Social Work Bulletin

Social Work

University of Kashmir

Online ISSN: 2582-7790

This article discusses the vulnerabilities of persons with disabilities in Kashmir. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected people invariably and among them the vulnerable populations like the persons with disabilities can become even more marginalized in these times. In this brief article, I will highlight the issues that they can face and how the practices that have been listed as important to stop the spread of this pandemic in itself can form a major barrier for persons with disabilities. In doing so I have used secondary sources like the reports put forth by various organizations to discuss the same.

Women Community are equally to men in population, but in this modern sophisticated world, she is treated as the subordinate to men. Though various efforts are being made to improve the status of women, women folk has not taken their maximum use and remain still backward. Women Entrepreneurship ismeasured as an important tool in eliminating poverty and unemployment.Women empowerment has become a slogan and may be achievable only by the creating employment opportunities for women. The need of the time is to stimulate and encourage them to set up their own enterprises. In past women playing a vital role in the administration of the family as well as in the society. But their occupation has not been suitablystandard. Entrepreneurs are the people who have the skills and initiative necessary to take good new ideas to market and make the right decisions to make the idea profitable. The reward for the risks taken is the potential economic profits the entrepreneur could earn. In this paper, the present study has been an effort to create awareness and to understand meaning, rationale for diversification. And also discuss some major issues faced by Indian women entrepreneurs, success stories of Indian women entrepreneurs, factors influencing women entrepreneurship and steps taken by the government for upliftment of Indian women entrepreneurs.

Every developmental activity has a context, a historical background, enabling factors and political will. No policy develops in vacuum. It is pertinent to understand the economic situation of times in order to trace and contextualize the development of policies that were formed and the intentions of the governments behind formulation of such policies. The economic system is in a crisis for sure when unemployment soars high. Educational policies, with their many positive externalities, have also been developed in response to certain climates that were of urgent nature. This paper discusses the shift of thought related to employment situation from classical liberalism to social democratic liberalism, paving a way for the intervention of state authorities by assuming the role of welfare state and the consequent repercussions on the Education policy. The paper deliberates that such shifts and the proactiveness of govern

Armed conflict is a global phenomenon with serious implications for mass population. It results into powerful and long-lasting impact in the form of mortalities, morbidities, severe injuries, permanent disabilities and also restricts the access of basic facilities to the affected population. Among the catastrophic events that occur during armed conflict, disability is one of the devastating consequences which not only impacts the victim but also proves to be distressing for whole society. In the context of Kashmir Valley, armed conflict since last three decades has resulted in extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detentions; enforced disappearances and formation of a large number of people with disabilities due to which there has been a serious impact on the development and economy of the society. According to the data of Handicapped Association of Kashmir (as cited in Sidiq, 2015) nearly two lakh people have been disabled due to the conflict in the state from the last 20 years. Disability is not limited to the impairment of functioning of particular sensory or locomotory organ (s) only but it has also a long-term impact on the overall well-being of the survivor (Thapa & Thaler, 2012, p.7). As a result, the victims are not disabled physically only but it has drawn the indelible marks on their mental health as well. This statement gets corroborated with the study conducted by The Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College, Srinagar which has revealed that, of the total number of pellet victims, 85% have developed several psychiatric disorders. Depression was the most common followed by adjustment and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among them. Hence, this study would aim to elucidate the multifaceted aspects of morbidity faced by the conflict induced disables through certain case studies which would throw light on physical, social and emotional well- being of the survivors.

Alike women, children also fall in the realm of vulnerable sections, globally. Similarly, the violence being afflicted on the women has been extended to children as well, again globally, be it directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally. Children of the Jammu and Kashmir, alike the children from other war-torn places, also get exposed to the violence through the ongoing armed conflict in the state. The armed conflict, apart from killings, has come out with issues of multifaceted nature which have routinely affected the vulnerable sections of the state, more specifically women and children. The solution, still unseen, has given the job of documenting human rights violations to some of the human rights organizations. These organizations have been involved in documenting, litigating, campaigning and advocating the cases of violence so as to present the reality of Jammu and Kashmir to the international community. As the central point, the present study relies upon few local, national as well as international reports, with an endeavor to throw light on the situation of children in the J&K state. It revolves around the orbit of the four rights formed by UNCRC in the year 1989 and presents the systematic as well as structured violence committed on the children of J&K in different themes. The study entails the instances of violence committed on the children of J&K state and also exposits in detail the impact on their mental health. In the end, the present study focuses on the ways to mitigate violence on the children and the need to design well-tested remedial measures in order to alleviate the issues the ongoing armed conflict has inflicted them with.

