Out of a total of 276 vanavasi districts, the V.K.A currently operates in 171 districts, covering 4974 places and with dependable, active contacts established in over 20,000 villages. In addition, the V.K.A. also operates in all major cities and in 43 other non-adivasi districts. It proposes to reach each of the remaining vanavasi districts in the next two years.  

A remarkable feature of this organisation is that nearly 50% of their full-time workers come from the vanavasi areas ( 528 out of 1115 ). Their remarkable methodology of grooming local leadership is bound to have a snow - balling effect in fulfilling all their ambitious expansion proposals. 

The V.K.A operates in all the Sevakarya kshetras i.e. health, education, social organisation, economic development as well as carrying out numerous casual / need-based programmes. But their major inputs are in the field of education, development of sports, re-establishing and strengthening the blurred cultural links and weaning the vanavasi away from the evil influence of foreign missionaries, anti-social, and anti-national forces etc.The impact of the selfless, untiring, all encompassing activities and programmes are now becoming manifest in all the places where the V.K.A operates. The burgeoning demand for opening V.K.A seva projects, the growing self-reliance of the Vanavasis and financial support from all over the country are indicators of V.K.A’s favourable impact. 
 

Vanabhandu Parishad - A success story 
( Friends of Tribal Society - F.T.S ) 

The Vanabandhu Parishad was established in Calcutta in the year 1989. The main thrust of the Vanabandhu Parishad is on exposing various classes and groups of the non-vanavasi people to the life styles of our vanavasi brothers. People staying in urban and metropolitan conglomerates, particularly the well-to-do and middle class people, are seldom, if at all, exposed to life of the vanavasis. Not even a few of the urban people ever visit a vanavasi village, let alone stay there. But if they do so, they realise, how deplorable the conditions there are. 

The Vanabandhu Parishad organises planned visits to the vanavasi areas, of various groups of the urban people with their families. These groups are taken around several seva activities conducted by the Sangh inspired organisations. 

Once the urban people see for themselves the miserable conditions prevalent in the vanavasi areas, many of them get motivated to render a helping hand to persons and organisations that strive for the welfare of our vanavasi brothers. They mobilise resource of various types to aid such programmes. They maintain sustained liaison with these organisations. 

The Vanabandhu Parishad participates in organising training of the workers besides promoting and sustaining several seva activities in the vanavasi areas. The activity of F.T.S has been extended to other weaker sections of society as well. 

It is through the financial and other resources mobilised by the Vanabandhu Parishad that over 1100 Ekalavya Vidyalayas ( one teacher schools ) and over 275 health centres are now operated in the vanavasi areas of Bihar, Orissa, north-eastern states and West Bengal. "RAMA KATHA" programmes are being conducted on a mass scale by training our vanavasi brothers for that purpose. 

The concept of establishing branches of Vanabandhu Parishad in other urban and metropolitan areas is catching fast. Branches are already started in Ranchi and Mumbai (in Maharashtra). Other cities are expected to follow suit in the near future. 

No doubt such a mutual exchange and sharing will help integration of the vanavasi brothers in the mainstream. It will save them from falling in traps of anti-social and anti-national forces, separatists tendencies and the like. It will open innumerable opportunities for our vanavasi brothers to participate meaningfully in social reconstruction and development, once such a process gathers momentum.