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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.

‘Vote for Cash’ – now at a different level!

Mahayuti leaders dangle ‘tijori’ carrot to woo voters

Mumbai: As the curtain falls on Maharashtra’s December 2 civic poll campaign, the spotlight fell onto a series of controversial remarks by ruling alliance leaders who openly linked public development funds to voter support. Opposition parties slammed the statements as “a display of arrogance of power” and a direct threat to democratic norms.

 

The latest controversy erupted after Mahayuti ally and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said at a Malegaon poll rally: “You have votes, I have funds. If you elect all my 18 NCP candidates, there will be no shortage of funds. But if you reject, I will also reject.”

 

The blunt remark triggered a political firestorm. Ajit Pawar, who holds the powerful Finance Department, (the ‘key to the treasury’ as he said), later attempted to soften the impact, claiming that “such things are routine during poll campaigns across the country.”

 

But the Opposition said the message to the masses was: “development only for votes or face punishment”.

 

Ajit Pawar’s statement revived memories of his similarly aggressive pitch during the 2024 Lok Sabha campaign in Baramati, when he warned voters that development resources would “dry up” unless they backed his wife, Sunetra Pawar. Though Sunetra lost to cousin Supriya Sule, she was later elected to the Rajya Sabha.

 

Another Bharatiya Janata Party Minister Nitesh Rane added fuel to the fire. Rane has repeatedly used the same “funds-for-votes” formula - first as a BJP MLA in 2022 and now as a minister - warning villagers that development money would flow only if BJP-backed candidates were elected.

 

This week, he went a step further, advising voters to ensure “the Lotus blooms in every home” and arguing that only the BJP had “the capacity to secure funds for development.”

 

The remarks echoed the BJP’s favourite slogans of “double-engine” and now “triple-engine” governance pitch - the promise that electing the party at the Centre, State, and local bodies can guarantee smooth development.

 

However, this time, the BJP also took a jab at its own ally. Responding to Ajit Pawar’s claim of controlling funds, party insiders quipped: “If you have the key to the ‘tijori’ (treasury), we have the owner,” a veiled reference to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, without whose consent things apparently can’t move.

 

Attempting to douse the flames, Fadnavis argued that “everyone says such things during elections,” but that governments, once elected, work for the progress of all citizens.

 

The latest in the list is Minister Jaykumar Gore, who told women beneficiaries of the Ladki Bahin scheme that they should remain “loyal” to the CM because they “don’t even get Rs 100 from their husbands.”

 

In the past few years, several Opposition-ruled states had accused the BJP-led Centre of “step-motherly treatment” in funds allocation. In early-2022, the then CM Uddhav Thackeray had written to the Centre seeking clearance of pending dues amounting to Rs 26,500 crore - a request that remained unfulfilled till his government toppled in June 2022.

 

SEC mum as MVA cries foul

Opposition leaders say such statements from the ruling side leaders “are not casual slips but part of a deliberate, national-level pattern” of weaponizing public money for electoral advantage and demanded that the State Election Commission (SEC) immediately act to curb this growing trend.

 

NCP (SP) Working President Supriya Sule called it the SEC’s “moral responsibility” to intervene, warning that unchecked intimidation “undermines the spirit of free and fair elections.”

 

Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar asked pointedly: “If those in government threaten voters, how can impartial elections be ensured?”

 

Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve was more scathing: “Development funds come from taxpayers, not from Ajit Pawar’s home. How can he threaten voters as if he owns the treasury?”

 

The SEC’s silence has irked the Opposition, which says the inaction “emboldens those in power to re-package intimidation as campaign strategy - and end up laughing all the way to the treasury and the vote banks.”

 

 


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