Established in November 2022, ZF reaches out to students in Yadgir’s Alipur Tanda and Kysapanalli Tanda.

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Alipur Tanda and Kysapanalli Tanda are predominantly occupied by people of Banjara Lambani Community, officially recognized as a Scheduled Tribe by the Government of India. Scheduled Tribes are a group of people in India who are recognized as disadvantaged indigenous people. Centuries of discrimination and ostracization have left Banjara Lambanis on the fringes with few stellar role models in the Community. 

Education is a luxury that a Banjara Lambani girl can dream of in case she escapes the clutches of child marriage, child labour, lack of access to baseline school education, poor sanitary conditions, lack of guidance in home and local community and the scant access to opportunities. 

 

Both the Tandas are plagued similar challenges, make it extremely difficult for students to dream and imagine opportunities outside the closed realm of their lives. The highest level of education one can attain is Grade 10 with instructions in Kannada only. To attend an English medium school, villagers will need to be enrolled in a private school with high fees that few can afford given prevailing conditions. The students need to travel to adjoining towns to pursue higher education further limiting options, especially for girls. Unfortunately, for the select few that go on to get a graduation degree, it does not equip them with professional competency or life skills, thereby throwing them back into the cess pool marriage and/or menial labour. 

 

Parents of our students do daily wage odd jobs in nearby farms and big towns leaving grandparents to raise their children.