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.

The Reluctant Deputy Who Returned as King

Devendra Fadnavis, once denied his due, is the state’s Chief Minister again and a strong contender for Delhi

In the eternally fluid politics of Maharashtra, the suffix ‘saheb’ carries great weight. It is not lightly bestowed, especially not on someone from Vidarbha - a region often marginalised in Maharashtra’s political landscape and the political spectrum in general.


The fact that present Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Nagpur, has come to be addressed simply as ‘Fadnavis Saheb’ is testament to his commendable transformation from just an ardent BJP loyalist and technocrat into a commanding force in Maharashtra politics, on par with a personage no less than Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar.


As he turns 55 today, it is time to take stock of Fadnavis’ ascent. His rise has been anything but meteoric, but it has been relentless. Born into a political family in which his father Gangadharpant was a legislator and his aunt, Shobha Fadnavis, served as a minister, Devendra entered public life through the ideological nursery of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Fresh out of college, he contested elections to the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and, at 25, became one of its youngest mayors.


The Maharashtra BJP at the time was dominated by stalwarts: Pramod Mahajan, Nitin Gadkari in Nagpur, Gopinath Munde in Marathwada and Eknath Khadse in north Maharashtra. Yet Fadnavis persevered. Known for his loyalty to the party and his aptitude for governance, he steadily built networks across districts, earning trust within the BJP’s state apparatus.


His moment came in 2013 when he was appointed state party president. The same year, Narendra Modi was declared the BJP’s candidate for Prime Minister. Fadnavis, buoyed by Modi’s messaging and personal magnetism, plunged into electioneering with evangelical fervour. Modi took note and when the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Maharashtra in 2014, Fadnavis was rewarded with the Chief Minister’s chair at just 44 - making him the second-youngest in Maharashtra's history after Sharad Pawar.


As Chief Minister, he sought to blend rural reform with urban modernisation. He launched the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to make villages drought-resilient and advocated for farm exports to tap global markets. He repeatedly argued that farmers should be made self-reliant rather than trapped in cycles of debt and relief. At the same time, he oversaw large-scale urban infrastructure projects like the Mumbai Metro expansions, the Vadhavan Port, Purandar Airport, the Samruddhi Mahamarg (an expressway connecting Nagpur to Mumbai) and the redevelopment of Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi.


Fadnavis also pitched Maharashtra to foreign investors, strengthened industrial zones and promised law-and-order stability to entrepreneurs. His administration laid the groundwork for a ‘fourth Mumbai’ in Palghar and sanctioned a steel plant in Maoist-hit Gadchiroli, where Naxalism has since receded. Under his watch, even previously restive districts like Chandrapur have seen an uptick in prosperity.


Yet politics rarely rewards continuity. In 2019, though the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance led by Fadnavis won a majority, the Sena switched sides, joining hands with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Fadnavis, denied a second term, accepted the role of Leader of the Opposition. From that seat, he remained the centre of political gravity in shaping legislative debate, cornering the MVA on scandals and keeping his party's base energised.


The pandemic paralysed politics in 2020–21 but in 2022, Maharashtra’s political landscape shifted again. Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde led a rebellion against then CM Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership of the Sena, bringing down the MVA government. The BJP-Shinde faction reclaimed power, but Fadnavis was curiously asked to play second fiddle as Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister. It was, reportedly, at the insistence of both Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.


Though reluctant, Fadnavis complied and set to work with characteristic discipline. His reward came soon enough. In 2023, Ajit Pawar broke ranks with his uncle Sharad Pawar and brought a faction of the NCP into the BJP-Shinde fold. Fadnavis became the face of the newly expanded ruling coalition. In the 2024 assembly elections, the Mahayuti (comprising the BJP, the Shinde-led Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP) won a resounding victory, and Fadnavis returned to the Chief Minister’s office.


His return was poetic. In 2019, Fadnavis had ended his campaign quoting Atal Bihari Vajpayee: “I shall return.” At the time, his rivals had scoffed. They are not laughing now.


Fadnavis has reshaped Maharashtra’s developmental arc. He integrated big-city ambitions with rural anxieties, and brought a stability to statecraft rarely seen in India’s fractious states. His grip over party machinery, his ability to attract investment and his rapport with PM Modi have only strengthened over time.


Today, projects like the Nashik Kumbh Mela revamp, Shakti Peeth Highway, and continuous administrative meetings underscore the scale of his mandate. Maharashtra stands at the cusp of transformation and Fadnavis is its architect.


The big question is whether Mumbai is his final stop. Many in the BJP believe he is being groomed for something bigger. If he delivers over the next five years, the man once mocked for quoting Vajpayee may do more than just return. He may rise higher still. 

Comments

bottom of page