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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.

BJP policy poses challenge for Mahayuti partners

State president Ravindra Chavan insists on ‘ne family, one ticket’

Mumbai: While the campaigning for Nagarpalika and Nagar Panchayat elections is in the last phase, the real tussle appears to be between the Shiv Sena under Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the state BJP president Ravindra Chavan. Chavan has imposed a great challenge before the Shiv Sena by recking up the issue of nepotism and dynastic politics forcing them to stick to one family one ticket policy.


After Shinde went to Delhi and met home minister Amit Shah to complain about Chavan’s induction of former Shiv Sena corporators to the BJP, Chavan has now taken out another weapon in his arsenal – the “one family one ticket” policy. The Shiv Sena under Shinde had fielded six members from one single family – the family of its leader Waman Mhatre in Badlapur. Chavan didn’t just raise the issue in his campaign speeches, but also started cornering the Shiv Sena over the issue. Currently all the local bodies have adopted multi-member system wherein three to four members are elected from each of the constituency or the ward of the local body. At most of the places local satraps seem to be working overtime to manage and get all the seats from a word to their own family members. However, Chavan’s insistence on the “one family, one ticket” policy has made him popular with the common party workers while giving sleepless nights to the local heavyweights who had been trying to field their family members in the election.


Preparing ground

Chavan, who became the state party president in July 2025, is steadily preparing ground for “Shat-Pratishat BJP” (100% BJP). While the assembly elections last year secured a massive mandate for the Mahayuti, Chavan’s actions suggest he is fighting a different war—one for the complete erosion of regional “barons” who block the BJP’s path to absolute supremacy. And his weapon of choice is ruthless enforcement of the “One Family, One Ticket” policy. In a state where local politics is defined by dynastic networks—where a corporator’s wife, son, and brother often contest from neighboring wards – Chavan’s insistence on this rule has sent shockwaves through the coalition.


“He is using this ‘moral’ rule to deny tickets to established families in our alliance, only to poach their rivals and give them BJP tickets,” complains a senior leader from the Shinde faction in Thane. Indeed, Chavan has earned the moniker “Pakshapravesh Pradeshadhyaksha” (The Party-Induction President) from his detractors, a nod to his aggressive spree of inducting disgruntled workers from Shiv Sena and NCP into the BJP fold.


Unapologetic stand

And Chavan is unapologetic. His logic is simple: for the BJP to grow, it must consume the space occupied by its regional partners. By framing the local elections as a contest between “Dynasty” (regional parties) and “Merit/Nationalism” (BJP), he is trying to alter the fundamental DNA of Maharashtra’s civic politics.


During today’s campaigning at Kolhapur he raised the issue of free COVID vaccination stating that it was due to this decision of PM Modi we all are alive today.


“If we are standing here breathing, if we are alive today, it is because of the free COVID vaccination decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Chavan thundered, drawing applause from the saffron-clad crowd. “Do not forget who saved you when the world was collapsing.”


Chavan moment

It was a quintessential Chavan moment: polarizing, nationalistic, and fiercely loyal to the central command. But beneath the rhetoric lies a calculated strategy that has turned this four-time MLA from Dombivli into the most controversial figure in the ruling Mahayuti alliance. As the campaigning for the Nagar Palika and Nagar Panchayat elections draws to a close, Chavan has emerged not just as the BJP’s state chief, but as its battering ram against its own allies - specifically Shiv Sena under DCM Shinde.


Profiled often as a “Mission Man,” Chavan’s rise from a corporator in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) to the helm of the state unit is a testament to his organizational grip. His speech in Kolhapur today reflects his dual strategy. By linking local survival to PM Modi’s vaccination drive, he nationalizes the municipal vote, making it about gratitude to the center rather than local patronage. Simultaneously, by attacking nepotism, he attempts to delegitimize the local satraps who control the vote banks.


Chavan appears to be fighting for the BJP’s solo future in 2029, observe political analysts. For now, he stands firm, reminding voters that their very breath is a gift from the central leadership, implying that their votes should be the return gift. Whether Maharashtra buys this trade-off will be known when the results are declared, but one thing is certain: under Chavan, the BJP is done playing second fiddle to anyone – even its friends.

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