites make use of their power to influenceeconomic condition/position or profits or financialtransactions of the ‘oppressors’, who are denying therightful share to labour class. Social workers/activists/actionists (elites) have control over some economicresources, which is used as a weapon to obtain benefitsfor their clientele. There have been many instances whenthe labour officers have bargained for economic benefits(pay hikes), medical insurance, community developmentprogrammes (education of children of labourers,provision of electricity, safe drinking water) to theManagement making profit on the hard work of labourclass. Many social work students undertook social action



during their fieldwork when Delhi Government tried to‘rehabilitate’ the poor people staying in slums to theoutskirts and remote areas, quite far from the places oftheir work. Protests by civil society organizations (socialaction groups, advocacy groups, NGOs, CBOs, etc.)against World Trade Organization, Liberalization policyof the Government and at some places against theSpecial Economic Zones, have been social actioninitiatives under this category.

iii) Direct Physical Model: It is a process where elitestend to punish those responsible for the cause ofinjustice and thus try to bring about benefits to theirclientele. It is quite debatable issue as Britto hasmaintained that under this model, elites take the lawin their hands to penalize the oppressors. Media initiatingsocial action and joining together of students, women’sgroups all across the country for justice for Jussica Lalfollowed by Priyadarshini Mattoo can be included inthis type of model. Rang De Basanti movie also tried toportray this Direct Physical model of social action. Wemay exclude bloodshed and violent means of registeringprotest in any model of social action. Other strategieslike taking out processions, candle light marches, sit-ins, dharnas, may well be taken into account by thesocial activists engaged in this model of social action.

Let us now pay attention to Popular Social Action Model.

Popular Social Action Model

Popular Social Action

In contrast to elitist model of social action, wheneverthe elite incorporate the clientele in the process orwhenever the oppressed groups themselves carry it out,such social action is termed, ‘popular social action’.Stated differently, in popular social action model, a large

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section of people from marginalized section of population,with or without elite participation, carry out the processof social action. In this, when threshold of tolerance ofexploitation is crossed, people come out and rebel againstthe oppressing system and people. It is the feelingagainst injustice, dehumanizing situations that triggeragitation for social action, elites (social actionists/socialactivists) may guide, facilitate, provide adequateinformation, help oppressed group understand skewedsocio-political equations, or may not play any role inthe process. The oppressed and marginalized communityaims its confrontational/conflictive action against theunjust and dehumanizing structures, agencies, policies,procedures or oppressive agents. Popular social actionhas three sub-types — Direct mobilization model,Dialectical model and the Conscientization model.Unifying and unique features of these subtypes havebeen described below.

i) Conscientization Model: It is firmly grounded onPaulo Friere’s concept and ideology of conscientization,i.e., creating awareness among masses througheducation. Paulo Friere developed the concept ofconscientization, which means educating the peopleabout the oppression, oppressed and the oppressor (theirown position in the two groups), their inter-relationship,the power structure and ways to liberate from theoppressed or oppressor class. Friere maintains that thesituation when the oppressed and/or oppressor areconscientized, there exists motivating possibilities forthe true liberation of mankind as well as for the mostefficient domestication of man. He believed thateducation could be a tool for re-education and socialaction. Conscientization process results not merely inlearning of literary skills, but it is intended to assistthe participants to liberate themselves from allstructures, which inhibit the realization of their full



humanity through action-reflection-action. This formof social action involves maximum participation of theconcerned population. People are given opportunity toanalyze and understand the social structures, whichcircumscribe their life. To know is to change; and sothey are invited to transform the structures throughthe means of their choice. As a result of humanization,it is hoped that the oppressed do not become oppressorsin their turn. In the present situation, this model ofsocial action is being extensively used in severalcountries.

Field example: An NGO working in a resettlementcolony in Kolkata has taken up the issue ofdiscriminatory treatment done against the girl child atthe familial, community and society level. The genderprejudices and biases in our patriarchal social structurehave most often given lesser share than due in thedistribution of family resources, be it nutrition,education or other opportunities for development. TheNGO made use of street plays, emotional speeches,debates, documentary films, etc., to conscientize thepeople towards the vulnerability and exploitation offemale children. Issues of female infanticide/foeticide,poor health and malnutrition, school dropouts, lowwages, torture of dowry victims, rape, molestation andso on were taken up. With the usage of conscientizationmodel of social action, the NGO was able to make alittle difference in the negative and indifferent attitudesof general public towards girl child.

ii) Dialectical Mobilization Model: This model of socialaction is based on the dialectical approach of conflicttheory of social change as given by Marxist school ofthought. According to dialectical approach, ‘conflict’ inany system is considered natural in the sense that anysettlement of conflict is temporary and eachreconstructed system carries within itself the seed of

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its own transformation. Thus, ‘conflict’ can be taken asthe engine of social change. So, dialectical mobilizationmodel of popular action helps in promoting conflict toexploit the contradictions in a system, with the beliefthat a better system will emerge as a result. Themeaning of ‘Dialectic’ is the art of logical disputation.When individuals or groups take up extreme positionsand argue, the position of one may be taken as thethesis and that of the other as antithesis. The result oftheir argumentation, a certain conclusion acceptableto both, may be termed synthesis. Thus, the positing ofcontradictory positions and arriving at a betterconclusion is termed dialectics in logic. Actionists whofollow a dialectical process take the conflict in a positivesense as they assume that all forces in nature andhuman institutions, clash and develop. Every institutionand every social force contains in itself the element ofits own disintegration. They expose the contradictionswithin a system, promote conflicts and expect a higher-order-result in the social-economic-political structures.

Field Examples: A group of human rights activists haveorganized ‘Jan Sunwai’ with the aim of raising voiceagainst torture by police on innocent people in Biharwhere the local SHO and higher rank officials of policedepartment, representatives from Nation Human RightsCommission and district magistrate were called andpolice were questioned about the custodial deaths oftwo minors who were in lock up for petty theft and manyother such cases were taken up. Both the parties(perpetrators, here, the police and the victims, familiesof accused) presented their point of view.

An NGO in West Bengal is creating awareness amongthe general public about electoral reforms so that moneyand muscle power should not be the criteria for givingvotes to any candidate. Just a fortnight before Assemblyelections, the NGO organized group discussions with



the aspiring candidates and sitting MLAs in variousconstituencies. The perception of people’s problems andtheir probable solutions were discussed. The generalpublic attended the discussions with NGO peoplemediated the discussions, which often lead of hugearguments and conflicts. Through logical disputation,the general public was made aware of the credibility ofthe candidates and an appeal was made to give theirvote to the deserving candidates and not to get luredaway by any temporary favours offered to them by thesecandidates. Usage of dialectical mobilization model ofsocial action for electoral reform proved quite useful inenabling the people to establish a clean democraticpolitical institution in their respective areas.

iii) Direct Mobilization Model of Popular Social Action:In direct mobilization model, specific issues are takenup by the social actionists and the masses are mobilizedto resort to protests and strikes to achieve the objectives.In this process, the leaders or elites pick up specificgrievances or issues that are affecting the people atlarge. They analyze the causal factors, which are at theroot of the injustice. They formulate the alternativepolicies and procedures and mobilize the masses forprotest activities for the purpose of achieving the setobjectives.

One fine example of this model would be the fishermen’smovement. During post independence period, a largenumber of trawlers and mechanized boats entered inthe fishing sector. This led to massive over fishing tocapture lucrative foreign markets. Their fishing methoddestroyed several species of fish. The imbalance, thuscreated in the eco-system, led to lowering of the stockavailable for traditional fishermen. Mechanization inthe fishing sector had put poor fishermen at the mercyof moneylenders, merchants, exporters andmultinationals. The government was apathetic.

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The fish workers united together and raised their voiceagainst the issue. They developed a well-structuredorganization and started their protest. As the movementstarted spreading from blocks to districts, the leadersformed union to bargain their demands with thegovernment. The movement expanded to the coastalareas of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Goa andMaharashtra and later in other states also. The unionforced the governments to make suitable policies andprogrammes to secure their livelihood and eco-balance.

The above mentioned models (elitist and popular) havebeen described by Britto. He has mentioned a loopholein the elitist social action — the elitist concept of theproblems of the weaker sections and the solutions offeredwould inevitably be determined by their own valuesystem, which may not be in conformity with how theweaker sections themselves perceive their problems andhow they went to solve them. Let us now look at othermodels of Social Action.

Institutional and Non-institutional Models

Apart from the above mentioned models of social action,Singh (1984) has also delineated certain other modelsof social action based on the locus of action and theinitiators. He has described two models — Institutionaland Non-institutional or Social, with sub models. InInstitutional models, social action is initiated either byState or non-government organizations while in non-institutional or social or populist model, common peopleor the disadvantaged sections of the society make thefirst move. It may, however, be noted that the approachestaken in all these models of social action might beoverlapping. Let us study these models in some detail.The Schemata below shows the models of social actionas propounded by Singh. Institutional model has two



sub-types — Institutional (state) and Institutional(social). Institution, here, means any formal organizationwith legal and social entity like State, voluntaryorganizations, etc. Likewise, Non-institutional model toohas sub-types — Social (institutional) and Populist(Movemental). By non-institutional, we mean anyinformal group socially active in the community, say,self-help group, pressure group of women, etc.


Institutional Institutional Social Populist(State) (Social) (Institutional) (Movemental)

Institutional (state) model of social action: It is thesocial action initiated by the state or government. Socialaction by the state generally takes an indirect form,and its aim is to benefit the people with or withouttheir participation. The approach is commonlyparliamentary, representational, bureaucratic andelitist. The action is organized or sponsored within theframework of law, or may be legalized subsequently.For instance, government passing orders forregularization of unauthorized settlements of poor inurban settings and also implementing programmes forcommunity reconstruction, say, proper sewage,availability of safe drinking water, free immunizationand health check-ups. Especially, in the context of India,the State has, through the Constitution, committed itselfto be a ‘welfare-state’ and therefore, is obligatory toprovide all the services needed for the development andwell-being of all sections of the population.

Institutional-social model of social action: In this typeof model social action is initiated by voluntaryorganizations, whether or not getting financial supportfrom the government. In this model, action is initiated

▲ ▲ ▲▲

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either directly or with the support of the people. People’sparticipation may be sought at the beginning or inbetween the process. Stated otherwise, in the beginningthe action may be initiated by leaders of the voluntaryorganization for the disadvantaged section of populationgroup but subsequently it progresses with and throughthem (the marginalized group). The inherent themebehind such type of social action is primarily ‘welfarist’or providing relief and services to the needy. The actionoften takes place within the framework of law. Toexemplify, social action taken up by NGOs, say, fixingthe allocating sweepers by the municipal corporation ofthat area during sanitation drive in the slums or ainitiating a movement to re-admit school drop out girlsand boys in a community.

In the above two models, social action is initiated byformal agency like State or NGO and in the second sub-type (i.e., institutional-social model), people are involvedsubsequent to initiation of social action. The next twomodels – social institutional model and populist modelare initiated and carried out by the marginalized groupsthemselves. Let us see the differential aspects of thesemodels.

Social institutional model of social action: This typeof social action may be organized by the citizens, self-help groups, elites, the deprived and others for theirbenefit but in its progression and development may seeksupport from formal groups and institution(s) which maylike to espouse its causes. It may be direct, participatoryand even radical. Depending upon its success it mayinstitutionalize itself formally or remain in the characterof a spontaneous and sporadic effort with an informedand critically aware social base and power. The natureof such action may be constitutional or extra-constitutional. The social institutional model can bedistinguished from the institutional social model in that



in the latter one action is initiated by the institution,say an NGO, and at some stage people are mobilized toparticipate. On the other hand, in social institutionalmodel people initiate social action and may collaboratewith some institution working for the similar cause.

Field Example: In a middle class residential colony inDelhi, the elderly united themselves to provide bettersecurity services for them like initiating a telephonehelp-line for the elderly people connected to the nearestpolice-chowki, day and night patrolling to the area bypolice, giving space in the community centre for startinga club for the aged to spend their free time togetherwith friends and neighbours. The sitting MLA didn’t paymuch attention to their demands. The elderly peoplemobilized other people too to show their protest. Theyapproached two NGOs working for the care and supportto the elderly for participating in the social action. Thisis an example of social institutional model of socialaction.

Populist/ movemental model of social action: Thefourth model rests entirely on popular social base andpower, rejects dependency and stresses self-reliancethrough collective effort, active participation, andcontinuing education. This is an ideal form of socialaction in the sense that participants join hands togetherout of their own experience, take decisions incollaboration and consensus with each other, and whilethinking, deciding and working together in helpingthemselves strengthen their collaborative attitude,mutual trust, shared dreams and aspirations. This typeof social action is, indeed, an action of the people, forthe people and by the people. This type of action maytake of some of the characteristics of a movement andmay both be constitutional and extra-constitutional. Itmay be routinizing or self-terminating.

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Field example: In a village of Rajasthan, water scarcitywas affecting the life of people badly. Women folk had towalk miles away to fetch some water. In the last summer,more than 500 cattle died in need of water. The villagepeople got united to solve the problem. They approachedthe Area Development Officer (ADO) and talked to theauthorities. The ADO promised to sanction some moneyfor constructing wells and hand-pumps but did not keephis promise even after several follow-ups by the villagers.The village people thought about other alternatives alongwith persuasion for money to the ADO. They decided tobuild check-dams to conserve rain-water. The villagepeople collaborated and cooperated and constructed twocheck dams. Some people approached the districtcollector and requested him to intervene. With persistentpersuasion the authorities also released money forbuilding wells and hand-pumps. Their success storymotivated people of other villages too.

In this type of model, people learn to cooperate andcollaborate with their fellow-beings, and a conduciveatmosphere defined by mutual trust, sharing, toleranceand inter-dependence, learning to accept diverse views,reaching at mutually agreed goals and the like is createdwhich institutionalize people’s participation.

Gandhian Model of Social Action

As you have read in Unit 1 of this block, the history ofsocial action in India is highly influenced by theGandhian ideology and principles of non-violence andconstructive work. In this section, we would be studyingGandhian model of social action in some detail.

Social action of the Gandhian tradition emerges as aclass in itself because of its emphasis on spirituality,purity of means and ends, non-violence as a creed,austerity (limitation of want), and moral re-armament



of people. Constructive thinking, mobilization,organization and action are the essential ingredients.People’s power remains the basis in all types of socialaction of this tradition. This model has following sub-types:

Militant non-violent tradition: With non-violence stillthe base, this tradition or approach calls for politicaland revolutionary character of the social action. It aimsat forceful intervention to bring radical changes in thesocial system. It does not totally rely on peacefulmeasures and mere confinement to constructive workdone at the grass-roots level and rather it believes inre-distribution of power and resources through massmobilization for action. For example, chipko movementemerged out of the protest against rampant deforestationin the Himalayan hills caused by indiscriminatedeforestation for commercial consumption.

Gentle non-violent tradition: The works done by VinobaBhave for satyagraha and village and communityreconstruction are fine examples of gentle non-violentform of Gandhian social action. Bhu-daan (donation ofland) and gram-daan (donation of villages) forreconstruction of the Gandhian socialist communityformed the vital components of this tradition.

Citizenship model of constructive work: This type ofsocial action concentrates mainly on the grass-root levelof social action (citizenship) through education. It restson constructive work and believes that necessarychanges in the social system would happen in due courseof time. It rejects coming in conflict with the authorities,protests and boycotts to achieve the desired objective ofsocial change. It prefers consensus (Lok-sammati),citizenships role (model) and through it visualizes arevolution in thought and method (Bichar kranti andpaddhati kranti).

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Gandhian approach further maintains that thegovernment depends upon the people and not vice-versa.All the exploitation is based on cooperation — willing orforced — of the exploited and therefore there is a needto generate social power, a capacity to control theresources and power through action by groups of people.In all the three traditions of Gandhian social action,people’s base is considered primary. While gentle non-violent and citizenship models concentrate on thesolution of social and economic problems, through peoplebuilding and action, militant non-violent tradition modelalso adds political dimensions to them.

Another model that encompasses all the characteristicsof the above three types of traditions of Gandhian socialaction is Lok-Shakti, details of which are as follows:

Lok-Sakti Model of social action: From Gandhianperspective of social work, this is the classic model ofmass mobilization to bring about the desired change insocial structure. There are two major view-points orapproaches in the tradition of Gandhian Constructivework: One group believes that constructive social workcan gradually bring about the desired change withinthe existing legal and constitutional framework. Itfocuses on educating people and appealing to theconscience of those who possess property and power tosacrifice it. Constructive work, along with awarenessgeneration, undertakes programmes with state supportfor community reconstruction. The other group ofGandhians maintain that the need of radical activismor massive changes in the social institutions arises whenthe state machinery or constitutional means fail todeliver services to the community adequately. As a resultthere is a need for mass action. Their conception ofGandhian socialism aims at eliminating exploitation andpoverty, provision of equal opportunity to all for self-development and full development of the material and



moral resources of the society and their adequateappropriation. They believe that in a socialist society,people are voluntarily prepared to give in their owninterests and wishes to the larger interests of the society.Such a kind of socialism cannot be achieved only throughpolitical action, social action is also needed. Sarvodayais taken as a social movement aimed at individual andsocial action. Emphasis is laid on revolution in thoughtand method, the role of citizen, the need for lok- shakti(people’s power) and lok sammati (people’s consent) forbuilding up sw-raj (self-governance) and su-raj (good-governance).

The concept of lok-shakti is very significant in GandhianConstructive work tradition. Lok-shakti refers to thecollective capacity or power of the people, expressed orlatent, to deliberate, decide and act together. Lok-shakti,in order to be effective, must have the quality of ethicalvirtues and appeal, and it must use non-violent methodsfor social change. The underlying thought behind theconcept of lok shakti is that unless the energies andcapacities of the community people are mobilized, andthey become self-reliant and capable of taking initiativecollectively and voluntarily, their development wouldundoubtedly be slow especially in a democracy. Lok-shakti is the essence of democracy. The state power(rajya-shakti) cannot fulfill its objectives without lok-shakti.

In the Indian context, the sarvodaya movement is oneof the finest examples of social action. The process usedby Sarvodaya workers is quite similar to the process ofsocial action, with following stages:

Parichaya (first introduction): This is a stage ofintroduction to the clientele and their social needs andproblems. In this stage social issues and strategies areintroduced to the masses.

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Adhyayan (survey or study): Information is gatheredfrom the population on the burning issues and its impacton the socio-economic and cultural aspects of life are seen.

Prachar (propaganda): It involves creating awareness atthe mass level. The propaganda is meant for massmobilization for taking action at the integrated level.

Sahavasa (association): Cooperation is sought fromdifferent people and organizations working in the samegeographical field and or on the similar issues.

Seva (service): Welfare and developmental services areoffered to the target population.

Pratikar (resistance): It involves coercive measuresagainst the existing authority, which require change ofpower, structure and/or functioning.

Construction work or community service: Emphasisis on the constructive activities carried out at thecommunity level. This enhances the credibility of themovement.

Building the climate of change: Social environmentis made conducive to positive change.

However, if the emphasis is in rendering of service, thenit becomes more akin to community organization thansocial action. Nonetheless, the concept of lok shakti insarvodaya clearly indicates that the emphasis is onchange. Common methods used in Gandhian socialaction are — parades, vigils, posters, teachings,mourning, protest meetings, etc. All these methods arepeaceful demonstration of discontent anddissatisfaction.

Conclusion

Model of social action is a particular manner ormodality used in the process of social action for



achieving its objectives. Britto gives two models of socialaction as:

Elitist Social Action: The elite carry out social actionexclusively by themselves or with marginal participationof the masses. It has three sub-types. Legislative socialaction model is a process in which elite groups conductstudies on the gravity of the problems, create publicopinion and lobby to try to modify the social policy. Ineconomic sanction model the elites, by gaining controlover some economic, social, political or religious weapontry to obtain benefits for the clientele. Direct physicalmodel is a process where elites take the law in theirown hands and punish those responsible for the causeof injustice and thus try to bring about benefits to theirclientele.

Popular Social Action: A large section of people with orwithout elite participation take confrontational/conflictive action against the injustice. It also has threesub types. Conscientization model is based on PauloFriere’s concept of creating awareness among massesthrough education. Dialectical mobilization model helpsin promoting conflict to exploit the contradictions in asystem, with the belief that a better system will emergeas a result. In direct mobilization model, specific issuesare taken up by the social actionists and the massesare mobilized to resort to protests and strikes to achievethe objectives.

There are some other models of social action as givenby Singh. In institutional (state) model social actioninitiated by the state or government. In institutional-social model social action is initiated by non-governmental institutions which are aided or unaidedby government and later people’s active support issought. In social institutional model social action maybe organized by the people for their benefit and they

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may seek support from formal institutions working insimilar field. Populist/ movemental model is an actionof the people, for the people and by the people. Gandhianmodel of social action has three sub types: Militant non-violent tradition, Gentle non-violent tradition andCitizenship model of constructive work. Lok shakti isthe inherent theme behind Gandhian social action.

References

Britto, G.A.A., (1984): Social Action and Social WorkEducation in the Eighties, in Social Work and SocialAction (ed) H.Y. Siddiqui, Harnam Publications.

Britto, G.A.A., (1984): Some Principles of Social Action,in Social Work and Social Action (ed) H.Y. Siddiqui,Harnam Publications.




Friedlander, W.A. (1977): Introduction to Social Welfare,Prentice Hill, New Delhi.


Nanavati, M.C., (1965): Social Action and TheProfessional Social Work” social work forum, vol.III,no.2, pp.26-29.

Pathak, S.H., (1971): Social Welfare, Health and FamilyPlanning, New Delhi.


14

Strategies and Skills inSocial Action

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

The process of social action involves usage of a widerange of strategies, tactics and skills by the socialactivists/actionists to achieve the desired objectives.These strategies, tactics and skills differ while dealingwith different stakeholders or target audience likeaffected community people, policy makers, bureaucratsand officials, change agents, general public, media andthe like. For instance, in the first stage of analysis ofthe social situation, the social actionist relies on skillsto find answers to key questions like — what are theproblems and key concerns of the marginalized group;existing gaps in the policy layout and implementationof policy objectives; what changes are required at thepolicy and programmatic levels and how these changeswould influence the reference public (marginalizedgroup); types of changes required at legislation,proclamation, regulation, legal decision, institutionalpractice and other forums — specific instruments foranalysis like problem tree, resource (material, humanand financial) analysis, PRA/PLA techniques, SWOC(Strength Weakness Opportunities and Challenges)analysis, etc., become quite handy at this stage.

Likewise for mobilization, carefully and consciously,specific strategies are adopted for coalition building,



strengthening partnerships, reaching consensus/agreement for resource distribution, building networks,communication for motivation, conflict resolution,dealing with internal dissents and other aspects. Thereis a clear connecting thread between one stage to theother and success of each stage subsequently helps informing strategies and tactics at the other stage.

Keeping all partners together with persistence in makingthe cases are both essential, in carrying out socialaction. Effectively used communication strategies, atthis stage, go a long way in defining the success ofsocial action. Developing and maintaining media supportwith personal contacts, press release, press conferencesand dealing with controversy, holding policy makersaccountable for commitments, monitoring public opinionand publicizing positive changes along with time to timepublic acknowledgement of the roles of various coalitionpartners are some of the dynamic features of the stageof ‘Action’. All these areas of operation require specificexpertise and judicious use of strategies. The socialactionist/activist must be skillful enough to get all thesetasks accomplished effectively. Evaluating theintervention and ensuring sustainability of desiredchanges would call for different types of skills andstrategies. In this unit you would be studying aboutthese aspects of social action at length. A word ofcaution— merely reading about skills and strategiesdoes not make a person acquire dexterity in these areas.Practice in the field is a must along with critical andanalytical thinking abilities.

Strategies and Tactics in Social Action

Social action involves collaboration, motivation,negotiation, mediation, persuasion, confrontation andconflict resolution in its process and, in order to showits dissent against the authority, may adhere to sit-ins,

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hunger strike, protest march, boycott, slogan display,and other such strategies and tactics. Strategies andtactics form the core of social action practice. A look atthe meaning of strategies and tactics, which, more oftenthan not, are used interchangeably, may be beneficialto understand the concept better.

The dictionary meaning of strategy is plan/ policy/approach/ stratagem. Likewise, tactic means method/approach/ course/ ploy/ policy/ device/ scheme/ way/trick/ maneuver. It may be noted that, though both termsappear quite similar, ‘strategy’ is a larger termequivalent to form or model of social action while ‘tactic’would cater to specific, pinpointed action. Let us examinevarious strategies and tactics delineated byacademicians and researchers being used in the processof social action.

Strategies and tactics provide dynamism to the processof social action. Therefore, forming a consensus on thestrategies that are possible and available is quite difficultas newer strategies and tactics are being used withchanging times in various stages of social action. Leeshas described following main strategies:

1) Collaboration: In this, the underlying assumptionis that to bring about change in power equation,resorting to conflictive strategies are not alwaysnecessary. The authority may be responsive andbring out necessary changes to provide equitableresource sharing to the marginalized groups too. Inthis, social workers collaborate with the localauthority and other authorities or agencies withthe aim to bring about needed improvements in theexisting social policy. This strategy is based onhomogeneity of values and interests, through whichsubstantive agreement on proposed interventionsis obtainable. In collaborative strategy, the change

Strategies and Skills in Social Action


in the social structure or institution is broughtthrough peaceful means. Such means are education,persuasion, demonstration, and experimentation.

2) Competition or bargaining, negotiation, advocacy:The second set of strategies are based on the premisethat one anticipates some resistance to change, andthe activity of the change agent may have to beaccompanied by tactics which are not exclusivelypersuasive but rather seek to affect change throughpressure. In this strategy, contending parties utilizecommonly accepted campaign tactics to persuade,to negotiate and to bargain, with the willingness toarrive at a working agreement.

3) Disruption or conflict/confrontation: Third setof techniques are based on the premise that in thestruggle between those who are pro status quo andthose who are pro change, resistance is an aspectof the change effort and therefore the dynamic ofconflict is inherent in the social action effort. Thisstrategy signifies a more militant approach and itmay include strikes, boycotts, fasts, tax-refusal, ‘sit-ins’ etc. Lees also includes riots and guerilla warfarethough these may be omitted by many other socialworkers as any use of violence will be unacceptableto values and ethics of professional social work.

Likewise, Lees has suggested nine tactics used by socialactionists/activists in various stages of social action.These tactics generally overlap across various stages inthe process of social action. They are:

1. Research 2. Education

3. Co-operation and 4. Organization

5. Arbitration 6. Negotiation

7. Mild coercion 8. Violation of legal norms

9. Joint action.

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Both the overall strategies and tactics suggested by Leesseem to follow a sequence, which may mean that oneshould begin from a collaboration approach and mayresort to a disruption strategy for the achievement ofthe desired objective if the earlier strategies do notproduce the desired results. The use of strategy or thetactics would also depend on the goals selected and thesocio-cultural milieu.

Richard Bryant has also postulated two sets of strategies:Bargaining and Confrontation. Bargaining includeslobbying, submitting petitions, information and publicitycampaigns, etc. Similarly, confrontation containsstrikes, demonstrations and sit-ins. To this, Singh addsanother strategy — Administrative approach. Hementioned that “most often than not, any struggle oreffort towards drastic or radical change is viewed bythe establishment as a law and order problem andtherefore, an administrative approach or strategy isadopted to deal with the situation”. It includespersuasion, bargaining, pressure, coercion, infiltration,concession, co-option, splitting, etc.

Further, Hornstein lists certain strategies for socialintervention — individual change, techno-structural,data-based, organizational development and culturechange, violence and coercion, and non-violent directaction, accommodation, exposures, living examples,public support, presentation of proposals, competition,lobbying, agitation and subversion. Hornstein hasclassified these strategies or tactics of social action as:

1) Direct action tactics: Picketing, marches,fraternization, haunting, leafleting and renouncinghonours.

2) Non-cooperation: Strikes, boycott, tax-refusal.

3) Intervention: Sit in, reversal strike, obstruction.



