Building a Legacy

The Karve Institute of Social Service has produced many renowned social workers and is considered by some to be amongst the top ten social service institutes in India.

The Karve Institute of Social Service has produced many renowned social workers and is considered by some to be amongst the top ten social service institutes in India. The alma mater of Tejaswini Sevekar,Dr Sudha Kothari,Anand Pawar and Santosh Jadhav,to name a few,the organisation imparts post-graduate level to PhD level training in professional social work under the University of Pune. Established in 1963 by Dr Bhaskar Karve in memory of his father,social reformist Maharishi Keshav Karve,the institute is celebrating its golden jubilee in November. The inauguration function on November 9 will be attended by Dr Syeda Hameed,member,Planning Commission and Anu Aga,Rajya Sabha member. Six speakers from across the world are scheduled to speak in the conference. Out of more than a 100 abstracts received,70 were selected for presentation. Out of them,17 are international papers and the rest are from across the country,said Professor Nagmani Rao,convener of the Golden Jubilee celebration.

According to Anjali Maydeo,professor and co-convener of the international conference,70 per cent of the institute’s students come from rural backgrounds. Till last year,we had a huge proportion of first generation learners and the lowest fee structure too, she said. Since these kids come from diverse backgrounds and have seen harsh realities in their lives,they tend to understand social work better and are always eager to work for the uplifting the downtrodden and those in need of help.

Another unique feature of the institute is that no course is bereft of extensive field work. Field work is our core domain and that is one of the strengths of our institution. Students go down to the grassroots and do their research and work hands-on with the problems of the people,hence giving them first-hand knowledge of the ground realities said Dr Deepak Walokar,Director of the institute.

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The field work program includes orientation visits,concurrent placements,rural camp,advanced orientation visits,study tours and so forth. We have linkages with various government projects,NGOs,social movements and we ourselves have various initiatives in which the teachers and the students participate. This gives them hands-on training and also makes them capable enough to solve any type of problem that may come across when they start working, said Professor Rao. The institute also has a wide variety of expertise in the fields of gender,disability (physical and mental),HIV,tribal,child rights and corporate social responsibility.

The institute taught me how to be a professional social worker without losing human touch, said Tejeswini Sevekari,founder of Saheli Seva Sangh,the first collective of women sex workers in Pune and also a 1995 batch alumnus of the institute. We were taught each and every thing related to working with exploited people and also how to counsel them. We were taught that almost all social problems are interlinked,hence a very need-based approach is required to solve any issue. And this has helped me a lot when I started my work and I still hold on to the principles that the institute taught me.

The institute also faces a lot of funding problems at times but they are still very clear about whose funds to accept and whose to decline. We never accept funds from extremist bodies even in the times of greatest need. In todays world,only if the institute is ethically and morally sound will the students learn it and in social work,ethics and selflessness matter a lot, said professor Maydeo.

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Anand Pawar