‘My father is desperate’: Maharashtra’s drought reaches Pune’s campuses

With the Maharashtra government declaring drought in 265 of the state’s 358 taluks last week, students who have migrated to Pune are anxious about the situation back home.

4 min readPuneUpdated: Sep 30, 2026 05:26 PM IST

Mahesh Mate and Kuldeep Ambekar, the founder of Student Helping Hands, which provides two meals a day to students as part of its food scholarship programme. (Photo: Special arrangement)

Eighteen-year-old Aditya Bhosale is worried. Even as he attends classes in Pune and interns at a chartered accountancy firm, his thoughts are with his mother, who works as an agricultural labourer in Maharashtra’s drought-hit Beed district. With farms drying up, she may no longer have a regular income.

“My father passed away a few years ago and my mother works on cotton and wheat farms at our village. I know the drought situation is going to worsen, but my mother does not tell me much as she wants me to focus on my studies,” Bhosale, a first-year BCom student at Garware College who moved to Pune two years ago, said.

It’s a concern affecting several students who have migrated to Pune, leaving behind families that depend on agriculture in drought-affected parts of Maharashtra. With the Maharashtra government declaring drought in 265 of the state’s 358 taluks last week, the crisis has brought fresh financial uncertainty to students, who came to Pune for a better education and a better life.

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Also Read | Maharashtra declares drought in 75% of state amid rainfall deficit

‘Nothing left in our farm’

Aditya Bhosale and Mahesh Mate work alongside pursuing their education to make ends meet. (Photo: Special arrangement)

Like 21-year-old Mahesh Mate from Loni Shahajanpur in Beed. A Bachelor in Computer Science student at Pune’s S P College, Mate’s family owns 2.5 acres of farmland, where cotton and soybean are cultivated.

“In 2025, the flood waters ruined our crops and this year the drought has dried up the farm. We have two oxen and a cow. When there is no water or fodder, we do not know how to manage the animals,” Mate, who migrated to Pune last year for higher education, said.

Mate and his brother, who works as a lab attendant, have to pay approximately Rs 5,000 per month for a room to stay. As part of the college’s ‘Earn and Learn’ scheme, he manages to earn around Rs 3,000 per month but it is worried about how the family will cope with another failed agricultural season.

“My parents sent us to Pune to study as there is nothing left in our farm,” he said. “Before Ganeshotsav, I went to my village and due to the drought situation this year, our farm has dried up. My father is desperate and now seeks work at other farms to earn barely Rs 300-Rs 400 per day.”

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Also Read | Behind Maharashtra drought crisis, sharp regional variation in rainfall

Some relief from Student Helping Hands

Cotton farms have dried up at Loni Shahjanpur village in Maharashtra’s Beed district. (Photo: Special arrangement)

Student Helping Hands, founded more than a decade ago by Kuldeep Ambekar, has a food scholarship programme, where students from drought-hit regions of Marathwada and Vidarbha are provided two nutritious meals a day.

Ambekar, who moved to Pune from Ambi village in Dharashiv, recalled a phase in his life when his farmer parents struggled through a famine and were unable to send Rs 5,000 for his expenses in Pune. “Since then, along with volunteers, we help students who have come to Pune from drought-affected regions in Maharashtra and guide them on various aspects,” Ambekar said.

The organisation has supported more than 5,000 students and provides meals to around 600 students annually, while also helping them find hostels and part-time jobs. “This year, at least 2,000 students applied to SHS for the food scholarship scheme. Several are from single-parent families and economically disadvantaged backgrounds,” Ambekar said.

While the SHS offers support, there are challenges, he admitted, saying that because of the drought, there is a delay in receiving money from their families. So, at times, students cannot pay their fees on time.

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The organisation is now planning a meet for drought-affected students on October 4.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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