Foreword
aharashtra has had a long-standing tradition of women Maharashtr working in the educational and social fields. Both these fields complement one another. In the 19th century, Bharat Ratna Dhondo Keshav alias Anna Karve recognized the pivotal role of education in social reform. Efforts of stalwarts like him, Mahatma Jotiba and Savitirbai Phule, and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar brought education within the reach of women in Maharashtra in pre-independence era. Many women have chosen to work in these fields in the 21st century now. Till today, 17 of them have been honoured with the Baya Karve Award. Compassion for the poor, for the challenged persons and neglected sections of society, as well as an ability to endure hardships in order to bring about a change, are some of the common traits found in the work of these inspiring women. Their inspirations may be identical, but the process of understanding why they chose a certain field, brings us face to face with diverse social problems.
A few observations about issues in a particular field, the complexities of problems, and programmes run to resolve them will not be out of place here. The work of these women crusaders also raises some fundamental questions. Firstly, though their work does not cover only women's issues, all of them have primarily focused on problems related to women and children and tried to resolve them. Compared to men, usually women and children live a less secure, neglected and strained existence, not only in India but all over the world. Orphaned, illiterate, malnourished, AIDS-infected children, and raped, deserted, homeless women and those without any source of livelihood are always pushed out of the mainstream. The award winning women began their work with an aim to enhance these lives and empower them, going beyond merely providing resources to meet their basic needs that include food, clothes, shelter, health and education.
Even today, there are countless children who have never been to a school. A large number of children who do enroll, end up as drop-outs. Statistically, only 50% of the children who take admission in the first standard continue studying till the tenth standard. This rate is 56% among scheduled castes, whereas 74% among scheduled tribes. Looking at the number of children who are deprived of education, the moot point is who ensures that they are educated? The finger naturally points to the government. Till date, the government has spent crores of rupees on education. It has opened Ashram schools. It has provided free education till standard X, built hostels, provided ST passes, bicycles, free textbooks and notebooks and offered attendance allowance for children below the poverty line. In spite of all this, why has the literacy rate not increased at the expected pace? The answer lies in the stark contrast between people who draft the programmes and the beneficiaries. The government does not have a robust system to comprehensively explain the programme, and implement it. Therefore, just like every other sector, the government is held responsible for the failure in delivering in the educational field. The government, however, is not a particular individual. Only a few people realize that it is 'for the people, of the people and by the people'. Our award winners comprise this small section of society. Knowing the importance of individual responsibility, these women worked diligently and helped sustain the momentum by pushing forward the chariot of education.
Generally, three categories of people are deprived of education. 1. Tribals (Adivasis): Deprived and backward in every way. The community does not have enough resources to face drought, floods or any other natural calamity. Hunger, epidemics, superstition are an integral part of their lives. These communities are completely unaware about the knowledge in books. (2). Rural areas the government schemes today have helped set up a school in every village. However, large sections of society are indifferent to the benefits of education leading to a high rate of school drop-outs, (3) Children who live below poverty line in cities pickers, beggars, children of daily wage workers, rag or street performers, and those who work as domestic helps or child labourers.
Poverty and lack of education pose problems for children in all the three categories. Till seeking alms is the only way to satisfy hunger and fetching water on shoulders the only way to quench thirst, we can shout ourselves hoarse to make them understand the benefits of education, but the chances that they will come to school are bleak. Swami Vivekanand, a 19th century Hindu scholar, had remarked, 'If poverty and ignorance keep children away from education, education should reach out to them. Some of these women have put his principles in to practice.
The first question to be tackled while teaching at a tribal hamlet or a small village is gathering children! Sindhutai Ambike, working at Kosbad, realized that though sizeable number of students had enrolled, only six to seven attended school. Home visits to bring them to school proved futile. She noticed that children tended to cattle so she started a school right in the middle of the grazing lands. She also set up a blackboard on an embankment where elder sisters waited patiently for hours, to pick up younger siblings, and started teaching them alphabets. Rajanitai Paranjape did the same experiment with Door Step School in cities. She sought out-of-school children, convinced them and their parents, and started classes for them wherever they were found on a footpath, in a temple, garden, playgrounds. She introduced a novel bus program and held classes in the bus itself. Nirmalatai Purandare launched the 'Gaav Tithe Balwadi' (pre-school in every village) programme.
She realized that in order to curb the alarming drop-out rate in village schools, it was imperative to introduce non-formal education, before children were admitted to standard I.
About The Book
Seventeen women, who have done trail-blazing work in India's social and education sectors, have been awarded the prestigious Baya Karve Puraskar by Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Sanstha, Pune, so far. This book profiles them all. But this is not a mere compilation of eulogies.
What shaped these trail-blazers? Where did their inspiration come from? What precisely did they accomplish? How scalable is their work? What are the limitations? What were the highs and the lows as they traversed the path? This book is an honest attempt to make a dispassionate, objective assessment of the awardees' stupendous contributions. It will not only appeal to the general reader, but will also serve as an important document and a guide to all those who want to embark on a similar journey in the fields of social reforms and education.
Hindu (935)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1085)
Archaeology (754)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (910)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (372)
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