Write about the historical development of Community work in India and also discuss the place of community work in social work profession.

 Historical Development of Community Work in India: In the 1950s, a massive government programme of community development in rural areas was launched. The objectives of these programmes were to develop local initiatives, particularly in the areas of education, health and agriculture development, as per the community needs. The focus was to motivate people to express their needs and to avail themselves of resources available.

Mukherji explains that in community development the effons of people and governmental are mited to improve the social, economic and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate these communities with the life of the nation and to contribute to the nation’s development.

The objectives of community organization are

(1) to take care of all the sections of the people

(2) to mobilize them to achieve the desired goal

(3) to take special care of the underprivileged, and

(4) to take care of the whole development process.

Besides the social workers, a number of stakeholders are involved in the process of community work in rural areas.  They include health workers, education experts, agriculturists, scientists, adminis-trators and field workers.

The community work in India has remained largely rural. A large number of NGOs are now working in education, infrastructure development, healthcare and children and women welfare programmes. The community work in India is welfare-oriented.

Definition

Kramer and Specht define community organization as a method of intervention in which a professional change agent helps a community action system comprising individuals, groups or organizations to involve in planned collective action to cope with special problems within the democratic system.

Two major concerns are:

(a) The interactional process in the system: It includes identifying, recruiting and working with members and developing organizational and interpersonal relationships among them; and

(b) The technical tasks: It includes identifying problem areas, analyzing causes, formulating plans, developing strategies and mobilizing resources.

MG Ross defines community organization as a process in which a community identifies its needs or objectives, finds the resources to meet these needs or objectives, takes action and develops cooperative and collaborative attitudes and practices in the community.

There are many definitions on community organization. The following four major ideas are reflected in these definitions: 

(1) Cooperation, collaboration and integration among various stakeholders.

(2) Fulfilling the needs and balancing needs and resources.

(3) Community organization deals with programme relationships.

(4) A working relationship between the democratic process and specialism.

Place of Community Work in Social Work Profession :

Community work has been a part of social work. In the West, community work has included community care, promoting care in the community, enabling service users and careers to take part in planning, monitoring and evaluating community care services. Community social work has gone beyond community care. It has featured within other professional settings, including housing and planning.

Besides, community work has been carried out by volunteers and unpaid activists within communities. There was also debate whether community work should be defined as a professional activity at all. 

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