Next, in the Gandhian tradition, non-violent protestand persuasion, non-cooperation and non-violentintervention have been included as the three broadcategories of strategies or methods of social action. Infact these three characteristics of Gandhian social actionshares striking similarity with the ethics, values andphilosophy of professional social work. It may be notedthat though social action requires confrontation,negotiation or persuasion, it does not approve of anyviolence, or hostility, cruelty and blood shedding. Itmeans that even the discontent is shown in a peacefulmanner.

Planning Strategies

Planning is one of the most crucial aspects of the processof social action. It is developing a blue print of the actionto be taken. It is often said that good planning is halfthe work accomplished. In social action, at the planningstage, enough information about the causes of theproblem at hand is collected and analyzed. There arecertain newer techniques and strategies being used insocial action, as we observe in other fields wherevermanagement of people and administration ofprogrammes are involved.

The planning process starts with collection of basicbackground information about the problem.Identification of causal and precipitating factors, gravityand extent of the problem, socio-economic and culturalbackground of the marginalized community or sectionof people, their felt, unfelt needs and aspirations arelooked into. Certain strategies becoming handy in thisplanning stage are as follows:

Situational analysis: This strategy gives a clear andcomprehensive view of problematic environment andjustifies social action. Depending upon the problem at

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hand, through research or other objective methods,information is collected about political factors(favourable/ unfavourable national and regional policiesand programmes; political decision-makers anddecision-making mechanisms; relevant local reformpolicies and strategies; and related legislations andregulations), Institutional factors (responsibleadministrative system and their efficacy related tohandling the ‘problem’), economic and financialresources and factors (economic policy and economicreform and their impact on common people in generaland poor in particular; system of micro-credit and loan,etc.), infrastructure and civic amenities (anydifferential, implicit or explicit service delivery systemin civic amenities and infrastructure), social andcultural conditions (social and ethnic groups, linguisticgroups, gender roles, religious and caste system, socialvalues and attitudes and their impact), environmentfactors (natural resources, geographical and climaticconditions and their impact on living conditions ofhabitants). This would give an overview of the situationthat needs to be changed.

Problem Analysis: It is more specific and confinedapproach where not only the root cause of the problemis analyzed but also its multifarious effects. Analysisshould be based on objectively identified facts andapparent reasoning of the problem. For instance, in avillage of Thakurs and dalits, the latter not getting accessto safe drinking water, may be due to political rivalry atthe panchayat level and seemingly obvious reason ofThakurs oppressing dalits may not be the real case. Itis always useful that this analysis should beparticipatory and not merely the academic exerciseundertaken by the agency taking lead or an intellectualexercise by social work professionals. Participatory RuralAppraisals are quite popular as well as effective not



only as important research tools but also helps indeveloping good rapport and mobilizing people as itinvolves affected people in the analysis of their ownproblems.

Resource Analysis: This includes appraising theavailability/non-availability of human, material,financial, technical, social and political resources. Italso involves identifying stakeholders who haveresources which are deficit in the case of marginalizedcommunity and strategic planning of redistribution ofthe same needed for development of disadvantaged groupfor whom social action is initiated.

Stakeholder Analysis: This is a dominant strategy tosharpen the intervention focus and design appropriatestrategies ahead for action. Stakeholder analysisprovides the social actionist/activist with informationabout all the stakeholder groups like target groups,direct beneficiaries and final beneficiaries and whetherthey are favourable or unfavourable. The analysis startswith identifying the various players who are affected bythe problem (mainly the marginalized group) or whoaffect the situation (the oppressor group like state, elite,etc.), might become useful partner (like electronic orprint media) or might become conflict partners orthreats to the intervention (say, administrators or electedrepresentatives at various levels). Categorizing themaccording to levels of favourability or unfavourability(for instance, highly favourable, favourable, uncertain,unfavourable or highly unfavourable) would be the nextstep. Identifying the interest and expectations of variousstakeholders and accessing their strengths and potentialcontributions would be the subsequent step.

SWOC (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity andChallenges) Analysis: This goes hand in hand withstakeholders’ analysis. It gives an insight into the

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intervention designed for achieving goals. The mainactors/leaders/facilitators analyze what are theirstrengths and weaknesses and well as that of theiropponents’, what are the opportunities available to themand what are their challenges or constraints. This isbasically cost benefit analysis after which interventionstrategies are designed.

After understanding the concept and principles of socialaction, let us take a look at the skills needed by socialworkers for social action. These skills are no differentfrom the general skills the social worker possesses byimbibing the ethics and principles of professional socialwork. A social worker using social action, as a methodof social work requires certain skills, main among themare dealt with below in brief.

Planning strategies are quite crucial as they layfoundation for success or failure of the intervention.Chances of successful social action are least, if problemis wrongly identified at the initial stage or real cause isnot looked into or strengths and weaknesses of partnersand opponents are not realized properly. Objectivity,observation, analytical skills, skills to use strategieslike SWOC analysis, stakeholders analysis, skills toanalyze and present qualitative and quantitative data,skills in research, skills to help people identify theirproblems and probable solutions, skills to communicateresults of baseline study for problem analysis to thetarget audience are some of the vital skills needed inthe planning stage. Planning helps in setting realisticobjectives that in turn would help in monitoring andevaluating the intervention. Let us now pay attentionto managerial strategies.

Managerial/Mobilization Strategies

Managerial/mobilization strategies would aim atinfluencing those people who have social, political and



economic power so as to facilitate re-distribution ofresources and power with the aim of improving the lifeof disadvantaged sections of society. It includes —lobbying, public mobilization, mediation, civildisobedience, strikes, dharnas, protests, signaturecampaigns and legislative efforts ways, to mention afew. Mobilization strategies are meant to facilitatemarginalized group raise their voice regarding theoppression and exploitation against them.

Advocacy is considered the key strategy in social action,which in fact, is a combination of various strategiesaimed at bringing about change in social systems andinfluence power and political relations between varioussocial agencies. It is the process of raising the voice onbehalf of the weaker sections of the population who lackpolitical powers and economic resources, whose voicedie out before reaching the top officials and who dependon the mercy of bureaucracy. Success of advocacy isdependent on the strategy, tactics, capability of leadersand workers, knowledge about the problem, relatedlegislations, policies and appropriate use of media.Advocacy is a powerful tool for intervention. Advocacymay be initiated by anybody, and many successfuladvocacy campaigns have been initiated by common butknowledgeable and committed people.

Advocacy begins by providing opportunity to people tounite. In this, various groups and communities can bemotivated to create public opinion through discussions.Through this process concerning issues, their solutionsemerge, and people learn to develop an insight into thesolution of problems that affect them. Many a times,advocacy is done simultaneously at various levels.Therefore knowledge about various systems isimportant. There can be formal as well as informalstructure of a system. Only knowledge about the systemis not enough, strategies and tactics to influence the

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system are also required. One should be able toanticipate how the opposition can counteract youragreement and then what should be your move.

Advocacy may be done at various levels — personallevel (raising issues concerning daily life), family level(gender discrimination, age related issues like childabuse, elderly abuse; not letting a member live life inhis/her own terms; unequal distribution of familyresources, etc.), community level (issues related tocommunity well-being, any section of community notgetting equitable share and discriminated against onaccount of ethnicity, religious, caste bases), area (basicamenities and services like water, sanitation, healthfacilities, school, and other infrastructure not madeavailable by the responsible administrative authorities),state (schemes, programmes, implementing policies,political representation, land rights, etc., are not inconsonance with equality and social justice), nation(influencing policy intervention, human rights, basicrights, interventional conventions, ties and relationsfor the benefit of poor and disadvantaged) andInternational ( issues related to world trade treaties,international loan, Arms deals, illegal trade, globalwarming, etc.)

Decisions taken at one level may influence people atother levels. Therefore, for long term and sustainablechange, advocacy should be done simultaneously atvarious levels. For example, if a nation has taken a lotof international loan, it would be difficult to provideprimary education to all. Therefore, if we are fightingfor the right to education to all, we must also raise theissue of international debt.

Active participation of people in the process of socialaction would build trust and credibility that areimportant for mobilization of people. For mobilization,



disadvantaged sections of society or reference targetsare informed that people are given equal rights indemocracy and it is the duty of the state to protect therights of its citizens. As a responsible citizen, it is ourduty that we too remain alert regarding our rights andrelated issues. It is known to us that in today’s world,violation of rights are not uncommon especially amongthose who are socially, economically and politicallybackward. Merely helping people think about theirproblems in human rights perspective, facilitatesmobilization process. Consistent communication withthe affected group to keep their spirits high for fightingfor their rights would be vital strategy for mobilization.

Mainly three types of advocacy have been identified —Legislative, Bureaucracy and Judiciary advocacy.Legislative advocacy aims to influence the legislativeprocess and recommend new legislations, to amendlegislations or raise voice against proposed and acceptedordinance or record dissent against implementation oflegislations. Legislative processes are held in parliamentor Vidhan Sabha. Policies are passed throughlegislatures, new legislations are made and amendmentsare made to older ones. For this legislative procedureslike question hour (first one hour of the (Parliament)House, lower or upper, is reserved for asking andanswering questions, Zero hour (time period betweenquestion hour and parliament’s next session),adjournment motion, violation of parliamentaryprivilege, call attention notice, Half-an-hour discussion,no confidence motion, petition, etc., may be used foradvocacy purposes. These are some of the procedures,under certain code of conduct and rules and regulationsthat are maintained in parliament and Vidhan Sabha.Knowledge about these procedures and their functioningcan become a powerful advocacy tool for pressure andadvocacy groups.

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Bureaucracy advocacy: At times, rigid bureaucraticstructure, red-tapism causes much hurdle in the processof implementation of pro-poor policies and programmes,which calls for social action against the system. Atpresent, Right to Information Act has become a strongtool to fight against negative aspects of bureaucraticsystem and ensure transparency and accountability.There have been many success stories after the adventof this RTI Act.

Judicial advocacy mainly aims to protect publicinterest, challenge state’s anti-poor policies andprogrammes, enforcing constitutional and legal rightsand bringing forward desired changes in the existinglegations. Public interest litigations are filed, participationas Amicus Curie and knocking doors of Supreme Courtunder Right to Constitutional Remedies are some of themeasures advocacy groups can make use of.

This apart, coalitions and networks are formed whichare groups that come together for a common cause andfulfillment of shared objectives. They are powerful toolsfor furtherance of advocacy objectives. Any advocacycan be successful only if it involves more and morepeople, that is why coalitions and networks aredeveloped. The chances of success of an advocacystrategy become higher if it involves many different typesof groups (religious, social, youth, women, etc.) as thesegroups have their own influence reach and publicacceptance. A coalition becomes very strong if suchgroups come together whose association or comingtogether was considered unexpected. Various groups incoalition possess diverse and multi-dimensionalqualities and capabilities, which is shared when thesegroups come together for a collective reason, makingthe coalition very strong. These coalitions may bepermanent (initially they are temporary but laterbecome permanent, they are structured, have rules,



Board that work under specific well defined regulations,e.g., trade unions, etc.) or temporary (after fulfillmentof objective, it is dissolved), formal (membership isspecific and paid) or informal, geographic, multi-goal,single goal centred.

Media advocacy: It is the most popular strategy in thecontemporary scenario. Usage of media for fulfillmentof objectives of social action is called media advocacy.Radio, Television, newspapers, street plays, stories, theInternet, and such others, may be used for advocacy.Media advocacy is used not only to create pressure onpolicy makers and bureaucratic system but also forcreating public opinion, mobilizing and involvingcommon man for the cause.

It may be noted that perception of the situation by theleaders or decision-makers and their experience countsmuch more in the selection of the strategy. To exemplify,in the backward classes or peasant movements,strategies like withdrawal, self-organization, conversion,combining of caste with class, mobilization, division oflabour, attacking the monopoly of elite groups by thedeprived, use of secular and religious themes,participation in or shunning of elections (democraticpolitical processes), emulation, propaganda, mass-appeal, articulation, of deprivation, sensitization,protest, demonstration, etc. have been used.

Thus, we see that many strategies and tactics are usedby the social workers in the process of social action.Here, it may again be reminded that though social actionmay use strategies such as confrontation and tacticslike boycott, sit-ins, rallies, blockades, marches, tax-refusals and other forms of showing disobedience anddiscontent to the authorities having power andresources, stress is on equitable distribution ofresources and power and social justice through apeaceful process.

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Let us now talk about a different set of strategies thatform the heart of social action. These strategies are‘omnipresent’ in the process of social action and aregrouped as Communication strategies. Thesecommunication strategies are used in seekinginformation, convincing, mobilizing, advocating,motivating, discussing, persuading and negotiating withvarious stakeholders. Success of social action dependson how well the issue is communicated withstakeholders.

Usage of appropriate strategies ensures mobilization ofmarginalized sections of the community. In fact, socialworker makes use of different communication strategiesthroughout the process of social action right from rapportformation, in exploring various dimensions, causes,implications of problem at hand, informing marginalizedcommunity about problem and its alternative solutions,motivating them to raise their voice against injustice,resolve conflicts, encourage people’s participation,negotiate, confront authority, engage in logicaldisputation and withdraw after the objectives of socialaction are achieved.

Communication is defined as a process of sending amessage through a channel to receiver. The process ofcommunication means sharing information, sending andspreading, receiving and giving message. A message canbe verbal or non-verbal or a combination of two. Skillslie in the treatment of the message, which may be usedto motivate and mobilize people or argue with theoppressive system. Social workers who have the nick ofusing appropriate words according to the situation oftenlead the social action to success. For sending the messageacross, many channels like posters and banners, streetplays, even one-to-one or group meetings, radio,television, newspapers, emails and the internet, etc.,can be used.



It is important to take into account the socio-economicbackground, differential linguistic characteristics,perception, cultural milieu, literacy and educationallevels of the stakeholders before conceiving the messageto get the desired results. Adequate selection of channelof communication depends on various parameters likecapacity of medium to reach to the poor, capacity toseek cooperation, capacity to reach to the commonpeople, cost effectiveness and so on. A good message isthe one that is simple, focused on main point, can beeasily remembered and can be repeated. Slogans,rhymes, parody of songs often catch attention of thepeople and explicitly and implicitly help in mobilization.

Skills in Social Action

Look at specific skills needed by social actionist wouldbe beneficial, especially at the planning stage. Thesecan be broadly identified as follows:

Relational skills: Social workers (or social actionistsor social activists) should have skills for building rapportwith individuals and groups and skills for maintainingthese relations. They should be able to develop andmaintain professional relationship with the clients. Thesocial workers should have the ability to identify theleadership qualities among the clientele and should beskillful to harness these qualities for social action. Alongwith this, working harmoniously with the establishedlocal leaders is needed. They should be able to dealwith intra-group and inter-group conflicts effectively.Also ability to diagnose problematic behaviour amongthe clients and providing counseling is needed to developand maintain integration within the community people.The social workers should identify tension-producingsituations and diffuse them before they become serious.Developing and maintaining cordial relations with otheragencies and NGOs working in the same geographical

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area and those working for similar causes is alsorequired.

Analytical and research skills: Social workers, engagedin social action, should have the ability to objectivelystudy the socio-cultural and economic characteristicsof the community. They should be able to find out thepressing problems and needs of the clientele. Theyshould be able to analyze the social problems,contributing factors and its ramifications on the social,economic, political, ideological, cultural, ecologicalaspects of life. They should be able to conduct researchand/or understand the likely impact of research studiesin a functional sense. Added to this, the social workersshould be able to facilitate the community people to speakout their own felt needs and prioritize them. They shouldnever try to impose their own understanding of the socialsituation and problems to the community people.

Intervention skills: After need identification, the socialworkers should have the ability to help the clientelechalk out practical intervention strategies to deal withthe problem. They should provide various options to theclientele and help them in analyzing pros and cons ofeach option for taking up proper steps. Social actionrequires ‘confrontation’ with authorities. The socialworkers must inform the community about theconsequences of taking up hard steps like sit-ins,boycotts, strikes, etc. They should be able to maintainthe desired level of feeling of discontent and emotionalsurcharge to bring about the necessary change,enthusiasm and courage among the community peoplefor a fairly long time so as to minimize the scope offailure of mass mobilization before the set objectivesare achieved. The social workers should be able tomaintain patience and composed behaviour, as theyhave to deal with emotional tranquil of the clientele ina rational way.



Added to this, the social worker should have the abilityto create the environment wherein individuals andgroups can actively participate. The interventions shouldbe developed keeping in mind the pressing need,resources (human and material) and socio-culturalmilieu of the community. They should be able toimprovise situations for targeted interventions.

Managerial skills: The social workers also need theknowledge and ability to handle organization, which maybe the outcome of the institutionalization of people’sparticipation. They should be able to coordinate andcollaborate with various groups and local leaders so asto unite the clientele for the required intervention. Theyshould be skillful to make policies and programmes,programme planning, coordinating, recording, budgetingand elementary accounting and maintenance of variousrecords. They should be able to mobilize internal/external resources in terms of money, men, materials,equipment, etc. The social workers also require the skillsof supervising human and material resources and theireffective utilization for the welfare and development ofthe targeted community.

Communication skills: These skills are highly crucialfor social action. The social worker should have theability to develop effective public relations with localorganizations and leaders. They should be able toeffectively communicate verbally (including publicspeaking) and in writing as well. The social workersshould be able to deliver or identify adequate people todeliver powerful speeches. They should be able to deviseprogramme media for effectively communicating withthe target audiences. The social worker should be ableto evaluate and use folk and mass media suited todiverse groups. These skills are used for developingslogans and motivational songs, speeches and IECmaterials for mass mobilization. The social workers

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should have skills to educate, facilitate, negotiate andpersuade for necessary actions at needed places.

Training skills: The social workers should be able totrain local leaders and identified leaders for taking upthe charge of mass mobilization and confrontation withthe authorities. They should be able to train selectedpeople at the local level aimed at imparting knowledgeabout the social issue taken up for action and themodalities of carrying out the intervention includingthe ‘confrontation process’. These people should betrained for creating public opinion for or against thesocial issue taken up and identify and involve people insocial action. They should also be trained to utilize socialaction strategies and tactics (confrontation, persuasion,negotiation, boycott, etc.) without the use of violence.

Conclusion

In this chapter, you have studied various strategies andtactics that are used in the social action. In thebackground of various stages through the process ofsocial action, strategies and tactics have been described.In the planning stage, strategies like stakeholderanalysis, SWOC analysis, resource analysis and problemanalysis have been described at length. For mobilizationand management of social action process, various typesof advocacy strategies like legislative advocacy, judicialadvocacy, bureaucratic advocacy, network and coalition,media advocacy have been delineated. Importance ofcommunication and communication strategies atvarious stages of social action have also been dealt with.In the end, skills needed for successful social actionhave been given in detail.



References





Lees, R., (1972): Politics and Social Work, Routledge andKeegan Paul, London.




15

Social Action:A Method of Social Work

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

Social Action as a method of social work profession hasattracted much of debate and discussion. The reasonfor this may be attributed to the origin of social workconcept and practice as charity and religious and moralobligation. Social workers are, more often than not,expected to take a softer approach and provideameliorative and welfaristic measures to the down-trodden and marginalized. Paradoxically, emergence ofsocial work in India can be traced back to struggle forequality and social justice (i.e., social action) while inthe western world, case work and group work were moreprominent. In the western countries, mental healthmovements gained momentum and case work and groupwork as methods of social work practice became morepopular. In India, burning issues have been patheticcondition of peasants, sub-human treatment of peoplebelonging to lower caste, marginalization of women,illiteracy, poverty, denial of access to developmentalopportunities to certain sections of population etc.Merely providing relief work to downtrodden andmarginalized sections of the society could not haveameliorated such conditions, and only structuraladjustments and re-distribution of power and resourceswould have made an impact into the situation.



Social action has a great historical relevance. At thesame time, in the present context too, its significancecan in no way be undermined. India is still facingimmense challenges in terms of poverty, illiteracy,ignorance, child labour, trafficking of women andchildren and the like. These problems demand advocacyand social action. Rampant corruption and red-tapismoften pose hurdles in reaching the benefits at thegrassroots.

After independence, the Constitution of India endowedthe responsibility to uplift the downtrodden andmarginalized to the ‘welfare-state’. In the beginning,government initiated many programmes for the poor butthese programmes did not make any change in thesituation as ‘no structural changes’ were done. Planningwas done by the top officials who ‘assumed the problemsof the poor’, which, more often than not, did not proveright. Poor themselves were mere passive recipients ofbenefits.

With empowerment perspective, social action hasbecome all the more relevant as a method of social workpractice. In this chapter, we would be learning aboutthe ethical and value base of social action and theprinciples employed by social workers practicing socialaction. Let us first understand why social action is andshould be considered a method of social work in theprofessional arena.

Social Action: A Method of Social Work

It may be noted that every profession has a tested bodyof knowledge, which includes principles, techniques,methods, procedures, tools and terminology and theoriesof its own. This is applicable for social work professiontoo. Though social work is interdisciplinary in natureborrowing a lot of concepts from psychology, sociology,

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anthropology, and other social sciences, there are certaincore concepts, theories and principles that are exclusiveto social work profession. In this, methods of workingwith people (case work, group work, communityorganization, social action, social welfare administrationand social work research) and related values, ethicsand principles are involved. These methods are theapproaches and techniques of enabling the people toimprove their life-conditions and enhance their socialfunctioning.

Why is social action considered a method of professionalsocial work? A method of professional social work is anapproach based on the philosophy of social work, withvalue base, having an established process with easilyrecognizable stages, principles, theoretical framework,guidelines and well recognized skills, techniques andstrategies. Siddiqui (1984) has maintained that socialaction, as a method of professional social work practice,is an organized effort to change or improve social andeconomic institutions through organization andmobilization of the community people. Unlike othersocial work methods, social action emphasizes onessential changes in established social institutions,which are long term. In a broader sense, social actioncovers movements of social, religious and politicalreform, social legislation, racial and social justice,human rights, freedom and civic liberty. When seen inthe context of empowerment and human rights, socialaction is the most apt method that helps a large sectionof the population to benefit from its efforts. It is directedfor long-term changes, finding and ameliorating the rootcause of problems affecting the masses and hence tendto ensure sustainability.

Further, like any other method of social work, socialaction, too, follows a process with recognizable andsystematic stages. Initially, critical analysis with



scientific methods of research, minimizing the biases,are undertaken to find out the real cause(s) of theproblem at hand along with enlisting contingent andprecipitating factors. In this regard, new scientificstrategies like problem analysis, stakeholder analysis,SWOC analysis and the like are taken up, details ofwhich would be delineated in the next unit. This isfollowed by communicating the causes of problem athand to the community people, which requires carefuldesigning of message, channels of communicationkeeping in mind the socio-cultural background of thepeople (receivers) with the aim to ensure collectiveand collaborative action to solve the problem. Thirdstage is of organizing people for coordinated anddirected intervention and designing appropriatestrategies and techniques for action to achieve the goalsand lastly, take the action. Social work professionals oractionists are well-equipped with knowledge and skills,process, strategies, theoretical base required in differentstages.

Despite the fact that social action is likely to come inconflict with existing social institutions, systems andstructure, it still has a strong adherence to values,ethics and philosophy of social work profession. Believingin the worth and dignity of every human being, it stronglyidealizes with democracy and social justice. It does notblame people for the deficiencies or problems that theyare encountering. It strongly believes that human beingshave capabilities to solve the problems that affect them.Social action rejects the doctrine of laissez faire andsurvival of the fittest and maintains that the unfit personhas the same fundamental rights as does the more fitor the rich or the powerful. People’s participation intheir own development is an important assumption insocial action. Details of values, ethics and principleswould be given in the next sections of this unit.

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Social action has well-defined sets of goals andobjectives. Prime aim of social action is redistributionof resources and power to provide social justice to allsections of the population. Its objective is the propershaping and development of socio-cultural environmentin which a richer and fuller life may be possible for allthe citizens. Social action intends for real solutions ofthe mass problems. For instance, from social actionperspective, poverty is taken as not merely lack of incomebut the denial of availability of opportunities for growthand development, of leading a meaningful quality life —a derivative of human right to life and liberty. In thatcontext, casework, group work would become irrelevantto achieve the goal of giving decent standards of life tomasses living below poverty line. Social action wouldcall for participation of affected citizens (say, poor people)in the planning and execution of intervention for theirown upliftment and bringing about necessary changesin the social institutions aimed at more equitableresource distribution and share in decision-makingprocess.

The uniqueness of social action, as a method, lies inthe fact that it is likely to employ certain strategies andtactics like competition, disruption, strikes, boycotts,fasts, tax-refusal, sit-ins, picketing, marches,fraternization, haunting, leafleting, reversal strike,obstruction, renouncing honours, etc. to attain its goals,which makes it different from other social work methods.Here, it may be stressed that violence and blood-shedding are not at all included in strategies used toconfront the authorities, rather peaceful protests andnon-violent ways to record dissent form the key threadof social action.

Social action is a method of social work, which is, usedfor/with/by unprivileged sections of the society. It isan organized effort to change or improve social and



economic institutions, as distinguished from othermethods of social work, which do not characteristicallycover essential changes in established institutionsthrough confrontation with the authorities. It may bedescribed as organized group effort to solve massproblems or to further socially desirable objectives byattempting to influence or change basic social andeconomic conditions or practices. It aims to bring aboutnecessary changes in the social legislations and policyinitiatives for mass betterment. Thus, social action, asa method of social work profession, is a powerful tool ofbringing about positive changes in the social system forthe betterment of large sections of deprived population.

Values Aand Ethics of Social Action

Though social action comes in conflict with the existingsocial institutions, systems and even social structure,deals with power equation in the political arena, itstrongly roots itself to the ideology, values and ethics ofsocial work profession. It commits itself to the causeand has complete faith in democratic processes anddignity and worth of human beings.

The prime goal of social worker is to reduce sufferingand enhance social functioning. As stated earlier, socialaction does not believe in social Darwinism or survivalof the fittest. You may recall that overall goal of socialwork profession is to facilitate increase in socialfunctioning by solving conflicting issues, enhancing thecapacity of the clients to resolve their problemsthemselves and establish an egalitarian social system.Establishing an egalitarian system is also the goal ofsocial action. In fact, social action as a method of socialwork is used where inequality in terms of resourcedistribution is seen in the social system that puts asection of population to marginalization. For instance,

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country is recording high economic growth but at thesame time nearly a half of the population is living belowpoverty line or in poor economic condition. This meansthat resources and opportunities for development arein the hands of a few and there is hardly anyrepresentation from weaker sections of the populationin the decision-making process. In this context, socialaction is aimed at influencing and modifying policiesand social legislations so that people from all sectionsof the society are represented in the decision-makingprocess regarding distribution of resources. Enactmentof 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments that providedone-third reservation to women and proportionatereservation (as per the configuration in generalpopulation) to the Scheduled Castes and ScheduledTribes is one such effort directed to provide equitableshare in decision-making process.

Values of social work profession are described asequality, social justice, equity, liberty and dignity ofhuman beings, social action also indeed rests on thesevalues. It addresses inequality that leads tovulnerability, marginalization, destitution, oppressionand exploitation. Ensuring human rights in everyindividual is the basic goal of social action as well associal work (Empowerment perspective). A look at HumanRights as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(1948) would be quite beneficial in understanding thevalue and ideological base of social work in general andsocial action in particular as these Rights form thebackbone of social action and provide conceptualframework for intervention. These include:

● Right to freedom and inequality (no discriminationon the basis of caste, class, race, etc.)

● Right to Live (life, liberty, security)

● Right to Health



● Right to live without being subject to torture

● Right to Marry and Found a family

● Right to Education

● Right to Cultural Practices

● Right to Religion

● Equality and Protection of Law

● Right to Vote, Citizenship

● Right to Expression

● Right to Property

● Right to Work

You would see a link between Human Rights and valueson which social action rests. This also derives the tasksof social worker who aims to protect and ensure humanrights to all individuals — any violation of the abovementioned Human Rights calls for the intervention ofsocial actionists. So, gender discrimination,stigmatization and oppression based on caste, class,exploitations with people belonging to specific regions,religion, etc., demand advocacy and social action.

