Friends of Tribals Society

What Friends of Tribals Society does

Friends of Tribals Society (FTS India), established in 1989 and headquartered in Kolkata, is a non-government voluntary organization that delivers non-formal primary education to underprivileged rural and tribal children in India through its flagship Ekal Vidyalaya (One Teacher School) model. An OTS typically serves 25–30 children of classes I to III, operating 3 hours per day, 6 days per week, with one teacher and at an annual operating cost of INR 22,000 per school. The program runs across 45,363 schools serving 1,197,894 students in 55,000+ villages, anchored by a five-fold education framework covering Functional Literacy, Health Care (Arogya), Development Education (Gramothan), Empowerment (Jagran), and Ethics & Value Education (Sanskar). Village-level Gram Samitis provide local governance, and supplementary programs include FTS Yuva (youth wing in 23+ cities), Rashtriya Mahila Samiti (women's committee), Vanyatra donor visits, Ekal Run marathons, computer literacy classes, and the associated Ekal Abhiyan Trust that reaches 2.2 million children with girl child participation above 52%.

FTS sustains operations entirely through donations from individuals and corporations, plus CSR funding from named partners such as Skipper Limited, Inox Group, Century Plyboard India, Piramal Group, and Future Group. Donor-facing assets include a WooCommerce-powered online donation portal (preset tiers from INR 500 to INR 30,000), the FTS CHAMP donor management portal, and FCRA registration for foreign donations, with all contributions tax-deductible under Section 80G. The organization is supported by 36 chapters across 35 Indian cities, a small paid staff of 11–50 employees, and a large volunteer network, and has been recognized with the Gandhi Peace Prize 2017 — handed over at Rashtrapati Bhawan by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 26 February 2019. Strategic partnerships with the Arogya Foundation of India (health) and Shree Hari Satsang (Sanskar/ethics) extend delivery capacity beyond core literacy.

Name

Friends of Tribals Society

Legal name

Friends of Tribals Society

Website

https://ftsindia.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Friends of Tribals Society is a Kolkata-based non-profit, founded in 1989, that runs 45,363 One Teacher Schools (Ekal Vidyalayas) delivering non-formal primary education to roughly 1.2 million tribal and rural children across 55,000+ Indian villages, funded via individual donations and corporate CSR partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Primary Education Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Charter Indigenous/Culturally Focused & Community-Based Schools (EDAJACAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public Elementary Schools (EDAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Rural primary education
• Tribal community welfare
• Non-formal schooling
• Charitable education programs
• One teacher schools

Headquarters

HQ city

Kolkata

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: FTS is a non-profit organization that operates entirely through donations from individuals and corporations. Donations are tax-deductible under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act for Indian donors. The organization is registered under FCRA to receive foreign donations. Corporate sectors are approached for CSR sponsorship of schools. Individual donors can sponsor schools, students, or make general donations.
2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Funding: FTS approaches corporate sectors to invoke their Corporate Social Responsibility obligations to sponsor schools. Companies like Skipper Limited, Inox Group, Future Group, Century Plyboard India, and Piramal Group have supported the organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Friends of Tribals Society runs One Teacher Schools (Ekal Vidyalayas) providing non-formal primary education to tribal and rural children aged 4-10 years, typically 25-30 students per school, operating 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. The model is anchored in a five-fold education framework covering Functional Literacy, Health Care (Arogya), Development Education (Gramothan), Empowerment (Jagran), and Ethics & Value Education (Sanskar), delivered through 45,363 schools across more than 55,000 Indian villages under community supervision by Gram Samitis.

Product overview

Friends of Tribals Society (FTS India) is a non-profit organization offering a portfolio of educational and community programs anchored by the Ekal Vidyalaya (One Teacher School) model, which provides non-formal primary education to tribal and rural children across India. The core offering is complemented by a Five-Fold Education framework (Functional Literacy, Health Care, Development Education, Empowerment, and Ethics & Value Education) and supplementary programs including computer literacy classes, youth engagement through FTS Yuva, women's empowerment via Rashtriya Mahila Samiti, donor engagement through Vanyatra visits and FTS CHAMP portal, and an online donation platform with multiple sponsorship options (₹500–₹30,000). The organization operates 36 chapters across India, manages youth wings in over 23 cities, and publishes newsletters including Ekal Prayas and the Ekal-E-Bulletin.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ekal Vidyalaya: One Teacher School initiative providing non-formal primary education to children in rural and tribal areas.
• FTS Yuva
• Rashtriya Mahila Samiti
• Vanyatra
• Ekal Run

