Growth Comes Rapidly To Maharashtra’s Erstwhile Backward Regions

Interesting things have been happening in Marathwada, one of the erstwhile backward regions of Maharashtra. Industry took hesitant steps into the region’s capital city five decades ago to take advantage of the state government’s concessions for setting up manufacturing units in the backward area, led by Bajaj Auto which set up a full-fledged scooter manufacturing plant. The first problem it faced was getting executives to work in the plant – they needed homes, which it was simple enough to build. But they also had to have good schools in which their children could study. The Marathwada Industries Association – which morphed into the Chamber of Marathwada Industries & Agriculture – was established, and began to take steps to solve these problems. There were a couple of missionary schools, but the newcomers wanted their children to imbibe not just learning but the culture of the country to which they belong. The head honchos of Bajaj, electronics major Videocon, non-stick cookware pioneer Nirlep and paper manufacturer Nath group joined hands to set up what has evolved into a world-class residential school: the Nath Valley School. This was followed by a number of colleges: there are now 22 for engineering alone in Aurangabad and other parts of Marathwada. Along the way came the Marathwada Auto Cluster to cater to the training needs of the host of automotive and automotive companies and their ancillaries that came up in the area. More than 1,000 customers have used the organisation’s facilities to train their workers and students.