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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.

Shinde facing political vulnerability amid poaching wars

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is facing a profound political vulnerability, one that is strikingly reminiscent of the internal pressures he experienced before his seismic 2022 revolt. As local body elections grip Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the senior partner in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, is aggressively pursuing an expansion agenda that directly targets Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, creating acute friction and forcing Shinde to seek intervention from the central BJP leadership in Delhi.


The escalating tension came into sharp focus recently when a majority of Shiv Sena ministers, barring Shinde himself, boycotted a state cabinet meeting. This unusual display of collective dissent was a clear protest against the BJP’s alleged poaching of local corporators and functionaries—a campaign spearheaded by the state BJP unit, particularly in the crucial Kalyan-Dombivli area, the stronghold of Shinde’s son, Lok Sabha MP Shrikant Shinde. For the Shiv Sena, this activity is a direct violation of "coalition dharma," threatening to undermine the very base that Shinde fractured from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).


Following the cabinet no-show, Shinde quickly engaged in damage control. After a local-level meeting with CM Devendra Fadnavis, Shinde took the matter to the national level, meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J. P. Nadda. The message conveyed to the BJP top brass was one of restlessness and a warning - such aggressive, localized competition not only demoralizes Shinde’s workers but also risks giving the Opposition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, an undue advantage. Shinde’s objective was not just to secure a no-poaching pact, but to re-affirm his political significance and the commitment of his ally to the partnership.


The root of this discord lies in the BJP’s uncompromising drive for consolidation. For the BJP, the local body polls, spanning hundreds of municipal councils and nagar panchayats, are not merely about maintaining the Mahayuti's majority; they are about replacing allies’ influence with their own infrastructure. The party operates with the long-term goal of becoming the undisputed single force in the state. From this perspective, every local leader or worker defecting from the Shiv Sena (Shinde) to the BJP is a strategic gain, even if it causes short-term friction. The high command, while assuring Shinde of its commitment to the alliance, is unlikely to fully curb the state unit's expansionist tendencies, which are often rationalized as responding to organic growth or local ticket disputes.


For Shinde, this presents a severe leadership crisis. His political identity and the legitimacy of the 2022 split were built on the premise of securing power and protecting the interests of the original Shiv Sainiks. If his faction’s candidates and local leaders perceive that they are better protected or rewarded by directly aligning with the dominant BJP, Shinde’s control over his own legislature and organizational base will erode.


The key lieutenants who followed Shinde in 2022, primarily motivated by the desire to remain in the corridors of power, are now caught in the crossfire. They are unlikely to quit the power they gained by aligning with the BJP, but their future now depends less on Shinde’s political capital and more on their direct utility to the larger party. These dynamic forces a direct allegiance shift, turning Shinde’s most trusted followers into potential regional players who might bypass him to deal directly with BJP leaders.


While a temporary “no-poaching” agreement has been announced—a political necessity to calm the waters ahead of the local voting—the underlying philosophical conflict remains unresolved. The current situation exposes the inherent fragility of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena as a junior partner in an alliance led by a behemoth committed to eventual hegemony. Unless Shinde can translate the Central leadership’s assurances into real, protected territory for his party workers on the ground, the ‘pre-2022 situation’—a deep-seated anxiety about the loss of identity and influence—will continue to haunt the Mahayuti alliance, signalling potential instability as Maharashtra heads towards its next major electoral test.

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