Addressing the future of professional social work in India

The article looks into the past of the profession and probes into the prese nt to foresee the future. It chronicles the weak spots of social work educa tion in India; debates on the persistent burden of Americanism; refers to d ie obsolescence of teaching methods, practicum, reading material and course curricula; probes into the proliferation of schools/departments of social works; reflects upon the large number of indifferently trained graduate stu dents: highlights the marginalised status of the profession, examines the l oss of profession's traditional battle grounds; describes the fierce compet ition that social work graduates face in the job-market; brings into fore t he weak and ineffectual performance of professional bodies; and comments on the lessening of people's faith in the competence of professional social w orkers. In sum, the article takes a broad look at the scenario and ventures to make some suggestions at revamping and reorganising the profession's fr ontiers to Set rid of stagnation and staleness.