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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Maulana’s 'gullak' initiative touches 60K students

Read & Lead Foundation President Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza with daughter Mariyam Mirza. Mumbai/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In the new age controlled by smart-gadgets and social media, an academic from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has sparked a small, head-turning and successful - ‘savings and reading’ revolution among middle-school children. Launched in 2006, by Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza, the humble initiative turns 20 this year and witnessed over 60,000 free savings boxes (gullaks)...

Maulana’s 'gullak' initiative touches 60K students

Read & Lead Foundation President Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza with daughter Mariyam Mirza. Mumbai/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In the new age controlled by smart-gadgets and social media, an academic from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar has sparked a small, head-turning and successful - ‘savings and reading’ revolution among middle-school children. Launched in 2006, by Maulana Abdul Qayyum Mirza, the humble initiative turns 20 this year and witnessed over 60,000 free savings boxes (gullaks) distributed to Class V-VIII students in 52 government and private schools. “The aim was to inculcate a love for ‘saving and reading’ among young children. We started by presenting small plastic ‘gullaks’ (savings boxes) at the Iqra Boys & Girls High School, and later to many other schools,” Mirza said with a tinge of satisfaction. Scoffed by sceptics, it soon caught the eyes of the schools and parents who loved the idea that kept the kids off mischief, but gave them the joy of quietly slipping Re. 1 or even Rs. 5 save from their daily pocket money into the ‘gullak’. “That tiny ‘gullak’ costing barely Rs 3-Rs 5, becomes almost like their personal tiny bank which they guard fiercely and nobody dares touch it. At the right time they spend the accumulated savings to buy books of their choice – with no questions asked. Isn’t it better than wasting it on toys or sweets or amusement,” chuckled Mirza. A childhood bookworm himself, Mirza, now 50, remembers how he dipped into his school’s ‘Book Box’ to avail books of his choice and read them along with the regular syllabus. “Reading became my passion, not shared by many then or even now… Sadly, in the current era, reading and saving are dying habits. I am trying to revive them for the good of the people and country,” Maulana Mirza told The Perfect Voice. After graduation, Mirza was jobless for sometime, and decided to make his passion as a profession – he took books in a barter deal from the renowned Nagpur philanthropist, Padma Bhushan Maulana Abdul Karim Parekh, lugged them on a bicycle to hawk outside mosques and dargahs. He not only sold the entire stock worth Rs 3000 quickly, but asked astonished Parekh for more – and that set the ball rolling in a big way, ultimately emboldening him to launch the NGO, ‘Read & Lead Foundation’ (2018). “However, despite severe resources and manpower crunch, we try to cater to the maximum number of students, even outside the district,” smiled Mirza. The RLF is also supported by his daughter Mariyam Mirza’s Covid-19 pandemic scheme, ‘Mohalla Library Movement’ that catapulted to global fame, and yesterday (Oct. 20), the BBC telecast a program featuring her. The father-daughter duo urged children to shun mobiles, video-games, television or social media and make ‘books as their best friends’, which would always help in life, as they aim to gift 1-lakh students with ‘gullaks’ in the next couple of years. At varied intervals Mirza organizes small school book fairs where the excited kids troop in, their pockets bulging with their own savings, and they proudly purchase books of their choice in Marathi, English, Hindi or Urdu to satiate their intellectual hunger. Fortunately, the teachers and parents support the kids’ ‘responsible spending’, for they no longer waste hours before screens but attentively flip pages of their favourite books, as Mirza and others solicit support for the cause from UNICEF, UNESCO, and global NGOs/Foundations. RLF’s real-life savers: Readers UNICEF’s Jharkhand District Coordinator and ex-TISS alumnus Abul Hasan Ali is full of gratitude for the ‘gullak’ habit he inculcated years ago, while Naregaon Municipal High School students Lakhan Devdas (Class 6) and Sania Youssef (Class 8) say they happily saved most of their pocket or festival money to splurge on their favourite books...! Zilla Parishad Girls Primary School (Aurangpura) teacher Jyoti Pawar said the RLF has proved to be a “simple, heartwarming yet effective way” to habituate kids to both reading and savings at a tender age, while a parent Krishna Shinde said it has “changed the whole attitude of children”. “We encourage books of general interest only, including inspiring stories of youth icons like Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (28) and environmentalist Greta Thunberg (23) which fascinates our students, and other popular children’s literature,” smiled Mirza. The Maulana’s RLF, which has opened three dozen libraries in 7 years, acknowledges that every coin dropped into the small savings boxes begins a new chapter – and turns into an investment in knowledge that keeps growing.

Sugar price to play a role in most of Western Maharashtra

Delay in Minimum Support Price by Central Government poses risks for sugar industry; political fallout anticipated


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Kolhapur: With the onset of November 1, the sugar season commences across India, triggering the perennial battle over sugarcane prices and creating a tense atmosphere during Diwali. In recent years, the central government has tied the sugar industry to ethanol economics, which had temporarily alleviated disputes over sugarcane prices by bolstering sugar exports. However, the ongoing delay in announcing an increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar has escalated tensions between sugar factory owners and farmers.


If the government fails to act promptly, this conflict is expected to intensify, with significant implications for the upcoming assembly elections in western Maharashtra region, the heart of the sugar industry.

The politics in western Maharashtra is directly linked to the sugar industry. The suage barons in the districts of Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Satara, Pune and Ahmednagar are the dominant politicians at the local level.


To address instability in the sugar sector, the Modi government has implemented several initiatives, including support for ethanol production and low-interest seed capital. While these measures have been beneficial, the critical issue remains the minimum support price for sugar. The MSP is essential for ensuring stability in the sugar market. Currently, the MSP for sugarcane is set, but there is no corresponding protection for sugar prices, leading to a distorted economic landscape. In 2019, the government established a minimum support price of 3,100 per quintal for sugar, enforcing restrictions on sales below this threshold. While this was welcomed by the industry, there has been no increase in the MSP in the past six years. Meanwhile, the fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane has seen annual hikes, further destabilising the industry.


As the new sugar season approaches, farmers’ organisations are gearing up for negotiations. The Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, led by former MP Raju Shetti, is set to hold its annual sugarcane conference to outline demands. This year, farmers are seeking ₹3,750 per ton for sugarcane. Despite a surge in sugar exports and ethanol production over the last four years, last year’s restrictions on exports and ethanol output have dampened prospects, increasing the urgency for a rise in the MSP for sugar.

While the central government has tentatively acknowledged these demands, discussions between representatives of sugar factory owners and government officials have yet to yield concrete decisions.

The Western India Sugarcane Growers Association (WISMA) has expressed its inability to commence the season amidst this indecision. This delay threatens the economic viability of the sugar industry and could further inflame tensions between factory owners and farmers, with serious political ramifications on the horizon.

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