In order to carry out the thinking of the revolutionary thinkers Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule and to create an educated society inspired by their thoughts, the Government of Maharashtra established the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (Mahajyoti). This was done through a government resolution dated 08.08.2019 under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, with the objective of educational, economic, and social development of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Vimukta Jati (VJ), Nomadic Tribes (NT), and Special Backward Classes (SBC) in Maharashtra.

Under this initiative, specific focus areas and target groups have been defined:

• To study the social, educational, and economic issues of the OBCs, VJ, NT, SBC communities identified by the Government or Mahajyoti, and to suggest remedial measures to the Government.
• To function as a premier institute for research, training, and human development, and to implement various initiatives for the social, educational, economic, and cultural advancement of the target groups.
• To provide skill development training and build capacity for employment, self-employment, entrepreneurship, and the development of industrial units; to conduct various surveys and research; and to establish, develop, manage, and oversee libraries, knowledge banks, research forums, and coordination boards in various fields.
• To offer training and coaching for personality development, competitive exams for jobs, businesses, and industries; and to provide scholarships, fellowships, and financial assistance to encourage students. Strategic actions are taken to uplift the educational and economic status of the target groups.
• To implement action research programs related to various fields of social science; to promote social planning for the target groups; and to equip them with professional skills along with knowledge of constitutional duties and rights across different sectors.
• To build capacity for employment, self-employment, entrepreneurship, establishment and development of industrial units including agro industrial units. This includes studying various surveys and conducting evaluations and skill development training.

As per the government resolution dated 26.02.2020, the headquarters of the institute was relocated to Nagpur. To facilitate better access to its schemes for beneficiaries, divisional offices of Mahajyoti have been established in Aurangabad, Nashik, and Pune, with preparations underway to open offices in Mumbai and Amravati.

Through Mahajyoti, students from OBC, VJ, NT, and SBC backgrounds in Maharashtra are provided with training for competitive exams such as MPSC, UPSC, MPSC Group B & C, MPSC (MES), SSC-CGL, IBPS-PO, LIC-AAO, military recruitment, UGC/CSIR-NET, MH/SET, MBA-CAT, TAIT, police recruitment pre-exams, JEE/NEET/MHT-CET, etc., to ensure they get equal opportunities in this competitive era. Skill development programs are also implemented to enhance employment prospects, and research is promoted through the provision of super-specialty scholarships to candidates pursuing Ph.D. and M.Phil.