Dr Bishnu Mohan Dash has become the first ever Indian Social Work academician to get published a textbook of international standard.
New Delhi: While the country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav an academician of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has added a jewel to the crown of Mother India.
Dr Bishnu Mohan Dash, Associate Professor and Discipline Coordinator, Discipline of Rural Development at IGNOU has got published a book titled “Introduction to Social Work” by international publisher SAGE (New Delhi, California, London, Singapore). This is the first-ever textbook on Social Work by an Indian academician published by SAGE India in the past over eight decades. Though the discipline of Social Work was first introduced at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai during British Colonial Rule in 1936, Indian students had been fully dependent on European and American scholars for textbooks of global standards.
The book is divided into four sections consisting of 26 Chapters, contributed by highly experienced Indian social work academicians from various reputed universities/ institutes of India and Nigeria (Africa).
“The books authored by European and American academicians are based on the needs and requirements of the Western society. Obviously, there is almost no place in those books for Indian experiences in the field of social work. Therefore, the students who refer to those books as their study materials get well versed in Western perspectives of social work but are cut off from Indian roots and become Eurocentric scholars,” said Dr BM Dash. “The book, besides keeping the global significance of various social work theories and practices also includes indigenous social work thinkers, theories and practices to make it relevant for Indian ambiance,” he explained. Besides the Under-Graduate (UG) and Post-Graduate (PG) students of social work, we hope, the book will also be immensely useful for civil services aspirants.
Within a few weeks, the book has received accolades from academicians across universities in India and abroad. On 18th August, the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports organized a panel discussion by inviting teachers from various Universities. Another panel discussion is scheduled on 29th August at Bhopal School of Social Sciences. “The response of academic fraternity is highly encouraging. Several requests have come for hosting panel discussions. Though panel discussions we will be able to instill the confidence among youths that Indians are at par with any other nationalities in intellectual caliber,” said Dr Dash.
The book provides a broad overview of the profession of social work in India, a historical perspective on the development of social work, current social work practice paradigms, and contemporary social issues in Indian society. Besides, it also discusses values, ethics, principles, scope, and various approaches to social work which are essential to understanding the profession from an Indian philosophical framework, perspectives, practices, and experiences.
This is the third book of Dr Dash by such international publishers. Earlier, he got published the historic “Indian Social Work” and “Field Work Training in Social Work” by Routledge, Taylor, and Francis (New York) which are considered as great contributions to Indian social work education. Besides, he has got published several other books on social work by reputed Indian publishers.
