Srinagar: Scores of ‘Master in Social Work’ degree holders protested against what they termed as official apathy towards them by the government.
They said that a Post Graduate Course was started by the University of Kashmir way back in 2003 and till date fourteen batches have passed out of the University and still they are not eligible for relevant government jobs.
One of the protesting members Adil Farooq from Anantnag told INS they are trained in tackling issues such as labour welfare, child protection and are best suited to serve in various schemes launched by the Social Welfare department but they are being sidelined by the department while advertising the posts.
“Recently the social welfare department issued shortlist for the post of Protection Officer, Social Workers, Counsellors which were advertised back in 2016 and the irony is that no candidate having a degree in Social Work was shortlisted for the interview. Instead candidates from academic subjects such as physics and zoology were shortlisted for the interviews,” Adil said.
The protesting candidates demanded that the post graduate course in Social Work ( MSW) should be included as a eligibility for posts of Social Workers, Protection officers, Counsellors, Mental health workers advertised by the Social Welfare Department.
“In other states of India professional social work degree holders are preferred for these jobs over other candidates as they have relevant training, exposure and experience but in our state this is being ignored,” Sabahat Bashir another protesting member said
The protesters threatened to go for a hunger strike and take other desperate measures if their demands are not met immediately.
