Channaveer R. M. (editor) - Social Welfare Policies and Programmes in South Asia

Editing this book has been an enriching experience despite challenges along the way. Discussions, debates and engagement with the interdisciplinary scholars across the world have been enlightening and inspiring. Commitment and contributions from both senior and junior scholars in diverse social science fields have resulted in this book. As such, an interdisciplinary concern of South Asian social welfare is reflected within this book.

We the editors sincerely thank all our contributing authors for their valuable contributions. We specially mention the support of Bharti Chhibber, Keshaw Walke, Shamini Attanayake, Lalitha Fernado, Mahfuzul Haque, Neena Joseph, Illango Ponuswami, Lakshmana G., Jagadish Jadhav, K. G. Parashurama and Gangadar Sonar with peer-reviewing chapters.

In addition, a big thanks to Prof. Vimla V. Nadkarni (TISS Mumbai), Prof S. Parasuraman (TISS Mumbai), Prof. He Xuesong (East China University of Science and Technology), Prof. Jing Guo (University of Hawaii at Manoa), Dr. Rituparna Bhattacharyya (Associate Fellow, Advance Higher Education Academy UK), Prof. GAO Jianguo (Shandong University), Antara Ray Chaudhury, Brinda Sen and Shashank Shekhar Sinha (Routledge, New Delhi), Prof. Manohar Pawar (Charles Sturt University, Australia), Prof. Vishanthie Sewpaul (University of Kwazulu Natal, South Africa), Dr Venkat Pulla (Australian Catholic University, Australia), NAPSIPAG Sri Lanka and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) for their constant support and guidance at various stages of preparation of this book.

We gratefully acknowledge the many friends and family who supported us along the journey with their expertise, encouragement and stimulating suggestions.

Shachee Agnihotri is an India-China Government doctoral scholarship researcher at the School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, China. She also contributes as a research assistant on the IPDS Research Team, DDM . She completed her master of philosophy in Chinese studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Her research interests include demography, Chinas society, population ageing, social policy and cultural issues with an interdisciplinary approach. She has contributed chapters in books and articles and has presented papers at several conferences.

Ansari P. A . is pursuing a PhD in human rights from the Department of Political Science, Aligarh Muslim University, New Delhi, India. He completed his masters in human rights with first position from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. He has been selected for the researchers team to visit the London School of Economics as part of a prestigious fellowship program, conducted by the High Commission of India, Ministry of Social Justice and Ambedkar Foundation. His areas of research are the socio-economic rights of internal migrants, minority rights, labour rights and child rights.

Rajendra Baikady is a post-doctoral researcher and Confucius Institute Understanding China Fellow at the Department of Social Work, Shandong University, Peoples Republic of China. Previously, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, Central University of Karnataka, from where he has a PhD in social work. He has an MA in mental health from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai; a postgraduate degree in social work from Mangalore University; and more than half a dozen other postgraduate degrees, diplomas and visiting scholarships from various universities. He also qualified for UGC-NET of the University Grants Commission. Before his PhD, Baikady worked as head of the Department of Rural Development and as a student welfare officer and lecturer in Social Work at the Dr. A. V. Baliga Institute of Social Sciences and Rural Management, Udupi. He was a visiting scholar at the Department of Social Work, Shandong University, China (March to September 2016) and was awarded the prestigious INLAKS research travel grant (2015), the ICSSR fellowship grant (2015) and a Shandong University tuition fee exemption scholarship (2016) for his research work in China. He was the recipient of the Short-Term Research Award (STARA) by the Ministry of Education, Government of Taiwan, to conduct research at National Chengchi University Taiwan as a visiting scholar (April to June 2018). In 2018, he was awarded the Confucius Institute Understanding China fellowship for his research related to social work education in China (October 2018 to March 2019). His forthcoming books include The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Work Education , edited with Sajid S. M., Cheng Sheng Li and Haruhiko Sakaguchi, and Building Sustainable Communities: Civil Society Response in South Asia , edited with Nurul Momen, Cheng Sheng Li and Basavaraj M. His research areas are international social work, peace, poverty and issues concerning youth within South Asian contexts.

Ghouse Basha A. M . is an aspiring lawyer, a qualified social worker (and researcher) and freelance trainer on workplace harassment and sexual abuse (especially in corporations) based in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. He attained his masters in social work from Madras Christian College, Chennai, India, and is currently studying law in Madurai at Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai. He is also the founder of Ashokam, a non-profit organization working towards research and analysis in diverse areas, such as womens welfare and social and policy issues in South India. He completed his bachelors in physics and also has an abiding interest in photography and documentary film-making.

Alice K. Butterfield is a professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. Her scholarship focuses on homelessness, social policy, international social work and community development. Among her publications are Practicing as a Social Work Educator in International Collaboration (2017); Dynamics of Family Policy (2010), Social Development and Social Work: Learning from Africa (2013); Interdisciplinary Community Development (2007); and University-Community Partnerships: Colleges and Universities in Civic Engagement (2005). Her research includes the emergence of the nonprofit sector and child welfare in Romania, and she is engaged in research in Ethiopia. She leads a higher education partnership resulting in a School of Social Work and the first-ever MSW and PhD degrees in Social Work and Social Development in Ethiopia. Her practice includes asset-based community development and the integrated community development and child welfare model of practice. Dr. Butterfield serves as a Fulbright specialist with Assam Don Bosco University in Northeast India. She has served on the Council on Social Work Educations Commission on Global Social Work Education. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007 and the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Community Organization & Social Administration in 2014.

Deepshikha Carpenter is an assistant professor, Department of Social Work, Tezpur University, Assam, India. She has recently submitted her doctoral thesis on legal provisions and domestic violence in Assam at the Department of Womens Studies, Gauhati University. She specialises in social work and gender studies and is interested in social work education, gender, crime and violence and disability studies.

Channaveer R. M. is a professor and the head of the Department of Social Work, Central University of Karnataka, India. For the last 17 years, he has been engaged in post-graduate teaching, has carried on research projects funded by regional and national-level agencies, and has published 30 research papers in journals. He is known for his innovative community-based interventions, initiatives and actions. His area of work is social development, international social work, community-based rehabilitation and social entrepreneurship.