Role of Research Policy in Empowering Socially Excluded Communities for Social Transformation

In the perspective of national development, it is imperative to formulate suitable research policy to focus on all the socially and economically disadvantaged groups-- popularly known as socially excluded communities-- so that the process of knowledge generation about interventions and that of equitable development of all in the country becomes mutually supportive. Apparent it is to take into account the relative importance and acuteness of developmental needs and problems of the marginalized sections of society. For this greater attention and efforts on the part of researchers’ community to provide a database on the degree of success of programme implementation for inclusiveness and empowerment is required. In this regard, research efforts both at the macro and micro levels need to be coordinated for bringing social reality for deeper understanding of the phenomena of social exclusion in local context and at national level. Thus, multi-disciplinary approach to formulate suitable research policy for national development is required in order to make research socially more relevant and meaningful. Community participation in development programmes needs to be evaluated to gauge the level of their socio-economic status along with improvement in their standard of living. Here, paradigm shift in educational research is also expected to play an important role in policy formulation as it is concerned with schooling and educability in the context of addressing to the needs of the stakeholders, especially excluded groups such as ruralites, women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes along with physically and mentally challenged groups vis-à-vis the expectations of the government in the democratic and secular social order--in search of social justice with equity. For the sustainability of the development programmes like poverty alleviation along with more stress education and skill development the researchers’ priorities need to be focused on these vulnerable groups--either excluded or prone to exclusion in development schemata. A number of development programmes, focusing on different facets of human and social life for enabling them to be productive and responsible members of nation such as continuing education, life-long learning, inclusive education, integrated education, special education for differently abled students have been initiated with more vigor during the last two decades to achieve sustainable development goals like quality education, gender equality, quality of life etc. It is a known fact that these phenomena related to social life can’t be addressed with same research design due to various underlying socio- economic and political reasons. Hence, to better understand and explain social life, both kinds of data i.e. quantitative and qualitative need to be taken at individual level and community level to assess the magnitude of success of these progammes in terms of stated measurable targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs). To illustrate, the impact of literacy or continuing education or skill development programmes--both for income generation and good quality of life especially through micro level organizations such as self-help groups can be better understood only with participatory approach to research, by focusing on various kinds of targeted population groups-- blended with quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques. The concept of self- reliant rural economy calls for more emphasis on these excluded groups residing in the remote rural areas by addressing to their educability, employability and good standard of living with no stress or preference to migrate to urban areas or alien lands in search of earning livelihood and seeking meaning to life. Additionally, added value to understand the social reality will be through research on purpose and process of schooling to weave the meaning of education in developmental context--both socio-cultural and economic. The role of state and others such as philanthropic and voluntary organizations along with that of corporate world in the present times also comes under researchers’ focus to safeguard the community interests in the light of constitutional framework and evolving a civil and an enlightened society. In the wake of these concerns--regarding state and society in the globalizing world economy--social sciences research including education must focus on the research problem and then using pluralistic approaches to derive knowledge about the social problem. Any research policy in the perspective of national development cannot be talked in absolute terms, but rather in relative, changing and evolving contexts with regard to growing contours of social and national goals for evolving an egalitarian social order.