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By:

Shoumojit Banerjee

27 August 2024 at 9:57:52 am

Classroom of Courage

In drought-scarred Maharashtra, a couple’s experiment in democratic schooling is turning child beggars into model citizens In the parched stretches of Maharashtra, from Solapur to the drought-hit villages of Marathwada, a modest social experiment has quietly unfolded for nearly two decades. It is neither a grand government scheme nor a corporate-backed charity. Since 2007, the Ajit Foundation, founded by Mahesh and Vinaya Nimbalkar, has worked with children living at the sharpest edges of...

Classroom of Courage

In drought-scarred Maharashtra, a couple’s experiment in democratic schooling is turning child beggars into model citizens In the parched stretches of Maharashtra, from Solapur to the drought-hit villages of Marathwada, a modest social experiment has quietly unfolded for nearly two decades. It is neither a grand government scheme nor a corporate-backed charity. Since 2007, the Ajit Foundation, founded by Mahesh and Vinaya Nimbalkar, has worked with children living at the sharpest edges of society in Maharashtra. The foundation has become a home for out-of-school children, those who have never enrolled, the children of migrant labourers and single parents, and those who scavenge at garbage dumps or drift between odd jobs. To call their foundation an “NGO” is to miss the point. Vinaya Nimbalkar describes it as a “democratic laboratory”, where education is not merely instruction but an initiation into citizenship. The couple were once government schoolteachers with the Solapur Zilla Parishad, leading stable lives. Yet what they witnessed unsettled them: children who had never held a pencil, begging at traffic signals or sorting refuse for a living. Prompted by this reality, the Nimbalkars resigned their jobs to work full-time for the education of such children. Leap of Faith They began modestly, teaching children in migrant settlements in Solapur and using their own salaries to pay small honorariums to activists. Funds soon ran dry, and volunteers drifted away. Forced out of their home because of their commitment to the cause, they started a one-room school where Vinaya, Mahesh, their infant son Srijan and forty children aged six to fourteen lived together as an unlikely family. The experiment later moved to Barshi in the Solapur district with support from Anandvan. Rural hardship, financial uncertainty and the pandemic repeatedly tested their resolve. At one stage, they assumed educational guardianship of nearly 200 children from families that survived by collecting scrap on the village outskirts. Eventually, the foundation relocated to Talegaon Dabhade near Pune, where it now runs a residential hostel. Twenty-five children currently live and study there. The numbers may seem modest, but the ambition is not. Democracy in Practice What distinguishes the Ajit Foundation is not only who it serves but also how it operates. Within its walls, democracy is practised through a Children’s Gram Panchayat and a miniature Municipal Council elected by the children themselves. Young candidates canvass, hold meetings and present their budgets. Children maintain accounts and share decisions about chores, activities and certain disciplinary matters. In a country where democratic culture is often reduced to voting, the foundation’s approach is quietly radical. It treats children from marginalised backgrounds as citizens in formation. The right to choose — whether to focus on sport, cooking, mathematics or cultural activities — is respected. “We try never to take away what is their own,” says Vinaya Nimbalkar. Rather than forcing every child into a uniform academic mould, individual abilities are encouraged. A boy skilled in daily calculations may not be pushed into hours of bookish study; a girl who excels in cooking may lead the kitchen team. For children who have known only precarity, standing for election, managing a budget or speaking at a meeting can be transformative. On International Women’s Day, the foundation seeks visibility not just for praise but for partnership. If you are inspired by their mission, consider supporting or collaborating—your involvement can help extend opportunities to more children in need.

Bihar’s huge gain, Maharashtra’s pause

Shadow cast over the national trajectories of several heavyweights including Fadnavis

Mumbai: The sudden appointment of Nitin Nabin as the BJP’s national Working National President on December 14, 2025, has done more than just fill a leadership vacuum; it has recalibrated the internal power dynamics of the ruling party. While the 45-year-old Bihar minister’s elevation is being hailed as a masterstroke in generational transition, it has simultaneously cast a shadow over the national trajectories of several heavyweights, most notably from Maharashtra.


Nabin, a five-term MLA and a seasoned organisational hand, represents the “new guard” that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have spent years cultivating. By choosing a leader from Bihar—a state where the BJP is looking to fill a leadership void as ally Nitish Kumar nears the twilight of his career—the high command has signaled that the path to the top is reserved for those under 55 with deep grassroots roots. However, this “Bihar first” strategy has created an unexpected bottleneck for Maharashtra’s most prominent national aspirants.


Block Fadnavis

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has long been the subject of “Delhi-bound” rumours. Despite his public assertions that he will remain in Maharashtra until 2029, insiders suggest his national ambitions were a poorly kept secret. Nabin’s appointment complicates this path significantly. At 55, Fadnavis is ten years Nabin’s senior. With Nabin now positioned to transition into the full-time President role by early 2026, the organisational “Top Spot” is effectively occupied for the foreseeable future. For Fadnavis, entering the national arena now means competing in a space where the leadership has already signaled a preference for younger, non-entrenched faces.


“The appointment of a 45-year-old sends a message that the party isn’t just looking for experience; it’s looking for a long political runway,” noted a senior BJP strategist. Another senior BJP leader from Bihar highlighted the “Low Key” factor that might have helped Nabin in being elevated to the top slot.


Another analyst said that the appointment of Nabin also suggests that the BJP leadership is unlikely to pay heed to the insistence from the RSS while devising the succession strategy within the party and in the government. This factor too goes against Fadnavis, the analyst feels.


Waiting Game

Another leader feeling the squeeze is BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde. Known as a prolific “troubleshooter” in Delhi, speculation was rife that a cabinet reshuffle would see Tawde move from the organisation to a ministerial post. Instead, the elevation of a younger leader to the Working Presidency suggests the “organisational refresh” may keep current secretaries in their administrative roles longer than anticipated. For Tawde, who successfully navigated from state-level sidelines to national relevance, the prospect of a high-profile cabinet berth now appears to be a “distant dream” in the current reshuffle cycle.


The “Nabin Era” marks a departure from the traditional seniority-based hierarchy. Those hailing the feat as a masterstroke say that the BJP leadership has achieved multiple goals like neutralising factions and forced recalibration by promoting a leader who was not on the typical media “shortlist”. In Nabin’s appointment the BJP central leadership has bypassed the traditional power centers of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and pushed leaders like Fadnavis and Tawde to double down on their current roles rather than looking toward the capital, they say.


As the party prepares for its plenary session in January 2026, the message to the rank and file is clear that the national arena is no longer a natural progression for state stalwarts, but a field of high-stakes, unpredictable selection.

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