THERE was a time when social development work was not considered a serious career.
Just a voluntary activity undertaken by a few dedicated volunteers who believed they could make a difference to the way people lived. Long regarded as a low-paying though
soul-satisfying profession concentrating on the underprivileged in society, social development work has today broken free from these shackles.

Today, with increased awareness of the need for both social and economic uplift of the underdeveloped, and the fallout of the natural disasters striking the country, such as the recent earthquake, the tsunami, the Gujarat riots, and so on, this important field of work has been given a new meaning. If development work is your passion, you not only have more opportunities, but also get well paid for this very challenging field. With the large-scale participation of international organisations, government organisations and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) in development programmes in the country, the career has taken off in a big way.

Development work is a major part of social work and attempts to improve and rectify economic and infrastructural imbalances in the community both in the urban and rural areas. It is the art and the science of bringing various resources to bear on individuals, groups and community needs by the application of scientific methods to help people help themselves.

The tasks essentially involve:

• Identifying community problems such as lack of drinking water, or housing, unemployment, poor or inadequate medical and healthcare facilities and so on. This could also cover minority, gender or caste group issues.

• Initiating remedial action by influencing social policy or creating awareness

• Mobilising resources and monitoring its utilisation

• Much of the work covers responsibilities with community development agencies operated by government or NGOs, municipalities, panchayats or international organisations.

Social development work is much more complex than simply offering a sympathetic ear and practical help. The development worker performs several functions as the work is a mixture of liaison, mediating, monitoring and practical problem-solving. A major part of the work involves fieldwork. Much time is spent visiting people and communities, listening to their problems, offering support and encouragement and ensuring and monitoring the optimum use of resources.

Preventive work can take the form of individual counselling and support work with whole families or group work, and bringing people with similar problems together for mutual support. Time is also spent on paper work, keeping detailed case notes, and writing reports, or press releases. Liaison with other professionals or organisations is very important.

There is an urgent need for the professional skills in organising communities for change, lobbying with local groups, government officials or other specialised groups, organising training programmes, raising ecological awareness, and even AIDS and family planning education. Many graduates with this specialisation are also involved in providing policy inputs at various levels of decision-making within government agencies, advocacy work for the disadvantaged sections and documentation of development activities.

As the work is so varied, trained development workers can specialise in different areas of work. Often specialists in various fields — teachers, doctors, public health specialists, drinking water experts, sociologists, social workers, psychologists and others opt to work with development agencies. Students and young people from different youth organisations often volunteer for developmental work and being inspired tend to stay on in this career even without formal training.

But to be effective and productive in this field, some specialised training may be necessary. Today, the earthquake victims require not only volunteers to help them reconstruct their physical and economic lives, but also specialists such as doctors to provide medical care, civil engineers to plan and construct alternative housing, disaster management experts to mobilise resources, psychologists to help survivors handle the traumas many are undergoing and development specialists to co-ordinate and monitor all the activities.

While most government organisations and NGOs prefer to take on trained social workers, international organisations look for postgraduates from specialised fields with at least five years experience in their areas of expertise.

More than 35 recognised institutions offer professional degree courses in social work. The Bachelor’s programme is for three years, after plus two from any subject stream and selection is on the basis of a written test and interview. The courses are practical and offer students exposure by means of fieldwork, where they can test their skills in actual situations. The specialisation qualifies students for development work in areas such as education, health, natural resources management, gender justice, human rights, and disaster management.

Alternatively, graduates in psychology, sociology and related fields, or specialists from different fields can take up the two-year Master’s programme in social work or sociology, which will provide them the formal training for working in this sector. Students can also choose to specialise, taking up courses in development studies, women or gender studies and so on, offered by some institutes, and widely available abroad. The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and University of Sussex offer interesting specialisations in development studies.

As there exists a great gap in social development in the country, and a lack of personnel at the grass-roots level to handle it, all major agencies involved in development and rehabilitation work are looking for professionally qualified staff to work in the problem areas and are willing to pay well. In most cases, career opportunities depend on the individual’s field of specialisation. Community development specialists can work as counsellors with urban and rural government and non-governmental agencies, special schools, family welfare agencies as well as international agencies. Those with journalistic experience and communication skills can work in areas of documentation and research, as well as publicity and advocacy. Organizations like CRY, Helpage India, UNICEF, Oxfam, CARE are always in need of committed individuals willing to serve the needs of others. But before you take the plunge, join a social service organisation, or volunteer with an NGO and help them in their work. It will give you the necessary experience to enable you to decide if this is the right career for you.

Many professional social workers who have had sufficient experience start independent work as counsellors or therapists, providing correctional, educational, and legal support. Many have also set up their own NGOs, specialising in their particular area of expertise. Job opportunities also exist as instructors and lecturers in training centres for community development personnel, funding agencies, and as development consultants.

However, this is one career where educational qualifications and academic criteria are not the only requirements. Development work is a practical, service-oriented profession, where a bent of mind for service and an attitude of willingness to help are imperative. Those who wish to get into this field must have an intrinsic desire to help people; a firm commitment to the cause, no prejudices about class, culture, religion, and race, as well as the maturity and emotional stability to handle other peopleproblems. The ability to communicate with people from varied backgrounds and emotional states, sympathy and empathy, patience and the ability to work in difficult conditions are other attributes needed to have a satisfying career as a social development worker.

Most of the leading universities, including University of Delhi, Jamia Millia Islamia, Nirmala Niketan College, Bombay, Madras School of Social Work, Chennai, the Indian Institute of Social welfare and Business Management in Kolkata, Kurukshetra University, and Punjabi University, Patiala, offer the three-year Bachelor’s degree as well as the two-year MA in social work. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, offers the MSW on the basis of a written test followed by a group discussion and interview.

The writer is a noted career expert