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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.

Local Votes, Larger Reckonings

The eagerly-anticipated municipal elections in Maharashtra will decide which parties truly own urban India’s second-most powerful state.

The forthcoming municipal elections in Maharashtra, covering 29 municipal corporations, are officially exercises in local self-government. In practice, they are something closer to a mid-term audit of the State’s political balance. From Mumbai to Pune, Nagpur to Nashik, Sambhajinagar to Kolhapur, these contests will test which parties command genuine urban support and which survive mainly on alliances, symbolism or inertia.


Municipal elections matter precisely because they are small. They are fought ward by ward, lane by lane, complaint by complaint. Unlike assembly or parliamentary polls, they reward visibility over rhetoric and delivery over ideology. Roads that cave in after the monsoon, water taps that run dry by noon, garbage piles that outlast election posters are the metrics by which corporators are judged. Urban voters, particularly the middle class, are unforgiving. They pay taxes, queue for permissions and sit in traffic; civic failure is not an abstraction but a daily irritation. That is why municipal polls so often unsettle grand political calculations.


Nowhere is this more evident than in Mumbai. Control of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of Asia’s richest civic bodies, has long been a proxy for political dominance in Maharashtra. The BJP, allied with Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, sees the BMC as both a prize and a proof point: a chance to consolidate power in India’s financial capital and demonstrate that its urban ascent is durable. For the Shinde faction, Mumbai is existential. It must show that it has inherited not just the party name but the Shiv Sena’s organisational muscle and voter loyalty.


Yet the arithmetic has been complicated by the tentative reunion of estranged cousins. The understanding between Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray has injected emotion into what was shaping up as a managerial contest.


For voters nostalgic about the older, more culturally assertive Shiv Sena, the optics are powerful. But sentiment alone rarely wins ward elections. Coordination, candidate selection and booth-level discipline will determine whether this rapprochement translates into votes. Congress’s decision to contest independently in Mumbai further muddies the waters, potentially fragmenting opposition support and quietly aiding the BJP-led alliance. Had the Thackeray brothers reconciled earlier, the shockwaves would have been greater. As it stands, the reunion is meaningful but not yet decisive.


Urban Aspirations

Pune tells a different story. A fast-growing, middle-class-heavy city, it is impatient with excuses. Traffic congestion, erratic water supply, weak public transport and haphazard development dominate civic conversations. The BJP has built a formidable base here and will seek to defend it, but discontent with planning failures and internal leadership rivalries could prove costly. Opposition parties hope that anger over infrastructure will convert into ballots, though dissatisfaction does not always find an electoral outlet.


The simmering question is whether Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar will eventually align. They tend to unite when power beckons, but Sharad Pawar’s political timing is famously inscrutable. The rivalry between figures such as Murlidhar Mohol and Ravindra Dhangekar adds another layer of risk for the ruling alliance.


Nagpur carries symbolism disproportionate to its size. Home to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari, it is expected to showcase the dividends of political prominence. Voters will judge whether that prominence has delivered better roads, reliable water and thoughtful expansion. A strong showing would reinforce the BJP’s governance narrative; signs of fatigue would echo across the state. Nagpur’s politics has turned before, often when confidence shaded into complacency. Caste equations remain influential, making candidate choice as important as party brand.


In Nashik, complexity reigns. The city sits at the intersection of rapid urbanisation, religious tourism and an agriculture-linked economy. Civic issues have kept leaders under scrutiny. Alliances are fluid and local heavyweights matter.


The forthcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela and the controversy over tree-felling at Tapovan have tested the BJP’s credibility. Delayed communication and reactive decision-making have not helped. Unless the chief minister intervenes decisively, winning Nashik’s corporation could remain elusive for the ruling party.


Sambhajinagar reflects Maharashtra’s layered politics: identity, aspiration and impatience entwined. Frequent political shifts signal voter frustration with promises unmet. Employment, industrial growth and infrastructure dominate middle-class concerns. Symbolism alone will not suffice. The BJP’s local organisation appears weaker here, potentially giving the Shinde camp an edge. An overly aggressive approach by the BJP could backfire, especially with the Uddhav Thackeray faction and the MNS poised to exploit gaps.


Kolhapur, by contrast, underscores the enduring power of local leadership. Flood control, urban amenities and agriculture-linked support systems shape voter preferences. National parties struggle if they fail to adapt their narratives to local realities. Individual credibility often outweighs party labels, making candidate selection crucial. While the BJP and the Shinde-led Sena see an opening amid civic underperformance, Congress and Ajit Pawar’s group remain formidable. For Congress leader Satej Patil, the contest is a direct test of political heft.


Across Maharashtra, the BJP–Shinde alliance remains the dominant pole, but seat-sharing disputes and local ambitions threaten cohesion. The Thackeray cousins’ cooperation could reshape contests in select cities if discipline holds. Congress’s solo run adds volatility, especially where margins are thin.


For urban voters, these elections are an opportunity to influence governance where it touches daily life. Corporators who answer calls, navigate bureaucracy and deliver incremental improvements often matter more than lofty manifestos. The municipal verdicts will therefore measure not just political strategy but public patience.


When the ballots are counted, they will do more than populate city councils. They will reveal which parties have invested in local leadership and which have mistaken alliances and slogans for organisation. In Maharashtra, the road to power still runs through the city street.


(The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)

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