Understanding Dr. Vijay Prakash Sharma  and his contributions to Socio-cultural Anthropology, Social work, Rural Development, and Rural Health

(PUBLISHED BY SECRETARY, VAIDYAS-INDIA 2021)

Early upbringing – 

Vijay was born to a landlord (Maga Brahmin) family at Khaira village under Kutumba police station of  Aurangabad subdivision of Gaya district in Bihar.  He was the eldest son of his father and socialized in an extended joint family with fifty members living in a huge house and eating food prepared on one hearth. His grandparents were Sanskrit scholars, practicing Ayurveda, astrology, and sun-worshipping. He enjoyed a Jamindaari of seven villages bestowed on his forefather by the royal court of Mali state. His Grandfather Pandit Kamlapati Vaidya was vishak siromani from Dhaka Medical college passed in 1922 and established an Ayurvedic Centre Srikrishna Aushdhaalay” manufacturing Medicines on a commercial scale at village Satbarwa in Palamu district and providing free treatment to tribal brethren.

 Vijay did his primary schooling at Satbarwa and then upper class at Ranchi where his father was posted in central service. Again Vijay returned to his village Khaira and completed middle and high school from an English school at Hariharganj, Aurangabaad. 

He passed  Matriculation in 1966 from Bihar school secondary examination board. In this school time, Vijay also passed DHARM RATNA and DHARM VISHARAD exams conducted by ARYA HINDU DHARM SEVASHANGH  of  New Delhi and become ritual and religious expert of SANATAN (Hindu) Dharma. He was trained in the intricacies of KARMKAAND (SACRED RITUALS) at his home with staunch vegetarianism. Young Vijay was exposed to Vaishnava ascetics at Ayodhya in 1964 while he was in class tenth.

In Ayodhya, Sri Mahanth Sitaram Sharan Jee of Lakshman Kila  bestowed on him VYASPITH for a day to conduct religious discourse in presence of 1000 devotees which he did to the complete satisfaction of Swaamijee and was declared a RAAMAAYANI (storyteller of Rama). His family owned vast cultivable land and forest at three different localities and Vijay uses to supervise agricultural work at these locations from early childhood. There was no primary school nearby area of his village so Vijay donated two acres of his land for the construction of a school and approached the government of Bihar for sanction of a primary school in his village and started the school, which is now upgraded to middle-level education. This was his first venture in social work while he was in high school.  From here Vijay entered into active social work that is continued even today. The virtue and righteousness were inculcated in his personality during early childhood training which provided him a rock base for life’s journey.

Vijay graduated from Ranchi college and did masters in Anthropology from Ranchi University and was actively engaged in art and cultural activities as Secretary of Music and Art society of college and University.  He excelled in N.C.C with B and C certificates and also five times the best cadet officer of the 19  Bihar battalion N C C . Winner of many medals in debate, drama, and social work of these institutions. He was promoted to  Senior Under Officer,  the highest rank a  cadet can achieve.

Now, Dr. Vijay Prakash Sharma is a Social Cultural Anthropologist and holds M. Sc degree in Anthropology earned from Ranchi University in 1975. Doctorate (Ph. D) was earned from Anthropology, Ranchi University in 1984 and was based on fieldwork at Ajodhya in India. From 1986 to 1997 taught Postgraduate and M. Phil courses in Anthropology of Ranchi University and GG University. Successfully guided Ph. D. degree programs in Social and Urban Anthropology from Ranchi University. MHA interns of Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai, and interns of IDM, University of Montreal, Canada. Senior Advisor to Government of India and Government of Jharkhand for USAID projects from 2005 to 2011.

Is President, Jharkhand Anthropological Association; Vice-president of Ranchi anthropological alumni association, Founder President of Vaidyas-India and TRDI-Jashpur. Convenor  of 3rd International Seminar on Globalization and Tribe, ISRRA 2014. He was Convener of the International Seminar on Humanity and Social Science-ISRAA2008; Chairperson of the Academic Session of IUAES -16th CONGRESS, 2009, Kunming, China and 17TH CONGRESS, 2013 ON Migration and Humanity, Manchester, UK. Widely traveled in Asia and Europe, Fellow and member of many International and National Professional Institutions including, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, London; American Anthropological Association (USA), International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Society, Life member of Indian Anthropological Association and Indian Anthropological Society and many more.

