Education has always been one of the most important means of empowering rural population with the knowledge, skills, and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the nation development process. Washim district of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, however, has multiple issues to deal with. The prevalence of non-productive agricultural land and the limited access to higher education has left the rural population in social and economic jeopardy. Indeed, back in the 1980s, when the nation was witnessing various social reforms and empowerments in its semi-urban areas, the penetration of education and social developments in the rural parts were considerably low.
Since the establishment of Mukund Education Society (MES) in 1984 at Risod in Washim under the leadership of Mohanlalji Jain and Sushila Walchale, however, the situation started changing in favour of the rural population. With the help scholarships and other financial helps offered by the MES, more students were able enjoy the fruits of higher learning, which was then available at their doorsteps. Today, MES runs many institutes in the region including Nursing College, PGDMLT, Law College, Public School and a well known engineering college; Sanmati Engineering College (SEC), which is founded in 2010 under the affiliation of Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University (SGBAU), with the prime aim of providing scrupulous pedagogy to the rural and underprivileged students.
Now, at the helm of MES’ affairs is its Secretary, Adv. Vaishali Walchale Jain, who is working with multiple projects on rural development for the betterment in education, health-care, skill and socio-economic conditions. Adv. Vaishali understands the vitality of research and innovation for the development of rural population, as she also manages a tech-venture, Vaishali Energy and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. which successfully generates electricity from solar and wind energy, besides manufacturing eco-friendly ash bricks from crop