To read the detailed report for this programme, click here.
“Agar humare bachon ko aise suvidhaein prapt ho rahi hain, toh humein bahut khusi hogi. Sab pardhi ek joot hokar aise programme ko safal banane ki koshish karenge.’” – a Pardhi parent.
The Panna Tiger Reserve management along with WWF India and Education Department (Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan) have taken special efforts to build and run a hostel for the children of the Pardhi community in order to ensure that they’re not deprived of their basic right to education. Thus, the two hostels in Panna viz. the boys hostel in Narangibaug and the girls hostel in Kunjvan hosts students from this community across various age groups until Class VIII. Surprisingly, after Class VIII, these students are sent back to their parents and they’re once again forced to travel with their parents as they lack a permanent home to live in from where they could continue their schooling.
This is where LWF decided to step-in and work with these students to provide them with basic skillset that would allow the students to start earning for themselves without being dependent on the forest produces. This would not only wean them away from the forests, but also aid conservation/protection of species and equip them with skills to join mainstream society and explore alternative professions. Therefore, LWF initiated project Unnati, a vocational training programme for the children of the Pardhi community, along with Panna Tiger Reserve at Panna.