Some of the questions we begin with are: What is the current concerns of populations in rural India? To what extent is Social Work practice and education address es these concerns? With an interdisciplinary approach, how can we strengthen our analysis and practice? How distinct are rural realities from the urban? Is it possible to cultivate a synergy for specific practices for the rural communities? What are the implications of diversity across the country for contextualizing practice? We must engage with these questions to make the discipline and profession more relevant and to move beyond fixed and totalizing frameworks. This could be informed by acknowledging at the outset that the nature of urbanization in India is closely connected with that of the rural. It would be interesting and conducive to the growth of the discipline of Social Work if we could deliberate and debate on our concerns in the field, as well as the classroom - to bring to the forefront, Social Work in the вЂRuralвЂ™ context. This is significant in a context marked by increasing polarization between communities, deepening structural inequalities, and segmentation of people across caste, class, gender, ethnicity, and other divides. Towards strengthening its credentials as an academic institution engaged in rural development education, research, as well as practice from micro to advocacy levels, we are currently in the process of renewing the dialogue on social work in contemporary rural India. The initiatives by faculty members in the past few decades through field interventions, research, and close connection with the curriculum, as praxis, have positioned the TISS as a premier educational institute in rural Maharashtra. Its location around the Marathwada region permits substantive engagement for faculty and students with development questions of the region such as education, health, agriculture, and so on. The School of Rural Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, at Tuljapur has been offering Social Work programmes from the Bachelors to Doctoral levels. Significantly, this is a crucial juncture we need to look around the contingencies of these patterns and their implications in the contemporary. In the recent past, the pandemic of COVID-19 that has led to the reverse migration of millions from cities back to their villages was emblematic of the extent of poverty and marginalization in India, and the connection between rural and urban areas. This is the premise in which we imagine and speculate the growth and expansion of Social Work that posit responsible interventions among its target groups and thereby enhancing their lives and livelihoods. In general as a practice-oriented discipline, (professional) Social Work has been distributed its Operandi in dealing with individuals, groups, and communities irrespective of divisions across geographies. As a practice and discipline, вЂSocial WorkвЂ™ has been engaging these dynamics occurring in the social and economic life of the people in various ways. In recent times, society has been witnessing different forms of contingencies that affect the life, culture, and livelihoods of its people. National Conference on Social Work in Rural Societies:Reflections on Method and Practice

Indian national conference