Published 16 books and 100+ research papers in national and international journals and Encyclopedia. He is recipient of many national and International Awards and holds Einsteinien Chair of Science of IBI, Cambridge (UK).

With 40 Years of academic career as a Social anthropologist and development professional. Visited several countries in Asia and Europe, Was convener to various panels of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, member Commission on Museum and urban anthropology, visited several International Museums in London, Zagreb, China, and India. Organized several exhibitions on Museum, Taught Anthropology in Ranchi University and GGU, Bilaspur for 10 years. Helped several universities in establishing their tribal museums.

Worked in the capacity of Project Director to IWMI- water-based agro resource management Senior Social Scientist in DFID funded Malaria Control and Research Project, Deputy Director in World Bank-funded ICDS –II Evaluation project, Project Coordinator in Aga Khan Health Services India(USAID PVOH II) and Consultant to Government of Gujarat and UNICEF projects, State Consultant for Jharkhand to USAID funded Migration project. Closely worked with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK), John Hopkins University (USA), UNDP, and IFAD.Adjunct Faculty& Project Director, Centre for Rural Infrastructure, National Institute of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500030, India; Guest Faculty in Rural Development, Postgraduate Department of Anthropology Ranchi University, Ranchi.

IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS
	Book published	14
	Research paper published	66
	Research paper presented	51
	Seminar attended	83
	Member of learned societies	15
	Lecture delivered in Academic staff college/HRDC	08
	N0. Of Ph.D. Guided	02
	Editor of Magazine / Journals	02
	Awards received (International -7/National-10)	17
OTHER SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENTS	Invited/ Memorial Lectures And Key Note Addresses	15
	Completed Major Research Projects	23
List of Ten best publications	1.       BHARAT KI JANJATIYA SAMSKRITI, Madhya Pradesh Hindi-Grantha Academy, Bhopal, 1989 (2nd edition 1993) Third Reprint-1995 2.       Hmars of Manipur : An Anthropological Exploration Anmol Publications, New Delhi, 1992  . 3.       Contemporary Indian Society (Essays in Honour of Professor Sachchidananda) Volume I (Ed), Anmol Publications, New Delhi, 1992 4.      Globalization: The Missing Roads of Tribal, Kalpaz Publications Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, 2016. 5.       Contemporary Indian Society, (In the beginning of 21st Century), Anmol Publications Private Ltd, New Delhi, 2015. ISBN:978-81-261-6479-0. 6.      Human Trafficking and Female Migration (Problem of Evolving Humanity and Emerging World). Anmol Publications Private Ltd., New Delhi, 2014 . ISBN: 7.      Dreams and Realities of Rural Development in India, Kalpaz publications,  New Delhi, 2018. ISBN:978-93-86397-95-9 a.       Research papers: Chaptrs in  Books- 8.       Displacement, Environment and Tribal Life, Farhad Mollick edited book Development, Displacement and Tribal Life, K. K. Publications, New Delhi, 2018. ISBN  978-81-7844-???-? 9. Traditional knowledge of Indigenous People as Part of Women’s Education, MAN AND LIFE, Vol.- 42,N0. 1-2, pp 1-6,  Jan-June, 2016. 10.         Gandhian Approach to Untouchability : It’s Applicability at Nathdwara”, In Contemporary  Indian Society, Vol-II, (ed) Upadhyay and Sharma, Anmol publications, New Delhi. 1995	11.

