The Friends of Tribals Society (FTS), or Vanbandhu Parishad, is a volunteer organization formed in 1989 with the goal of improving literacy and health among the Adivasi, rural tribal people in India. The society operates one-teacher schools in the villages, led by trained members of the local community.[1]
The FTS is associated with the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation, which is active in fundraising abroad.[2]
FTS operates Ekal Vidyalayas in Assam, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, while its sister organization Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad (BLSP) operates in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.[3]
The schools (Ekal Vidyalyas) are led by a local person who is trained as a teacher. The curriculum is mainly basic literacy in the language of the state, but also introduces concepts of Hinduism, even in areas where that is not the main religion.[4]
An Ekal Vidyalaya teacher was killed by Naxalites for ignoring their directive not to teach Hindu culture.[5]
As of July 2003, the FTS was operating 6,966 schools with 222,775 students.[4]
By July 2007, the FTS and the Ekal Vidyalaya was operating over 23,000 schools.[6]
The FTS had the goal of operating 30,000 schools by 2011.[7]
The target was achieved and surpassed by March 2010 itself reaching 34,000 schools with 10,30,290 students.[citation needed]
^Cite error: The named reference FTSintro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Ekal2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"EKAL VIDYALAYA MOVEMENT". Ekal Vidyalaya India. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
^ abCite error: The named reference IndianExpress20040118 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Hindu20040318 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Hindu20070715 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Telegraph20070105 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 25 Related for: Friends of Tribals Society information
has a number of associated organisations called the FriendsofTribalsSociety (FTS), Shree Hari Satsang Samiti (SHSS), Arogya Foundation of India (AFI)...
dropped out of his postgraduate course in Veterinary Sciences and became a Pracharak (full-time promoter/worker) of the RSS towards the end of 1975. After...
of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist organisation that is widely regarded as the parent organisation of the...
and was notable for spreading disinformation. He was the national secretary of Bharat Swabhiman Andolan trust. His death has been deemed mysterious. Dixit...
States Army Free the Slaves, an American human rights organization FriendsofTribalsSociety, a volunteer organization in India From the Shallows, an American...
who is the current General Secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since March 2021. During the period of Indian Emergency from 1975 to 1977...
St Jude, Agastya International Foundation, Ashoka University, FriendsofTribalsSociety and Olympic Gold Quest. He was also active in efforts to construct...
Sangh. Many members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began to contemplate the formation of a political party to...
the improvement oftribalsFriendsofTribalsSociety Anusuchit Jati-Jamati Arakshan Bachao Parishad, Organisation for the improvement of Dalits Bharat-Tibet...
ideological parent organisation of the ruling party of India, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The RSS is one of the principal organizations of the Sangh Parivar group...
one of the earliest Swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He first started as a Pracharak of Gujarat and later became President of the...
in the presence of the then RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan to grow dialogue with Muslim community. The MRM was founded with the stated aim of bringing Muslim...
worker) of the Rashtriya Swyamsewak Sangh. He was BJP's General Secretary (Organisation) for 13 years and was the longest-serving General Secretary of the...
the practice of untouchability in May 1974 in Pune, and appealed to the RSS volunteers to work towards its removal from the Hindu society. The RSS has...
were petty tenants or tribals who gained land and political power to justify their claim of being Kshatriya. One clear example of Sanskritisation is the...
of the Congress, leftists supported Deve Gowda Government and Gujral Government. During the tenure of the NDA Government also which had “friends” of BMS...
popularly known as Vakil Saheb, is the founder of Sahkar Bharti. He was one of the founding fathers of the RSS in Gujarat. He is credited with inducting...
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS activist Balraj Madhok, was formally registered on 9 July 1949. Its...
Kalyan Ashram (Ashram for the Tribal Welfare), Organisations for the improvement oftribals; and FriendsofTribalsSociety Muslim Rashtriya Manch (Muslim...
Secretary of BJP in Ahmedabad city and was elected twice as a member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly during 1995–97 and 1998–2002. He was a Minister of State...
changes de-emphasizing the role of Jawaharlal Nehru, and glorifying that of Modi himself, while also portraying Indian society as harmonious, without conflict...
RSS vision of a progressive and dynamic Hindu society that can deal with its internal and external challenges, and contribute to the welfare of the whole...
international working president of the Hindu organisation Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) for over 20 years and in charge of the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi movement...
Global Information