Blsp India

More than 60 years after independence, we still face a multitude of problems, some inherited, the others man-made. Should we accept and carry on with them as they are? Should we lament and comment on them at each single opportunity and leave everything to God or to the government? Can we afford this luxury? We, at the Friends of Tribals Society (Vanbandhu Parishad), feel that we can NOT. We strongly recommend to each and every individual to choose his area of operation to eradicate at least one malady which afflicts this nation of great traditions. For ourselves, we have fixed our FOCUS. We will bring back joy to the lives of our VANAVASI brethren and alongwith them to others who live with them. Some call the vanavasis as Tribals, janajatis or such other names. They are about 8 crores in number residing in about I lakh villages and spread over most of the states of the country, mainly the entire North East, Jharkhand, Orissa, W.Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan. This entire area is our area of concern For ages, this vanavasi has been neglected by the entire society which includes the successive governments. There is no other reason why he is the poorest of the poor, why he cannot afford one, let alone two, meals a day, why the literacy rate there is only 12 per cent (female - 5 per cent) against the national average of 62 per cent. He is still far far away from railheads, highways, electricity and all other normal facilities now largely available to the populace. Jungles, mountains and rough terrain are his abode. His children are devoid of education. Government schools are few and far between and they too for namesake only. The literacy rate data speak for themselves.