Social action believes in the inherent worth, dignityand integrity of individuals. It has strong conviction indemocratic functioning and equal opportunities for all.Social action is based on the assumption that it is theduty of the state to ensure distributive justice and fairlyequitable social change. The state should be accountableand transparent for protection of human rights ofcommon man. The social change, in real sense, isinitiated from the grassroots and policies are just themedium of that social change. People and civil societyshould be united to raise their concerns againstviolations of human rights. It is the duty of the state toensure human rights of each and every citizen. Generalpublic is not the receptive beneficiary of state’s dolesand obligations.

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Social justice and Human rights form the moral fiber ofsocial action. It commits itself to protect the rights ofmarginalized sections of the society. Fully believing indemocratic values and inherent dignity and rights ofeach and every individual, it envisages preparingdowntrodden to raise voices for their own self. Socialaction has a vision of creating a just society where allthe people get equal opportunity for optimum growthand development. Social Action believes in creating asocial environment where common man’s political,economic, social and cultural rights are realized. Socialaction believes in promotion of democracy andempowerment of civil society.

Let us now pay attention to ethics of social workers/social actionists. First, they should have complete trustand faith in basic human dignity (social action isinitiated where a particular group/community is deniedof rights and opportunity of dignified life and entire focusis on restoring/providing/ensuring/protecting dignityand rights to disadvantaged people). Second, socialworkers/activists have responsibility towards clientsand community (this binds the social workers with amoral/ethical obligation to work for the cause ofdowntrodden; social workers, ethically, cannot close eyesfrom any form of exploitation, deprivation,marginalization of masses). Third, ethical considerationis social workers’ responsibility towards employingagency (though social workers are expected to adhereto the aims and objectives of the employing agency, this,sometimes, may put them into dilemma if the agencyopts to keep away from raising the voice against injusticedone to downtrodden). Fourth and last, the responsibilitytowards profession of social work (the social worker ismorally and ethically indebted to abide by the valuesand ideologies of social work profession).



From the above discussion, let us derive the goalsand objectives of social work professionals engaged insocial action. Objectives of social action can bedescribed as —

● To introduce structural changes for equitableredistribution of resources available in society,

● To promote the realization of potentials of the targetpopulation,

● To eradicate social evils as against human dignity,

● Curb abuse and exploitation,

● Conserve physical, social mental and moral health,and

● Strengthen the existing social institutions conducivefor promoting people’s well being.

Principles of Social Action

The efforts of desired social change and political actionare important ingredients of social action. Social actiondeals with power equations and decision-making processthat results in skewed or equitable resource distribution.Though social action has a wide canvas and may includeentire gamut of activities from relief, charity and welfareto reform, the term has a clear socio-politicalconnotation. This feature of social action has been wellarticulated by Sharma (1991) as “Social action is aconscious collective action against exploitation andoppression at a local level. It is at once critical andconstructive. It is critical in that it offers a critique ofthe structures of exploitation and oppression, their micromechanisms and operative forms in a local situation. Itis constructive in that it involves positive strategies ofalternate development for the poor and the deprived. Itis social in the sense that it is a joint action as also inthat it is aimed at transforming the situations of the

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underprivileged…” (1991:2). After understanding thevalues and ethics of social action, let us pay attentionto the principles that act as guidelines in the process ofsocial action. These principles are given by Britto (1984)and are well grounded to Gandhian ideology of socialaction. Following principles of social action have beendelineated:

The Principle of Credibility Building: Buildingcredibility is most important factor for mobilizing peopleand initiating social action. It is a very crucial task ofcreating positive public image regarding the leadership,ability to stand firm for the cause, reliability of worker’sefforts and the organization. People should have trustand confidence in the participants of the movement aschampions of justice, rectitude and truth. It helps insecuring due recognition not only from the primarystakeholders or disadvantaged people (the referencepublic) for/with whom social action is initiated but alsofrom opponents and the peripheral participants of themovement.

Credibility can be built through one or many of thefollowing ways:

1) Gestures of goodwill towards the opponent: Forinstance, when Gandhiji was in England, World WarI broke out. He recruited students for service in aBritish Ambulance Corps on the Western Front.These gestures of goodwill towards the opponentsbuilt up the image of Gandhiji as a truehumanitarian personality. His philosophy of non-violence facilitated the credibility-building processamong his opponents, the British.

2) Example setting: Example setting is important toshow to reference public as well as all thestakeholders that conviction and commitment,values and ethics for which you are raising voice



are not utopian and can be practiced in real life. Itensures credibility of your message and action.Gandhiji’s entire life was the reflection of what hepreached — non-violence, tolerance and insistenceon truth. There was no difference in practice andpraxis. This has set the example that a life of non-violence, truth can be lived successfully. Similarly,Dr. Rajendra Singh, the Magsaysay award winnerof 2001, had set examples of water conservation inmany villages of Rajasthan, by making check-dams,through mobilization of village resources (manpower,cash and kind) before starting water-conservationmovement on a much larger scale.

3) Selection of typical, urgently felt problems forstruggles: The leader/social actionist gainscredibility if s/he focuses on the felt-needs of thepeople. Scarcity of water has remained one of thepressing problems for the people of Rajasthan. WhenDr. R. Singh initiated his intervention on this issue,his credibility was automatically established. Youcan very well imagine if Dr. Singh would have takenany other problem like women exploitation orilliteracy, then generating the felt need for thesewould have taken ample time slowing down theprocess of credibility building.

4) Success: Successful interventions help in settingup credibility of the leader as well as the philosophyhe/she is preaching. Seeing the successful work ofDr. R. Singh in certain villages of Rajasthan, Stategovernment also came forward to extend its support.Local leaders from various other villages and NGOprofessionals also approached him for help.

Principle of Legitimization: Legitimization is theprocess of convincing the target group and the generalpublic that the movement-objectives are morally and

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ethically right. If leaders present the cause they arefighting for as a moral imperative, it legitimizes themovement or social action initiative. Social actionistsmay give justification with theological, philosophical,legal-technical base to legitimize the goal of social action.The example of theological and religious approach tolegitimization is reflected when Gandhiji, during freedommovement, appealed to serve dharma by revolting againstinjustice of British. Moral approach to legitimizationwould be when you, as social actionist, try to create apublic opinion that a particular behaviour is morallyright or wrong. For instance, people in the CampaignAgainst Child Labour, have through peaceful rallies,persuasive speeches, media usage, have made effortsin creating an environment in the country whereemploying children in any occupation is consideredmorally wrong. There was an appeal made to public forawakening their moral conscience, to make sure thatall children below the age of 14 years go to school insteadof earning a livelihood. Thirdly, Legal-technicalapproach to legitimization is seen when Ms Aruna Royand later on Mr. Arvind Kejriwal initiated campaign forRight to Information that resulted in RTI Act of 2005.This was based on the argument that it is ourfundamental right to get the information on matters,affecting us and transparency and accountability arepillars of efficient democratic functioning.

It may be noted that legitimization is a continuousprocess. Before launching the programme, the leadersjustify their action. Subsequently, as the conflictexhilarates to higher stages and as the leader adds newdimension to their programme, further justification isadded and fresh arguments are put forth. Suchjustification is not done by leaders alone, but followersalso contribute to the legitimization process in the courseof their participation.



Principle of Dramatization: Principle of Dramatizationis directed for mass mobilization by which the leadersof a movement galvanize the population into action byemotional appeals to heroism, sensational news-management, novel procedures, pungent slogans andsuch other techniques. Almost every leader mobilizingthe masses, uses this principle of dramatization.Gandhiji, Vinoba Bhave, Subhash Chandra Bose, BalGangadhar Tilak, and other leaders resorted to thisprinciple.

1) Use of songs: Catchy songs, which put forth thecause of a movement, create a dramatic effect. In avillage of West Bengal, child-activists have madeparody songs and rhymes giving messages on girlchild education, on keeping houses andsurroundings clean, anti-alcoholism and the like,which they would collectively sing. Also, duringfreedom struggle, at Bardoli, local talent was tappedto compose songs to stimulate the enthusiasm ofthe people. Several choirs were trained and theytraveled from village to village in a bullock cart tosing satyagrahic hymns at numerous meetings.

2) Slogans: do boond zindagi ki (for pulse poliocampaign) ho HIV avastha ka gyan toh bani rahemuskan (for HIV testing), sab padhen sab badhen(for Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan), etc., are some of theslogans used to give dramatic effect to various socialmovements. In the next unit, concept and strategiesof social marketing would be described, that arenewer strategies and approaches to draftappropriate messages and chose relevant channelsof communication.

3) Powerful speeches: This is also a crucial way ofmotivating the masses and creating dramatic-effect.Gandhiji’s appeal to sacrifice and martyrdom was

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thrilling and it had a special appeal for the youthto work for the cause.

4) Role of women: Making prominent women leadmarchers was a technique, which gave a dramaticeffect to the movement. At Rajkot, Kasturba Gandhiherself inaugurated the civil disobedience movementby courting arrest first.

5) Boycott: Boycott is a dramatic way of influencingpublic opinion both when the effort is successfuland when it is crushed. It means excluding aparticular group from enjoying the privilege of socialinteraction, status and social prestige. Picketing and‘hartals’– voluntary closure of shops and otherorganizations, were used by Gandhiji to dramatizethe issue.

Principle of Multiple Strategies: Also known as basketprinciple, this indicates the adoption of a multiplestrategy, using combined approaches and also acombination of different types of programmes. So,conflictual and non-conflictual approaches can besimultaneously used. Based on the main thrust ofprogrammes, they can be classified as political, economicor social. Zeltman and Duncan have identified fourdevelopment strategies from their experience ofcommunity development, which are:

1) Educational strategy: As one of the basicrequirements of social action, this strategy is usedto educate/inform the prospective participantsabout various relevant dimensions of the issue(s)at hand at the individual, group and mass level.People or target groups are given information aboutthe issue, awareness is created and people aremotivated, persuaded to participate in the action/movement. During campaign for Right toInformation, NGOs, civil society organizations,



teachers, students at university level, media andothers were educated about the required details whoin turn created awareness in their respective areasthrough educational strategy. Education bydemonstration is an important aspect of thisprinciple. Demonstration has proved its impact onthe knowledge retention of the target population.

2) Persuasive strategy: Persuasive strategy is theadoption of a set of actions/procedures to bringabout change by reasoning, urging and inducingothers to accept a viewpoint. Students of social work,in their field work at one of the resettlement coloniesof Delhi used this strategy with the opinion leaders,officials at Municipal Corporation of Delhi at variouslevels, to ensure that the designated sweepers collectgarbage regularly and cleanliness is maintained inthe community. In fact in every rally, protestdemonstrations focus is laid on winning newconverts by oratory and gentle presentation ofarguments.

3) Facilitative strategy: This refers to a set ofprocedures and activities to facilitate theparticipation of all sections of society in the massmovement. The programme Gandhians devised wasoften so simple and devoid of any risk that evenilliterate children could do them and participate inthe National Liberation Movement. In salt-satyagraha, Gandhiji did not go to the technicalitiesof salt making. He simply asked the followers tomake consumable salt by boiling the sea-water. Itssimplicity did facilitate greater participation.

4) Power strategy: It involves the use of coercion toobtain the objectives of social action. The forms ofcoercion may vary ranging from social exclusion orostracism, denial of opportunity to smoothfunctioning to defaming, protests, moral pressure

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by hunger strike and sit-ins. Medha Paketar’shunger strike unto death during Narmada BachaoAndolan was one of the techniques of power strategy.Media’s role in defaming top-shot personalities andpolice during Campaign: Justice for Jussica (JussicaLal Murder Case) is another example of usage ofthis power strategy. In a village of West Bangal,Gauri, a nine years old girl, locked her father inthe room despite repeated requests and persuasionshe would not give up alcohol. After two days, whenshe opened the door, her friends, the child activists,sang songs on devastating effects of alcoholism. Herfather knew that he should give in as social situationhas changed along with power equation in hisfamily.

Principle of Dual Approach: In social action, it isimportant for activist to develop counter-systems orrevive some moribund system, meeting some of the feltneeds of the reference group. Since, in social action,there is an attempt to destroy the established/maintained system, it is important that simultaneouslyconstructive systems may be developed. Gandhianconstructive work programme performed such afunction, in a small measure, together with conflictualprogrammes of satyagrahis. This cooperative effortindicates that Gandhians adopted or attempted a dualapproach in their mobilization. In villages of West Bengal,child activists, through their bal vahinis, balika vahinis,initiated social action against a number of social evilspresent in their community like alcoholism, denial ofright to education of girl child, corruption, apatheticattitude of panchayat to carry out any developmentalwork in the village, to mention a few. Simultaneously,they built approach road for their village through shrumdaan where small and elder children collectively, inscorching sun built the road brick by brick, showing to



their elders that dependence on others (includinggovernment) for their own development is not at allrequired.

Principle of Manifold Programmes : It denotesdeveloping a variety of programmes with the ultimateobjective of mass mobilization. These can be broadlycategorized into three parts: Social, Economic andPolitical programme. Dr. Rajendra Singh has taken upthe issue of water conservation as a composite ofManifold Programmes. His conservation helped thevillagers, particularly women, who had to go miles tofetch water. It helped in better development of crops,better animal husbandry, implying the economicbenefits. During the movement, there were direct andindirect conflict resolutions with the local leaders,panchayat bodies and state government.

Relation with other Methods of SocialWork

Social Action being one of the methods of social workpractice shares striking similarities with other methods.Added to this, it does utilize other social work methodsin the process of attaining its goal of communityempowerment. In fact, we observe that social workers/activists, in the process of social action, make use ofother methods of social work so much so that at timessocial action is considered the amalgamation of differentmethods of social work. This section is intended toincrease your understanding of the relation of othermethods of social work with that of social action. Let usfirst pay attention to social casework.

It may be reiterated that social casework is a method ofsocial work to help individuals to cope more effectivelywith their social problems. There is a stronginterdependence between the society and issues

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influencing individuals, so is the micro-macro relationbetween social matters. Ecological approach looks atproblems or issues at hand as dysfunctional interactionbetween family or individual in the family and the socialsystem like neighbourhood, workplace, legal system,education system in the society. Social activists maycome across a social problem affecting a client duringcasework process and may realize that the most aptway of intervention would be social action. Psycho-socialproblem, say, acute anxiety or depression, identifiedduring casework, may have links with communal riotsin the community followed by insensitive measures ofrehabilitation adopted by the state. Similarly, caseworkwith an unemployed rural man, where National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act is functional, maydrive caseworker to take up social action to resolve theproblem. Also, the client may be having the same socialproblem, which the social worker is addressing, at themacro level through social action. In such a situation,caseworker needs to build confidence and faith amongthe client and prepare him/her to be a part of socialaction process.

Further, during initial process of credibility building inthe community, the social worker may take up caseworkin dealing with those members of the clientele group ormay use this method later on if some opinion leader/leader/core member is showing deviant behaviouradversely affecting the process of social action. Addedto this, the skills a social worker uses for socialinvestigation and diagnosis during casework process,learning human behaviour, psycho-social problems,using case-worker-client relationship for buildingconfidence and courage in the client for solving his/herproblems becomes quite handy in the process of socialaction when the social worker has to deal with not onlyone individual but many types of personalities



simultaneously and keep them integrated for the targetedsocial goals.

Let us study relation between social action and socialgroup work, which is a method through which theindividuals develop the ability of establishingconstructive relationships with each other through groupactivities. Group experiences are the essential needs ofhuman beings. Social group work helps build in theprocess of social action. Group members learnorganization, cooperation, coordination, interdependenceand democratic values and working together for specificgoals, through participation in activities of group process.Further, group work process provides a learning groundto take criticisms positively, respecting each other’sviews, emotional control and tolerance, empathy andsympathy, shedding away prejudices and biases therebyenhancing capacity of problem solving. It teachesmembers to keep their personal likes-dislikes,aspirations, perceptions, ego-hassles aside and worktowards the goals planned by the group as a whole.Such a learning opportunity prepares the individualsfor a social change and chances of failure of a movementdue to internal conflicts are substantially minimized.Social group work also explores leadership qualitiesamong its members. These leaders, in turn, take up theresponsibility of mass mobilization and targetedactivities in social action process. All this learningbecomes handy in social action process when communityis mobilized for a social cause.

Added to this, social group work also helps the socialworker to refine his/her skills of dealing with differentpersonalities to work for common goals, resolving intra-group conflicts and personality clashes. These skillsand experiences become handy while dealing withconflicting situations between different groups duringthe process of social action. The group worker makes

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use of programme media in social group work. Itcontributes to programme planning and managementin a better way while dealing with many groups duringsocial action process. Experiences of social group workwith one group help a lot in managing many groupswhen the whole community is mobilized for a commonsocial cause.

In the same way, social action shares many similaritieswith community organization. In fact, many socialworkers consider social action a model of communityorganization itself. The debate has connecting threadsin differential usage of term — community — to some itis merely a geographical one, to others, it may havefunctional connotation. Community organization is anintegral part of social action. It is the precursor or pre-requirement to social action. In fact, many of the socialwork professionals consider social action as an extensionof community organization. This implies that organizingcommunity is backbone of social action. This makesmany strategies and techniques in common especiallythose related to mass mobilization.

Thus, we observe that ‘organizing people or communityor target population’ is the common thread betweencommunity organization and social action. In both themethods of social work, people are helped to realize theirneeds or problems and in finding out the solutions totheir felt needs. People organize themselves, collaborateand cooperate and work together for a commonlyaccepted goal. An environment is created in which thecommunity people feel confidence and gain faith thattogether they would be able to solve their pressingproblems or meet their needs.

So, we see that social action is community organizationwith the aim of bringing about or preventing long lastingsocial problems where confrontation with the existing



authority is involved. When merely mobilizing thecommunity to work together by identifying requiredresources, the development is not sufficient for achievingthe set goals, as resources or power to use resourcesare in the hands of a few people. Social action comesinto play when people’s participation is the key termcommon in both the methods of social work.

A brief look at social welfare administration as a methodof social work would now be essential. It is the processby which professional competence is applied fortransforming social policy into social action. Ingredientsof administration are planning, implementing, direction,monitoring, organization, coordination and evaluation.It is the process of service delivery meant for welfareand development of weaker and marginalized sectionsof population. If the agency is working for abolition ofchild labour system and rehabilitation of workingchildren, then social worker has to opt for social actionto achieve this organizational goal. Similarly, socialproblems like female foeticide, exploitation and abuseof women, alcoholism and drug addiction, poverty,require adequate change at the policy level along withcomplimentary social legislations and supportiveprogrammes, which, at times, may require advocacy atvarious levels — micro, meso and macro, if we intend tohave long term sustainable impact of our intervention,which is undoubtedly social action.

Skills learnt as an administrator also becomes handyin social action. Adequate conscious planning is almosthalf the battle won. Nowadays, newer techniques likestakeholders’ analysis, problem analysis, SWOCanalysis, creative search of options and such othersare used for social action too. Managerial skills are amust — the ability to place right person for the rightjob, conflict management, effective use of authority andpower, training and dealing with burnouts — are a few

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skills of administrator/manager that go a long way inensuring success of social action. Social action requireswhole gamut of activities like identification and adequaterepresentation of problem at hand, maintainingmotivation, delegating responsibilities and takingfeedback, dealing with deviants and opponents,management of diverse personalities in the process ofmass mobilization, framing adequate workable strategiesat various stages that require communication withvarious stakeholders, handling human, financial andmaterial resources and many more — managerial/administrative skills go a long way in realizing the goalsof social action.

Next, social work research is the systematic study ofsocial problems, and its objective is to produce knowledgethat can be used in planning and carrying out socialwork programmes including social action. Social workresearch is a very powerful tool in social action. It helpsin ‘knowing’ the social problem, its intensity andextensiveness, its causal factors, its impact on the targetpopulation and its repercussions on social life of thepeople. It also gives understanding of the factual groundrealities (and not mere perceptions) of the socialsituations, which in turn helps in conceptualizing thepros and cons of various possible social interventions.So, a systematic study of a social problem, and lookingfor remedies through social work intervention, is a mustfor the attainment of goals through social action.

Social planning and social action would be ineffectivewithout proper research. Social work research enablessocial workers to satisfactorily assess the needs of thecommunity and make their interventions andprogrammes very effective, useful and worthwhile. Thesocial worker shares the findings of social work researchwith the community people through groups and thenwith people’s participation, careful and meticulous



interventions are chalked out for social action. It helpsthe social worker to observe and record the relationshipof individuals and groups in actual operating situations.Through social work research, the social worker or socialactivist gets the right perspective or picture of the socialproblem, which is so very essential for the success ofsocial action in attaining its goal.

Nowadays, social workers/activists are increasinglymaking use of integrated approach to social work, detailsof which are discussed in this unit of this block.

Relation with Social Movement

Indian history has a rich heritage of inspiring socialmovements. It shares strong resemblance with socialaction, in terms of its goal as well as process.Marginalized communities have mobilized themselvesto raise their voice against exploitation and violation oftheir rights, whenever the state has failed to safeguardtheir livelihood and rights. Blumer (1957) defines socialmovement as collective enterprises to establish a neworder of life. This definition reflects that social actionand social movement, both have similar goal — that ofbringing change in the existing system/structure toensure equality and social justice. Both the processesfocus on equity or fair play, social justice andempowerment of the downtrodden/marginalized/exploited sections of the society. Mass mobilization formsthe crux of both the processes under review. Women’smovement, tribal movement, dalit movement, students’movement, and the like are some of the examples ofsocial movement.

Prominent social movements can be traced back toBhakti movement when Kabir, Nanak, in their preachingcondemned a lot of the then existing social evils. Socialreform movement made efforts to bring improvement in

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status of women and downtrodden communities, as theyaddressed sati abolition, widow remarriage, women’seducation, caste discrimination, untouchability, rigidityof practicing profession based on caste and many more.Gradually social reform movements, during that period,merged into freedom movement. After Independence too,many social activists have taken up various issuesrelated to injustice and exploitation on specific sectionsof population and initiated movements. Chipkomovement, in 1968, in Tehri Garhwal, the then UttarPradesh, was recorded as the first environmentalmovement in India. There were certain issues likerampant commercial exploitation of timber in that areaand state policy seemed to be hostile and indifferenttowards the needs of poor hilly habitants whosesubsistence was dependent on forest products. Privatecontractors, individual businessmen, wood merchantsand owners of forest based industries exploited forestsfor decades. This excess deforestation resulted inoverflow of Alaknanda river in 1970, washing away offields, crops, property and human settlements, massivedevastation in hills. This led to protests against timbercontractors where hill women saved large numbers oftrees from felling by physically embracing them with aslogan, ‘Chop me before you chop my tree’, saving themfrom the axe of contractors.

Other notable movements have been fishermen’smovement in Kerala, students’ movement after mandalcommission, Medha Patekar’s initiative to stand by thevillagers affected by building dam on Narmada river inGujarat, when in the name of development villagersinhabiting near the banks of Narmada were evacuatedwithout proper rehabilitation. She sat on fast unto deathfor the cause of people affected by Narmada.

Let us now look at some of the common factors,differentiating between social movement and social



action. Though social movement appears to be quitesimilar to social action, it has many differentiatingfeatures. Wilkinson (1971) has stated that a socialmovement is a deliberate collective endeavour to promotechange in any direction and by any means, not excludingviolence, illegality, revolution or withdrawal into‘utopian’ community. This gives the differentiating pointbetween social action and social movement. Socialaction, strictly denies usage of any illegal, violent meansin their strategies. Despite the fact that social actioncomes in conflict with the existing configuration andfunctioning of social system/institution/structure, itrejects violence and blood-shed and resorts to peacefulmeans of expressing protest and dissent. Theprofessional social worker acts as a facilitator ratherthan leader and shows firm conviction in the values,ethics and principles of social work. Contrarily, socialmovement, more often than not, led by local leaderswho may or may not route their movement to violentand unlawful activities to achieve the goal. Personalego clashes in a disguised way in ideological fights whichmay hamper social movement as we see in the case ofChipko movement between two leaders, SunderlalBahuguna and Chandi Prasad Bhat. Social worker hasexpertise to mobilize the public and maintainsustainability, which leaders (often non-social workprofessionals) in social movement do not have.

Conclusion

In this chapter, we gained better understanding of socialaction as a method of social work. Its objective is toachieve social justice and empowerment of thecommunity, particularly the marginalized sections ofthe society. It rests on values of social justice, equalityand fair play and aims to protect the rights ofdisadvantaged sections of the society.

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In this chapter, principles of social action (the principleof credibility building, principle of legitimization,principle of dramatization, principle of multiplestrategies, principle of dual approach and principle ofmanifold programmes) have been described at lengthwith suitable examples indicating the relevance andspecificities of principles.

Being one of the methods of social work, social actionshares similarities with other methods of social workas well as makes use of these methods at various stagesin the process of action. Social case work and groupwork can be taken as the base to social action wherepeople are mobilized to confront authorities. Social actionis considered to be a step forward to communityorganization. Social work research helps in objectiveand critical perception of the social problem. Socialwelfare administration prepares the ground to socialworkers to launch the community for social action. Socialworkers utilize skills of other methods of social work inthe process of social action.

Social action also shares striking similarities with socialmovement. The chapter also describes the areas ofdifferences between the two processes. The chapterportrays a comprehensive picture of social action as amethod of social work practice.

References





Lees, R., (1972): Politics and Social Work, Routledge andKeegan Paul, London.





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* Dr. Beena Antony, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Social Welfare Administration:Concept, History and Nature

*Beena Antony

Introduction

In earlier times, social welfare was performed by a selectfew individuals or small groups of individuals who wereinspired by compassion and concern for the poor, theneedy and the destitute. These people were either theelite of the society or the common men, who believed inthe qualities of humanism and selfless service to thecommunity. In modern times, most of the countries haveadopted the concept of a welfare state that makes welfareservices the responsibility of the state. The encyclopediaof social sciences describes a welfare state as a statethat takes up the responsibility to provide a minimumstandard of existence to its citizens. In a welfare state,the administration enters into economic, political, socialand educational life of individuals. The citizens of thecountry are taken care of from their birth to their death.The state provides service to the old, sick, orphans,widows, helpless, oppressed and the disabled peoplewhenever they are in need of services.

The progress and prosperity of any country can beobserved by the socio-economic positioning of its citizensmainly the deprived sections of the society that are thewomen, children, scheduled castes, tribal and thedisabled population who suffer from poverty, disease,


unemployment and many other social deprivations. Itis essential that such sections of our society must benoticed by the state, policy makers, planners, socialwelfare administrators, social scientists andacademicians, so that legislations, policies andprogrammes are formulated in line with the Constitutionof our country. As a result the country progresses as awhole, not just some sections doing well and othersbeing left behind.

In the context of the present day social problems, thesize of welfare services provided by an increasingly largenumber of organizations make administration veryimportant. Social welfare services, schemes, projectsand programmes, are becoming increasingly complex.Since, it is no longer accepted that any normallyintelligent person with good intentions can administerthe welfare work, a sound administration is vital. It isincreasingly realized that social welfare programmesrequire qualified and trained social welfare personnelto perform social welfare functions efficiently. So, it isargued that for serving the people effectively it isnecessary to be professional, as professionalism canincrease the ability of social welfare personnel to solvethe pressing social problems confronting our society.The training of a social worker to be a professional wouldbe incomplete without social welfare administration.Thus, we can say there are six methods of social workpractice — case work, group work, communityorganization, social action, social research and socialwelfare administration. Social welfare administrationaims to apply professional competence to achieve socialwork goals. Social work’s aim is to provide service toindividuals in the society and social welfareadministration is the ‘business’ of social work. Socialwelfare administration helps in professionally doingsocial work in the society.

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Concepts Related to Social WelfareAdministration

In this section we shall introduce you to some of theconcepts that must be understood before we get tounderstand what Social Welfare Administration is allabout.

Social Work

It is based on a systematic body of knowledge derivedfrom research and practice, from different fields of socialwork. Social work acknowledges the complexity ofinteractions between human beings and theirenvironment, and the capacity of people both to beaffected by and to alter the multiple influences uponthem including bio-psychosocial factors. The social workprofession is derived from theories of humandevelopment and behaviour and social systems andworks for individual, organizational, social and culturalchanges for the betterment of the society. Social workis committed to the pursuit of social justice, to theimprovement of the quality of life and to the developmentof the full potential of each individual, group andcommunity in the society. It seeks to address and resolvesocial issues at every level of society and economicstatus, but especially among the poor and sick. Socialworkers are concerned with social problems, theircauses, their solutions and their human impacts. Socialworkers work with individuals, families, groups,organisations and communities. Social workers need toequip themselves with social welfare administration towork better in the field of social work.

