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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.

Healing History, Shaping Futures

This International Daughters’ Day should remind us that every daughter’s dream is part of a nation’s future.

AI generated image
AI generated image

Every September, a quiet celebration dares to question centuries of silence - International Daughters’ Day. This September 28 will remind us that while sons were long treated as heirs to lineage and property, daughters were often denied equal worth. In countless households, a daughter who tops her class is still asked when she will get married, rather than what career she will pursue. Honouring daughters is not simply symbolic; it is a way of healing history.


History shows how power reinforced prejudice. In the mid-1800s, the East India Company introduced the Doctrine of Lapse, which allowed it to annex kingdoms whose rulers had no natural-born sons. Adoption, long respected in Indian families as a way of continuing lineage, was brushed aside. Kingdoms like Satara, Jhansi and Nagpur were taken over. When Rani Lakshmibai’s adopted son was denied recognition, Jhansi was seized, and she rose to lead the revolt of 1857.

 

Although the doctrine ended, its shadow lingered, mixing with dowry and patriarchy to harden son preference. Against this backdrop, the sight of a daughter today signing a property mutation form beside her mother is nothing less than a quiet rewriting of history.

 

Modern technology gave this bias new ground. Ultrasound scans, intended to reassure families, were turned into tools for sex selection. India’s answer was the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994, strengthened in 2003, banning disclosure of foetal sex and penalising sex selection. Laws are vital, but lasting change depends on culture and families choosing fairness. The dilemma is not unique to India. Technology mirrors the society it serves. Artificial intelligence now offers life-saving predictions in maternal health, but it could also be misused to reinforce outdated prejudices. The challenge is ensuring that innovation empowers rather than discriminates.

 

Women pioneers

Each field offers pioneers who opened doors and successors who widened them. In politics, Vijayalakshmi Pandit stood before the UN in 1953, while Nirmala Sitharaman stands before India’s Parliament today. In science, Kamala Sohonie broke barriers in the 1930s, while Tessy Thomas breaks new ground in missile technology. In the industry, Sumati Morarjee steered ships across oceans, while Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw steers a biotech enterprise across continents. In culture, Amrita Sher-Gil gave Indian art a modern idiom, while Arundhati Roy gave Indian literature a global voice. In sport, P. T. Usha ignited track dreams in the 1980s, while P. V. Sindhu turned them into Olympic medals. These names are more than symbols. They reshape imagination, showing families that daughters are not burdens but architects of possibility.

 

 

Numbers confirm the shift. Female literacy has risen from approximately 10 percent at Independence to over 70 percent today. Girls now account for nearly half of college enrolments. Women scientists account for a growing share of research staff, approaching a third in some agencies, and women officers are a rising force in the armed services. Yet progress is uneven. States like Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with strong social investments, report healthier sex ratios and higher female education, while parts of Haryana and Punjab still struggle with imbalance. Urban India offers daughters new horizons, but rural areas remain a more challenging terrain.

 

China’s one-child policy left a skewed generation and a marriage squeeze, where millions of men struggle to find partners. This has fuelled social stress and even trafficking. Demographers use this term to highlight how gender imbalance creates structural risks for society. South Korea, once deeply skewed, corrected course through law and public persuasion, showing that social attitudes can change within a single generation. Many Western societies, where daughters were never systematically devalued, use ultrasound purely as a medical tool. Global rankings underline India’s task. The World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report places India in the lower half, while countries like Iceland and Finland have closed more than 90 per cent of their gaps. The UN Development Programme’s inequality index shows India improving, but the distance remains.

 

Enforcing rights

To honour daughters, India must enforce rights, expand opportunity and recognise contributions. Daughters must inherit property as smoothly as sons through transparent, time-bound processes.


Scholarships and apprenticeships must connect girls directly to careers in science, technology, and skilled trades. For countless families, the simple addition of a safe school bus or hostel has determined whether a girl continues her studies or is pulled out after puberty.

 

The unpaid labour many daughters provide, from nursing parents to running family businesses to holding households steady, should be valued through tax incentives or social security. Adoption, once dishonoured by colonial policy, should be simpler and more dignified, giving families a humane way to grow.

 

These steps turn sentiment into substance. They also show why equality is not only a moral issue but an economic one. When half the population contributes fully, productivity rises, innovation multiplies, and society grows more resilient. Each daughter who completes school, claims her inheritance, or leads in her field becomes a force multiplier for the nation. Nations that have empowered women consistently report faster economic growth, better governance, and greater stability. The evidence is overwhelming: societies that invest in their daughters invest in their future.

 

The Doctrine of Lapse once made it appear that only sons could carry a legacy. Today, India can close that chapter for good. International Daughters’ Day is a reminder that continuity and strength do not rest solely on sons. Daughters uphold traditions, extend family lines, and create new futures. Where dynasties once fell for want of a male heir, families and nations now prosper because daughters step forward with clarity and courage. To honour daughters is to heal history.

 

(The author is the former Director, Agharkar Research Institute, Pune and Visiting Professor, IIT Bombay. Views personal.)

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