 

 

A quick look at Indian Anthropology - predecessor and contemporary

 A quick look at Indian Anthropology - predecessor and contemporary 

Vijay Prakash sharma 

Human "and their traditions, method of life, socio-cultural activities is a subject to be studied in totality. In this mode" microscopic "study is considered important. As direct experiences. Through the facts, it is important to understand the biological, social, cultural structures of human beings from scientific method. It is important that such study should depend on the truth of the analysis of the facts (without being prejudiced by any bias). This method gives anthropology to humanist philosophy. In this, comparative studies of two cultures are done keeping this in mind that does not consider any culture to be small or big. Among social scientists, anthropologists are considered to be the most skilled at compiling sociocultural facts because they become part of the routine of study, participating in their daily routines, through the medium of "participatory observation", resulting in study in depth. The facts gathered by him are self-observable truths. The subject matter of human science is large, so it has been formed into four main branches to study different dimensions of human life-1. Physical Anthropology 2. Cultural-Social Anthropology 3. Archaeological Anthropology, language science. The beginning of the series of anthropological studies in India is believed to be from the founding of the Asiatic Society in Bengal. In 1912, Sharat Chandra Roy started studying Indian tribes. The first attempt of human classical study was made by an Indian.1917 is the time of establishment of Bihar and Odisha Research Society. In the beginning of this period, studies related to Shri Sharat Chandra Roy's Munda (1912) and Oraon (1915) tribes were published. Later, many scholars of the first generation published anthropological studies. Professor Vidyarthi has named the study of 1774 to 1919 AD as "Formative" period, "Constructive" period from 1920 to 1920 to 1949 and "Analytical" period from 1950 onwards. Professor Vidyarthi called the present period section as "Analytical" because for the first time the thinking related to Indian anthropology started. Now, the basic facts of "Indian culture" have been noticed and it has been found that religion is the soul of Indian culture, so without its study, anthropology cannot be Indianised. Now, from the decade of the 1980s, the trend towards this study increased which was led by Professor Robert Redfield (University of Chicago). The study of anthropology "litlle community", from Redfield's contemplation, led to the study of "simple" to "complex" community. His concept of "Folk-urban-continuum" laid the foundation of a new era. At the same time, David Mandelbaum's team came here to study India's "rural life" and the tradition of "rural studies" was announced. Both these types of researches redesigned and reoriented Indian anthropology. Subsequently, Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas and Shyama Charan Dubey developed new concepts such as "Sanskritization" and "dominant caste" through their rural studies. On the one hand when rural studies were going on, on the other hand "urban studies" were being done by Milton Singer and Mckim Mariott. Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi was developing the concept of "nature-man-spirit" among the tribes of Santhalpargana and "sacred complex" in the religious region of Gaya, based on the concept of "Great and little tradition" under the leadership of Redfield, which in turn Indian Indians Both these types of research in scripture oriented and reoriented Indian anthropology. Subsequently, Mysore Narasimhacharya Srinivas and Shyama Charan Dubey developed new concepts such as "Sanskritization" and "dominant caste" through their rural studies. On the one hand when rural studies were going on, on the other hand "urban studies" were being done by Milton Singer and Mckim Mariott. The study was about to emerge as a big concept . This period can be called the "golden age" of Indian anthropology. Current and expansion of Indian anthropology: By the 1950s, it was confined to only 9 universities viz: Kolkata, Pune, Lucknow, Bihar, Delhi, Sagar, but innumerable dimensions of researches were carried out in this period. Several Indian anthropologists' studied the then anthropological theories such as: evolutionism, functionalism, diffusionism, structuralism, structural-functionalism, culture and individualism, and Levi Strauss's structural-symbolism were published. These publications provided anthropology with a solid ground. The Government of India also adopted them as a study based on contemporary reality. The "Anthropological Survey of India" was established which is like a milestone. The Planning Commission also considered human classical studies to be important in determining the strategy of tribal development. At present, anthropology is being taught in almost 40 Indian universities. New problem-oriented studies are taking place. With the publication of "People of India: A huge repository of facts and figures related to almost all communities in India, it has become possible at the beginning of 21st century. Biological anthropology has also given new dimension to the genome project".Overall, it can be assumed that Indian anthropology is progressing progressively. Now the need is that the government and other institutions should give proper opportunities and space to the anthropologists in view of its importance