top of page

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.

Rails to the Sea

The long-delayed Kolhapur–Vaibhavwadi Railway could turn into a new backbone for Maharashtra’s port-led growth.

For decades, Maharashtra’s Konkan coast has lived with an irony. It possesses deep-water ports of enviable depth and location, yet remains curiously peripheral to the State’s economic mainstream. Western Maharashtra, by contrast, hums with industry and agriculture but must haul its produce hundreds of kilometres to reach global markets. The sanctioning of the Kolhapur–Vaibhavwadi railway line seeks to correct this imbalance. It is not merely another infrastructure project but an ambitious statement about how the present State government now imagines growth as port-led, logistics-driven and regionally inclusive.


The 107-km rail corridor will connect Kolhapur, a major industrial and agricultural hub, to Vaibhavwadi on the Konkan Railway, effectively stitching together the State’s interior with its coastline. The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government has signalled that connectivity between productive hinterlands and underutilised ports is no longer an afterthought but a strategic priority.


Game Changer

The numbers tell their own story. Ports such as Jaigad, Vijaydurg, Angre and Redi together handle barely 23–25 million tonnes of cargo annually, despite having a combined potential of over 60 million tonnes. Their chief handicap is not draft or geography but evacuation. Weak rail links have inflated logistics costs, eroded competitiveness and deterred port-linked investment. The Kolhapur–Vaibhavwadi line promises to change that arithmetic, cutting cargo movement time by an estimated 35–40 percent and reducing logistics costs by Rs. 400– Rs. 700 per tonne.


Such efficiencies matter. In logistics, marginal gains often determine location decisions. Lower costs and faster evacuation could tilt investment towards shipbuilding, marine services, coastal logistics and processing industries along the Konkan coast. Over a decade, this could help Maharashtra position itself not just as India’s financial capital but as a credible maritime and logistics hub - a role it has long claimed but only partially fulfilled.


The implications for agriculture may be even more consequential. Western Maharashtra remains heavily agrarian, yet its farmers and exporters bear high transport costs and long transit times to ports, particularly Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), nearly 350 km away. Perishables suffer the most. A direct rail corridor to the Konkan could reduce transport time by six to eight hours and lower logistics costs by 15–20 percent, improving competitiveness for horticulture, spices, fisheries, cashew and processed foods.


Jaigad port, operated by JSW, illustrates the opportunity. At present, routing a container through JNPT costs exporters around Rs. 60,000 and involves port holding times of up to two days. With rail connectivity and the ability to handle agri-cargo locally, Jaigad could shave nearly 10 percent off logistics costs and significantly reduce turnaround time. Fresher produce fetches better prices; quicker cycles improve cash flows. Over time, Jaigad could emerge as an agri-export gateway for mangoes, cashew, kokum and processed foods from both Konkan and Western Maharashtra.


Beyond cargo and containers lies a deeper regional logic. The new line will connect the Konkan Railway with the Central Railway network, strengthening trade links not just within Maharashtra but with Goa and Karnataka. Freight volumes of 20–30 million tonnes annually are projected. More importantly, the corridor integrates Konkan with the Kolhapur–Sangli–Satara–Pune industrial belt, narrowing a developmental divide that has long driven migration out of the coastal districts. Jobs, direct and indirect, tourism spillovers, MSME growth and coastal industrial investment could anchor people closer to home.


That said, none of this will come about automatically. Rail lines have a way of disappointing when coordination falters. The success of the Kolhapur–Vaibhavwadi project will depend on synchronised execution between the State government, Indian Railways, Konkan Railway Corporation and port authorities. Last-mile connectivity, freight terminals, cold-chain infrastructure and predictable pricing will matter as much as the track itself.


But the intent is unmistakable. This project marks a shift away from siloed infrastructure planning towards a genuinely multimodal approach, where rail, road and port investments reinforce one another. If executed well, the Kolhapur–Vaibhavwadi railway line could do more than shorten distances. It could finally align Maharashtra’s coast with its hinterland and turn latent geography into realised prosperity.


(The writer is an agricultural and natural resources economist. Views personal.)

Comments

bottom of page