Social Development

Is the process of focused change to meet objectives andgoals desired in the society. Development means

Social Welfare Administration: Concept, History and Nature


progressive change in the living conditions and qualitiesof life of the members of the society. The process ofsocial development is growth in the direction ofmodernity, nation-building and socio-economic progress.Development has to be a whole, value laden, culturalprocess, including the natural environment, socialrelations, education, production, consumption and wellbeing of the whole nation. When we talk socialdevelopment we do not mean just the infrastructuredevelopment of the country we mean development ofthe people of the country, all human beings must havea satisfying material, cultural and spiritual life. Thussocial development is the transformation of the society.It is very essential that social welfare administrationbe practiced to bring in the required social developmentin our country.

Social Welfare

It is a dynamic process that circles around socialproblems and ways in which society responds to theseproblems. Social problems affect individuals and thesociety at large. Social problems come from unfulfilledindividual needs. Individuals have a variety of needs,some more basic like food, clothes and shelter, somemore sophisticated like dignity and status, some areintangible like love and affection. These needs areusually met by the individuals themselves or their familyor the society in which they live. But when these needsare unfulfilled they lead to social problems. Some of thesocial problems present in our society are poverty,inadequate housing, unemployment, loneliness andcrime. The whole body of remedial and ameliorativeservices for the weaker sections of our society are coveredby social welfare. These include curative and preventiveservices. Social welfare contributes to change andadjustment of social institutions to the creation of the

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required infrastructure of community services and canenable people to accept and provide social change forover all development.

Social welfare is also understood as those formallyorganized and socially sponsored institutions, agenciesand programmes that operate to improve and maintainthe economic conditions, health or inter-personalcompetence of some sections of the population or of allthe population. Thus social welfare implies reorderingof socio-economic relations in the present society, whichis undergoing rapid transformation. Social welfare canbe defined as “The organized system of social welfareinstitutions designed to aid disadvantaged individualsand groups to attain satisfying standards of life andhealth. It aims at personal and social relationship whichpermits individuals to develop their full capacities andthe promotion of their well-being in harmony with theneeds of the community” (Titmus, 1968).

Social Welfare Agency

It is an organization or an institution that providestreatment and preventive services in social welfare.These agencies practice social work, according to theobjectives laid down by the agency. Social welfareagencies are of three kinds. First the governmentalagencies which function according to the governmentalsetup, run and controlled by the government and fundedby the taxes collected. Second are the voluntary agenciesfinanced by the members of the community with localcontributions and donations. Third are the non-governmental and autonomous agencies promoted andfunded by the government. The daily activities of theseagencies are performed by voluntary workers and full-time paid employees.



Administration

Before discussing the meaning of social welfareadministration, it is necessary to know the meaning ofthe term administration. Administration is a cooperativehuman effort towards achieving some common goals.Thus every group activity involves administration,whether it is a family, factory, hospital, university, or agovernment department. Whenever two or more peoplecooperate in view of doing a thing that cannot be takenup alone, the concept of administration appear. The wordadministration has been derived from the Latin words‘ad’ and ‘ministrate’ which means to serve. In simplelanguage, it means the ‘management of affairs’ or ‘lookingafter the people’. To administer is to manage, directand serve.

Some of the definitions of administration are listedbelow:

L.D. White (1948) views that “the art of administrationis the direction, coordination and control of many personsto achieve some purpose or objective”.

E.A. Nigro (1951) defines “administration as theorganization and use of men and materials to accomplisha purpose”.

According to Herbert A. Simon (1960) “in its broadestsense, administration can be defined as the activitiesof groups co-operative to accomplish common goals”.

Pfiffner defines “administration as the organization anddirection of human and material resources to achievedesired ends”.

Thus, it is clear from above definitions thatadministration is concerned with proper organizationof men and material to achieve desired ends. It consistsof doing the work or getting the work done by others.

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Social Administration

To achieve the aims and objectives of social welfare,the government formulates social policies andprogrammes and in pursuance thereof enacts sociallegislations, allocates financial assistance and providesorganizational and administrative linkages in the formof ministries and departments. It also seeks thepartnership of non-governmental organizations for theeffective implementation of various social welfareprogrammes. Administration of all these activities beingundertaken in the sphere of social services and socialwelfare is considered as falling in the realm of socialwelfare administration.

According to Richard M. Titmus, 1948, “socialadministration may broadly be defined as the study ofsocial services whose object is the improvement ofconditions of life of the individual in the setting of familyand group relations”.

D.V. Donnison, 1961 defines social administration “asthe study of development, structure and practices ofsocial services”.

According to Forder (1974) “social administration isconcerned with study of the welfare system, andparticularly the government sponsored social services”.

Thus, social administration is concerned with the studyof welfare system of government’s sponsored socialservices.

Definition of Social Welfare Administration

Social welfare administration is a process throughwhich social policy is transformed into social services.It involves the administration of government and non-government agencies. The following definitions willelaborate the meaning of social welfare administration.



John C. Kidneigh (1950) defines social welfareadministration as the “process of transforming socialpolicy into social services…. a two way process: (i).…transforming policy into concrete social services and(ii) the use of experience in recommending modificationof policy. The definition here emphasis is thatadministration is the process of transforming policiesinto action programmes for the betterment of the society.

According to Walter A. Friedlander (1958)“administration of social agencies translates theprovisions of social legislation of social agencies andthe aims of private philanthropy and religious charitiesinto the dynamics of services and benefits for humanity.

According to Arthur Dunham (1962) “administration isthe process of supporting or facilitating activities whichare necessary and incidental to services by a socialagency. Administrative activities range from thedetermination of function and policies, and executiveleadership to routine operations such as keeping recordsand accounts and carrying on maintenance of services.

Herleigh Tracker (1971) interprets social welfareadministration as a “process of working with people inways that release and relate their energies so that theyuse available resources to accomplish the purpose ofproviding needed community services and programmes.”

The American Council of Social Work Education in itscurriculum study has given a comprehensive definitionof social welfare administration. It states“administration is the process of transformingcommunity resources into a programme of communityservices, in accordance with goals, policies andstandards which has been agreed by those involved inthe enterprise. It is creative in that it structures rolesand relationships in such a way as to alter and enhance

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the total product. It involves the problem solving processof study, diagnosis and treatment”.

On the basis of above definitions, we find that socialwelfare administration is a process that includes definiteknowledge, understanding, principles and ways ofinteraction. Its main focus is on the sustainability andaccessibility of social services to the needy. Social workenables the process of administration through guidance,planning, stimulation, organization, creating structure,coordinating research. To accomplish the well definedobjectives of administration, policies are suitablyamended; programmes are formulated, and budget, andfinance provided, personnel and selection proceduresare made available.

Rosemary Sarri (1971) has outlined the activities ofsocial welfare administration as follows:

i) Translation of social mandates into operationalpolicies and goals to guide organizational behaviour;

ii) Design of organizational structures and processesthrough which the goals can be achieved;

iii) Securing of resources in the form of materials, staff,clients etc. for goal attainment and organizationalsurvival.

iv) Selection and engineering of necessary technology.

v) Optimizing organizational behaviour directedtowards increased effectiveness and efficiency; and

vi) Evaluation of organizational performance tofacilitate systematic and continuous solution toproblems.

Features of Social Welfare Administration

Although the concept of administration is applicable ina broader sense to areas including social welfare,



business and government, there are certain distinctivefeatures of social welfare administration. Somedistinctive features of social welfare administration aregiven below:

● Social welfare administration deals with socialwelfare agencies and helps them to achieve theirobjectives for the target groups for which they areworking. It is specifically concerned withidentification of social objectives, the formulationand implementation of proposed programmes toachieve the objectives laid down.

● From functional point of view, social welfareadministration includes three perspectives of socialproblems: (i) restoration of impaired socialfunctioning; (ii) provision of resources, social andindividual, for more effective social functioning; (iii)prevention of social dysfunction.

● Despite variations in size, scope, structure and typesof programmes, every agency has a governing boardas an apex body for final decision-making. The boardis generally represented by the community it intendsto serve.

● Social welfare administration requires optimumutilization of its available resources together withactive community participation, so that the ultimategoal of programmes can be achieved properly.

● Social welfare agencies have to allocate certainportion of their resources for survival so that theorganization can continue to exist. But this shouldnot limit their capacity to achieve quantitative andqualitative growth.

● Social welfare agencies generally function in acooperative manner and ensure participation of allthe members in administration of their activities.

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● There is a growing trend in these agencies to recruitprofessionally qualified manpower. It has helped inintroducing professional approach in theirfunctioning.

History of Social Welfare Administrationin India

Mutual aid has been part of every community. The desireto help one’s fellowmen has been in existence fromsociety to society, depending upon the social, economicand political factors. People help the persons in needthus provide mutual aid to the society. Indian traditionalview of social welfare is based on the concepts of daya,dana, dakshina, bhiksha, samya-bhava, swadharmaand tyaga, the essence of which are self-discipline, self-sacrifice and consideration for others. Well-being of alldepends on these values upheld by people individuallyand through community action. All the religions urgesupon their devotees to put aside a portion of their incometo be utilized for charitable purposes, which will providethem happiness in this world and salvation in the nextworld. The kings and the royal families of earlier daysextended help to the affected population duringemergencies like floods, earthquakes, fires, droughtsand other natural calamities.

From the administrative angle, in India, the reigns ofking Ashoka, Harsha, Chandra Gupta Maurya, Akbar,Sher Shah Suri and Feroze Tuglak, were the landmarksof administration who took care of the social needs ofthe people. The British government also established anadministrative set-up intended mainly for maintaininglaw and order. Some social reform measures were takenup by banning sati and permitting widow remarriage byacts passed in 1829 and 1856 respectively.



After Independence of our country in 1947 the oldadministrative pattern was more or less continued withnecessary changes to suit the social, political andeconomic set-up that had evolved.

In the field of social welfare, during the First Five YearPlan, Government of India realized that the governmentalone can not manage the enormous range of socialproblems across the length and breath of our countryand sought the help of voluntary organizations to helpthem in the process, so created a unique administrativemachinery consisting of an autonomous board namedCSWB (Central Social Welfare Board) in August 1953.Similarly, social welfare advisory boards wereestablished at state level. The main purpose of the Board(CSWB) has been to provide financial and technicalassistance to voluntary organizations working in thefield of social welfare. If we look at the history ofadministrative organization, we find that before 1964social welfare programmes were being managed bydifferent ministries such as education, home,industries, health, labor. The Renuka Ray Committeein its report submitted in 1960, recommended theestablishment of the Department of Social Security.Under the Prime Ministership of Lal Bahadur Shashtri,a social security department was established andlocated in the ministry of law on 14th June 1964.Subjects, namely, social security, social welfare,backward classes and khadi and handicrafts wereallocated to the Department of Social Security. In 1966,it was renamed as Social Welfare Department. It waslocated in the Ministry of Education and Social Welfarecreated in 1971. Its status was raised to a ministry inthe year 1979. Its name was further changed to theMinistry of Social and Women Welfare in 1984. With thecreation of a separate Department of Women and ChildDevelopment in the Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, it was recognized and its nomenclature

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was changed to the Ministry of Welfare in 1985 andsubsequently it was renamed as the Ministry of SocialJustice and Empowerment.

Thus, the central government has set up a full-fledgedministry and organizations subordinate to it, likeNational Commission for Scheduled Castes/Tribes,Minorities Commission, National Institute of SocialDefense, National Institute for the Handicapped,Department of Women and Child Development, CentralSocial Welfare Board, National Institute of Public Co-operation and Child Development, etc., under itsadministrative control.

Besides the execution of social welfare projects,schemes, and programmes sponsored and financedwholly or partly by the central government; the stategovernments and union territory administrationsformulate and implement welfare service programmeson their own in their respective jurisdictions. The stategovernment/union territory administrations carry outtheir welfare obligations and programmes mainlythrough their Department of Social Welfare and voluntaryorganizations. In most of the states, either there is fulltime secretary for social welfare or it is one of the mainportfolios of a secretary. Thus, social welfare schemesare still spread over more than one department/directorate. The pattern of implementation of some ofthe schemes, like old age pension, widow pension, andsupplementary nutrition programmes also vary fromstate to state. Though most of the states now havedistrict social welfare officers, there is no social welfarefunctionary at block level.

Nature of Social Welfare Administration

There is a debate whether social welfare administrationis science or art, with the passage of time the question



is still unresolved. There are conflicting views andopinions on this issue and each appears to be justifiedin its own way. Social welfare lends itself to two usages.It stands for the process of administering the socialwelfare programmes. It is also an area of intellectualenquiry. The first is practice and second is study. As apractice, social welfare administration is decidedly anart.

Social Welfare Administration as an Art

Social welfare administration as an art, have beensupported by the following arguments

i) Social welfare administration can be acquired: nodoubt art is a natural gift. Music, dance, drama orpainting is the examples of this category of art. Butnatural gifts can find their best expression by propertraining, without which even the best artists willdie unknown. On the other hand, a painter makinga painting and a potter shaping a beautiful piece ofpottery are also the examples of art. It is so becausethey possess the following elements:

a) Personal skills

b) Practical know-how

c) Result orientation

d) Creativity and

e) Constant practice aimed at perfection.

Similarly, the art of social welfare administrationcan be acquired. Talented persons become the bestadministrators under proper training. Thus so faracquisition is concerned social welfareadministration is also like other arts.

ii) It is subjective in nature:

A chef makes a dish with personal passion for food.A carpenter adds beauty to his creation with his

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tools. A social welfare administrator with theapplication of knowledge and skills can makewonders by combining and bringing togetheravailable human and material resources to changethe very face of the nation. Today success of everywelfare programme depends on how a social welfareadministrator performs the job.

iii) Practical application of knowledge: art is thepractical application of systematic knowledge. It isnot merely theory but putting that into practice.Similarly, social welfare administration is notmerely theory but it is application also. And thebest knowledge can be gained by practice alone.Managing human resource needs a lot of skill,experience and balanced personality traits.

Social Welfare Administration as a Science

Science is the systematic study of knowledge. Thosewho believe that social welfare administration is ascience point out that there are certain specific andclear principles on which day to day administration ofsocial welfare programmes are being run and managed.They also argue that these principles are based on soundand rational principles, which are also considereduniversal.

The following arguments have been put forward to justifythat social welfare administration is a science:

● Application of scientific methods: the claim of adiscipline to be called a science depends on whetherthe scientific method of study is applicable to it.Social welfare administration can be called ascience, because the scientific method of studyequally is applicable to it, as in the case of othersocial sciences.



● Critical examination: critical examination and studyof evidence is the prime requisite of any scientificstudy. This is possible in social welfareadministration also.

● Universal guidelines: universal principles of socialwelfare administration also provide the coloring ofscience. Even if we cannot use all the guidelines ina similar manner, these guidelines certainly helpthe administrator in proper implementation of socialwelfare programmes.

However, the nature of social welfare administration asa science has been criticized on the basis ofexperimentation, and objectivity. Thus, it may not bean exact science, but it is a science in its own way. It isalso an art, because it is connected not only withformulation of general principles of social welfareprogrammes but also with actual running of theadministration of social welfare programmes.

Interdisciplinary Nature

Social welfare administration requires theinterdisciplinary knowledge and constant interactionwith other social sciences to know the human beings intotality, such as philosophy, psychology, sociology,political science and economics to solve their problemsin appropriate manner.

Administrative Structure

Social welfare administration is based on theorganizational and administrative structure of socialwelfare programmes at each and every level ofimplementation stage. Similarly, it is also important toknow the role and set up of non-governmentalorganizations for effectively carrying out their functions.

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Financial Administration

The scope of social welfare and social security isincreasing day by day and more and more people arecoming under the coverage of these programmes, andso the need for additional financial support increases.In order to make out proper and effective budgeting ofsuch programme, the knowledge of financialadministration is highly essential. Thus it is importantthat persons must be trained in the techniques andprinciples of administration.

Personal Management

In order to provide effective social welfare services tothe needy and suffering, it is essential to havecommitted, trained and motivated social welfarefunctionaries at different levels. Thus social welfareadministrators need the knowledge of human resourcemanagement which includes knowledge from the verybeginning, that is recruitment policies, job classification,training and development, staff evaluation, advancementand transfer so that the personnel understand the needand importance of the work they are doing, and theywould be effective in implementing the social welfareprogrammes.

Public Relations and Participation

The social welfare administrator needs to be convincedof the importance of public relations with regard to boththeir own agency and its services, and the communityas a whole. The welfare administrators must becomfortable to use mass media, such as TV, radio,newspaper, brochures, books and personal contacts, tointerpret their agencies’ programmes to the public andreaching community members. It is also required toget associated with the government and non-



governmental agencies working in the field, the peopleor the beneficiaries, whose co-operation and supportwill add to the effective planning, formulation andimplementation of policies and programmes intendedfor their welfare.

To Conduct Research and Evaluation Studies

Research and evaluation studies provide usefulinformation and feedback on impact of on-going projectsand about the different dimensions of existing socialproblems. Research also facilitates effective planning,policy formulation and implementation of programmes.

Social Welfare Administration as aProfession

Before answering the question whether social welfareadministration is a profession or not, one must knowthe essential features of a profession and determinehow far these features are found in social welfareadministration. In general, people do not raise objectionwhen a doctor is called as medical professional, teachingas a profession or for that matter law as profession.The simple dictionary meaning of profession indicatesone who has acquired specialized knowledge, which isused for instructing, guiding or advising others. Anoperational definition of profession may be given asfollows:

Profession is an occupation for which specializedknowledge, skills and training are required and the useof these skills is not meant for self-satisfaction but areused for larger interests of the society and the successof these skills is measured not in terms of money alone.

Thus all professions are occupations in the sense thatthey provide means of livelihood. However, all

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occupations are not professions because some of themlack certain characteristics of a profession. The variouscharacteristics of a profession can be mentioned as:

● Existence of an organized and systematized body ofknowledge;

● Formal method of acquisition of knowledge;

● Existence of an association with professionalisationas its goals;

● Formulation of ethical goals; and

● Service motto.

Let us discuss the extent to which all thesecharacteristics are found in social welfare adminis-tration to determine whether it is a profession or not.

Existence of Knowledge

Social welfare administration has developed a distinctbody of knowledge, in response to the need for managingthe complex social problems in a better way. In India,almost all courses of social work offer a course on socialwelfare administration to the students. Thus, it satisfiesthe requirement of a profession in the form of existenceof knowledge. However, the social welfare administrationis still evolving and new guidelines are being developedthough this does not affect its status of being aprofession.

Acquisition of Knowledge

An individual can enter a profession only after acquiringknowledge and required skills through formal training.For example, only formally trained persons can enterthe professions of law, engineering or medicine. Thussocial welfare administration may be called a professionbecause schools of social work and schools of publicadministration provide training in this discipline.



Professional Association

An occupation which claims to be a profession shouldhave an association. Such a representative body ofprofessionals regulate and develop the profession’sactivities. The professional associations may alsoprescribe the standards for individuals who want toenter the profession. But we are still struggling for anapex body, which would regulate the terms andconditions for Social Welfare Administration like BarCouncil of India etc.

Ethical Code

Every profession has a code of ethics. Codes provideproper guidance when the situation at hand is choicebetween a good and a bad decision. Thus code of ethicsserves several functions for a profession, includingguiding, decision making, assessing competence,regulating behavior and evaluating the profession. Insocial welfare administration, the code of ethics providesa guide for professional roles and relationships at variouslevels of responsibility in relation to clients, colleagues,employers, employing organizations and the society.Therefore, the social welfare administration is aprofession and its code of ethics is based on thefundamental values of the social work profession thatincludes the worth, dignity and uniqueness of allpersons as well as their rights and opportunities.

Service Motto

In modern times, all human activities are concernedwith money. But in a profession, an effort is made tosee that service motto should prevail over monetaryconsiderations. Professionals should keep social interestin their mind while charging fees for their professionalservices. For example, a doctor helps the patient, even

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when he charges fee. But he also serves humanity inthe process. A lawyer helps the client. Not to chargefee is a help, but to provide justice to the client is mostimportant. Similarly, a social welfare administratoradministers the social welfare programmes, not onlyfor money and personal satisfaction, but use his/herknowledge and skills to serve the larger interest of thesociety.

Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can besummarized that social welfare administration is yet toachieve the status of a profession. To become anindependent profession, it requires attaining socialsanction, professional commitment, governmentalapproval, a professional association to regulate theprofession and involvement of trained personnel in thefield of welfare administration, instead of beingcontrolled only by bureaucrats.

Conclusion

This chapter, introduces us to a method of social workthat is social welfare administration. The concept ofsocial welfare administration is discussed with otherconcepts like social work, social welfare, social service,social security and administration,

Social administration helps to understand all theseabove discussed concepts better.

References

Chowdhry, D.P. (1992). Social welfare administration.Atma Ram & sons. Delhi.

Goel, S.L.& Jain, R.K. Social welfare administrationVolume1. Deep & Deep Publications. New Delhi.



Friedlander W. A. (1955). Introduction to Social Welfare,New Delhi, Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd., NewDelhi.

Friedlander Walter A. (Ed.) (1976). Concepts andMethods of Social Work, Prentice Hall of India PrivateLtd., New Delhi.

Reed W.E. (1961). Social Welfare Administration,Columbia University Press, New Delhi.

Wickenden E. (1965). Encyclopedia of Social Work, NAS,New York.

17

Functions, Principles and Scopeof Social Welfare Administration

*Beena Antony

Introduction

In every occupation, institution and organization, skillsand competence are applied to meet the objectives set,and to obtain the results expected. In all areas of health,medicine, education, law and manufacturing,administration and management is very important inorder to carry out services in the expected manner. Beit school, college, hospital or offices there is need forpeople to follow rules, regulations and administrativepractices for the effective running of the institution ororganization. So also, every social welfare agencyestablishes a mechanism to work successfully, and toachieve its objectives to work for the downtrodden andthe deprived sections of our society. This mechanism iscalled social welfare administration.

Functions of Social Welfare Administration

The main function of social welfare administration is toorganize the energy of like- minded persons to accomplishthe objectives they have set in order to improve thesociety.

The functions of social welfare administration to achievethe objectives set up by the agency would include:



a) To formulate the appropriate objectives andprogrammes of the agency, it is very important toget the required information and to understand thetotal situation. The agency generally focuses on aparticular problem in a particular geographical area.

b) To analyze the collected information so as to planappropriate measures to solve social problems.Social welfare agency’s work is to address socialproblems of the society in that given area.

c) To recognize, screen and opt for an appropriate planof action to tackle problems and handle theinitiatives of the social welfare agency.

d) Formulating policies, programmes and plans foreffectively carrying out the objectives of the socialwelfare agency in a planned manner.

e) To identify appropriate personnel for the socialwelfare agency with proper orientation andsupervision so that they understand the objectivesand how to implement the programmes in order toachieve the goals of the agency.

f) To inspire volunteers who can involve themselvesin the aims, objectives and goals of the social welfareagency.

g) The administration has to delegate work to variousdepartments under supervisors who will beaccountable for the assigned work, in the variousdepartments which has to be coordinated so thatmaximum results are obtained.

h) Rules, regulations, practices and procedures haveto be set up so that there is uniformity andaccountability among all staff in the agency so thatthe objectives of the agency are easily accomplished.

i) The agency must keep proper records and reports.These records and reports must be analyzed and

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interpreted to find out the progress of the agency’swork.

j) The financial practices must be very economicallyand strictly laid down so that there can be nomisappropriations. The finances must be accuratelyutilized and accounted for finance is the backboneof any organization. So finances must be properlymanaged.

k) Every agency has to lay down certain standards ofwork and work towards meeting those standards atall times. The personnel from highest level to thelowest level must understand and maintain thestandards and work for it with great care.

l) One of the main threads that binds the wholeagency together is communication. Thecommunication must be clear and smooth from allsectors of the agency be it horizontal fromdepartment to department, or vertical from top tobottom or bottom to top. The agency must also havean open communication channel with thecommunity people.

m) Social welfare administration must also see to itthat the agency has suitable coordination withinthe various departments of the agency and atvarious levels in the agency. The agency when itworks as a whole, it becomes most effective to meetits objectives. The social welfare agency must alsohave proper coordination with other agenciesworking in the same field. There must be networkingwith agencies with similar themes, in samegeographical areas.

n) Social welfare administration has an important rolein monitoring and evaluation of the agency’sprogrammes and in assessing overall work.

Functions, Principles and Scope of Social Welfare Administration


Principles of Social Welfare Administration

Principles are guiding assertions or statements thatcome from experience or research and help usunderstand the concept. Principles of social welfareadministrations are generalizations based on pastexperiences of different organizations that help inconducting social welfare administration in a particularmanner. The principles of social welfare administrationare enlisted below.

i) The social welfare administrator has to run thesocial welfare agency. So it is necessary that he orshe must have a proper understanding of theagency’s aims, goals and objectives. They must knowthe content of the various programmes, and havethe technical knowledge and skills required forconducting the programmes of the agency.

ii) The administrator must aim at delegatingresponsibility among various staff, volunteers andbeneficiaries of the agency. The administratorshould delegate responsibility in a way he or she isinvolving and encouraging participation amongdifferent segments of population involved with thework.

iii) The administrator must be efficient in formulatingproper rules, regulations, practices and proceduresfor conducting work in the agency. These rules,regulation, practices and procedures must beuniform for all personnel in the agency and at alllevels.

iv) The administrator must be extra careful to bring inefficient and dedicated personnel in the agency sothat there is congenial environment in the agency.This in turn will help to conduct the programmewell and fully accomplishing the targets. Each

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person associated in the agency must feel theimportance of his work and how his work is goingto help meet the agency’s aims and goals. In thisway the agency persons entrusted with theresponsibility will do a better and efficient job.

v) The administration should organize regularmonitoring and evaluation. All the processes,procedures, practices and achievements must beevaluated well so that they are all done in properway and the targets are fully achieved.

India is a welfare state and the government formulatesvarious policies and programmes for the welfare of theweaker sections of the population. The social welfareagencies work at the field level with the generalpopulation, as it is difficult for the government to reachout to all in our vast country. The social welfareadministrator is actually the person who executes theprogrammes favouring the common man. If theadministrator is efficient, skillful and resourceful, thenhe will be effective in meeting the goals of the agencyand bringing about social change and development.

Some points that must be kept in mind, and which arenecessary to make social welfare administrationachievable, are that socio-economic change has to beguided by social justice. Decentralization inadministration is required at different tiers of thegovernment and there has to be integration in theplanning for welfare and development of the country,with proper personnel policies, programmes andadministrative procedures to cater to well-organized flowof goods and services to all the people of our country.

Scope of Social Welfare Administartion

Social welfare administration is basically the executionof social policies, social programmes and social



legislations by philanthropic, religious and charitableorganizations, which provide services and benefits forthe general population in need. It is the conversion ofsocial policy into social action, and how welfare statevirtues are translated into action and implemented bysocial welfare agencies. A very comprehensiveunderstanding on the scope of social welfareadministration that has been put forth by Titmus (1958)is: “Social welfare administration may be defined asthe study of social services whose object is theimprovement of conditions of life of the individual inthe settling of family and group relations. It is concernedwith the historical development of these services, bothstatutory and voluntary, with the moral values implicitin social action, with the roles and functions of theservices, with their economic aspects and with the partthey play in meeting certain needs in the social process.On the one hand, then we are interested in the machineryof administration which organizes and dispenses variousforms of social assistance, on the other, in the lives,and needs, and the mutual relations of these membersof the community for whom the services are provided byreason of their belonging to that community.”

There are broadly two views about the scope of socialwelfare administration. These are: The POSDCoRB view.

The POSDCoRB view: this view of social welfareadministration takes into account mostly the executionof the government’s sponsored programmes. In otherwords this view corresponds with managerial view. HenriFayol, L. Urwick, Fercey M. Ovean and Luther Gulickare advocates of this view.

