National Association of Professional Social workers in India (NAPSWI) and Professional Social workers Association of Jammu and Kashmir organized an online panel discussion on Draft National Council of Social work (Education and Practice) Bill 2020.
The discussion was part of a series of panel discussions which are being conducted throughout the country to seek the feedback from various stake holders in different regions. This panel discussion on the Draft Bill was conducted specifically for the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
The panelist included Prof Sanjai Bhatt from the Delhi School of Social work University of Delhi and former President NAPSWI, Prof Gandhi Doss, President Indian Network of Professional Social workers Association, Dr. Shewali Kumar from TISS, Dr. Shazia Manzoor and Dr. Wakar Amin from University of Kashmir, Dr. Vinay Kumar and Dr. Ranvir Singh from Central University of Jammu Prof. Sanjai Bhatt being one of the members of the drafting committee while providing a brief introduction about the bill reflected upon various reasons for seeking the proposed Bill.
He emphasized on the issue of regulation and improvement of social work education and practice in the country. Given the fact that the discussion was primarily focusing on the regional/UT issues, Prof.Bhatt’s association with Kashmir being the members of the NAAC team that conducted the reassessment of University of Kashmir in 2019 helped other panelist from the UT to project issues and concerns like service rules-eligibility and dearth of post of the Social work professional working in the UT more clearly.
Prof Doss and Dr. Shewali Kumar being members of the drafting committee also discussed various aspects of the proposed bill. All the panelist expressed happiness and satisfaction on the fact that the proposed bill has been able to address all the genuine concerns of the social work professionals.
The recommendations of the panelist from the UT were documented and sent to the drafting committee. The discussion was moderated by Jaspreet Singh, and Ranjoy Gupta President and General secretary, Professional Social workers Association of Jammu and Kashmir.