In India, 1.05% of school-going children have a disability, of which 28% are those who have never been to an educational institution (census, 2011). Globally, a lot of efforts and advocacy has been done towards inclusive education for the mainstreaming of children with special needs. In India, every child between the age group of six to fourteen has a right to free and compulsory education, irrespective of any differences and biases. Different provisions have been created in the education policy of India and also in the Rights of the Persons with Disability Act to provide inclusive education to children with disabilities and fulfill their developmental needs. In this scenario, the role of social workers in the area of inclusive education is becoming quite essential. Social workers can work not only with children having special needs but also with their parents to resolve social, emotional and behavioural problems. They have an essential role in creating an association between school, home, and community to plan the best intervention for inclusive education. Therefore, the study aims to understand the different roles a social worker can play in the area of inclusive education for children with special needs. The study is based on the review of literature from varied sources of information, focusing on the role of social workers and the ways they can use their skills and knowledge base in practicing inclusive education for children with special needs"We need to get in there and do the work. We may do our work in a classroom, at a table, under a table, outside of a home on the front porch or through a screened door. We may do our work with puppets and clay or graffiti and spoken word, before school or during lunch...nonetheless, we do the work." - (Alden, 2012).

The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) was launched in the year 2011 by restructuring the earlier poverty alleviation program of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). This program has been pivotal in poverty eradication and livelihood generation. The program has a different approach by including the poor based on participatory identification rather than continuing with the BPL criteria. It envisages high end participation of people by creating sensitive support structures. The sensitive support structures refer to the dedicated, trained, experienced, empathetic resource full development practitioners working at grassroots level under DAY-NRLM. Looking at the experiences of the past programs, this sensitive Support Structure is considered crucial for implementation of the program. It can be found that various professional social workers who are working under DAY-NRLM act as Sensitive Support Structures. These Professional Social Workers act as Sensitive Support Structure with their manifold ability and training to work with poor. The Social Work Goals, Principles and Values are emerging out to be compatible with the DAY-NRLM goals and objectives with the presence of such Support Structures. Moreover, the ethical base of Professional Social Workers is helping to organise the poor on ethical lines and by respecting their worth and dignity. The understanding of poverty and vulnerability is helping the Professional Social Workers to mobilize more and more poor in it. Thus, these Professional Social Workers act as agents of Social Inclusion under the program. It is with this aim that this research paper tries to assess the dynamics related to Professional Social Workers acting as Sensitive Support Structures under DAY-NRLM. The present paper basis its discourse on field observations at State Mission Management Units (SMMUs), District Mission Management Units(DMMUs), Block Mission Management Units(BMMUs) and various community structures. The objective analysis of the paper is based on various Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted with these units. The philosophy of the study shall reveal the essence of Social Work education and its implication during the practice level in the programs like DAY-NRLM.

Millions of children are caught up in conflicts in which they are not only bystanders, but targets also. Some fall victim to a general onslaught against civilians; others die as part of a calculated genocide. Still other children suffer the effects of sexual violence or the multiple deprivations of conflict that expose them to hunger or disease. Children are the most vulnerable group during conflict and in the aftermath of a disaster, both emotionally and physically. Conflict poses a serious and challenging environment in which there is frontal attack on the survival, protection, education and participation of children. Child friendly spaces (CFS) have become a widely used approach since 1999and can be understood as places designed and operated in a participatory manner, where children affected by natural disasters or armed conflict can be provided with a safe environment, where integrated programs like play, recreation, education, health, and psychosocial support can be delivered and/or information about services/supports provided. CFS provides children with a safe place to play, participate in activities, learn about their rights to health and protection, and experience healing from trauma they’ve experienced. They also allow children to return to healthy routines and experience a sense of normalcy again. Thus, CFS paves the way towards the physical, educational and psycho-social development of children. In this paper an attempt is being made to understand the impact of CFS on the psycho-social well-being of participant children in district Baramulla in two different time periods. It was found that theses CFS centers have a potential to improve children’s psychosocial well-being by strengthening and nurturing children’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. They can strengthen children’s internal and external support systems by offering socializing and structured play activities with peers.

The rights of the children are one of the most important issues of human rights in present times in the whole world. The international community has responded fantastically by adopting Conventions and conferences on the Rights of the Children from time to time. However, cultures, customs, and traditions in different parts of the world have tremendous importance as compared to legal regulations. Throughout the Muslim World when Muslims do something they try to justify it from Islamic Shariah(Islamic law) which is based on the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore the current research aims to discuss the important questions raised in this research work are: Whether child’s abuse is allowed in Islam; whether Islamic law allows violence against children; what is the status of child’s exploitation in Islam; what is the position of Islamic law regarding child sex? In this work, the methodology used so far is the original sources of Islam which are quoted here to support or refute a position. The main findings of this work are that Islam prohibits violence against children; their abuse is unlawful, their exploitation is banned and it is against child labour. Child exploitation, child labour, and selling or buying children for sex are prohibited under the Islamic law.