According to Henri Fayol the main categories ofadministration are:

(i) Organization

(ii) Command

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(iii) Coordination and

(iv) Control

P.M. Queen says that the study of administration dealswith the three ‘m’ that is ‘men, material and methods’.

L. Gulick has given a magic formula in a word‘POSDCoRB’ that is very popular. In POSDCoRB eachletter describing one technique. These letters stand for:

P Planning

O Organising

S Staffing

D Directing

Co Coordinating

R Reporting

B Budgeting

In the recent years both academics and practitioners inIndia have added two more meaningful words to completethe techniques namely:

E Evaluation

F Feedback

Gulick’s approach is ‘technique-oriented’ rather than‘subject-oriented’. Each of these techniques are veryimportant for social welfare administration. The socialwelfare administrator has to be well equipped with eachof these techniques. To be a good administrator it isimportant to understand these techniques well and topractice them with extreme skill and proficiency.

Planning

Planning means working out broad outline of the thingsthat need to be done and the method to be adopted toaccomplish the purpose set for the enterprise. Trecker



in his book Group Process in Administration expressedthat “Unplanned administration is haphazard, scattered,disorderly, and confusing. Planning is simply theintroduction of orderly thinking into the areas of lifewhich have hitherto been ruled by unconsideredjudgments. Planning is the conscious and deliberateguidance of thinking so as to create logical means ofachieving agreed upon goals. Planning always andinevitably sets priorities and calls for value judgments.Planning is a basic and fundamental approach or wayof dealing with the human problems which beset us.Planning is a point of view, an attitude, an assumptionthat says it is possible for us to anticipate, predict,guide and control our own destiny.”

Social planning helps us to be efficient, effective andaccountable. Planning is important to meet our desiredgoals. It is important that before any social welfareprogramme is initiated or any research is started, properplanning with constructive information withknowledgeable professionals is essential. Answers to‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ must be well contemplated inrespect of the schemes and programmes of social welfare.

Even before planning the welfare services the objectivesof the service should be considered. So all welfareservices are to be planned and organized according tothe policy of the agency. The planning procedure isconnected to the policy of the agency. A policy is astatement of objectives, purpose, practice of organizingthe programmes and the fundamental viewpointunderlying a service. The statement of policy of theorganization must cater to the programmes, methods,principles and the beneficiaries. Policy should be evolvedafter consideration by all the stakeholders.

Planning for social welfare is strongly based on thenature and extend of social problems existing in the

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society. The resources of the community are alwayslimited and the number of social problems that need tobe tackled are numerous. Thus the social problems needto be prioritized. The social welfare planning needs tochoose the best alternative, with maximum benefit atminimum cost. Social planning also needs to look intosocial development.

The process of planning needs to follow the followingsteps:

1. To formulate appropriate objectives,

2. To identify the problem,

3. To collect and understand the existing facts,

4. To analyze the available facts,

5. To devise a suitable method,

6. To organize the goals and ascertain the priorities,

7. To locate the resources,

8. To look for other options,

9. To predict results of the several options thought of,

10. To prepare the plan,

11. To execute the plan,

12. To evaluate the results and reformulate the methodsfor increased effectiveness.

Planning is very important to social welfareadministration, just as it is important in other fieldslike health, education or industry. Proper planning onlycan yield optimum results.

Organization

Organization is the establishment of the formal and/orinformal structure of authority through which the workis sub-divided, arranged, defined and coordinated for



the defined objective. The formal and/or informalorganization are designed to achieve social welfareobjectives by systematically coordinating the work ofnumerous personnel, consciously or unconsciously,covertly or overtly directed by some theoreticalframework appropriate to meet the welfare needs of thetarget groups.

Dimock & Dimock (1964) defined: “Organization is thesystematic bringing together of interdependent parts toform a unified whole through which authority,coordination and control may be exercised to achieve agiven purpose…. Organization is both structure andhuman relations.”

Organization can also be compared to the human body.Just like in the human body there are various systems,the respiratory system, the nervous system,the reproductive system all have separate functions andduties, and they work independently, but they are allinterdependent too, and they all form a whole and keepthe body fit and fine. So also the organizations haveseparate units and departments which workindependently, and interdependently to bemore effective in the functioning of the organization asa whole to meet its various objectives.

Herbert (1960) proposes that organization affect thepersons who work for it in five different ways, these are:

i) The organization divides work among the staff. Thepersonnel are delegated specific work in theorganization according to their capacities.

ii) The organization creates standard practices andelaborate procedures to help the employees to workbetter.

iii) The organization follows authority upward,downward and crossways, this helps in smooth flowof decision making.

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iv) The organization follows a system of communicationto reach all.

v) The organization guides and teaches its membersby providing knowledge, skills and loyalties. Thetraining helps the members to work better and takedecisions according to the needs of the organization.

Organization is therefore not just a structure, it actuallyaccepts a structure for the human beings who directs,organize and who actually do the work in order toachieve the objectives of the agency.

Criteria of planning an organization so that the agencyruns smoothly are:

a) Authority and Responsibility

b) Delegation and Decentralisation

c) Public Relations

d) Communication

e) Coordination

f) Monitoring, Appraisal and Evaluation

g) Supervision and Control

h) Personnel Management

i) Financial Management

j) Community Participation

Staffing

Staff is an important component in social welfareadministration. For social welfare agencies to functionproperly it is very important to manage the staff properly.The appropriate trained staff with aptitude and attitudefor social work ideology is important in social welfareagencies. Staffing is the process of filling all positionsin the organization with adequate and qualifiedpersonnel.



In India we have different kinds of agencies likeGovernment, Non-Government, Voluntary, Religious, Co-operative that work in different areas of social work. Inour Constitution the Directive Principles of State Policytalks of equitable socio-economic development for allthe sections of our society, independence from all socialproblems faced by our country, ensuring social justicefor all. The different agencies at all levels that is Central,State and local are all working in this direction, withthe support and backing of the government to improvethe plight of all citizens in the country. The work outputof these agencies is highly dependent on the quality ofthe personnel involved in this work. The personnel affectthe social welfare administration and the progress ofsocial development is greatly dependent on thepersonnel.

The three important components for the developmenttask are men, money and material. Out of these threeM’s, men is the most important component, as mendetermine the quality and quantity of the output. It isthe personnel who will use the money and the materialto work for the objectives of social welfare. It can besaid that effective administration is a combination oforganization, resources and qualified and dedicatedpersonnel. If the staff in the organization is good, theneven with limited money and material, the organizationcan do a good job but if the staff is not effective evenwith the best material and enormous money the desiredobjectives may not be accomplished.

Staff planning or manpower planning means personnelmanagement in social welfare administration. Staffplanning plans for the requirement of the organizationfor work and its corresponding need for personnel. Thisrequires specific personnel policy for social welfare. Someof the important components in Staff Planning that needsto be done by social welfare administration are:

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a) Organizational Planning and Development

The social welfare administration needs to establishorganizational objectives, goals and targets so as toensure focused working of the organization. Theorganizational structure needs to be designed to facilitatemaximum productivity by building of inter-personnelrelationship within individual agency and the totalsystem.

b) Career Development

The social welfare administration requires carefulprocurement of appropriate staff for the organization.So the process of recruitment and selection needs to beundertaken with utmost care, as the staff at all levelstogether help in achieving the objectives of theorganization. The placements, promotion and transferof staff need intelligent and careful supervision. Thestaff at all levels needs briefing, orientation, trainingand refresher courses so that they improve in their day-to-day working and promoting the organization to higherlevels of productivity.

c) Terms of Employment

The staff will be efficient if they are satisfied andcomfortable in life. Thus it is the responsibility of theorganization to make its employees comfortable, forwhich the organization should provide required salaryto the employee for the work he puts in and accordingto his educational qualification and experience. Theadministration should also plan incentives, fringe andretirement benefits so that the employee gives his totaldedicated service to the organization.

d) Employee Welfare

The social welfare administration should look into thewelfare measures of the employees like medical facilities,



leave rules, recreational activities, housing, leave travelconcession, children’s education etc. to take care of allthe employee requirements.

e) Personnel Records

The employee’s personnel files must be properlymaintained. The performance appraisal should beaccording to their work output. This will make theemployees output oriented and accountable about thework. Thus the efficiency of the organization will go up.

f) Morale and Motivation

Social welfare administration must work to improve themorale and motivation of the staff of the organizationby financial and non-financial incentives, by goodconduct and discipline and by encouraging higherprofessional standards. The employee’s social andpsychological needs are to be taken care of by socialwelfare administration.

g) Management-Staff Relations

The social welfare administration requires to followmeasures that will establish healthy relationshipbetween all levels in the staff structure of theorganization.

There is need to look into the professional associationsand unions and to encourage participative managementin the organization by involving the staff in decisionmaking at the organizational level.

h) Personnel Research and Review

The administration needs to develop more appropriatepersonnel programmes and policies, because if the staffimproves, the organization will also improve. There isneed to plan and decide programme areas with proper

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analysis and interpretation, to identify and implementfollow-up improvement action for the progress of theorganization

Proper handling of personnel system in social welfareagencies is an essential administrative activity inpresent times and it is recognized as a very importantarea too. Personnel policies in social welfare agenciesare designed to motivate the staff to secure, developand utilize manpower resource effectively in order tomeet the organizational needs.

Directing

Directing is an integral part of social welfareadministration and is the continuous task of makingdecisions and embodying them in specific and generalorders and instructions thus guiding the enterprise.Directing can be explained as a process to help thestaff members to learn according to their needs, to utilizetheir knowledge and skills and improve their capacitiesand abilities so that they perform their responsibilitiesand duties of their job efficiently.

The components of directing are listed below:

i) Identifying the right person for the right job,

ii) Encouraging the staff to develop interest in his work,

iii) Teach the work to the new staff members,

iv) Evaluate the performance by observing the staffmember’s understanding,

v) Administrative changes to observe and put staff tothe jobs that they can do best,

vi) Rewarding staff for completing work well with intime and helping others to work better,

vii) Establishing good spirit and teamwork so that staffwork skillfully, intelligently, enthusiastically tofinish delegated works.



Directing is an important tool for programmedevelopment and implementation. With proper directionthe organization can perform well and accomplish itstargets. Thus direction increases efficiency andproductivity.

Co-ordination

Co-ordination ensures prevention of duplication andoverlapping of work so that administrative efforts,resources, staff work in the social development sectoris not wasted. Co-ordination is most important to ensurethe efficient and economical functioning of social welfareagencies. The social welfare agencies in India haveshown a tremendous increase in numbers sinceindependence. India is a large country, spread out overa large area, with diverse languages, religion andculture. Thus it has a large variety of problems too andthese problems cannot be dealt with by the governmentalone, because these social problems need personaltouch as social problems are complex in nature. It hasalso been observed that there is unequal distribution ofthe social welfare agencies. In some areas there areheavy concentration of these agencies, while in theinterior parts of the country, in the difficult terrain andregions in the border areas there is paucity of socialwelfare agencies. Thus in some areas there isoverlapping of services and in some areas services arenot available. Social welfare agencies are spontaneousand voluntary in nature, and voluntary services aredemocratic. Any effort to co-ordinate will meanapplication of external pressure, which will notencourage the voluntary spirit. Co-ordination must beby mutual consent. Co-ordination between agencies andstate is easy, but co-ordination among different agenciesis very difficult. There has been no effort by thegovernment to co-ordinate all the social welfareagencies.

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Co-ordination can thus be defined as the process ofgetting into a harmonious relationship. It means co-operation and adjustment to achieve desired goals.Co-ordination means the integration of several partsinto an orderly whole, to achieve the purpose of theundertaking. In other words, coordinating means theall-important duty of inter-relating the work of variousdivisions, sections and parts of the undertaking. Whenthere is no co-ordination between groups andcommunities there is social maladjustments and thecommunity cannot progress further. Thus we have towork in co-ordination with all agencies to arrest thesocial problems of the country. There has to benetworking among all government and non-governmentagencies.

The main objectives of co-ordination are:

i) Co-ordination avoids duplication of work andoverlapping of work.

ii) Co-ordination helps to remove the obstacles thatcome in the working in the social welfare sector.

iii) It helps in economizing on the resources utilized bythe social welfare agencies. The sharing of resourceshelp in better utilization and better output.

iv) Expenditure can get minimized in sharingresources.

v) Co-ordination will result in minimizing competitionamong social welfare agencies.

vi) Co-ordination will help in joint efforts in tacklingsocial problems and this will result in betterunderstanding of the social problems as there willbe more manpower involved. This can also result ingenerating public opinion and passing new sociallegislations.



Co-ordination can be at two levels. One is that therehas to be co-ordination within the agency. The differentdepartments and the different staff members must bewell coordinated. There must be open communicationamong all within the agency so that the results andoutput of the agency are as per desired objectives. Atthe second level there must be co-ordination among thedifferent social welfare agencies.

Thus we can say that co-ordination will improve theworking of social welfare agencies and their impact onthe society. Co-ordination is an important componentin social welfare administration. Co-ordination amongdifferent agencies could have a very positive affect insolving the social problems of the society. It couldimprove the standards of work and also help in betternetworking among different agencies.

Reporting

Reporting is the keeping of proper records and keepingthose people informed. The executive is responsible forkeeping both the supervisors and subordinates informedof what is going on and for arranging for collection ofsuch information through inspection, research andrecords.

The social welfare administration is responsible tomaintain all kinds of records. All files are maintainedby the administration. Records of all functions,programmes, meetings and the day-to-day functioningare kept by the administration. These records andreports help in evaluation and monitoring the work ofthe agency. Thus these reports are very important forthe agencies that provide the funds to them. Reportsare important for the community to understand theobjectives and functioning of the agency. Thus it is theresponsibility of the administration to carefully maintainall reports and records.

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Budgeting

Budgeting involves the financial administration of asocial welfare agency. Financial administration is thesystem that revolves around the finances of the agency.This concerns with the raising, regulation anddistribution of the resources for the growth of theagency. The agency collects funds from the communityby means of donations, subscription or taxes and thesefunds are used for the organizational programmes andthe running of the agency. A budget is a completestatement prepared showing the various sources of themoney raised for a particular period and the activitiesand programmes conducted with that money. Financialadministration is one of the most importantresponsibilities of the social welfare administration andif this responsibility is not properly taken up, it canhave serious consequences on the administration of theagency.

The purposes of the budget are:

a) To understand the financial requirements of theagency. The budget puts forth the estimates fromthe grant giving agencies and the fund raisingactivities.

b) Elaborates on how the money received will beutilized.

c) It is a guide for all staff members on how the moneyneeds to be utilized under the various sub-heading.

d) Highlights to the community and beneficiaries, thesource of the funds and how the money has beenspent.

e) To evaluate the objectives of the agency and theplans for meeting these objectives.

f) To develop better budget formulation, review anddecision-making.



POSDCoRB activities are common to all large scaleorganizations. They are the common problems ofmanagement found in the different agencies, regardlessof the peculiar nature of the work they do. Like publicadministration, social welfare administration is also aninstrument with two blades. One blade isknowledge of the subject matter and the other is thetechniques that are applied. Both blades must be goodto make it an effective tool. Thus, the proper scope ofsocial welfare administration should include both theviews i.e. POSDCoRB and subject matter.

Let us also briefly describe evaluation and feedback.

Evaluation

Evaluation can be done at different time periods – weekly,monthly, half yearly and annually. Evaluation can bedone by different teams: intra – agency evaluation,funding agencies and outside evaluation teams.

Evaluation is an exercise which will show whether theprogrammes and projects are going in the desireddirection. Periodical evaluation will help in identifyinghurdles and areas that require special attention. It isalways helpful in successfully completing any projectwell within the time frame. The report writing exerciseby a student of social work is one such example. As astudent, you also must help the agency in its evaluationwork, which is a learning activity for you.

Feedback

Periodical feedback is an essential aspect of anyprogramme and project. Feedback helps the organizationto re-examine the success and failures and takeappropriate action to rectify the wrong, if any. Feedbackwill only help in strengthening the project/organization.It will also enable in re-appropriation of funds for better

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results. Feedback will ultimately ensure thesustainability of any project/agency.

The Integral View of Social Welfare Administration

Another view of the scope of social welfareadministration has come into vogue during the last fewyears. Due to emergence of new social problems, thesubject matter of Social Welfare Administration isexpanding day by day. The already overburdenedadministrative machinery of the government itself, notbeing able to successfully tackle these problems,involves various non-governmental organizations for thispurpose. Therefore, this view incorporates not only thesubject matter of social welfare administration but theimplementation aspect as well, which is primarily thefocus of POSDCoRBEF view.

The scope of social welfare administration is quitediverse in nature. With the emergence of new socialproblems of entirely different nature, a new strategyneeds to be evolved for their solution. It may requireoptimum utilization of available resources e.g. human,institutional, financial, technological, etc. in a changingcontext. The social welfare administration incorporatesa number of factors that are significant in the entireprocess of successful solution of social problems.

Conclusion

In India the social welfare agencies cater to lakhs ofbeneficiaries spread all over the country. Thus it isimportant to follow continuous and systematic planningin the organization. The resources and capacities of theorganization has to be appropriate according to thedesired objectives of the organization. A well-plannedstrategy needs to be formulated for future opportunities,values and aspirations. If the social welfare



administration functions are well understood andimplemented then it will benefit maximum beneficiariesand social development for the country will not be adifficult dream.

References

Chowdhry, D.P. (1992). Social welfare administration.Atma Ram & Sons. Delhi.

Dimock, M. & Dimock. (1964). Public administration.Holt. New York. p. 104.

Goel, S.L.& Jain, R.K. Social welfare administrationVolume1. Deep & Deep Publications. New Delhi.

Titmus, R.M. (1958). Essays on the welfare state.London. Pp. 14-15.

Encyclopedia of Social Work in India Vol III (1987)Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.

Pathak S (1981) Social Welfare, Macmillan, Delhi.

18

Social Welfare Organizations*Beena Antony

Introduction

A ‘Service’ is termed a ‘Social’ if its aims theenhancement of the welfare of the individual or thecommunity either through personal effort or by collectiveaction. Social Services are the organized philanthropicactions to promote human welfare. Social services areunderstood differently in different countries. It is mainlymore of relief services only among the Europeancountries, whereas in Great Britain and CommonwealthCountries it has a wider connotation and includes areaslike health, education, housing, welfare. In India, socialservices are usually meant as those activities whichare for furthering the people’s welfare and these includeeducation, public health activities, social securitymeasures, social insurance, social assistance, childwelfare, corrections, mental hygiene, recreation, laborprotection and housing.

India has had social welfare programmes, social serviceorganizations, social reformers and social workers inthe cause of social welfare since early times. Rightthrough the centuries, this have been observed in thereign of King Ashoka or going back even to the days ofBuddha, there have been many rulers and commonpeople of India who trod the path of service to theirfellow beings and adopted it as a life mission. MahatmaGandhi’s work in this sphere constitutes a continuance



in the present century of the national tradition. Theideal of social welfare is thus not new to us; it is anintegral part of our national history and culture.

Types of Social Welfare Organizations

Social welfare organizations play a vital role in renderingSocial Services in every country, especially in developingand underdeveloped countries. There are various kindsof social welfare organizations that differ in ownership,kind of service providers, source of funding and othercharacteristic differences. In this unit we will discussabout these various types of Social Service Organizationand their working.

Formal Organizations

Formal Organizations refer to a structure of well-definedjobs, each bearing a definite measure of authority,responsibility and accountability. Formal Organizationlays down the pattern of relationship betweenindividuals and the rules and regulations, which guidethe behavior of individuals. Formal organizations followthe functions of POSDCoRBEF in its working.

Informal Organization

Informal Organization is an outcome of social interactionbetween individuals in a formal organization. Wheneverpeople work together, they evolve informal groups boundtogether by common, social, technological interest. Suchgroups constitute informal organization. Informalorganization represents relationships betweenindividuals in the organization based on interest,personal attitudes, emotions, prejudices, likes, dislikes,physical location and similarity of work. These relationsare not developed according to the procedures, rulesand regulations laid down in the formal organizationalstructure.

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Informal Organization comes into existence because oflimitations of the Formal Organization. It represents,“natural grouping of people at work”. The birth of smallgroups in an organization is a natural phenomenon.These groups may also overlap because an individualmay be a member of more than one informal group. Inmany cases, informal groups come into being to supportand supplement the formal organization.

The informal Organizations have the followingcharacteristics:

● Customary and not enacted.

● No written rules and regulations.

● Does not follow an organizational charts in itsworking.

It must be noted that the informal organization is basedon formal structure and cannot exist without it. Theinformal organization allows an organization a measureof flexibility, which is a functional necessity. However,the greatest weakness of the informal organization isits instability; its changeability and its unpredictability.

Structured Organizations

It is important to note, “An organization is a group ofpeople who are cooperating under the direction of a leaderfor the accomplishment of a common end”. The need foran organization arises when two or more persons unitetogether to achieve some common objectives.

Organization is one of the basic functions of socialwelfare administration. Its importance lies in thesystematically evolved pattern of relationships designedto set in motion the process of managerial functions.Structured organizations are those, which are formed,and functioning with a clear structure or framework ofrelationship. As structure, organization is a network of

Social Welfare Organizations


internal authority, responsibility and relationships. Itis the framework of relationships of persons, operatingat various levels, to accomplish common objectives.Thus, a structured organization has got three majorelements:

● Formal structure

● Definite authority

● Clear responsibility

When we think about structured organizations in asocial work context, there are many organizations fallingunder this category. All these organizations have a clearstructural framework, be it formal or informalorganization. For example, registered social serviceorganizations, social welfare departments andcooperative societies all have a defined structure.

Unstructured Organizations

Unstructured organizations do not have a clear structureor framework. Various committees, communityorganizations, social action groups are some of theexamples of unstructured organizations. They may beformed as per the requirement or given purpose, in orderto achieve certain limited goals and objectives. Groupsof people come together with the similar objective orideology to accomplish a specific goal. They work in anunstructured manner, as all of them are equal in therole and duties. These organizations are formed for ashort duration and they disintegrate when goals aremet or cease to exit due to adverse factors.

Governmental Organizations

The structure of welfare organizations differs in agencies,which are established under public sector from those,which are in voluntary or private sector. Public or

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Government agencies are based upon a law,administered within the framework of local, state andcentral governments and financed by the government.Individuals, or philanthropic, or religious, orhumanitarian groups establish private agencies or non-governmental organizations; their management is vestedwith a board of directors. These organizations aresupported mainly by contributions, donations,endowments or trust funds.

Our country has a long tradition of social service. Oursovereign and democratic republic stands committed toensure social, economic and political justice to the peopleand usher in a welfare state. After independence, theconcept of social justice became part and parcel of ourConstitution and is reflected not only in the preamble,but also in the Directive principles of state policy.

Social welfare is defined as those services which aredesigned for those weaker and vulnerable sections ofcommunity who due to some hardship – social,economic, political, mental – are unable to make use of,or are traditionally denied, the use of these services.The scope of social welfare encompasses servicesrelating to women, children, youth, aged, thehandicapped, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes,community welfare services, social defense, socialwelfare measures and social welfare services for otherweaker sections of society.

In India the Government organizations are by thegovernment and can be at three levels that is local,state and central level organizations. At the Local level,the social welfare services are through rural and urbanlocal authorities.

Rural local authorities comprise of the panchayati rajinstitutions, which were introduced for local governancein the rural areas of the country. The three-tier system



of panchayati raj consisting of gram panchayat,panchayat samiti and zilla panchayat and these areresponsible to undertake the welfare activities for theirrespective areas. In fact, panchayati raj bodies are verymuch involved in implementing and administering thewelfare programmes assigned to them.

The urban local authorities consisting of municipalcorporations was created by the Acts of the concernedState legislature are assigned obligatory anddiscretionary functions in the field of social welfare.For instance, section 43 of Delhi Municipal CorporationAct, 1957 makes it incumbent on the corporation tomake adequate provisions for construction andmaintenance of drainage work, public latrines andurinals, water supply, pollution control, checking ofdangerous diseases, provision of transport facilities,provision of medical relief and establishment ofmaternity and child welfare centers, etc.

The concept of democratic decentralization is essentialin the field of development. The aspect of welfare hascome to be understood as the primary responsibility ofthe individuals. Therefore, through people’sparticipations and decentralization of power, thegovernment is trying to achieve the goal of totaldevelopment. Besides Government efforts, there are anumber of non-government organizations working at thelocal level with more flexibility and proximity.

At the State level, the state governments and unionterritory administrations formulate and implementvarious kinds of welfare services programmes on theirown in their respective jurisdiction for the benefit ofthe socially and economically weaker sections of thesociety.

The state government or the union territoriesadministrations carry out their welfare commitments

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and programmes mainly through the departments ofsocial welfare and voluntary organizations. At the statelevel, the Department of Social Welfare is theresponsibility of the welfare minister and the secretaryto government is the administrative head of thedepartment. The secretariat helps, guides and advisesthe Minister in the formulation of policies of thedepartment, in getting the legislation passed by the statelegislature, and supervises the execution of the policies,schemes, projects and programmers undertaken by theDirectorate.

The Directorate of social welfare is headed by a Directorwho is assisted by Additional Director, Joint Director,Deputy Directors, Administrative officer and supportingstaff. In the field, the Divisional and District SocialWelfare Officers function at the district level and executethe various welfare programmes in their respectivejurisdictions. The administrative and staffing patternat all the stages is more or less the same and so are thekinds of welfare services provided in each state exceptfor some minor variations.

The functions of the State Social Welfare Boards are asfollows:

i) To promote the growth of voluntary social welfareagencies, with special reference to development ofwelfare services in all areas.

ii) To administer the grant-in-aid programme.

a) On behalf of the Central Social Welfare Boardfor development and capital grants and

b) On behalf of the state welfare governments formaintenance grants.

iii) To assist the Central Social Welfare Board in theprovision of a field counseling services for aidedagencies



iv) To administer the programmes of rural welfareprojects.

v) To stimulate effective coordination among voluntarywelfare agencies at the States and local levels.

vi) To assist the Central Social Welfare Board and StateGovernment in the further development of welfareservices.

At the Central level, also called the Union level althoughthe responsibility of formulating overall policy andplanning of social welfare programmes rests with thedepartment of social welfare, the initiation and executionof certain welfare services and stimulating the effectivecoordination among voluntary welfare agenciesespecially at the national level will rest with the CentralSocial Welfare Board.

Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB)

The important landmark in the history of voluntarysocial welfare was created in 1953, with the provisionof Rs.4 Crore for the social welfare sector in the FirstFive Year Plan. The dilemma before the country’splanners was whether this amount should be utilizedthrough government machinery or by voluntary agencies,as at that time there was no independent departmentof social welfare at the center, nor at the state levels.Under the leadership of Pt. Jawahar lal Nehru our thenprime minister, it was decided that social welfare neededa special kind of machinery that had components offlexibility, dedication and closeness to the country’speople. It was then felt that it should be handled not bythe government machinery but by the voluntary workerswho had dedicated their service to the needy.Accordingly, an autonomous board was created whichwas charged with the responsibility of preparing plansand schemes to be funded from out of the provision

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made in the Five Year Plans. An outstanding socialworker was made the Chairperson of the Central SocialWelfare Board. Dr. (Mrs.) Durgabai Deshmukh was itsfirst Chairperson.

The main function of the Board was to give grant-in-aidand technical guidance to Voluntary Organizationsengaged in different types of social welfare activities.One of the functions of the board was also to createorganizations in the areas where these did not exist. Itwas found that in those days in the slum and ruralareas, there were no services for women and pre-schoolchildren. The Board accordingly launched a schemenamed the family and child welfare projects. The presentintegrated child development services (ICDS) programmewas the outcome of these efforts.

Central Social Welfare Board was set up on therecommendations of the Planning Commission as a semi-autonomous body, but the power of the administrationwas vested in the ministry of education. It was registeredas a company from 1st April 1969 under section 25 ofthe Indian companies Act, 1956 in order to have greaterautonomy and flexibility.

Objectives of the Board:

● Promote the growth of voluntary social serviceagencies.

● To assist voluntary welfare programmes for thespecific groups of persons who need special help,like women, children and the handicapped.

