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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.

Kolhapur roads need a ‘third eye’ to ensure quality

With civic polls approaching, fresh road works must be put under independent technical scrutiny to prevent a repeat of past failures

Kolhapur: With the drumbeat of the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections growing louder, the city is once again awash with digital hoardings of aspirants and announcements of fresh development funds. As is customary on the eve of civic polls, political parties are making lofty promises, while boards announcing allocations for asphalted roads have mushroomed across neighbourhoods. The ceremonial breaking of coconuts for these works is imminent.

 

However, given Kolhapur’s long and bitter experience with substandard road works, citizens must insist on a “third eye” — an independent and impartial oversight mechanism — even before the projects begin. Without this, there is a real danger that the asphalt being laid today will be washed away in the very next monsoon.

 

Bad roads have been a chronic affliction for Kolhapur. Over the past three decades, hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent on asphalting roughly 65 km of city roads. Yet, despite this massive public expenditure, the city has been left with roads of consistently poor quality, many of which fail to survive even a single rainy season. While public money has been splurged, and in many cases allegedly siphoned off, Kolhapur’s residents have borne the cost — in damaged vehicles, daily inconvenience and long-term health problems.

 

Road construction has effectively become a political game in the city. Funds collected through citizens’ taxes are openly plundered, and the lure of these lucrative contracts is one of the reasons many are keen to enter the municipal council. Only a few months ago, Kolhapur witnessed controversy surrounding road projects worth nearly Rs 100 crore. This makes it imperative that before any fresh funds are spent, road works are subjected to independent quality control and technical supervision.

 

There was a time when quality mattered. In 1980, during the tenure of the first general body of the KMC, protests were held demanding better roads, including a gherao of the corporation by auto-rickshaw drivers during the mayoral election. Some of the roads constructed then lasted for decades. Today, by contrast, roads barely last a year. There is neither the use of modern technology nor on-site supervision. A contractor-friendly system ensured that officials rarely visited work sites. The pattern has been depressingly familiar: roads deteriorate, citizens protest, inquiry committees are appointed — and nothing comes of it.

 

Generations suffered

Although legal guarantees are taken on paper for road works, the administration has consistently failed to enforce them or blacklist errant contractors. The result is that generations of Kolhapur’s citizens have suffered, quite literally, from back-breaking roads. With elections around the corner, it is time to demand accountability.

 

There are practical solutions. New roads in Kolhapur can adopt plastic-mix technology on the lines of national highways. For quality monitoring, reputed engineering institutions such as IITs, Walchand College of Engineering and KIT could be invited to take on an independent supervisory role through their civil engineering departments. Citizens should also demand display boards at work sites detailing the materials to be used, their quantities and construction methods.

 

Additionally, engineering graduates living in various localities can play a watchdog role by closely monitoring works and reporting deviations to the municipal commissioner. Ideally, the KMC should create an open web portal for real-time reporting and transparency.

 

If such measures are implemented, Kolhapur could replicate the transformation seen in cities like Nagpur and Thane, where sustained improvement in road quality earned then municipal commissioners widespread public acclaim. In fact, Kolhapur’s citizens may not hesitate to accord their civic chief a similar honour — provided the city finally gets roads worthy of a modern urban centre.


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