Appointment Order to 53 deserving candidates as Assistant Professors of Social Work in Govt First Grade Colleges in Karnataka

Dear All,
By now all of you may be aware that Collegiate Education, Govt of Karnataka, has issued Appointment Order to 53 deserving candidates as Assistant Professors of Social Work in Govt First Grade Colleges in Karnataka. This is a big victory to all the deserving candidates who had worked hard and had got selected through fair means. It is also a big victory to Social Work Education in Karnataka. Sadly, the whole process exposed some selfish and opportunistic individuals within our own fraternity. They instigated candidates with BSW qualification to stall the process of selection in their favour, which, if had yielded result, would have not only meted out injustice to meritorious candidates in the selection list but would have given backdoor entry to those who had managed only to be at the bottom-end of the results sheet, just because of their BSW degree. This, in turn, would have weakened Social Work Education in Govt. First Grade Colleges in Karnataka. Thanks to the relentless efforts of the deserving candidates and a hand few of Educators from some of the Universities in Karnataka, truth and justice has prevailed. Here are my three simple questions to those who instigated the candidates with BSW qualification to vitiate the selection process: 1. If this was your conviction and not opportunism, then why didn't you state that only candidates with BSW qualification are eligible to apply at the time of Notification itself?, 2. If this is your conviction, why don't you admit only those candidates with BSW qualification to MSW course in your own Department?, and 3. Do you hold a BSW degree? If not, then are you ready to give up your job and the salary and benefits that you have drawn so far as a Social Work Educator? If you cannot answer these questions, then give up the hypocrisy and join hands with others to strengthen Social Work in Karnataka and not weaken it.

Ashok Antony D'Souza, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Dept. of Studies in Social Work, Rani Channamma University, Karnataka