● To coordinate the welfare schemes of various centraland state government.

● To develop new programmes of welfare and organizepilot projects that are innovative and closer to thecommon man.



A cabinet minister, who is assisted by the Minister orthe Deputy Minister, heads the Ministry of welfare. TheDepartment has two broad divisions: one headed by thesecretary – welfare and the other headed by thesecretary, department of women and child welfare. Thesecretary-welfare is assisted by an additional secretary.In the wing, there are directors, deputy secretary, undersecretaries, joint directors and other officers to handlethe tasks. The ministry is assisted in its functions by anumber of subordinate organizations, nationalcommissions and national institutes over which theministry exercises its administrative control. These areenlisted below:

● Central social welfare board

● National commission for scheduled castes andscheduled tribes

● Minorities commission

● National institute of social defense

● National institute for the visually handicapped

● National Institute for the OrthopaedicallyHandicapped

● National Institute of Rehabilitation

Activities of the Ministry

The Ministry has been taking up large number ofsubjects and accordingly undertakes multi-dimensionalfunction related to the welfare of various sections inthe society like:

● Policy, planning and coordination of programmes

● Operations of central and centrally sponsoredschemes

● Guidance and direction to the state

● Association with Planning Commission

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● Convening of conference of state minister/secretaries of social welfare

● Constitution of commission, committees/studyteams

● Assistance to voluntary organizations

● Informal and mass education activities

● Publications

● Research, education and documentation

● Participation in International Conferences, seminarsand workshops.

Non-governmental Organizations

State is not the only association working in the society;there are a large number of non-governmentalorganizations, also called voluntary organizations, whichperform varied functions for the welfare, integration anddevelopment of the people in the society.

The term “Voluntarism” is derived from the Latin word“Voluntas” which means “will” of “freedom”. Politicalscientists defined “freedom of association” as a recognizedlegal right on the part of all persons to come togetherfor the promotion of a purpose in which they areinterested. Article 19(1) C of the Constitution of Indiaconfers on the Indian Citizens the right “to formassociations”. In the United Nation terminologyvoluntary organizations are called Non-GovernmentOrganizations.

Definitions of Voluntary Organizations

According to Lord Beveridge, “A Voluntary organization,properly speaking, is an organization which whetherits workers are paid or unpaid, is initiated and governedby its own members without external control.”.



Main characteristics of Non-Government Organization/Voluntary Organizations:

i) It is registered under the Societies registration Act,1860, the Indian Trusts Act, 1882, The CooperativeSocieties Act 1904 or Sec. 25 of the Companies Act,1956, depending upon the nature and scope of itsactivities to give it a legal status.

ii) It has definite aims and objectives and programmes.

iii) It has an administrative structure and dulyconstituted management and executive committees.

iv) It is an organization initiated and governed by itsown members on democratic principles without anyexternal control.

v) It raises funds for its activities partly from theexchequer in the form of grants-in-aid and partlyin the form of contributions or subscriptions frommembers of the local community and/or thebeneficiaries of the programme.

Non-government organizations are called by differentnames by way of the inception. Let us discuss some ofthem:

Charitable organizations are those organizationsestablished for helping the poor or needy people. Theseorganizations are mainly formed to serve the needythrough a charitable approach. The Missionaries ofCharity is one example of such charitable organizations.Most of its workers are fully dedicated to service andthey serve without expecting anything back. Theseinstitutions provide institutional care to the poor andneglected. They also provide food, clothing and medicaltreatment for needy people.

The charitable organizations are registered under theCharitable Endowment Act –1890. Section 2 of theCharitable Endowment Act defines ‘charitable purpose’

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as including general relief to the poor, education, medicalrelief and the advancement of any other object of generalpublic utility.

Societies and Trusts

The Voluntary Organization can be registered under theSocieties Registration Act – 1860, Indian Trusts Act –1882 or under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act –1956. Most of the non-governmental organizations areregistered under Societies Registration Act. 1860.

Societies are formed with some deliberate intentionfollowing some system in their day-to-day affairs as wellas rules for their governing and proceedings. Thefollowing activities should be handled properly, since itis vital for better functioning of any organization.

● Primary study on the attainability of the objectivesstated by the organization.

● Recruitment of manpower, right people for the rightjob, to attain the organizational goals.

● Drafting of a constitution, which consists ofmemorandum of association and rules andregulations.

● Making sure of the registration of the society byappropriate legal authority.

Memorandum of Association and rules and regulationsare two important parts of a society’s constitution. Whilememorandum of association defines the object of theorganization recognized and approved by the Registrar,rules and regulations define the internal managementprinciples, which is binding on the members. Societiesare more democratic in their setup. Usually electionsare conducted to elect the managing committee. In somecases, founder members may be permitted to remainlife members of the managing committee.



Trust

Welfare programmes are also run by charitable trusts.The Indian Trusts Act –1882 provides room forregistering and running Public, Private, Religious andCharitable Trusts. A Trust is an obligation annexed tothe ownership of property and arising out of a confidencereposed in and accepted by the trustee(s), for the benefitof another and the owner. The following are the objectsof a charitable trust:

● Trusts for the relief of poverty

● Trusts for the advancement of education

● Trust for the advancement of religion and

● Trusts for other purposes beneficial to thecommunity. (Not falling under any other threeheads, e.g., renovation of roads, supply of water,repairing of bridges, etc.)

The government of our country has encouraged theemergence of non-government organizations. In theSeventh Five Year Plan the government emphasized theimportance of the role of the non-governmentorganizations to take part in the development processof the country. The government wanted the non-government organizations to take up an important rolein social development, these duties and responsibilitiesare put down below:

i) To supplement the efforts of the government toprovide choices and alternative to the ruralpopulation.

ii) To be the eyes and ears of the village population, sothat the laws, legislations, new knowledge andinformation can be brought to the village people.

iii) The voluntary organizations must take up pilotprojects with innovative ideas which if successfulcan be implemented on larger scale.

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iv) To stimulate the delivery systems to provide servicesto the population at the grassroot levels.

v) To disseminate information.

vi) To help the communities to become self-reliant andindependent.

vii) To initiate manpower resources in communities forcommunity organization.

viii) To bring in science, technology and innovations tohomes in the community. For example teaching thevillage population of newer and better methods ofcultivation.

ix) To train grassroot workers to deal with communityproblems and to encourage volunteerism.

x) To mobilize resources of the community.

xi) To encourage community participation, to make thecommunity responsible and accountable of what ishappening in the community.

In a democratic, socialistic and welfare society,voluntary/non-governmental organizations play a veryimportant role. Non-government organizations in Indiahave played an important role in the development ofthe country. They share responsibility with thegovernment to bring in social development with socialjustice. In recent times we observe a great increase inthe number of non-government organizations that areworking on the government programmes or haveimplemented their own programmes for the developmentof the weaker sections of the population. Let us discussthe main functions of the non-governmentorganizations:

a) Human beings by nature are gregarious: The urgeto act in groups is fundamental to them. Peopletherefore form groups and associations voluntarilyfor their benefit as also of others with a view to



lead a fuller and richer life. This phenomenon isreflected in voluntary associations, which are formedfor promotion of recreational and cultural activities,social services and professional interests.

b) A pluralistic society with a democratic systemrequires a multitude of independent, non-government organizations to serve as a bufferbetween the individual and the state and thuspreventing the government from developingmonopoly in various fields.

c) Organized voluntary action helps groups andindividuals with diverse political and other interests,contributes to strengthening the feeling of nationalsolidarity and promotes participative democracy.

d) The state does not have the requisite financialresources and manpower to meet all the needs ofits citizens. The non-government organizations byraising additional resources locally can meetuncovered needs and enrich local life.

e) Community participation can be promoted by non-government organization as they are closer to thepeople. People respond better to them as comparedto government agencies.

f) Creating a sense of responsibility through directinvolvement. Non-government agencies due to theirpersonnel touch are in a better position to designand implement programmes in the community.

g) Correcting planner’s mistakes. Non-governmentorganization with people’s participation can pointout mistakes in planning, policy making, socialwelfare administration etc.

h) Creating public opinion. The non-governmentorganization can work for better understanding andpositive attitude among the target groups on

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particular issues. Like organizations workingagainst stigma and discrimination towards HIV/AIDS people.

i) Formulating new policy through public opinion. Thenon-government organizations can make the policymakers aware of ground realities and the exact needand problems faced by the general public. Non-government organization can also work towardspromoting new social legislations for betterment ofthe society.

j) Flexibility and experimentation. The non-government organization are autonomous and thushave greater freedom to be flexible in theirfunctioning and can experiment new methods andprogrammes.

k) To compliment and supplement governmentinitiative. India is an enormous country with diverseissues and problems, non-government organizationcan help in government programme implementationand in formulating new programmes for thecommunity people.

Thus “Non-Governmental Organizations” give concreteexpression to the fundamental rights such as freedomof association and expression and by identifying theneeds of individuals, groups and communities, and byinitiating projects and programmes to meet their needs.The non-government organizations also aim at sharingthe responsibility of the state in providing minimumneeds of the citizens, covering the areas of uncoveredand unmet needs, preventing the monopolistictendencies of the governments, and educating citizensabout their rights and obligations. They further aim atraising resources through contributions and donationsand help to organize activities of non-partisan and non-political nature for the well-being of the society.



Bilateral and International Organizations

Bilateral Organizations

The word bilateral means, “Agreement made betweentwo countries”. In these, two countries make agreementto have duty free entry of donated supplies for reliefand rehabilitation of the poor and the needy withoutdiscrimination of caste, creed or race. Under theseagreements, commodities like food grains, milk power,cheese, processed food stuff, drugs, medicines, multi-vitamin tablets, hospital equipment and supplies likeambulances, mobile dispensaries, agriculturalimplements, etc., are received by approvedorganizations, located in respective countries.Government of India encourages such assistance. TheMinistry of social justice and empowerment operatesthe bilateral agreements on gift deliveries entered intoby the Government of India with the Governments ofFederal Republic of Germany, Sweden, Switzerland,United Kingdom, and United States of America.

The Food Corporation of India is entrusted with theresponsibility of handling the port operations work inrespect of gift consignments, coming under theagreements on payment for the services at approvedrates. The expenditure on handling clearance and inlandtransportation of gift deliveries to the approvedconsignees’ destination is borne by the Ministry as perthe terms of the Agreement.

International Organization

Though the well being of the people is the concern ofthe state, it cannot be fulfilled due to the lack of financialresources, manpower and other resources. Thereforethe state depends upon the help and support of othernations and countries to ameliorate the lot of its poor

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and needy. It is based upon the recognition that theInternational cooperation in social welfare is needed inorder to secure social and economic welfare of humanbeings everywhere. International social welfareorganizations can be classified into five groups:

1) Government agencies of international character, e.g.United Nations, World Health Organization,International Labor Organization.

2) Private International Organizations, e.g. TheInternational Conference of Social Work, WorldFederation of Mental Health, The InternationalUnion for the Child Welfare.

3) Private International Organizations haveautonomous organizations in each country, e.g.International Red Cross, the YMCA and YWCA.

4) National government agencies extend their help toother countries, e.g. The United States TechnicalCooperation programme popularly known as fourpoint programme.

5) National Private Agencies extend their socialservices to other countries, e.g. the Ford Foundationand the Rockefeller Foundations in India.

International Organizations in India

Among the International agencies which first organizedtheir activities in India may be included the Red Cross,the YMCA and the YWCA. These organizations are nowworking in India through their national organizations,which are autonomous in all respects. After World WarI, the League of Nations initiated certain Internationalorganizations, which in due course began to work inIndia. Among these, the most important was theInternational Labor Organization. Then, came, after theend of the World War II, the United Nations Economicand Social Council, the UNICEF, the WHO, and the FAO



among other agencies, which have recently establishedtheir regional offices in India, is the International Unionof Child Welfare.

In addition to the agencies mentioned above, the namesof some more International Organizations may be added:

● Action for Food Production

● Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere

● Catholic Relief Services

● Indo-German Social Services Society

● Internation Association of Lion’s Club

● Rotary International

● Salvation Army.

Donor Agencies and United Nation Bodies

Donor Agencies

One of the major activities of any Non-GovernmentalOrganization is mobilizing financial support for itsactivities. A number of national and internationalorganizations are providing funds to the social serviceorganizations. Such agencies are known as donororganizations. They give support to the social serviceactivities on the basis of the project proposals, submittedby the organization. Generally donor agencies areproviding funds and other services to the registeredorganizations for their various social activities for theneedy and marginalized. The amount of their supportvaries from project to project according to therequirements or the gravity of the problems. The donoragencies mainly raise funds from its citizens and thegovernment. Some of the donor agencies are:

● Global Fund

● Bill Gates Foundation

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● William J. Clinton Foundation

● Ford Foundation

● CMMB (Catholic Medical Mission Board)

● USAID (United States Agency for InternationalDevelopment)

● AHF (AIDS Healthcare Foundation)

● Caritas India

● Church Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA)

● Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)

● Christian Children’s Fund

● World Vision

● Co-operative for American Relief Everywhere (CARE)

● Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

● Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS)

● Cordaid, Germany

United Nation Bodies

The United Nations has set up various organizationsfor groups needing special help. Their contributions tointernational welfare may be discussed as follows:

United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)

The United Nations International Children’s EmergencyFund (UNICEF) was established by the GeneralAssembly on 11th December 1946. Its purpose is to helpdeveloping countries to improve the condition of theirchildren and youth. UNICEF provides assistance in suchfields as health, nutrition, social welfare, education andvocational training. It also helps governments to assessthe important needs of their children and plancomprehensive programme to meet them. A large partof UNICEF aid is in the form of providing equipment,



drugs, well-drilling rigs, school garden supplies,prototype equipment for day care centers and equipmentfor the production of the textbooks. UNICEF was awardedthe Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Indira Peace Prizein 1989.

United Nations High Commission for Refugees

The office of the United Nations High Commission forRefugees (UNHCR) was established on 1st January 1951.It provides legal protection, and at the request of agovernment, material assistance for the refugees.UNHCR was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954.

There are a number of other U.N. bodies working for thesocial welfare. Some of these organizations are:

● United Nations Center for Regional Development.

● United Nations Development Programme

● United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization

● United Nations Environment Programme

● United Nations Institute for Training and Research

● United Nations Research Institute for SocialDevelopment.

Conclusion

This chapter helped us understand what are socialwelfare organizations. This chapter in detail explainedthe different types of social welfare organizations thatare operational in our country. This chapter alsoelaborately explains what are government organizationsand how they work at the three levels and minutelyexplains the functioning of non-governmentorganizations in India.

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References

Chowdhry, D.P. (1992). Social welfare administration.Atma Ram & Sons. Delhi.

Friedlander W. A. (1955). Introduction to Social Welfare,New Delhi, Prentice Hall of India Private Ltd.

Goel, S.L. & Jain, R.K. Social welfare administrationVolume II. Deep & Deep Publications. New Delhi.

KK Jacob (1961). Methods and Fields of Social Work inIndia Bombay, Asia Publishing House.

Siddiqui,H.Y. (1990). Social welfare in India. HarnamPublication. New Delhi.

Specht Harry and Vickery Anne (1977). IntegratingSocial Work Methods. London George Allen andUnwin.

Warham J. (1967). An introduction to Administrationfor Social Workers, and Kegan Paul The HumanitiesPress, London.


19

Management of Social WelfareServices

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

Social welfare administration, though considered asecondary method of social work practice, plays asignificant role in the service delivery system. Successof any programme meant for the well-being of anypopulation group depends to a large extent on the efficacyof its administration. In this chapter, we would lookinto various ingredients of social welfare administrationlike bureaucracy, authority and power, leadership, team-work and so on. Before looking into these characteristics,let us first understand the constituents of social welfareadministration system in India.

In India, welfare activities have traditionally beenrendered by religious and philanthropic organizationsof voluntary nature. Now-a-days, we see various actorsare involved in planning and delivery of social welfareservices – the government, the non-profit organizations,philanthropic and charitable organizations, communitybased organizations, the corporate sector, national andinternational organizations bound by bilateral and multi-lateral ties and so on. Voluntary organizations are takenas lesser bureaucratic, while government and similarlarge scale organizations are less flexible and firmlyabide by the rules and regulations. Style of leadershipis an important ingredient in management and social

Dr. Archana Kaushik, University of Delhi, New Delhi

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work professionals, in this regard, have to decide whetherthey would prefer transformational or transactionalleaderships.

This multiplicity of actors or constituents of socialwelfare administration system rules out possibility ofany uniformity and homogeneity in terms oforganizational characteristics and service delivery. Theseorganizations differ in terms of their level ofbureaucracy, leadership styles, financial positions, workculture, authority, power, fund raising abilities,communication skills, and the like. All these factorsand many others play crucial role in the managementof programmes and projects. Globalization and relatedfactors have resulted in workforce diversity thatinfluence motivation, teamwork, conflict resolution andburn outs. In subsequent sections you would be studyingabout these aspects of management of social welfareservices. Let us first understand about certain crucialingredients of management like bureaucracy, authority,power, leadership, etc., that, influence the efficacy ofservice delivery system.

Ingredients of Management

Authority, power and status: An organization isconsidered to be a web of inter-relationships, whichare more often than not, coloured with authority, powerand other formal and informal patterns ofcommunication. In common parlance, authority andpower are taken as synonymous. In fact, authority isdefined as the decision-making right –when a right totake a decision with regard to a particular matter isvested in a particular position, that position is said topossess the said authority. On the other hand, power isone’s ability to influence other’s behaviour. It may sohappen that an individual influencing others’ behaviouris at a very low level in the organizational hierarchy.

Management of Social Welfare Services


Thus, authority is legal or legitimate while power isnon-institutional. As each position in the organizationalstructure is entrusted with a certain responsibility,authority given should be adequate to handle thatresponsibility. No employee can work effectively if he/she lacks the requisite authority. Authority may betraditional (derived from tradition or norms), charismatic(derived from personal charisma or divine or exceptionalpowers) and legal authority (derived from principles,rules, regulations laid down by an organization). Status,on the other hand, is the location of people in comparisonto others. It is some type of prestige grading that is inconsonance with authority vested in a person. Itinfluences motivation levels of employees and must beused by managers effectively.

Likewise, distribution of work in itself contains seeds ofpower-generation. There can be many bases of poweras proposed by French and Raven – legitimate (power-holder enjoys legal/legitimate authority), reward (power-holder has the power to grant promotion, rewards, etc.),coercive (power-holder has the power to hire, fire), expert(power holder possesses specialized knowledge, whichothers lack) and referent (power-holder has amicableattractive personality or connection with high-ups inthe organization). It may be possible that a person withauthority may not be having matching personality tocommand respect and acceptance from his/hersubordinates and a person with power may not possesslegitimate authority.

Authority, power and status are significant ingredientsof administration that play crucial role in motivation,job satisfaction, politicking, and other aspects oforganizational behaviour.

Bureaucracy is frequently used and abused word, whichin common parlance connotes mindless application of

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the letters of the rules without any compassion,judgment or empathy. In olden times, organizations weresmaller and there was face to face contact with theowner and the workers/employees. With establishmentof large sized organizations and employment of hugenumber of people dispersed over wide geographicallocations, bureaucratic administrative framework wasconsidered an ideal type. Certain salient characteristicsof bureaucracy are – division of labour (division of workbased on specialization and efficiency), hierarchy ofauthority (unity of command pattern between scalarand hierarchal pattern of subordinates and superiors),maintenance of formal written documents and extensivefiling system, strict abidance of procedures, rules andregulations, expert training (on job orientation andrefresher courses for employees), impersonality ofinterpersonal relations (interpersonal dealings areformal, impersonal and wholly devoid of emotions andsentiments) and rational programme of personneladministration (person’s expertise and caliber as criteriafor recruitment rather than ascriptive factors and fixedsystem of salary scale and promotion).

Max Weber, considered as Father of Bureaucracy, andhis followers have maintained that these (abovementioned) characteristics of bureaucracy would bringrationality, uniformity, and efficiency in an organization.In modern times, no organization is wholly free frombureaucratic characteristics, though the degree mayvary depending upon the type, size, structure andpurpose of the organization. A critical look at presentday organizations, especially those engaged in socialwelfare activities, bring out that over-conformity to rulesstifles initiative, innovation and flexibility, and leads todelayed decision-making and red-tapism. At times, longhierarchy and cumbersome procedures defeat the verypurpose for which the organization is set up.



Specifically, in the case of social welfare administration,these negative outcomes of bureaucracy affect theservice delivery system to a great extent.

Motivation is crucial factor to determine the health ofthe mind of the employees as well as organizationalhealth. It is the process that accounts for an individual’sintensity, direction and persistence of efforts towardsattaining a goal. Only the ability or dexterity of employeeis not sufficient, rather the will to work plays vital rolein his/her performance. So, the job of managers oradministrators does not end by recruiting suitableprofessionals for the job at hand, but retaining andmaintaining their motivation and morale is also theirduty.

Motivation is a highly dynamic and complex variable inorganizational behaviour. The advocates of scientificmanagement and classical theories thought that if basicneeds of employees (food, shelter, security, etc.) are takencare of and productivity is linked to rewards, theirmotivation levels remain high. However, contemporaryconcepts of motivation take into account significance ofinformal groups, participative leadership, opencommunication, etc. A quick look at relevant theoreticalpropositions would be beneficial (since you already haveread about most of these theories in psychology, here,they are not elaborated upon). Abraham Maslow’s NeedPriority model (an individual attempts to satisfy needsin an order – physiological needs, safety security needs,social affiliation needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs) gave the managers idea to takecare of basic needs of employees so as to maintain theirmotivation to work. In his Theory X & Theory Y. DouglasMc Gregor proposed two distinct views of human beings– one basically negative (labeled theory X) and otherbasically positive (labeled Theory Y). In theory X basedon assumptions that employees, by nature, dislike work,

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are indolent and self centred, passive and resistant tochange. So, economic incentives, reward, punishment,persuasion, control and direction are required to keepemployees motivated. Contrary to this Theory Ymaintains that employees are self-directed, motivatedand responsible and management has to provideopportunity for development and advancement. Next,Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation delineatestwo sets of factors that act as motivators (possibility ofgrowth, responsibility, advancement, recognition) andhygiene or dissatisfiers (interpersonal relations withsuperiors, subordinates, job security, salary, etc.). Asadministrator, one should be careful about presence orabsence of these factors to ensure conducive workingenvironment. On the other hand, we have a wide rangeof contemporary theories on motivation, some importantones are mentioned here. ERG (Existence, Relatednessand Growth) theory is modified version of Maslow’s theorybased on empirical evidences which postulates that threesets of needs – existence (physiological and safety needs),relatedness (social affiliation needs) and Growth (esteemand self-actualization) are highly inter-related and morethan one set of needs may be operative at the sametime or gratification of higher level needs may give riseto desire to satisfy lower level needs. Goal setting theorysays that specific and difficult goals with feedback leadto higher performance. Reinforcement theory maintainsthat behaviour is environmentally caused. Equity theorysays that individuals compare their job inputs andoutcomes with those of others and then respond toeliminate any inequalities. Relevance of these theorieswould be discussed in subsequent sections.

Leadership is the ability to influence a group towardsthe achievement of goals. In the social service sector, itis very crucial. It rests upon leaders and managers to



get the organization realize its objectives. However, theprimary task of the leadership also varies according tothe stage of the organizational development. It variesfrom the early leadership which is primarily focused ondemonstrating the usefulness of the new organizationto the donors and the community – to the leadershipwhich is more mature and which mainly involvesexpanding the scale of operations, mobilization of funds,organizational procedures and networking, etc.

Let us review some of the salient theories on leadership.Trait theories consider that certain inherent personalqualities determine leadership traits among certainindividuals. On the other hand, behavioural theories ofleadership maintain that people can be ‘trained’ inleadership. In contemporary times, there are two maintypes of leadership styles in use – transactionalleadership and transformational leadership.Transactional leaders are those who guide or motivatetheir followers in the direction of established goals byclarifying role and task requirements. In contrasttransformational leaders are those who inspire followersto transcend their own self-interests, and who are capableof having a profound and extraordinary effect onfollowers. It is maintained that transformationalleadership style has an edge over transactionalleadership.

Organizational Climate

In this section, we would be studying aboutorganizational behaviour and work culture in thebackdrop of globalization with special emphasis on socialwelfare administration. The field of organizationalbehaviour is concerned with the study of employees’behaviour in an organization and its effects on theperformance of the organization.

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In the advent of globalization, numerous changes haveoccurred in work culture and the organizational climate.Now, more than ever before, employees are from differentsocio-cultural background and with diverse personalitytypes, values and priorities. Social work paradigm hasalso changed from welfare to empowerment orientation.Beneficiaries are no more passive receptors, ratheractive actors in their own development and well-beingprocess. Perspective and process of service delivery havealso changed remarkably. Service providers are becomingmore heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity,sexual orientation and other factors. Likewise, certaincategories of workforce diversity, say, religious and casteminorities, SC/ST/OBC, disabled persons, displacedpersons, gender issues, age factors, temporary/casualcontracts and so on influence work culture much morein social work than in any other profession. Let us takea look at some of the knotty issues you may have to dealwith in creating an encouraging work culture.

High Job Turnover: Social welfare administrationsystem, in India, is dominated by voluntary sector thatis, along with many positive aspects is also characterizedby adhocism, regional imbalance, social Darwinism,where programmes are, more or less, fund driven ratherneed driven. Social work professionals for jobs do notenjoy preference in welfare administration and have tocompete with candidates from psychology/sociology andother social science background. There is often jobdissatisfaction because of low salaries, insecuritybecause of ad-hoc/temporary project based jobs andnot much independence for implementation of creativeand innovative ideas and so on.

Social Darwinism: In common parlance, cut throatcompetition between organizations and also amongcolleagues is termed as Social Darwinism that leaveslesser scope of team work, coordination and cooperation.



The system of funding at the macro level also promotescompetition and conflict situations arise in the voluntarysector. Within the organization, ego-clashes, divergentpersonality factors, informal group cohesiveness, politicsand rumors, different styles of performing tasks all tendto hamper inter-dependence and team work and alsoservice delivery.

Personal-professional Self: This issue is quite pertinentto welfare administration and social work professionals.During formal and informal interactions at workplace,employees tend to develop likes and dislikes regardingtheir colleagues. Added to this, increasing conflicts,tensions and stressful situations in modern times, inpersonal life of social workers may hamper their‘professional self’ that demand them to becompassionate, empathetic and devoid of their owntensions, pains and frustrations, which is not true atall the times.

Positive Relationship: We may infer that creating apositive climate for nurturing positive professionalrelationship characterized by feeling of mutual respect,trust and interdependence is vital for social welfareadministration in order to realize its objectives. Itcontributes to the success of total enterprise. Personswho are well related to one another seek for even higherstandard of per formance. Trustworthiness,responsibility, articulating sound philosophy forpersonal growth, good channels of communication, etc.,ensure positive climate. A positive climate is createdwhen agency procedures and policies are clear. Positiveclimate is also created when sharing of work togetherhappens. Social workers occupying the position ofmanagers/administrators have a role and aresponsibility for the creation of such a positive workculture.

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Healing touch: In the field of welfare administration,employee’s behaviour is all the more crucial as, moreoften than not, it requires ‘healing touch’ so as to havesoothing effects on clients’ problems, crises, pains andfrustrations. Lack of human touch and compassion onthe part of service providers is likely to defeat the verypurpose of the programmes and services meant forwelfare and well being of the disadvantaged sections ofthe society. On the other hand, when staff membersand volunteers work in harmony there seems to begreater likelihood that the agency would attain its goalsand that the clients and care providers would have agood experience together. Working together in harmony,with devotion and conviction would lead to meaningfulendeavours. Bureaucratic characteristics may benecessary for large sized organizations but it isimportant that inflexibility, too much emphasis on rulesand procedures, red tapism, and the like may be avoidedso as to maintain human touch and caring attitude inservice delivery.

Maintaining morale and motivation of staff, regulartraining, equality of opportunity for career development,democratic decision-making processes and smooth intra-organizational communication is very vital for harbouringpositive work culture.

Next crucial function is coordination within theorganization. The work atmosphere of an organizationcan be assessed from the relationship and coordinationthat exists between the various departments of theagency, among staff members and between the staffand the management.

