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The Working Model
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taken uptil now and it was thought necessary that an appeal should be made to the members of the Jaina community to furnish the requisite information. Accordingly, the questionnaire was fully endorsed by twelve influential and leading members of the Jaina community. These signatories to the endorsement were so chosen that they included not only the representatives of important Jaina associations and institutions from different parts of the country, but also the most learned and respected personalities of the community. Again, copies of the questionnaire were sent to the editors of various Jaina journals representing the views of different sects, sections, schools of thought and associations of the community with a request to give publicity to the scheme of a social survey of the Jaina community and to ask their readers to send their answers to the questionnaire as early as possible. It is gratifying to note that many journals, in their editorial comments expressed the necessity of having such a scientific survey of social conditions prevailing in the Jaina community at present and urged upon the members to send their replies as a part of their social duty. Some papers even translated and published the full text of the questionnaire and appealed to the Jaina leaders and associations of different places that realising the importance of such a survey from the point of view of Jaina society, they should arrange to get as large a number of replies as possible. In addition to this, I attended the annual sessions of some important Jaina associations and personally requested the members, after explaining the importance of the scheme, to answer the questionnaire. I also visited several places of Jaina centres, saw the leading members there, and extended to them the same request. Thus, more than one thousand copies were distributed to the educated and responsible members of the Jaina community all over India and as a result of appeals, requests and repeated reminders one hundred and fiftyfour replies were' received. Though the number of replies received is comparatively meagre, yet it serves our purpose because the replies are received from important sections of the community from practically every part of the country-right from Amritsar and Calcutta in the North to Tanjore and Trichonopoly in the South-and they are really valuable as many of them have come from very well educated persons occupying responsible positions in the society. Based on the information received from these
