Tirpude first social work college to get autonomy in Vid

Nagpur: Tirpude College of Social Work has become the first institute in the field of social studies from Vidarbha to be granted autonomy by the University Grants Commission (UGC), paving the way for it to modify and even introduce new courses for students. It is one of the only two social work colleges in Maharashtra, with the other being in Mumbai, to be granted autonomy.
Rajkumar Tirpude, president of Yugantar Education Society that manages the college, said the grant of autonomy now brings greater accountability. “I believe that now our responsibilities have increased because we have to live up to everyone’s expectation. Earlier problems may have been attributed to Nagpur University but now the focus will shift to us,” said Tirpude whose father, the late Nashikrao Tirpude, had established the college 52 years ago.

College principal Keshao Patil will now start upgrading the curriculum and courses on offer. “We want our courses to be in tune with the job requirements of today and also address pertinent social issues. We will be upgrading the courses to talk about water conservation and environmental problems being faced by all of us. The workload will increase for all of us and there is no doubt that it is going to be a big challenge,” said Patil who took over as principal in 2010.

Talking about the various initiatives that ensured a grant of autonomy for the college, Patil said various seminars and projects were undertaken since the start of the decade. “I organized 190 programmes on social issues to raise awareness. There were 12 national seminars organized in which topics such as tribes in India, the water problem etc were discussed by eminent people. Books were published based on papers submitted by speakers in such seminars and all of this was considered as part of the decision to grant us autonomy,” he said.

The college has also started crime and disaster management cells which help students gain practical knowledge about such issues. “In crime cell, we engage with police officials, psychiatrists to address the larger issue our society faces. For disaster management, we train our students at the National Civil Defence College so that they can be ready to provide assistance whenever required,” said Patil.