Another aspect is the participative decision-making.Similarly, all staff should have an equal opportunity tocontribute to the decision-making – which would leadto an enhanced feeling of commitment and a joint sense



of responsibility. It also creates a congenial atmospherefor creativity.

The social workers as managers need to be dexterous inhandling problems and issues that come in the way of apositive work climate. They should keep in mind thepractical implications of conceptual and theoreticalunderstanding of ingredients of management discussedabove. They need to be skillful in dealing with workforce diversity based on certain biographiccharacteristics like age (researches bring out that ageis directly proportional to job satisfaction and inverselyproportional to job turnover), gender (women more oftenadhere to authority, rules), tenure, ability and skills,stamina, dexterity, strength, values, attitudes andburnouts. Another aspect of work culture involves littleemphasis on hierarchy and rules. Management byObjectives (a technique that involves participativedecision-making of dividing work responsibility and fixingdeadlines), maintaining flexibility (but not laissez fairestyle of leadership) and free flow of communicationwithin the organization.

Good management practices are essential to improveorganizational climate. Some of the importantmanagement practices include fulfillment of definedsocial needs, finding out growth opportunities andsolutions to problems, handling of conflict, equitableallocations of resources, determining priorities,assigning duties and functions, social diagnosis, makingestimates and projections for future, provision andselection of alternatives, organization of division of work,scientific approach based on facts, innovation andmodification of services, evaluation of results andmaking improvements, ensuring economical and wiseutilization of public funds and improving the quality oflife of beneficiaries and care providers. Application of

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methods, techniques and skills of social work is essentialat every stage of management practice to improveorganizational effectiveness. The ten most frequentlycited skills of effective managers are verbalcommunication, managing time and stress, managingindividual decisions, recognizing, defining, and solvingproblems, motivating and influencing others, delegating,setting goals and articulating a vision, self-awareness,team building and managing conflict.

Some of the dimensions of the organizational climateare individual autonomy, direct supervision, betterperformance, rewards, team spirit, honesty and opennesson individual differences, fostering of development,application of new ideas and methods, taking risks andfreedom to regulate individual behaviour. Managerialvalues include autonomy, equity, security andopportunity.

Most often, the effective and efficient delivery of servicesis determined to a large extent by the high motivation,and commitment of the staff and their identificationwith the organizational goals. The managers mustdevelop group feelings and cooperation among staff ofthe organization. The climate requires overall progressof the organization, sustainable human relations andstaff development programmes. In addition, effectivesupervision is also essential. Employees should get anopportunity in work situations to accept challenges,serve others, earn money, enjoy prestige and status andcan be creative and independent. Initiative takingbehaviour leads to high level of activity andexperimentations. Happy and peaceful employer-employee relations can provide better beneficiaryrelations are the core of successful organizationalclimate.



Communication and Social Marketing

Communication is the most vital ingredient in anorganization. In fact, an organization cannot beconceived of without communication. It would not bewrong to claim that communication is the life-blood ofan organization. Efficient communication is essentialfor all aspects of effective administration. Staff must beadequately and currently informed about plans, methods,schedules, problems, events and progress. It is necessarythat instructions, knowledge and information be passedon for application to all concerned and that they be soclearly presented as to make misinterpretation ormisunderstanding impossible. Proper and adequatecommunication is not just in one direction. It is twoway passage. Communication must flow from the bottomto upwards, as well as from the top to down.

In an organization, there are different types ofcommunication, each with its own sets of advantagesand disadvantages. The methods of transmitting andreceiving communication are – oral (which is primarilyface to face situation), written (it includes letters,memoranda, agenda, manuals, handbooks, newspapers,magazines, etc.) and other communications(combinations of spoken words and usage of media likeposters, flip charts, power-point presentations, etc.). Inthe organization, communication is categorized intothree sets of dimensions – downward communication(communication from superior to subordinates relatedto plans, programmes, procedures, rules, and may bein the form of command, suggestion, advice, seekinginformation, details, explanations), upwardcommunication (it is from subordinates to superior andin the form of giving information, feedback, clarifyingdoubts and the like) and horizontal or lateralcommunication (refers to communication across

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departments or between colleagues in the same/similarranks). Further, the structures of lines of communicationcan be formal (this kind of communication is along thelines prescribed by the organization) and informal (alsocalled grapevine, is not along the planned lines ofinteraction). All those communications – downward,upward, and horizontal, which organization providesfor in order to achieve organizational objectives areformal communications. Generally, when formal/informal interactions take place between employees, theydevelop their own communication system called theinformal communication. Now-a-days, we have fastermeans of communication in the form of computer aidedcommunication, say, emails, internet (intranet as wellas extranet), videoconferencing and so on.

Let us now briefly discuss current issues incommunication with regard to organizational behaviour,which should be kept in mind by the administrators/managers. Selective perception plays a crucial role insending and understanding messages and meanings.Researches show that gender (women use language tocreate connection while men use it to emphasize statusand power), cultural contexts (there may be culturalbarriers because of interaction between people comingfrom high context cultures that rely heavily on non-verbal and subtle situational cues in communicationand those from low context cultures that rely heavilyon words to convey meaning in communication),emotions and feelings (diffuse ability to receive messagein a barrier free state) and similar factors may influenceeffective communication. The manager should chooseadequate channels of communication as per therequirement such as memos, letters, bulletins, emails,telephone conversations, face to face interactions, etc.You would be studying dif ferent contours ofcommunication in organizational functioning in social



marketing, conflict management, public relations, fundraising and so on. Let us now briefly look at the conceptand relevance of social marketing.

Social Marketing (SM) is the planning andimplementation of programs designed to bring aboutsocial change using concepts from commercialmarketing. Kotler (1975) defines social marketing asthe design, implementation, and control of programmesseeking to increase the acceptability of a social idea orpractice in a target group(s). It utilizes concepts ofmarket segmentation, consumer research, ideaconfiguration, communication, facilitation, incentives,and exchange theory to maximize target group response.Andreasen (1995) defines social marketing as theapplication of commercial marketing technologies to theanalysis, planning, execution, and evaluation ofprogrammes designed to influence the voluntary behaviorof target audiences in order to improve their personalwelfare and that of their society.

The principles of social marketing can be arranged infive Ps, which are as follows:

Product unlike commercial marketing where productis a tangible item, here, in SM, product is the behaviouror idea that the campaign planners would like thetargeted individuals/ consumers to adopt. The productcan be an action (e.g., immunizing children) or materialitem (e.g., condoms).

Price includes the costs associated with ‘buying’ theproduct, which is sum total of economic cost as well aspsychological cost (embarrassment, say, in buyingcondoms for safe sex) and social cost (e.g., possibility oflosing face).

Place comprises of the distribution channels used tomake the product available to target audiences. When

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the product is a physical item, it must be easilyobtainable by consumers (e.g. condoms available atpaan-shops). In the case of product being an idea, say,education of girl child, it must be socially available andsupported within the consumers’ social sphere.

Promotion includes the efforts taken to ensure thatthe target audience is aware of the campaign. Thesepublicity efforts should be designed to cultivate positiveattitudes and intentions regarding the product that pavethe way for behavior change.

Positioning means that the product must be positionedin such a way as to maximize benefits and minimizecosts. Positioning is a psychological construct thatinvolves the location of the product relative to otherproducts and activities with which it competes. Forinstance, using condom would bring peace of mind plusfreedom from STIs/HIV and pregnancy while not usingit would lead to many health consequences with socialand psychological underpinnings.

Public Relations

Public relation (PR) is one of the important functions ofsocial welfare administration which ensures thedevelopment of cordial and harmonious relations withthe stakeholders. It is the practice of managing flow ofinformation between the organization and the public.PR is an essential and integrated component of publicpolicy or service. The public relations activities are meantto ensure the benefits to the citizens, for whom thepolicies and services are meant for. The Institute ofPublic Relations, USA, has defined Public Relations as“the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establishand maintain mutual understanding between anorganization and its publics”. Likewise, Edward L.Bernays has given definition of Public Relations as “the



attempt by information, persuasion and adjustment toengineer public support for an activity, cause, movementor institution”. Public relations and publicity are notsynonymous but many PR campaigns include provisionsfor publicity also. Publicity is the spreading ofinformation to gain public awareness for a product,person, service, cause or organization, and can be seenas a result of effective PR planning.

You may wonder, what is the need for organizations toengage in PR activities? Investing on PR helps theorganization to achieve its objective effectively andsmoothly. PR does not mean creating good image for abad team, since false image cannot be sustained for along time. Even if the organization’s services/programmes are good, it needs an effective PublicRelations campaign for attracting, motivating the publicto utilize the services, creating awareness about policiesand programmes and publicizing the work of theorganization. It not only encourages people’sparticipation but also helps in building credibility andbetter image in the public eye. An effective PR can createand build up the image of an individual or anorganization or a nation. At the time when anorganization is under crisis an effective Public Relationscan remove the ‘misunderstanding’ and help indeveloping reciprocal understanding and goodwillbetween the organization and the public. The PR includesanalysis of public perception, modifying/designingorganization’s policy/programmes in consonance withpublic interest and then executing the programmes forcommunication with the public.

PR is a planned effort or management function. It is anexecution of communication programme for rapportbuilding, creating goodwill, understanding andacceptance as the chief end results sought by publicrelations activities. It is very important to understand

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the two components of PR - ‘Public’ and ‘Relations’. Itis essential that socio-demographic and culturalcharacteristics, values, attitudes, perceptions of the‘public’ (that includes employees in the organization aswell as the community that the organization is serving)be studied objectively. ‘Relations’ means consciousdecision of the kind of relation or image theadministrators want to create in the eyes of the public.Let us look at the process of public relations.

The process of public relations is categorized into sevenphases for better understanding: The first phase includesidentifying and listing out the information or messageto be disseminated. The second phase of PR process isto ascertain the existing image or awareness level aboutthe issue in the target group or common public. Thethird phase is developing communication objectives andpriorities. The fourth phase of PR deals with developingthe message and choosing appropriate media totransmission. The fifth phase of PR is theimplementation of ‘communication campaign’ designedin the fourth phase and coordination or thedissemination of message. In the sixth phase,communication campaign is checked whether messagehas reached properly and the expected action orbehaviour or knowledge on image factors emerged. Theseventh phase of PR includes rectification of thecommunication campaign, in case the message doesnot reach properly after identification of reasons for theineffectiveness. It is followed by dissemination of therevised message.

The Image building exercises start with understandingthe present image and to chalk out, the desired imageand to channalize all the PR activities towards it. Somepossibilities that would call for PR are promotionalopportunity (to inform about new service / policy whichrequire wider publicity), competition (to overcome the



resistance or pre-set mind condition), controversy (Toeliminate the contradictory conditions in between theorganization and the public), adverse publicity (to informabout the truth or correct issues and thereby removingthe misunderstanding), catastrophe (announcement ofany unfavourable issues) and crisis (whenever threatsarise). Among the many channels, blogs are the mostrecent and economical means.

Fund Raising

Fund raising is the process of soliciting and gatheringmoney or other gifts in-kind, by requesting donationsfrom individuals, businesses, charitable foundations,or governmental agencies. Although fund raisingtypically refers to efforts to gather funds for non-profitorganizations, it is sometimes used to refer to theidentification and solicitation of investors or othersources of capital for-profit enterprises.

Common sources of funds are (1) local, Internationaldonors and government. In this section, we wouldconcentrate only on local sources of fund raising. Nowthe scenario is changing and even international NGOsare looking for fund raising, e.g. Plan International hastargeted 30% of funding from local sources. Often intimes of natural/manmade calamities like Tsunami/Kargil war, organizations engage themselves in fundraising.

Why we would raise funds? Obviously, it is impossiblefor any organization to implement activities and projectswithout certain human, technical and financialresources. Fund raising increases the amount ofresources and even helps in development of corpusfunds. It also reduces dependence on international andnational donor organization, which, often times, mayreduce flexibility of implementing innovative/creative

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ideas and targeting those needs that a community findsimportant. Fund raising brings sense of ownershipamong community people and helps organization buildsocial capital and community linkages. Mobilizing localresources increases the sustainability of communityinitiatives.

Before initiating fund raising endeavour, organizationsmust check their tax situation. There are two mainprovisions regarding this – Sec. 80G and Sec. 35 A© ofthe tax Act. Under Sec. 80 G non-profit organizationsworking in specified areas (which are deemed to becharitable) can register with income tax authority underthis section, which enables the donors (whetherindividuals or companies) to claim relief up to 50% ofthe amount donated. The Sec. 35 A © is a more recentone where contributions are 100% tax exempted. It isapplicable to specified projects rather than to registeredorganizations. Approval has to be sought from theNational Committee for Promotion of Social and EconomicWelfare, Delhi and NGOs generally have to undertakeproject for 3 years.

Another important issue in fund raising is to developan ethically sound fund raising policy. It is crucial tolist down socially inappropriate activities and not toaccept any funds/resources from tainted sources, whichmay hamper organization’s own image and credibility.For instance, taking money from cigarette/liquormanufacturing company/people with criminalbackground for any social cause would do more harmthan any good. Further, it is also unethical and unsoughtfor to exaggerate data/information, project beneficiariesas victims, accentuating their vulnerability (whereasin reality they are not so) while appealing for funds.

Next, understanding psychology of prospective donorson why people give is also necessary. People donate



because – (i) they may be concerned about the problem;(ii) may have personal experience of the problem; (iii)peer pressure (iv) guilt feeling (v) duty (vi) name/fame/as memorial and (vii) tax benefits. For a successful fundraising campaign one needs to identify likely people,create the right message and communicate that rightmessage.

Another point is how much to ask for - it depends onthe situation. In crisis situations like earth quack, flood,etc., cash and kind donations are asked for. Askingpeople to contribute ‘generously’ often confuses them.Instead, people respond better if a range of options isprovided to them. For instance, divide the work intounits: 1 sapling planted = Rs.5; 10 saplings planted =Rs.50; one cataract operation = Rs.500. Also linkingthe amount being asked with cause gives better results,say, sponsoring child’s education/nutrition, etc.

Approaching the prospective donors has many ways –face to face, addressing groups, telephonic conversation,personal letter to known/unknown and circular letter.One may organize house to house or office to officecollection, organize fund raising events, invite celebrityon exhibition/fair/mela, frame appeal, produceoccasional newsletters, pamphlets for fund raising, tapreligious resources (zakaat appeal before Ramzaan fordonation) and so on and so forth. Tapping corporatedonors is also one of the important strategies for fundraising. Companies generally donate to create goodwillin the local community, to generate publicity and fortax benefits. Certain examples of corporate giving are -cash donations, sponsoring an event, free office space,free space for workshops, making company facilitiesavailable including meeting rooms, printing, designing,lending a staff member, providing expertise/advice andso on. Many times employees agree to have regularamount deducted each month from his/her salary for

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donations as seen in the case of Helpage in Chennai. Infact, fund raising strategies are becoming increasinglymore creative and innovative.

Social Auditing

Social audit is a comparatively new subject, particularlyin the development sector in India. It is a tool to empowercommunity people and demand the accountability ofposition-holders in the development and related works.It is corollary to ‘financial audit’. Social audit is a processwherein the community does an inspection, openly inpublic, of the quality, income expenditure, profit loss ofa project, development work or a programme beingcarried out in its area. Social audit is based on theprinciple that democratic local governance should becarried out, as far as possible, with the consent andunderstanding of all concerned. It is thus a processand not an event.

Social audit is a way of measuring, understanding,reporting and ultimately improving an organization’ssocial and ethical performance. It helps to narrow gapsbetween vision/goal and reality. It is a technique tounderstand, measure, verify, report on and improve thesocial performance of the organization. Social auditingvalues the voice of stakeholders, including marginalized/poor groups whose voices are rarely heard and is takenup for the purpose of enhancing local governance,particularly for strengthening accountability andtransparency in local bodies/organizations. Social audittrains the community on participatory local planningand encourages democracy and community participation.It promotes collective decision making and developshuman resources and social capital.

The most appropriate institutional level for social auditis the Gram Sabha, which has been given ‘watchdog’



powers and responsibilities by the Panchayati Raj Actsto supervise and monitor the functioning of panchayatelected representatives and government functionaries,and examine the annual statement of accounts and auditreports. These are implied powers indirectly empoweringGram Sabhas to carry out social audits in addition toother functions. Members of the Gram Sabha and thevillage panchayat, intermediate panchayat and districtpanchayat through their representatives, can raiseissues of social concern and public interest and demandan explanation. The Gram Sabha has the mandate toinspect all public documents related to budgetallocations, list of beneficiaries, assistance under eachscheme, muster rolls, bills, vouchers, accounts, etc.,for scrutiny; examine annual statements of accountsand audit reports; discuss the report on the localadministration of the preceding year; review localdevelopment for the year or any new activity of theprogramme; establish accountability of functionariesfound guilty of violating established norms/rules;suggest measures for promoting transparency inidentifying, planning, implementing, monitoring andevaluating relevant local development programmes; andensure opportunity for rural poor to voice their concernswhile participating in social audit meetings.

Another powerful tool in social audit is the ‘Right toInformation Act’ that specifies the modalities forobtaining information and providing penalties or failingto furnish or supplying false information. The Act pavesthe way for public debate on government developmentprojects and works.

The process of social audit can be divided into followingsteps – (i) listing the expected goals/objectives of theproject/activities that is to be audited; (ii) identifyingstakeholders with a focus on their specific roles andduties; (iii) Defining performance indicators that are

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understood and accepted by most members participatingin the process of social audit; (iv) regular meetings toreview and discuss data/information on performanceindicators; (v) follow-up of social audit meeting andreviewing stakeholders’ actions and agreeing on futureaction as recommended by the stakeholders; and (vi)establishing a group of trusted local people, who arecommitted and independent, to be involved in theverification, and to judge if the decisions based uponsocial audit have been implemented. The findings ofthe social audit should be shared with all localstakeholders. This encourages transparency andaccountability. As social workers, we should expand andpopularize the concept and process of social audit, whichwould help in enhancing the objectives of democracy,social justice and empowerment of community people.

Conflict Resolution and Dealing withBurnouts

There is need for the social work administrator tounderstand conflict resolution. There can be numeroussituations at workplace leading to arguments anddisagreements among colleagues. Some of this conflictis relatively easy to recognize, may not necessarily beeasy to resolve. It can show itself through obvious enmitybetween individuals or in disputes between organizedgroups of people. Conflict may manifest itself in a numberof ways including angry shouting, in always makingcontrary points to another person, or even in sullenwithdrawal from all interactions. Conflict can also bebetween departments, agencies, organizations, groupsand individuals or vice versa.

However, it is important to understand that conflict initself is neither good nor bad. Conflict is the naturalresult of competitive environment that exists today.



Conflict has a positive role too. It makes people betterable to cope with further stressful situations and evenenvisage new breakthroughs and help create acollaborative culture. In fact, managers/administratorsneed to nurture constructive conflict dedicated to findingnew solutions, new services and new understanding ofthe social situation. Diversity of personalities,perceptions, values, working style and coping patternscause conflict at workplace.

The administrator should understand the conflict fromits very preliminary stage and should take measures toresolve it. Conflict resolution denotes final solving ofthe conflict. There are a number of ways to resolve aproblem, argument or difficulty by applying social workmethods, techniques and skills. Emphatic, active andattentive listening, on the part of a team-leader/administrator/manager goes a long way in conflictresolution. It is followed by helping the aggrieved partynullify emotions as they can inhibit or distortcommunication which is critical to resolving dispute.Exploring the reasons for conflict, identifyingmisconceptions about the issue at hand, if any, culturalor value related issues, personality conflicts and levelof resistance to change would be the next step. Afterthis, there should be weighing of various alternativesolutions followed by agreement on the most appropriateone. Agreement may involve some amount of negotiation,bargaining and compromise. The satisfaction of needs,cooperation and success underlie each negotiation.Negotiation is the usual method of conflict resolutionthrough consensus. In most of the social work contexts,negotiations should continue until it is reconciled, asfailure is usually not acceptable. Conflict can be managedas individuals work out differences. Conciliation isanother method of conflict resolution in which thesettlement is reached in the presence of third party

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usually a conciliation officer. Arbitration is yet anothermethod of conflict resolution in which the decision ofthe arbitrator is binding on the parties.

Burnouts means “become extinguished through a lackof fuel”. In our profession there are many situationswhich put us down and we lose motivation to work.Some of the probable reasons can be – the success rateof intervention may not be at desired levels, clients maynot choose seemingly right alternative and our effortsin intervention appear to go in drain, conflicts, workpressures, tensions and stresses at the workplace andso on and so forth. It is necessary to deal with burnoutsand some of the suggested ways are as follows:

1. The social worker/employee should maintainawareness of the changing social climate and arealistic evaluation of its impact on people,including themselves. This would help in wideningof the perspective and dealing with burnouts in abetter way.

2. Leaning helps to avoid burnouts. Looking eachchallenge/work as an opportunity to learn and growis required.

3. Working in the field of one’s own interest and aboutwhich they are motivated to learn more, is the bestantidote against burnouts.

4. Time management and stress management are ofvital importance in today’s work environment.Learning to manage their individual work loadseffectively and responsibly may help social workers/employees in keeping their motivation and moralehigh.

5. It is important to possess and maintain a personalvalue system consistent with the value system ofhuman service, even if its tenets may run contraryto accepted social values.



6. For social workers/employees, find a personal lifestyle sufficiently satisfying to enable them todistance themselves from their work isrequired against burnouts. In other words,keeping professional and personal life separate isneeded.

Conclusion

In this chapter, you studied about a lot of issuesinfluencing service delivery in welfare administration.Bureaucracy tends to bring inflexibility and red-tapism,while leadership styles have their own pros and cons.Authority and power influence behaviours of colleaguestowards each other as well as have overall impact onservice delivery. Work culture and organizational climateare dynamic concepts and a wide range of variablesinfluence these – diversity of work force, nature of socialwork profession, fast competitive life, stress, tension,formal informal relations with colleagues, careeradvancement, office politics, competition, teamwork andcollaboration and so on. Communication is consideredas life-blood of any organization. Various types ofcommunication and their impact were discussed. Wealso learnt about concept and principles of socialmarketing. Public relation as an important function ofmanagement was delineated. You also learnt aboutvarious strategies of fund-raising. Social auditing iscrucial for maintaining transparency. Conflict isinevitable feature of our workplace and resolving itsuccessfully is a skillful activity which you studied inthe chapter. Likewise, burnouts severely affectservice delivery and the very nature of social workprofession may lead to burnout situations frequently.You learnt about the ways of dealing with burnouts inthe chapter.

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References

Goel, S.L. & Jain, R.K. (1988): Social WelfareAdministration: Theory and Practice, (Vol. I & II).New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications.

Skidmore, R.A. (1994): Social Work Administration:Dynamic Management and Human Relationships.Pearson Education.

Kotler, P. (1999): Social Marketing. Improving the qualityof life. Delhi: Sage Publications.

Patti, R.J. (2000): The Handbook of Social WelfareManagement. Sage Publications.

Jablin, F.M., Putnam, L.L., Roberts, K.H., & Porter, L.W.(eds.): Handbook of Organizational Communication:Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Newbury Park, CA:Sage.


20

Social Policy and Social WelfareAdministration

*Archana Kaushik

Introduction

The Constitution of India is the source of most of thesocial policies formulated and executed in the country.The Indian government has implicitly committed itselfto be a welfare-state. In order to fulfill its obligations asa welfare-state, the government has formulated severalpolicies and plans of action for the welfare ofmarginalized and weaker sections of the society. Socialpolicy related to guidelines for the changing,maintenance and creation of living conditions that areconducive to human welfare. Social policy aims toimprove human welfare and meet human needs foreducation, health, housing and social security.Formulation of social policy would have no meaningunless it is executed promptly and effectively. The scopeof social welfare administration is implementation ofthe social policy.

Kidneigh has stated that social work administration is‘the process of transforming social policy into socialservices……a two way process: (1) …transforming socialpolicy into concrete social services, and (2) the use ofexperience in recommending modification of policy. Inthis unit, through three main areas – health, educationand social welfare – we would understand the policy


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guidelines and administration of these policies in theform of programmes and services. This would also helpin evaluating macro-micro level linkages. As social workprofessionals, not only we should be aware of the salientpoints of the related social policy in the area in whichwe are working but also should develop critical appraisalof the contents of the policy guidelines in the light ofsocial justice, equality and empowerment. Let us firsttry to understand the theoretical and conceptualframework of social policy with regard to social welfareadministration.

Social Policy and Social WelfareAdministration

The most common social and political use of the term‘policy’ refers to “a course of action or intended courseof action, conceived as deliberately adopted, after areview of possible alternatives, and pursued or intendedto be pursued”. Social Policy is thus, “a statement ofthe programmes, methods and principles of socialagency”. The older concept that the policy formulationis the function of politics is hardly tenable today. Earlierit was considered that policy-making is a higher orderactivity than administration and social planners haverecommended that policy-making should be distinctlyseparated from administration or execution of the policy.Wilson has claimed that administrators were not onlysubordinate to policy-makers but were presumablyvalue-neutral and efficient. They carried out policy anddo not make policy. Regarding execution, bureaucraciesare generally the instruments which implement publicpolicy. Bureaucracies are necessary for policies to becarried out with some predictability, equity, and dueprocess. Nonetheless, the negative connotations ofbureaucracy (like, red tapism, inflexibility, over -

Social Policy and Social Welfare Administration


emphasis on rules and regulations, to mention a few)may contribute to withdrawal of public confidence inthe efficacy of public policy.

Currently, the essence of administration is policyformulation. The role of administrators is not confinedto execution of the policy as they are increasingly takingactive part in the formulation of new policies andreviewing and modifying the older ones. Along with this,the administrators are playing crucial role in theexecution of the policy. Administrators also participatein another way in the making of policy for the future -they formulate recommendations for legislation and thisis a part of the function of policy making. In moderntimes, the relationship between policy andadministration has become so much blurred that it isdifficult to say where policy ends and administrationbegins or vice versa. Therefore, no study ofadministration could be complete without including thestudy of policy in it.

Policy gives direction for programme planning andexecution at the ground level. Formulation of socialpolicy is, therefore, essential for the successful workingof any system of social administration. Unless socialadministration is assisted by an adequate system ofsocial legislation and sound social policy, it cannot attainits true purpose. Absence of a clear cut social policyoften proves to be a major handicap to the developmentof a sound system of social administration. Hence itwould be no exaggeration to say that there can be nosuccessful system of social administration without asocial policy.

Next, even a well formulated policy is of no use unlessit is implemented effectively. Thus, factors influencingadministration (as you have studied in previous units)play crucial role for policy execution. Organizational

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efficacy has direct and strong bearing on the successfulimplementation of public policy.

Social policy is vital for social planning. It must beconceptually clear and simple, theoretically sound, andstated in terms of desired changes achieved among targetgroups. The policy with clear designation of roles andresponsibilities of all the stakeholders, clear directivesand organizational structures, goes a long way ineffectively realizing its set goals. Social policy reflectsthe government’s commitment for the particular causefor which the policy has been formulated. It implies thegovernment’s priorities and resource distribution. Hence,technical and budgetary means as well as time frameshould be delineated clearly in the policy. However, itmay be reminded that policies are merely guidelinesand do not enjoy legal sanctity as in the case of sociallegislations.

Since Independence, the government of India hasformulated many policies and reviewed and modifiedthem from time to time. National Health Policy, NationalPolicy on Education, National Policy on Empowermentof Women in India, National Policy for Persons withDisability, National Youth Policy, National Policy onChildren and so on and so forth. Many of these policieshave been reviewed and revised (say, National HealthPolicy, National Policy on Education). These policies arecomprehensive documents covering the vision andmission of the State, plan of action, targets to beachieved, stakeholders, expected outcome, etc. Thoughthe State cannot be sued if it fails to keep its promisesmentioned in the policy, however, in this largestdemocracy of the world, votes of the common man proveto be a driving force for politicians to try their best inpolicy execution. Further, in India, social policy playscrucial role in formulation of Five Year plans.



