‘National Council for Social Work (Education and Practice) Bill, 2021 not aimed to criminalise any professional working in social or developmental sector’

Srinagar, June 16: The University of Kashmir Wednesday organised a webinar to discuss the Draft National Council for Social Work (Education and Practice) Bill, 2021.
The day-long webinar was organised by the varsity’s Department of Social Work (DoSW).
Prof (retd.) Murali Desai from TISS and Prof (retd.) Devi Prasad from Andhra University, who have chiefly contributed to the content and process of the Draft Bill, addressing the webinar as special guests.
The Bill aims to bring progressive changes in social work education and practice in India and discusses the standards and benchmarks vis-à-vis social work course curriculum as well as the code of conduct and ethics related to the social work profession in the country.
Prof Desai highlighted the aims, objectives and structure of the Bill and also detailed out the issues and allied concerns related to social work profession in general and the Bill in particular.
The experts suggested the ways and means to carry forward the social work education and practice Bill, 2020.
Prof Prasad gave a detailed explanation on the coverage of the proposed Bill and clarified certain confusions and misconceptions regarding some of its provisions .
The Bill is not aimed to criminalise any professional working in the social or developmental sector and the proposed registration under the Bill is voluntary and not compulsory as it is in certain professions which need licensing for doing any professional practice, he said.
Dr Aadil Bashir, Coordinator, Department of Social Work, KU introduced the theme of the webinar and welcomed the guest speakers.
Dr Bashir highlighted the importance of such deliberations on the Bill and indicated that these discussions will help in enriching both the process and content of the Bill in the long run.
Prof Archana Dassi, Head Department of Social Work JMI New Delhi deliberated on participation of various groups in the drafting of the Bill and its scope.
Prof Shewli Kumar, Associate Professor TISS and Prof Ashutosh Pradhan also spoke on the occasion.