Bhaurao Patil

One hostel, started in 1919 so poor students could work while they studied, grew into hundreds of schools across Maharashtra. Its founder received India’s third-highest civilian honour months before he died.

MCQ Questions

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Bhaurao Patil

One hostel in 1919 grew into hundreds of schools, built on students working to fund their own education.

1919

Founds a hostel at Kale

At a Satyashodhak Samaj meeting. Students work to fund their own education, an “Earn and Learn” model.

1921

Meets Gandhi in Mumbai

Adopts Khadi principles, deepening his ties to the wider social-reform movement.

By 1959

Rayat Shikshan Sanstha grows

38 hostels, 578 schools, 3 colleges, and 6 teacher-training institutes, across Maharashtra.

1959

Receives the Padma Bhushan

Awarded in January 1959, months before his death on 9 May, aged 71.

Recognition came first, not last: Bhaurao Patil received the Padma Bhushan around January 1959, then died on 9 May that year, aged 71. The honour arrived months before his death, not posthumously as is sometimes assumed.

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A Hostel That Grew Into Hundreds of Schools Need to Know

• Bhaurao Patil was born on 22 September 1887, in Kumbhoj, Kolhapur State. His family were Marathi Jain farmers.
• He was influenced by the Satyashodhak movement, and by reformers Jyotirao Phule and Chhatrapati Shahu of Kolhapur.
• In 1919, he founded a hostel at Kale, at a Satyashodhak Samaj meeting. Students worked to fund their own education, an approach known as “Earn and Learn.”
• This hostel grew into the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, headquartered in Satara, Maharashtra.
• By his death in 1959, the Sanstha ran 38 hostels and 578 schools. It also ran 3 colleges and 6 teacher-training institutes.
• The people of Maharashtra gave him the title “Karmaveer.” The name is often loosely translated as “King of Actions,” though it more accurately means “Hero of Action” or “Warrior of Deeds.”
• He received the Padma Bhushan in January 1959, and died on 9 May that year, aged 71. The honour arrived months before his death, not after it.

From Factory Worker to Full-Time Reformer Good to Know

• Before founding the Sanstha, Patil worked for companies including Ogale Glassworks, Kirloskar, and Coopers. He stayed active in Satyashodhak Samaj work throughout.
• In 1921, he met Mahatma Gandhi at a public meeting in Mumbai, and adopted Khadi principles afterward. He later founded 101 schools named in Gandhi’s honour.
• The Sanstha’s “Earn and Learn” model deliberately targeted students from lower castes and poor families. These students were otherwise shut out of formal education.
• He also received an honorary D.Litt in education from the University of Pune. It came in the same year as his Padma Bhushan.
• Today, the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha runs over 700 institutions. Sources vary on the exact count, but these include schools, colleges, and hostels, across parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Test Yourself

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1. Bhaurao Patil’s 1919 hostel at Kale introduced what approach, later known as “Earn and Learn”?

Students paid reduced fees based on family income

Students worked to fund their own education

The state government funded student stipends

Wealthy patrons sponsored individual students

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A Trust, Not a Government Scheme Great to Know

• Don’t confuse Bhaurao Patil’s Rayat Shikshan Sanstha with a government scheme. It was, and remains, a privately founded trust, not a state programme. It still received wide social and later official recognition.
• His “Earn and Learn” idea predates most formal Indian discussion of work-study education models. It solved a specific, practical problem. Poor and lower-caste students could not afford to study without also earning.
• His life is often summed up through three great influences: Phule, Shahu, and Gandhi. This framing appears across many biographical accounts, though it reads more as a settled tradition than a single documented source.
• Patil’s own path began in a farming family. It ended with an institution that now runs hundreds of schools. That arc mirrors the social mobility his own model was designed to create for others.