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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.

Thackerays cede hinterland to Mahayuti war machine

Mumbai: The dust is rising in the semi-urban towns of Akola, Amravati, and Parbhani, but it is not from the cavalcade of the “Tigers” of Maharashtra. As the campaign for elections to over 242 municipal councils and 42 nagar panchayats reaches a fever pitch ahead of the December 2 vote, a curious silence hangs over the opposition camp.


While Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, are engaged in a “carpet bombing” campaign—crisscrossing the state with the ferocity of a general election—the Thackeray brothers, Uddhav and Raj, are conspicuously absent from the rural stump. Their absence is not just a scheduling quirk; it is a symptom of the new, ruthless realpolitik that has gripped Maharashtra.


The ruling Mahayuti alliance has adopted a “no election is too small” doctrine. For CM Fadnavis, these local body polls are not merely about civic amenities; they are a structural imperative. By treating municipal council elections with the gravity of a legislative assembly battle—holding 4-5 rallies a day—the BJP is aiming to capture the “supply lines” of Maharashtra’s politics. Municipal councils control local contracts, town planning, and, crucially, the mobilization networks that deliver votes in bigger elections.


Existential legitimacy

DCM Eknath Shinde, too, is fighting for existential legitimacy. His faction’s presence in these polls is a test of whether his “Shiv Sena” has truly inherited the grassroots cadre or if it remains a legislative coup without a popular base. The heavy presence of the CM and DCMs in small towns sends a powerful message to the local voter: “We are here, we have the resources, and we control the tap.”


In stark contrast, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) appear to have drawn a defensive perimeter around the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik belt—the state’s urban “Golden Triangle.”


Uddhav Thackeray’s campaign strategy has been remarkably insular. Instead of matching the Mahayuti’s rally-for-rally blitz in the districts, the UBT leadership has remained anchored in Mumbai, fighting a narrative war rather than an electoral one. The recent “Satyacha Morcha” (March for Truth) focused heavily on alleged irregularities in Mumbai’s voter lists. While this is a critical systemic issue, it is a “meta-battle” that resonates little with a voter in rural Vidarbha worrying about water supply or road contracts.


The perception that the Thackerays have “left the whole of Maharashtra” to the Mahayuti is rooted in resource allocation. Stripped of the party name, symbol, and funds, the UBT faction seems to be conserving its depleted energy for the upcoming “crown jewel” battles—the Municipal Corporations of Mumbai (BMC) and Thane. They appear to have calculated that retaining Mumbai is a matter of survival, while winning a council in Jalgaon or Solapur is a luxury they cannot afford to chase.


Outsourcing opposition

This retreat has left a vacuum in the hinterland. In many of the 242 councils, the “Maha Vikas Aghadi” (MVA) challenge has effectively been outsourced to local satraps of the Congress and the NCP (Sharad Pawar).


The Congress is busy trying to save remains of its erstwhile bastions. In regions like Vidarbha, the battle is being fought by local Congress units, often contesting independently or in “friendly fights” with UBT candidates. While, the NCP (SP) faction retains influence in Western Maharashtra without the unified “air cover” of a joint MVA leadership tour, these local battles have turned into disjointed skirmishes against a unified Mahayuti army.


The Shiv Sena (UBT) has effectively ceded the semi-urban space to its allies, or worse, to its enemies. This is a dangerous gamble. If the Mahayuti sweeps these councils, they will build a fortress of local patronage that will be nearly impossible to breach in the next Assembly election.


The current state of realpolitik in Maharashtra is characterized by an asymmetry of ambition. The BJP-led alliance is playing to conquer the state’s geography, ensuring their writ runs from the Mantralaya to the smallest Nagar Panchayat. The Thackerays, meanwhile, are playing to protect their history and their core urban identity.


By remaining unseen in the hinterland, the Thackeray brothers may be inadvertently signalling that they are no longer pan-Maharashtra leaders, but rather the chieftains of a shrinking urban empire. In politics, visibility is viability. In the dusty towns of rural Maharashtra, the only flags flying high today are saffron—but they are being waved by Fadnavis and Shinde, not the heirs of Balasaheb.


Uddhav, Raj Thackeray meet again

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday met Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj in Mumbai and both leaders are understood to have discussed seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming municipal corporation polls.


Uddhav visited ‘Shivtirth’, the residence of Raj in Dadar in central Mumbai, the latest in a series of meetings this year between the once politically estranged cousins who have been warming up to each other in recent times amid signs of reconciliation and possible alliance between their parties.


Although the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS are yet to formally announce an alliance, the Thackeray cousins have given enough hints of an imminent tie-up for local body polls, especially the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other civic bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Nashik, where the two outfits have pockets of influence.


A Shiv Sena (UBT) leader disclosed that during the meeting, Uddhav and Raj are believed to have discussed potential seat-sharing between their parties for the civic polls and also the alleged irregularities in voters list, an issue which the Opposition has been raising vociferously.


They also discussed the reported resistance by the Congress, a partner of the Shiv Sena (UBT), to align with the MNS, he said.


Earlier this week, Uddhav and Raj had submitted a letter to the State Election Commission seeking more time to submit objections and suggestions in draft voters list.


Ten pc Mumbai voters have duplicate entries

Nearly 10.64 per cent or more than 11 lakh of Mumbai’s 1.03 crore electorate have duplicate enrolments in the electoral roll, as per data shared by the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC).


The data shows that a majority of wards with the highest number of duplicate voters were previously represented by Opposition corporators.


The SEC on Wednesday extended the deadline for submitting objections from November 27 to December 3. The final voters’ list will be published on December 10, according to a statement issued by the SEC.


The data shows that 4.33 lakh voters appear more than once in the draft voters’ list published last week, with multiple entries ranging from two to as many as 103 times. This has pushed the total number of duplicate enrolments to 11,01,505.


The SEC has attributed the repetition of names to factors such as printing errors, voters’ relocation, and failure to remove the names of deceased persons. Booth-level workers will now conduct field visits, fill forms, and obtain verification undertakings to ensure each voter is listed only once, officials said.


An SEC official indicated that Mumbai’s civic elections, slated to be completed by January 31, 2026, as per a Supreme Court directive, may see a slight delay.


Depending on the pace of corrections by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the polls could either be held by the end of January or the SEC may seek an extension to the first week of February, he added.


The SEC data further shows that four of the five wards with the highest number of duplicate voters were previously represented by Opposition corporators from parties such as Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP). Two of these wards fall under the Worli assembly constituency, represented by Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.

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