The Gazetteers Department

The present department of Social Welfare came into existence after the amalgamation of the Directorate of Backward Class Welfare with the Inspectorate of Certified Schools in 1957.

The Directorate of Social Welfare with its headquarters at Poona has two wings. One deals with the backward class welfare work, and the other with the correctional work and work relating to the welfare of women and the moral and social hygiene programme, education and rehabilitation of the physically handicapped.

On the correctional side, the Director of Social Welfare is assisted by the Deputy Director of Social Welfare (correctional administration) who is also the Chief Inspector of Certified Schools and Certified Institutions. The three assistant directors of social welfare at the headquarters are each in-charge of the childrens work, beggar's work and plan work, respectively.

Divisional Social Welfare Officer

Regional officers designated as the divisional social welfare officers are posted at the headquarters of the revenue divisions of the state. They are entrusted with the administrative and supervisory work relating to all the subjects handled by the Directorate of Social Welfare. Each is assisted in correctional and allied work by an Inspector of Certified Schools.

At the district level, there is no special administrative Machinery for the correctional work except the superintendents of the institutions wherever there are such institutions. The district social welfare officer, who is primarily responsible for the backward class welfare, assists in carrying out administrative work concerning the correctional wing.

Legislation

The correctional wing is responsible for the implementation of the following Acts: —

(i) Bombay Children Act, 1948, applicable at present to Western Maharashtra only; the Hyderabad Children Act, 1951, applicable to the districts of Maharashtra region; and the Central Provinces and Berar Children Act, 1928, applicable to the districts of Vidarbha region.

The Children Acts provide protection to the destitute, neglected and victimised children below 16 years of age, and seek reformation of delinquent children through training in remand homes and certified schools.

(ii) The Bombay Prevention of Beggary Act, 1959, applicable at present only to the Greater Bombay area.

(iii) The Bombay Probation of Offenders Act, 1938, provides for the probation of offenders in lieu of jail punishment in cases recommended by the probation officers appointed under the Act. The act at present is applicable to the eleven districts of Western Maharashtra.

(iv) The Bombay Habitual Offenders Restriction Act, 1959, deals with the prevention of crime. It provides for industrial and agricultural settlements for the rehabilitation of offenders. At present, it is applicable to the eleven districts of Western Maharashtra only.

(v) The Bombay Borstal Schools Act, 1929, applies to offenders between 16 and 21 years of age. At present, the Act is applicable to the districts of Western Maharashtra only. There being no Borstal School in Maharashtra State, the offenders are sent to the Borstal School, at Dharwar. The Reformatory Schools Act, 1897, is in operation in the Vidarbha region.

(vi) The implementation of the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956, rests with the police. The department of Social Welfare is responsible for running protective homes. The Chief Inspector of Certified Schools has been declared as the Chief Inspector of the Protective Homes.

(vii) The Women's and Children's Institutions Licensing Act 1956, is a central act. It provides for the licensing of voluntary institutions for the benefit of women and children. The Director of Social Welfare is the licensing authority for this purpose and the inspection and supervision of such institutions is entrusted to the women inspector.
Besides, the department undertakes following after-care programmes in the sphere of children's and women's welfare.

The Maharashtra State Probation and After-Care Association looks after the after-care programme relating to children. Where-ever the Bombay Children Act has been applied, the district after-care association maintains remand homes. After-care hostels are run for boys and girls released from certified schools.

The welfare of women is sought under the moral and social hygiene programme sponsored by the Central Social Welfare Board. Ten reception centres and two State Homes function in Maharashtra State for girls and women in moral danger, destitute or deserted women or women released from correctional institutions. Four district shelters and one state home are run for men released from correctional institutions.

The education and rehabilitation of the handicapped is also entrusted to the department. The work at the headquarters is organized by a special officer. A number of schools and shelter workshops are run for the various categories of the handicapped. Voluntary agencies doing work in this field are given grants.

The department gives grants to cultural institutions, e.g., schools for dance, drama and music as well as to the welfare institutions such as rescue homes, mahila mandals, etc.

Juvenile guidance centres are organised as a precaution against juvenile delinquency.

Work in District

At present, the Hyderabad Children Act, 1951, is in force in the five district of Marathwada regions. No machinery has yet been set up under the Act in Bhir district. Unification of all the three children acts in force in the State at present, is under way. Other Acts are not made applicable to the district as yet. Under the social and moral hygiene programme, a reception centre was opened in the district in 1958 to house 40 inmates. The centre is under the charge of a superintendent assisted by a managing committee. Rehabilitation of the inmates is sought through marriages, reconciliation with relatives or through training facilities at the reception centre or the state homes.