It may be reiterated that without proper execution, socialpolicy, doesn’t matter how ambitious and fool proof itis, remains a paper tiger. In administration, committedleadership, inter-ministerial coordination, central-staterelationship, political will, representation of variousstakeholders including the grassroots people are someof the crucial factors that influence implementation ofsocial policies. In the subsequent sections, you wouldstudy about Health policy, education policy and policiesin social welfare and associated programmes andschemes administered by the respective Ministries andState machineries.

Health Policy and Programmes

‘Health is wealth’ – this old proverb has all the moresignificance for the government of any nation like Indiaas only healthy citizens can contribute fully for thenational growth and development. In this regard, thegovernment has formulated its National Health Policyin the year 1983 that talked about setting up of a well-dispersed network of comprehensive primary health careservices, with referral system, specialty and super-specialty facilities in a decentralized and integratedmanner. The NHP-1983 had envisaged providing ‘Healthfor All by the year 2000 AD’, through the universalprovision of comprehensive primary health care services,which we could not achieve for several reasons. Again,in the year 2002, another National Health Policy wasformulated where an attempt has been made to maximizethe broad-based availability of health services to thecitizenry of the country on the basis of realisticconsiderations of capacity. The current policy alsostressed on establishing more public health institutionsat a decentralized level. As per the population projectedfor the year 2000, it is estimated that there is a shortfallof 16% in the number of SCs/PHCs/CHCs, which in

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the case of CHCs is only 58%. The NHP-2002 has alsoidentified the gap between the various States, as alsothe gap across the rural-urban divide. National healthprogrammes are designed with enough flexibility topermit the State public health administrations tointegrate their own programme package according totheir needs. Also, the implementation of the nationalhealth programme can only be carried out through theState Governments’ decentralized public healthmachinery.

There is dearth of funds for medical facilities, shortageof medical and para-medical personnel, with furtherdisproportionate shortfall in less developed and ruralareas, obsolete and unusable equipment in many publichospitals, dilapidated state of the buildings, minimalavailability of essential drugs, and the capacity of thefacilities is grossly inadequate, which leads to over-crowding, and consequentially to a steep deteriorationin the quality of the services. The NHP-2002 addressesall these issues making specific recommendations inthese matters.

The NHP-2002 looks into the possibility of using vastreservoir of practitioners in the Indian Systems ofMedicine and Homoeopathy, who have undergone formaltraining in their own disciplines, in the implementationof State/Central Government public health programmes,so as to increase the reach of basic health care in thecountry. Different levels of Panchayati Raj Institutionsare involved in programmes and funds in the healthsector. The NHP-2002 also suggests initiatives to rectifydisparities in geographical spread of Medical and Dentalcolleges and the uneven quality of education in theseinstitutions. It also focuses on unequal facilitiesavailable in urban areas causing disadvantage tocommunities living in slums and unplanned habitations.This Policy recommends measures to ensure the future



Health Security of the country, with the advent ofglobalization and its impact on availability ofindigenously manufactured generic drugs and vaccines.

Mental health disorders are actually much moreprevalent than is apparent on the surface. While suchdisorders do not contribute significantly to mortality,they have a serious bearing on the quality of life of theaffected persons and their families. Mental healthinstitutions are woefully deficient in physicalinfrastructure and trained manpower. NHP-2002examines these deficiencies in the public health sectorand makes suitable suggestions.

IEC initiatives are important for creating awarenessabout preventive and curative healthcare. It is especiallyvital for disseminating curative guidelines for the TB,Malaria, Leprosy, Cataract Blindness Programmes, andto prevent HIV/AIDS and other life-style diseases. ThePolicy, while projecting an IEC strategy, fully addressesthe inherent problems like high illiteracy rate in thecountry. The policy attempts to target school and collegestudents to improve the general level of awareness inregard to ‘health-promoting’ behaviour. It stresses onbetter facilities and financial outlay for Medical Researchin the country and a comprehensive system ofcompilation and documentation of data base on healthstatistics. The policy recognizes problems (like unevenquality, financially exploitative) with private healthservices and suggests establishment of regulatorymechanisms in this regard. It also talks aboutinvolvement of individuals and civil society institutionsin implementation of public health programmes.

One of the main components of NHP-2002 is to applythe alternative systems of medicine – Ayurveda, Unani,Siddha and Homoeopathy – in the umbrella of nationalhealthcare framework. The main objective of this policy

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is to achieve an acceptable standard of good healthamongst the general population of the country.Overriding importance would be given to ensuring amore equitable access to health services across thesocial and geographical expanse of the country.

Administrative Aspects

After brief discussion on the health policy in India, letus briefly look at the administrative aspects of the healthservices. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare isthe nodal agency that implements various nationalhealth programmes. Healthcare system in India, involvesa huge web of primary health centres and sub-centres,community health centres and district hospitals.National Rural Health Mission (2005-12) is one of thevery crucial campaigns of the government that seeks toprovide effective healthcare to rural populationthroughout the country with special focus on 18 stateshaving weak public health indicators and/or weak healthinfrastructure. The Mission is an articulation of thecommitment of the Government to undertake correctionsof the health system and promote policies thatstrengthen public health management and servicedelivery in the country. It has as its key componentsprovision of a female health activist in each village; avillage health plan prepared through a local team headedby the Health and Sanitation Committee of thePanchayat; strengthening of the rural hospital foreffective curative care; and integration of vertical Healthand Family Welfare Programmes and Funds for optimalutilization of funds and infrastructure and strengtheningdelivery of primary healthcare. It aims at effectiveintegration of health concerns with determinants ofhealth like sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, and safedrinking water through a District Plan for Health. Itseeks decentralization of programmes for district



management of health. It seeks to address the inter-State and inter-district disparities, especially amongthe 18 high focus States, including unmet needs forpublic health infrastructure. It shall define time-boundgoals and report publicly on their progress. It seeks toimprove access of rural people, especially poor womenand children, to equitable, affordable, accountable andeffective primary healthcare.

Goals of NRHM are:

● Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) andMaternal Mortality Ratio (MMR)

● Universal access to public health services such asWomen’s health, child health, water, sanitation andhygiene, immunization, and nutrition.

● Prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases, including locally endemicdiseases

● Access to integrated comprehensive primaryhealthcare

● Population stabilization, gender and demographicbalance.

● Revitalize local health traditions and mainstreamAYUSH

● Promotion of healthy life styles

Core Strategies of NRHM are to train and enhancecapacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to own,control and manage public health services; promoteaccess to improved healthcare at household level throughthe female health activist (ASHA); health plan for eachvillage through Village Health Committee of thePanchayat; strengthening sub-centre through a untiedfund to enable local planning and action and more MultiPurpose Workers (MPWs); strengthening existing PHCs

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and CHCs, and provision of 30-50 bedded CHC per lakhpopulation for improved curative care to a normativestandard (Indian Public Health Standards definingpersonnel, equipment and management standards);preparation and implementation of an inter-sectoralDistrict Health Plan prepared by the District HealthMission, including drinking water, sanitation andhygiene and nutrition; integrating vertical Health andFamily Welfare programmes at National, State, Block,and District levels; developing capacities for preventivehealth care at all levels for promoting healthy life styles,reduction in consumption of tobacco and alcohol etc.;and promoting non-profit sector particularly in underserved areas. Supplementary strategies includeregulation of Private Sector including the informal ruralpractitioners to ensure availability of quality service tocitizens at reasonable cost; promotion of Public PrivatePartnerships for achieving public health goals;mainstreaming AYUSH – revitalizing local healthtraditions and reorienting medical education to supportrural health issues including regulation of Medical careand Medical Ethics; and effective and viable risk poolingand social health insurance to provide health securityto the poor by ensuring accessible, affordable,accountable and good quality hospital care.

Major National health programmes are as follows:

● National Water Borne Disease Control Programme

● National Filarial Control Programme

● National Leprosy Eradication Programme

● Revised National TB Control Programme

● National Programme for Control of Blindness

● National Iodine Deficiency Disorders ControlProgramme

● National Mental Health Programme



● National Aids Control Programme

● National Cancer Control Programme

● Universal Immunization Programme

● National Programme for Prevention and Control ofDeafness

● Pilot Programme on Prevention and Control ofDiabetes, CVD and Stroke

● National Tobacco Control Programme

Education Policy and Programmes

The constitution of India is the ultimate document whichguides State policy in all sectors including education.Details of provisions contained in the Constitution havinga bearing on Education, have been listed as:

● provision of free and compulsory education to allthe children up to the age of fourteen years

● Education, in general, is the concurrentresponsibility of the Union and the States.

● Local authorities (Panchayats and Municipalities)are to be assigned a suitable role in education(especially schools, Adult and non-formal education)through individual state legislations.

State governments and local authorities are expectedto provide facilities for instruction in the mother tongueat the primary stage of education.

National Policy on Education

There have so far been mainly two comprehensivestatements of the NPE, viz. those of 1968 and 1986 andthe latter policy was then reviewed and modified in 1992.

The NPE aims to promote national progress, furtheringthe goals of socialism, secularism and democracy

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enshrined in our Constitution, a sense of commoncitizenship and culture, and to strengthen nationalintegration, laying stress on the need for a radicalreconstruction of the educational system, to improveits quality at all stages, and give much greater attentionto science and technology, the cultivation of moral valuesand a closer relation between education and the life ofthe people. The national system of education envisagesa common educational structure and a nationalcurricular framework with strict conformity with secularvalues.

The NPE lays special emphasis on the removal ofdisparities and to equalize educational opportunitiesby attending to the specific needs of those who havebeen denied equality so far such as Women (redesigningof curricula, textbooks, training and orientation ofteachers to foster values of women empowerment)Scheduled Castes (pre-matric scholarships, free books,uniforms, subsidized fees, recruitment of SC teachers,location of school buildings, Adult Education Centresin such a way as to facilitate enrolment of SCs),Scheduled Tribes (opening primary schools, anganwadicentres, Adult Education Centres in tribal areas, developcurricula and devise instruction materials in triballanguage, establishing residential/Ashram schools fortribal children), other educationally backward areas(suitable incentives and institutional infrastructure forrural, hilly, desert, remote areas) minorities (review oftextbooks objectively and all possible measures topromote national integration) and handicapped(emphasis on inclusive education, opening of specialschools with hostels for severely handicapped, trainingand orientation of teachers).

The policy also stresses on adult education through massliteracy campaigns, comprehensive programmes of post-literacy and continuing education, workers’ education



through employers, wide promotion of books, libraries,reading rooms and usage of IEC materials andprogrammes of distance learning, to mention a few.

The NPE also lays emphasis on Early Childhood Careand Education in the formative years of a child. It putsthrust on universal access and enrolment, universalretention of children up to 14 years of age and asubstantial improvement in the quality of education atthe elementary level. Under Operation Blackboard, ittalks about improving school facilities, availability ofminimum of three teachers per school and at least 50percent of teachers to be women. The policy also focuseson non-formal education (NFE) for school drop outs,working children and girls who cannot attend whole-day school by establishing NFE centres and having tailor-made, need based educational programmes with flexiblehours. The policy further has talked aboutvocationalisation of education, open-university anddistance learning, setting up of rural universities andtechnical and management education as its focal areas.

The institutions which will be strengthened to play animportant role in giving shape to the National Systemof Education are the University Grants Commission,the All India Council of Technical Education, the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research and the Indian MedicalCouncil. Integrated planning will be instituted amongall these bodies so as to establish functional linkagesand reinforce programmes of research and post graduateeducation. These, together with the National Council ofEducation Research and Training, the National Instituteof Educational Planning and Administration, theNational Council of Teacher Education and the NationalInstitute of Adult Education will be involved inimplementing the Educational Policy.

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The Ministry of Human Resource Development,established in 1985, is responsible for providingeducational opportunities to the citizens of India. It hastwo departments – Department of school education andliteracy and Department of Higher Education. Thesalient schemes under the Department of SchoolEducation and Literacy are:

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is an effort to universalizeelementary education by community ownership of theschool system. It is an attempt to ensure quality basiceducation all over the country. The aim of SSAprogramme is to provide useful and relevant elementaryeducation for all children in 6 to 14 age group by 2010.There is also another goal to bridge social, regional andgender gaps, with the active participation of thecommunity in the management of schools. Its aim is toallow children to learn about and master their naturalenvironment in a manner that allows the fullestharnessing of their human potential both spirituallyand materially. SSA has brought a framework forimplementation that allows states to formulate contextspecific guidelines within the overall framework therebyencouraging districts in States and UTs to reflect localspecificity and promote local need based planning. 2010is the outer limit for such achievements. The emphasisis on mainstreaming out-of-school children throughdiverse strategies, as far as possible, and on providingeight years of schooling for all children in 6-14 agegroups. The thrust is on bridging of gender and socialgaps and a total retention of all children in schools.

Broad strategies of SSA include Institutional Reforms,Sustainable Financing, Community Ownership withcommunity based monitoring with full transparency,Institutional Capacity Building for national, state anddistrict level institutions like NIEPA / NCERT / NCTE /SCERT / SIEMAT / DIET. It gives priority to education



of girls and focuses on Special Groups (children fromSC/ST, minority groups, urban deprived children,disadvantaged groups and the children with specialneeds) in the educational process.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme waslaunched by the Government of India in August, 2004for setting up residential schools at upper primary levelfor girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBCand minorities in difficult areas. The scheme wasapplicable since inception in 2004, in EducationallyBackward Blocks (EBBs) where the rural female literacyis below the national average (46.13%: Census 2001)and gender gap in literacy is more than the nationalaverage (21.59%: Census 2001).

National Programme of Nutritional Support to childrenof primary school commonly known as Mid Day MealScheme was introduced to improve health condition ofchildren belonging to poor economic status particularlygirls who remain unfed, underfed has been an importantscheme to attract and retain children in schools.

District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) isanother scheme initiated in 1988 for training of teachers.

Mahila Samakhya Programme is ‘Education for Women’sEquality’ that was launched in 1988-89 and has coveredmore than 10,000 villages in 10 states. Through women’sgroups (mahila Sanghs), it enables women to useeducation as a path for their empowerment.

District Primary Education Programme is to ensureeducation of children at district level. It stresses ongender training and has constituted Village EducationCommittees (Mother Teacher Motivator Groups).

Schemes under the Department of Higher Educationare with respect to University and Higher Educationand Technical Education.

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Social Welfare: Policies and Programmes

In India, there is no comprehensive policy on socialwelfare covering a range of issues affecting variousdisadvantaged sections of the society like ScheduledCastes, destitutes, street children, aged, disabled andso on. However, most of these issues are covered underthe gamut of the Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment (MSJE). Since the history of this creationof this Ministry from Ministry of Welfare and even beforethat has been covered in earlier units, we do not discussit here again. The MSJE is entrusted with the welfare,social justice and empowerment of disadvantaged andmarginalized sections of the society viz, ScheduledCaste, Backward Classes, Persons with Disabilities,Aged Persons, and victims of Drug Abuse, etc. The basicobjective of the policies, programmes, law and institutionof the Indian welfare system is to bring the target groupsinto the main stream of development by making themself-reliant.

The Organization’s structure is as follows:

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as the namesuggests is to ensure equitable treatment to suchsections of society suffering social inequalities,exploitation, discrimination and injustice. The Ministryis headed by Cabinet Minister and Minister of State.Next, are the Secretary and then Additional Secretaryof the MSJE. The activities of the Ministry are undertaken through Bureaus as the Bureau of ScheduledCastes Development, Backward Classes BureauCoordination, Media, Administration, Disability Bureau,Social Defence Bureau and Project, Research, Evaluationand Monitoring Bureau, each Bureau is headed by JointSecretary. Let us now examine the salient issues coveredby the MSJE:



Scheduled Caste Development

It is responsible for all round development of ScheduledCastes and to bring them in the mainstream of nationallife and ensure their full participation in socio-economicdevelopment of the country. It has initiated a lot ofschemes for people belonging to SC community. A fewsalient ones are – Babu Jagjivan Ram Chhatravas Yojna;Central Sector Scholarship Scheme of Top ClassEducation for SC students; Self Employment Schemefor Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers; Central SectorScheme of ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship’ forproviding scholarships to SC students to pursueprogrammes in higher education such as M.Phil andPh.D.; Post-Matric Scholarship for SC/ST students; Pre-Matric Scholarship for the children of those engaged inunclean occupations; Central Sector Scheme of NationalOversees Scholarship for SC candidates; SpecialEducation Development Programme for SC Girlsbelonging to Low Literacy Levels; Book Banks for SC/ST students; upgradation of merit of SC Students;Central Sector Scheme of Free Coaching for SC andOBC students; National Scheduled Castes Finance andDevelopment Corporation (NSCFDC); Assistance toScheduled Castes Development Corporations;Supporting Projects of All India Nature of SCs (underthe scheme, financial assistance is provided to reputedresearch institutions including universities to conductpurposeful studies for the welfare of SC community);and National Commission for Safai Karamcharis.

Backward Classes Development

The Backward Classes are those castes/communitiesthat are notified as socially and educationally BackwardClasses by the State Governments or those that may benotified as such by the Central Government from timeto time. The affairs of Backward Classes were looked

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after by the Backward Classes Cell (BCC) in the Ministryof Home Affairs and shifted to the then newly createdMinistry of Welfare (now called MSJE). The BackwardClasses Division in the Ministry looks after the policy,planning and implementation of programmes relatingto social and economic empowerment of OBCs. It alsolooks after matters relating to two institutions set upfor the welfare of OBCs: National Backward ClassesFinance and Development Corporation (NBCFDC; meantto promote economic and developmental activities forthe benefit of Backward Classes and to assist the poorersections of these classes in skill development and selfemployment ventures) and the National Commission forBackward Classes (NCBC; The National Commission forBackward Classes Act, 1993 was enacted on thedirection of the Supreme Court to set up a permanentbody for entertaining, examining and recommendingupon requests for inclusion and complaints of over-inclusion and under-inclusion in the central lists ofOther Backward Classes (OBCs) of citizens for thepurpose of making reservation in civil posts and servicesunder Government of India).

Salient Programmes for Other Backward Classes arePre-matric Scholarship for OBC Students (students fromfamilies of below poverty line are given the scholarshipand its funding is shared by State and Centre in theratio of 1:1, while in UTs 100% grant is given by CentralGovernment); Post-matric Scholarship for OBC Students(100% central assistance is provided to StateGovernment/Union Territory Administration for thepurpose.); Hostel for OBC Boys and Girls (Out of thehostels set up under this scheme at least one third willbe exclusively for girls. 5% of the total seats in thesehostels shall be reserved for disabled students);Assistance to Voluntary Organizations for Welfare ofOBCs.



NBCFDC has launched Swarnima Scheme to makewomen of Backward Classes self reliant and SwayamSaksham Scheme for professionally unemployed youthfor their self-employment. It has also initiatedEducation Loan Scheme to provide loans atconcessional rate of interest to the student of Backward Classes living below the poverty line forpursuing general/professional/technical courses ortraining at graduate and higher levels. Under its MarginMoney Loan, the loans are given up to 40% of the costunder various sectors viz. Agriculture and Allied, SmallBusiness/ Artisan and Traditional Occupation, Serviceand Transport. The corporation has initiated certainmicro finance schemes like Micro Credit Financingwomen through accredited NGOs either directly orthrough self help groups, Mahila Samridhi Yojna toprovide micro finance to women entrepreneurs in ruraland urban areas and Training Grant Scheme to providefinancial assistance to the members of the target groupsfor up-gradation of their technical skill.

Persons with Disabilities

Let us first take a look at the salient features of theNational Policy for Persons with Disabilities. TheNational Policy recognizes that Persons with Disabilities(PWD) are valuable human resource for the country andseeks to create an environment that provides them equalopportunities, protection of their rights and fullparticipation in society. The policy focuses on preventionof disabilities (awareness and early detection camps)and rehabilitation measures (physical, educational,vocational and economic rehabilitation for a dignifiedlife in society). It talks about awareness, early detectionand intervention, counseling and medical rehabilitation,provision of suitable and modern aids and appliancesthrough DDRCs and Accredited Social Health Activist

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(ASHA) of National Rural Health Mission, Nationalinstitutes mentioned above and their outreach work.The policy talks about development of RehabilitationProfessionals by giving training to Anganwadi workers,Auxiliary Nurse Midwifes, NGO workers and creatingawareness among teachers, panchayat members andcommunity people. Special emphasis is given oneducation of PWDs in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, IntegratedEducation for Disabled Children (IEDC) scheme. Further,3% reservation in educational institutions andemployment in government institutions and PSUs hasbeen provided. The policy also reinforces the need forbarrier free environment in public buildings andtransport amenities.

The constitution of India ensures equality, freedom,justice and dignity of all individuals and implicitlymandates an inclusive society for all including personswith disability. According to the Census 2001, thereare 2.19 crore (2.13% of the total population) personswith disabilities. The government has enacted threelegislations for persons with disabilities viz. (i) Personswith Disability (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rightsand Full Participation) Act, 1995, which provides foreducation, employment, creation of barrier freeenvironment, social security, etc. (ii) National Trust forWelfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, MentalRetardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 hasprovisions for legal guardianship of the four categoriesand creation of enabling environment for as muchindependence as possible, (iii) Rehabilitation Councilof India Act, 1992 deals with the development ofmanpower for providing rehabilitation services. Inaddition to the legal framework, extensive infrastructurehas been developed in the form of following institutions:

● Institute for the Physically Handicapped, New Delhi



● National Institute of Visually Handicapped,Dehradun

● National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped,Kolkata

● National Institute for Mentally Handicapped,Secunderabad

● National Institute of Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai

● National Institute of Rehabilitation, Training andResearch, Cuttack

● National Institute for Empowerment of Persons withMultiple Disabilities, Channai.

There are five composite rehabilitation centres, fourRegional Rehabilitation centres and 120 DistrictDisability Rehabilitation centres (DDRCs) providingvarious kinds of rehabilitation services. Several otherinstitutions, under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare– National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences, Bangalore; All India Institute of PhysicalMedicine and Rehabilitation, Mumbai; All India Instituteof Speech and Hearing, Mysore; Central Institute ofPsychiatry, Ranchi, etc., also provide rehabilitationservices. National Handicapped and FinanceDevelopment Corporation (NHFDC) has been providingloans for self employment ventures of persons withdisabilities.

Number of schemes, programmes and projects areimplemented supported by an infrastructural networkof the Disability Division in the Ministry. Theinfrastructure includes National Institutes,Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), Artificial LimbsManufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), NationalTrust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy,Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, office ofthe Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities

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and District Disability Rehabilitation Centres. Fundingschemes of the Division are - Scheme to promotevoluntary action for persons with disabilities; Schemeof Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/ Fittingof Aids and Appliances; Science and Technology projectin Mission Mode on application of Technology for thewelfare and rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities,Scheme of National Award for the Empowerment ofPersons with Disabilities; Scheme for providingEmployment to the Persons with Disabilities in thePrivate Sector - Incentives to employers and Audio BookProduction Centres.

Social Defence

The Social Defence Bureau of the Ministry caters to therequirements of neglected and marginalized people,abandoned destitute, neglected and delinquent juvenileswho need care and protection for want of support or arein conflict with the society or the law, the drug addictsand offenders, the aged and host of others who needspecial care, protection and support. For servicesprovided for the care and rehabilitation of juveniledelinquents, Juvenile Justice Act should be read.Likewise, policy on girl child, as well as policies forwomen empowerment should be read that, among otherthings, also deal with girls and women in need of careand protection. The programmes and the policies of theBureau aim at equipping this group to sustain a life ofrespect and honour and to become useful citizens. Inthis process, the Bureau plays the role of a catalystand has promoted voluntary action. The StateGovernments, autonomous bodies, NGOs and even thecorporate world are involved in formulating andimplementing the policies. All the programmes are meantto aid, prevent neglect, abuse and exploitation andprovide assistance to those deprived and mainstreamthem.



Elderly Care

In response to increasing vulnerability of elderly, theMinistry of SJE formulated a National Policy on OlderPersons (NPOP) in January 1999 to reaffirm itscommitment to ensure the well-being of the older personsin a holistic manner. It assures financial securitythrough Old Age Pension Scheme for poor and destituteolder persons, better returns on earnings/savings ofpeople in organized sector, skill upgradation, self-employment, continued employment and incomegeneration. The NPOP meeting health needs of elderlythrough strengthening and reorienting public healthsystem from primary to tertiary levels, as well asimplementing health insurance. The policy ensuresprovision of standard institutional services for thedestitute and needy elderly. It further says that theState has to gear up security network to save olderpersons from criminal offences and police is required tokeep friendly vigil. It also maintains strict and effectiveimplementation of social legislations related to elderly.The NPOP further describes the positive roles expectedfrom various stakeholders like Media, community peopleand mainly the family. It envisages training of humanresource in geriatric care.

In pursuance of the announcement of the National Policy,a National Council for Older Persons (NCOP) headed bythe Minister of SJE was set up to advise and aid andgive feedback to the government on implementation ofthe policy and programmes for older persons. There isan inter-ministerial committee headed by the Secretary,Ministry of SJE for monitoring and ensuring the properimplementation of the action taken on therecommendations of NCOP.

The MSJE supports programmes for the welfare of theelderly through financial assistance to NGOs under its

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scheme - Integrated Programme for Older Persons andanother one is Scheme of Assistance to Panchayati RajInstitutions/VOs/SHGs under which funds are providedfor construction of Old Age Homes.

Grants in aids

In keeping with its mandate, the MSJE supports andassists a number of projects in the field of Disabilities,Social Defence, welfare of the Scheduled Castes, OtherBackward Classes etc, which are implemented throughvarious Voluntary Organizations.

Planning, Research, Evaluation and Monitoring(PREM) Division

The MSJE is implementing a number of schemes forvarious vulnerable and disadvantaged groups they caterto. Therefore, it is important that the impact of theseschemes/programmes should be assessed and evaluatedfrom time to time, so that these can be suitably modified/revised to make them more effective or phased out iftheir utility is found to be doubtful. It is also necessaryto identify through research, areas where socialproblems are likely to arise in future so that the Ministrycan plan timely interventions. The Ministry, therefore,sponsors research and evaluation studies under PREMdivision.

Let us list associated organizations with MSJE:

● Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the HearingHandicapped (AYJNIHH)

● Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India(ALIMCO)

● Dr. Ambedkar Foundation

● Institute for the Physically Handicapped (IPH),rechristened as Deen Dayal Upadhyay Institute ofPhysically Handicapped



● National Commission for Safai Karamcharis

● National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)

● National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)

● National Institute of Mentally Handicapped (NIMH)

● National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH)

● National Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped,Kolkata

● National Backward Classes Finance andDevelopment Corporation (NBCFDC)

● National Safai Karamcharis Finance andDevelopment Corporation (NSKFDC)

● National Scheduled Castes Finance andDevelopment Corporation

● National Handicapped Finance and DevelopmentCorporation (NHFDC)

● National Trust for the Welfare of Persons withAutism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation andMultiple Disabilities

● National Institute of Social Defence (NISD)

● National Institute for the OrthopaedicallyHandicapped (NIOH) rechristened as Dr. ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee National Institute forOrthopaedically Handicapped

● Officer of the Chief Commissioner for Disabilities

● Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)

● Swami Vivekanand National Institute ofRehabilitation, Training and Research (SVNIRTAR).

Conclusion

In this chapter, we studied about social policy and itsrelation and relevance for social welfare administration.

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National Health Policy, National Policy on Education,National Policy for Persons with Disabilities and NationalPolicy for Older Persons have been delineated in theunit. You also learnt about various administrative detailsand programmes meant for social service and socialwelfare of the citizens. By now, you might have developeda clearer idea of translation of social policies intoimplementation of programmes and services. For furtherdevelopments and recent updates it is recommendedthat you visit websites of various ministries mentionedin suggested readings.

References

Hill, M. (2003): Understanding Social Policy 7th Edition.Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Williams, F. (1989): Social Policy: A Critical Introduction.Cambridge: Polity Press.

Moroney, R.M. & Krysik, J. (1998): Social Policy andSocial Work: Critical Essays on the Welfare State.New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Drake, R.F. (2001): The Principles of Social Policy. NewYork: Palgrave.

www.socialjustice.nic.in

www.mohfw.nic.in

www.education.nic.in


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