She is over 80% hearing impaired. Pune: Renuka Kekan grew up learning to read lips in a dry cotton belt village in Maharashtra’s Akola district. When the doctor suggested a hearing machine, her father was reluctant as he felt the device would signal her disability and could mark her future.
Renuka secured AIR 948 in the recent civil services exam results, the first girl from her village or even taluka. In 2005, 25-year-old Mahajan was teaching at a competitive exam coaching centre in Pune. The Kolhapur hostel gave him 2-3 months but the future haunted him. Two years ago, during Diwali, he met Mahajan, who gave him Rs 2,500. Mauli Adkur (28) was born in Kolhapur without arms. I came to the Jalgaon campus for competitive exams training and landed a job as junior clerk in Solapur Municipal Corporation in Jan 2025,” Adkur said. In 2019, Mahajan opened a branch in Pune on a rented premises and another in Delhi’s Mukherjeenagar last year. It helped me focus and be positive about self-study,” Thanya Nathan (24) said. Mahajan said they spend almost Rs 2 lakh per student per year. I have arranged 20-22 marriages of my ‘adopted’ kids so far. She met Mahajan in 2022 and found a safe space on the Jalgaon campus where she could study without worrying about a place to stay, food and money. For 20 years, I did not take any money from the foundation. But recently, an organization that donates insisted on paying me Rs 1 lakh per month which is more than enough for a middle-class family,” Mahajan said.
We ensure that twice a year for three days, the girls return to the Jalgaon campus so that they know their Deepsthamb family is always with them,” Mahajan added.
People would reject me even without an interview,” Pille, who does everything with his feet, said. “ I told him I was earning and did not need the money. He said, ‘Son, buy new clothes for Diwali’. Our religion is humanity and we teach our students to go beyond caste, religion, gender divides and become better humans first,” Patil said. “For LGBTQ+ students who want to study but have no safe space, this place is a godsend,” Kashid added. His work has made him part of various national bodies, and his organization has won a National Award for “Best NGO for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities” in 2023. He said, “Before I die, I want to help at least one crore children. ” You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Pune | Silver Rate in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune | Petrol Price in Pune | Diesel Price in Pune | CNG Price in Pune | LPG Price in Pune Stay updated with the latest Pune news.
“My parents no longer care about the hearing aid. I owe my success to the Manobal programme that offered three years of free accommodation, counselling, subtitled lectures and customized training,” she added. Nineteen students from the same programme were on the UPSC list. It is one of the several run by Deepsthamb Foundation that provides persons with disabilities, orphans, transgenders, and poor students free residential education, counselling and employment opportunities in New Delhi, Pune and Jalgaon . The organization began after an unsettling observation two decades ago by its founder Yajurvendra Mahajan. He noticed that ambition was abundant in his classroom, but the ability to pursue it was not evenly distributed. He saw that students from poor backgrounds studied under the pressure of survival, scraping together money for fees, living in cramped rooms and saving on meals. “I was handicapped and sent to a home in Kolhapur that took in persons with disability. PD Deshpande helped me get into polytechnic and then engineering and SK Patil from Govt Engineering College in Karad sponsored me. But jobs were elusive. He then heard about Manobal. They took him in and through their contacts got him a job in an IT solutions company in Pune. “That organization is Godsent. Everyone helped us. Now I work as a software engineer in Infosys,” Pille added. I was touched,” Pille added. For others, the barriers were subtler but just as entrenched. Her family never thought of schooling her, but her siblings saw her interest in books and admitted her to Std I in the local school. She excelled in studies and completed a diploma in IT, using her feet for all work others do with their hands. She did not land a job as people rejected her without giving her the chance to prove her skills. “I started concentrating on govt jobs and completed my graduation. It took tremendous efforts and four practical shows of her skills to get her appointment. “We do not have any affiliation with political parties or any other socio-cultural bodies. We accept donations and our gates and hearts to everyone. Students say the foundation’s impact extends beyond academics. “I attended their program called Parivartan for a year where they taught yoga and motivational reading. She is set to make history as Kerala’s first fully visually challenged woman judge. “The staff is paid well so they don’t treat students as charity cases. Food, accommodation, technology and teaching are of top quality. The idea is not to just offer them coaching, but also a safe space where they can dream big without doubts or apology,” he added. Over time, the foundation has filled roles far beyond education. “We had officers in banks, forest dept etc but people refused to marry them. So, we became their parents, we gave them my surname if they wanted and started arranging their weddings. Veena Kashid, a transgender woman, fighting a legal battle to secure her appointment as a police sub-inspector despite clearing the exams, came to the campus. “I was working after my BTech, but when I came out as a transwoman, I faced traumatic experiences and had to quit. I enrolled in a beautician course and joined a salon. “The first day, he gave an awareness lesson to students about gender, biases, and why we should be humans first and always. People took pains to make me feel accepted. I could live there, had books, had coaching guidance for free,” Kashid added. she has cracked another govt exam and is working as an electrical instructor, at the skill entrepreneurship department of the state government While her battle to become a PSI still goes on. Mahajan continues to live in a rented accommodation with his wife and two school-going kids. “My wife grew to accept that material possessions do not bring happiness. The three campuses and online courses now host hundreds of students who arrive with stories of loss, rejection or quiet resilience. Many will leave as officers, clerks, engineers or teachers. In Deepsthamb, they find a place where, at least for a while, the odds were rewritten. Mahajan was at the Pune campus, seated among students who had once nowhere to go. Download the TOI App.
He sold the house and farm he had inherited from his father, and took in 10 underprivileged students and taught them from a rented house. The next year, all 10 cleared the MPSC exam and became Class I and II officers. My encounter with an 18-year-old orphan made me realise that they are probably handed the worst card by life ,” Mahajan added. Of the 21 recognised disabilities, the foundation takes in students from 14 categories. In 2009, Mahajan set up Deepsthamb Foundation to accept donations, and ran the centre through 15 rented houses. In 2019, he set up an all-inclusive, accessible residential campus in Jalgaon for Rs 20 crore through donations. Rented centres in Pune and Delhi followed and currently they are home to about 600 students and many others through online programmes spanning 16 states. The Mumbai police took him to an organization that looked after orphans but he could stay only till he turned 18.
Rajesh Pille (32) was around three years old when his arms had to be amputated due to an electric shock. Within the next three months, he lost his parents to a car accident and was enrolled in an orphanage, which closed down in a few years and he ended up on a train to Mumbai.
“You will find institutes for a particular disability, or orphans or underprivileged students, but this is a place where everyone comes together and what they are doing is wonderful,” she added. Mahajan, who has modelled his life on Swami Vivekananda ’s teachings, quit his job and went back to Jalgaon. Over time, he found other disadvantaged groups. “There was no ecosystem to help prepare children with special needs for competitive exams. He got counsellors, teachers trained in handling different abilities, and the best assistive technologies to support them. The institution becomes more than a school.