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{{Infobox school
| name = Friends of Tribals Society
| county = India
| established = 1989
}}

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.<ref name=FTSintro/>

The FTS is associated with the [[Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation]], which is active in fundraising abroad.<ref name=Ekal2010/>
FTS operates Ekal Vidyalayas in [[Assam]], [[Orissa, India|Orissa]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Maharashtra]] and [[Karnataka]], while its sister organization [[Bharat Lok Shiksha Parishad]] (BLSP) operates in [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttranchal]], [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Haryana]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ekalindia.org/ekaladmin/volunteeradmin/knowledge/Evknowledgebooks/conceptbook.pps
|title=EKAL VIDYALAYA MOVEMENT
|publisher=Ekal Vidyalaya India
|accessdate=2011-09-10}}</ref>

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.<ref name=IndianExpress20040118/>
An Ekal Vidyalaya teacher was killed by [[Naxalite]]s for ignoring their directive not to teach [[Hindu culture]].<ref name=Hindu20040318/>
As of July 2003, the FTS was operating 6,966 schools with 222,775 students.<ref name=IndianExpress20040118/>
By July 2007, the FTS and the Ekal Vidyalaya was operating over 23,000 schools.<ref name=Hindu20070715/>
The FTS had the goal of operating 30,000 schools by 2011.<ref name=Telegraph20070105/>
The target was achieved and surpassed by March 2010 itself reaching 34,000 schools with 10,30,290 students.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

The society is associated with the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), which belongs to the [[Sangh Parivar]], a [[Hindu nationalist]] organization, although FTS officials claim to be independent of these organizations. After a 2004 electoral victory by the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) in [[Madhya Pradesh]], the Human Resources Development minister [[Murli Manohar Joshi]] gave credit to the FTS for helping achieve the BJP victory.<ref name=IndianExpress20040118/>
In May 2005, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry stopped grants to the FTS for their schools after an inquiry reported that the organization was misusing this funding. The FTS was said to be inflating their school registers, failing to provide educational material and teaching divisive ideology.<ref name=Hindu20050519/>
In December 2010 the [[State Bank of India]] donated money to purchase teaching materials for 150 one-teacher schools in the [[Patna]] area.<ref name=Times20101202/>

==References==
{{reflist|1|refs=
<ref name=Ekal2010>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ekal.org/79/newsletter-Oct%202010
|title=Newsletter October 2010
|publisher=[[Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation]]
|access-date=2010-12-20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726020814/http://www.ekal.org/79/newsletter-Oct%202010
|archive-date=2011-07-26
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
<ref name=FTSintro>{{cite web
|url=http://www.ftsindia.com/ftsintro.htm
|title=Friends of Tribals Society (FTS) an introduction
|publisher=Friends of Tribals Society
|accessdate=2010-12-20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711045852/http://www.ftsindia.com/ftsintro.htm
|archive-date=2011-07-11
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>
<ref name=Hindu20040318>{{cite web
|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/2004/03/18/stories/2004031803181300.htm
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|title=Making inroads into the tribal belt
|author=Aarti Dhar
|date=Mar 18, 2004
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Hindu20050519>{{cite web
|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/19/stories/2005051907291200.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221103440/http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/19/stories/2005051907291200.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=December 21, 2005
|title=Centre stops grants to `one-teacher schools'
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|author=Anita Joshua
|date=May 19, 2005
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Hindu20070715>{{cite web
|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/15/stories/2007071558240200.htm
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116004320/http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/15/stories/2007071558240200.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=January 16, 2010
|title=Friends of Tribals Society to open chapter
|work=[[The Hindu]]
|date=Jul 15, 2007
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
<ref name=IndianExpress20040118>{{cite web
|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=39391
|title=Growing Tribe
|author=HARTOSH SINGH BAL
|work=[[The Indian Express]]
|date=January 18, 2004
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Telegraph20070105>{{cite web
|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070105/asp/calcutta/story_7213692.asp
|title=Books and beyond - Reaching out to the tribals
|author=SUDESHNA BANERJEE
|work=[[The Telegraph (Kolkata)]]
|date=January 5, 2007
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
<ref name=Times20101202>{{cite web
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/SBI-donates-money-for-schools/articleshow/7026266.cms
|title=SBI donates money for schools
|date=Dec 2, 2010
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|accessdate=2010-12-20}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|www.ftsindia.com }} Friends Of Tribals Society

[[Category:Non-profit organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Educational organisations based in India]]

Friends of Tribals Society - Revision history

>GreenC bot at 20:10, 21 April 2021