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By:

Ruddhi Phadke

22 September 2024 at 10:17:54 am

Mission to uplift the tribals

Having started  the first English school in Walvanda village, Savali Charitable Trust aims to bring tribals at par with all Mumbai: Having worked for the cause of upliftment of the tribals residing in the remote villages around Jawhar in Palghar district of Maharashtra for years, Savali Charitable Trust has now started an English medium school in a remote village called Walvanda, with the sole aim of providing equal opportunities to the tribals who are convinced by the power of education, but...

Mission to uplift the tribals

Having started  the first English school in Walvanda village, Savali Charitable Trust aims to bring tribals at par with all Mumbai: Having worked for the cause of upliftment of the tribals residing in the remote villages around Jawhar in Palghar district of Maharashtra for years, Savali Charitable Trust has now started an English medium school in a remote village called Walvanda, with the sole aim of providing equal opportunities to the tribals who are convinced by the power of education, but suffer lack guidance and infrastructure. While Savali has been working in the tribal belt in Palghar since 2007 through scores of initiatives from nutrition program, to medical and health care initiatives to guiding the tribals on how to generate employment opportunities, the idea of starting Savali English School was suggested by local tribal families who have since long benefited by the initiatives of the Savali. Speaking to ‘The Perfect Voice’ , Madhavi Deodhar who conducted adult education program in Walvanda and wife of Savali’s founder Vinayak Deodhar said, “The inspiration came from the locals who were convinced by the need to have education in English. However, our initiative of conducting adult education also helped us to get a positive response. Women attended the education program in huge numbers. Fortunately, men did not oppose.” While Madhavi Deodhar patiently decided to educate the tribal residents on a basic level to make them self-reliant enough to be able to at least read and understand the documents they were blindly signing, her effort got tremendous response with most of the residents understanding the power of education. Less infrastructure There are few schools in Jawhar and Vikramgad area. However, they are very far and lack basic infrastructure and good teachers. Private schools in the area are expensive and unaffordable to the tribals. “A local tribal Suresh Nikule who helped us with land for our medical centre, urged us to build an English school and gave us his support. To our fortune, our 17 years of trust helped us gain support both from local govt authorities and local residents. We engaged teachers from Virar, Vasai area. We have also arranged a van with a driver for commuting”, said Manoj Borkar who has taken full charge of the school. Borkar who is a Chartered Accountant and has been a Trustee after quitting a leadership role in the corporate world. The school spanned across 12,000 sq.ft which was started in June 2025, includes 24 classrooms, catering to students from kindergarten to grade 10 with class sizes capped at 35 to ensure attention to each child. Vinayak Deodhar, a practicing Chartered Accountant and resident of Mumbai’s Vile Parle who established Savali in 2007, said, “What will the tribals do after they graduate from a normal school? We need to educate them so that they are truly independent. Hence, we have planned to include subjects that cover introduction to basic technology, like animal husbandry, electric engineering, technical training, agricultural training and home science. Our school will be unique in this area.” Health care Savali’s work in the tribal belt began with health care services and soon evolved into a full-fledged day care centre and 3 mobile medical vans with comprehensive facilities including pathology, digital x-ray, opthal to name a few, reaching nearly 200,000 tribal residents of 164 villages. Palghar district where Savali works is known for widespread malnutrition due to extreme poverty, lack of clean water, irregular electricity supply and poor transport facilities. For the last 9 years, Savali has supported 800 students in 27 govt schools with nutritional supplements and medication. Vinayak Deodhar said, “Government has already initiated plans on all that we are doing. If the execution happens, we won’t need to do anything. While some resisted, there were several helpful officers who allowed us to continue, because the locals trusted us.” Trust, the key When it comes to tribal areas, the biggest challenge is trust. Typically, tribal residents do not trust anyone out of fear of being duped of their lands. Savalee believed that action cultivates trust not promises. “Walvanda village is blessed with rainfall. However, the houses are built on hills and water doesn’t reach them. There is no electricity supply. Women who were nine months pregnant walked long stretches to fetch a pot full of water. We first involved experts and ensured that in 37 villages women received tap water in their homes, and electricity supply was established through solar panels in 30 schools to get E-Learning education. That helped win their trust.” Savali has also encouraged cultural events and celebrated Dahi Handi, Holi, Diwali. Deodhar said, “It’s very important to not impose any religion on them. They have long been victims of being helped in exchange for religious conversions. They are fed up with that. We celebrate cultural events and turn them into an earning also for them.For example, Mogra cultivation is ample in the area. We train them with the help of vendors in Mumbai to get them good return for their produce as they cultivate around 3.5 tonne mogara and earn rupees 2.5 crore every year.” Vinayak Deodhar explained that their expenses are much higher than what they get, and most of their initiatives are funded through donations and some from their own pockets. The idea of the Deodhars is to give what they have earned so far to the society in whatever way they can. (The trust can be reached out on savalitrust07@gmail.com and 9820223797).

BMC auctioning three land parcels to raise funds, says Aaditya

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Aaditya

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged Mumbai’s civic body had decided to auction three land parcels to raise funds and make up for the “loot” of the metropolis by the Eknath Shinde government.


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is being run by an administrator now, has decided to auction the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandi (Market), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Malabar Hill Receiving Station and the Worli Asphalt Plant, Thackeray pointed out.


“The sale of Mumbai is being done by the Eknath Shinde regime to benefit its favourite builders and contractors,” he alleged.


A criminal investigation will be conducted into the matter after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power, Thackeray added.


“So on one end, they looted the BMC and Mumbai and gave the money to their favourite contractors. Now, by auctioning these iconic and important land parcels, the BMC will be left without both funds and plots,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister claimed.


When Shiv Sena started controlling the BMC in 1997, its finances were in deficit but by 2022 his party turned around the fiscal health of the civic body, Thackeray said.


Alleging that the Shinde government wants to drive Kolis and fisherfolk out of Mumbai, he said, “We will oppose this. It has to remain and be made into a fish market, and (should be) in the ownership of the BMC.”

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Aaditya puppet for urban naxals: Shelar

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar has called Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as a puppet for urban naxals after former’s comments on the Dharavi Redevelopment project and has also challenged him for a debate.

Ashish Shelar said that the project is a necessity and a priority project, adding that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Congressleader Varsha Gaikwad are peddling lies.

Aaditya Thackeray seems to have become the spokesperson of urban Naxals. Without studying the subject (Dharavi) in detail, Aaditya Thackeray is speaking like an ignorant. I have seen that these people have been trying to set a narrative regarding Dharavi and the re-development work,” Ashish Shelar said.

He challenged Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad in a debate on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

“Uddhav ji and the people of his party – Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad have started this false narrative regarding Dharavi. I openly challenge Aaditya for a debate. I want to ask him that 70 per cent of the homes in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will go to Marathi people, Muslims and Dalits. It is their rightful home, so why are they putting roadblocks by creating a false narrative?”

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