Products and services

• Ekal Vidyalaya (One Teacher School) Non-formal primary education service delivered through single-teacher schools (Ekal Vidyalayas) operating 3 hours a day, 6 days a week, each serving typically 25-30 tribal and rural children aged 4-10 years across classes I to III. Schools operate under community supervision by village-level Gram Samitis at an annual cost of approximately INR 22,000 per school, and 45,363 such schools are currently active.
• Five-Fold Education (Panchangik Shiksha) Holistic child development framework comprising Functional Literacy, Health Care (Arogya), Development Education (Gramothan), Empowerment (Jagran), and Ethics & Value Education (Sanskar) delivered alongside the Ekal Vidyalaya core instruction to address educational, health, economic, and cultural needs of tribal communities.
• Online Donation Portal WooCommerce-based donation platform on ftsindia.com offering preset donation amounts (₹500, ₹1,500, ₹3,000 for student sponsorship; ₹22,000, ₹30,000 for school sponsorship) and custom amounts starting at ₹500-1,000, with tax-deductibility under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act for Indian donors and FCRA registration enabling foreign donations.
• FTS CHAMP Donor Portal Donor login portal hosted at ftsindia.com/donor-login/ enabling supporters to manage and track donations and sponsored schools associated with their contributions.
• Vanyatra Donor Visit Program Organized donor engagement service enabling supporters to visit sponsored Ekal Vidyalaya schools and interact directly with students and communities, arranged by the Ekal Central office at regular intervals to connect donors with beneficiary villages.

Quantifiable outcome

• 45,363 Ekal Vidyalayas operating across India
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Infobeans VolunteersminorOthers · 6 July 2025Infobeans volunteers support FTS Yuva Indore's computer classes for Seva Basti children. 24 students enrolled with functional computers donated by seniors for hands-on learning.
• Arogya Foundation of IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for health camps providing professional medical treatments and free medicines in tribal villages. Health Karyakartas visit houses to encourage healthy lifestyles among women and children.
• Shree Hari SatsangcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociation for Sanskar (Ethics and Value Education) programs that teach tribal people about Indian culture, heritage, and values.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pratham Education Foundation: One of India's largest NGOs focused on universalizing primary education through low-cost interventions such as remedial learning and pre-schools. Comparable as a high-scale Indian education NGO targeting foundational literacy for under-served children.
• Asha for Education: Indian diaspora-driven non-profit funding primary education projects across rural India, with a strong volunteer-chapter model similar to FTS's 36 urban chapters. Comparable grassroots-funded Indian education NGO with a comparable volunteer network structure.
• Karuna Trust: Indian non-profit focused on tribal and rural community welfare through education and health programs in underserved geographies. Comparable as an Indian NGO with a similar tribal/rural-community service mandate combining education, health, and empowerment.
• Bharti Foundation: Indian philanthropic foundation running Satya Bharti rural schools providing primary education to underprivileged children in remote villages. Comparable as a large-scale rural primary-education NGO in India funded through corporate philanthropy.
• Akshaya Patra Foundation: India's largest mid-day meal program feeding 2M+ children daily with an education-outcomes focus through schools. Comparable as a mega-scale Indian education-impact NGO combining nutrition, schooling, and corporate CSR funding.
• Teach For India: Indian fellowship program placing high-potential graduates as teachers in low-income schools to address educational inequity. Comparable as a major Indian non-profit working on the supply side of quality primary education for underserved communities.
• Ekal Abhiyan Trust: The parent/sister movement of the same Ekal Vidyalaya one-teacher school model that FTS is part of; operates over 1 lakh Ekal Vidyalayas across India serving 2.2 million children. Most direct comparable as the umbrella entity for FTS's operating model.
• Smile Foundation: Indian social-development NGO running Mission Education and other programs providing formal and non-formal schooling to underprivileged children across India. Comparable as an Indian NGO providing elementary education to marginalized communities with corporate partnerships.

Broad incumbents

• Room to Read: Global non-profit operating literacy and gender-equality education programs across low-income countries in Asia and Africa. Comparable as a large-scale education NGO focused on literacy instruction in low-resource communities, although operating internationally rather than nationally.
• Aga Khan Education Services: Branch of the Aga Khan Development Network running schools and educational programs in low-income and rural regions of South Asia and East Africa. Comparable as an established NGO operating formal and non-formal schooling in under-served geographies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ftsindia_com
• YouTubeyoutube.com/FTSBharat
• Facebookfacebook.com/FTSBharat
• Instagraminstagram.com/FTSBharat

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Friends of Tribals Society