Power to Live

We who live in the city are pretty selfish when we grumble about power cuts, when in our rural areas, millions manage with kerosene lamps and no connections to the power grid at all. In response to this desperate situation TERI( The Energy and Resource Institute) began an initiative called Lighting a Billion Lives (LaBL)

Speaking to Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Director General, TERI at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2015 he said “Millions of people do not see light after the sun goes down. Lighting a Billion Lives is in response to this unfortunate state of affairs in the 21st century. The initiative makes it possible for people to get clean, healthy, and adequate light in their homes without any pollution or emission and at a cost that is entirely affordable.”

Explaining the programme with empirical examples Dr IH Rehman Director of Social Transformation TERI revealed mind boggling figures that have been scaled by TERI in this arena. As of 2014 TERI has reached over 2.5 million lives in 23 States and 2,596 Villages consisting of 5,35,812 Households. There have been 127,080 Solar Lanterns disseminated and an amazing 11,280 Solar Micro Grid connections provided and 3,171 Integrated Domestic Energy Systems installed. A laudable, and generous step in the right direction.

Take the example of a tiny village named Kamlapur in the district of Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. LaBL along with its partner organization: Humana People to People India (HPPI), New Delhi helped the village discover new joy with clean lighting.

Kamlesh Devi, a skilled chikan embroidery expert, was able to follow her passion of creating chikan work garments only during the day, due to a lack of light at night.

'It was frustrating to have to finish stitching in time for the goods to reach the market under the dim light of the kerosene lamps and it took the joy of the craft out of it,' she says ruefully.

Aged 35 with five children and educated only up to the eighth standard, Kamlesh Devi struggled to earn half her household's income.' Our lives are saddled with problems at every step and there is little redemption from the drudgery that ails us every hour of every day,' she says. 'The lanterns are a ray of hope for my soul, more than for my embroidery.'

Her earnings have risen with the arrival of the lanterns from Rs 150-200 to Rs 300 per sari which are priced according to the quality of her embroidery.

For Kamlesh Devi and others in her shoes, the benefits have impacted . 'The lanterns have let me go about my domestic chores much better and helped my children to study longer and without getting their eyes red and watery,' she says. It's a win -win situation in Kamlesh's little home where the lamps have ushered in positive change, that her family can at last enjoy.

Another example in the village of Tentala, which is in the district of Mayurbhanj, in Odisha. Tentala, is a remote tribal hamlet and as darkness falls the residents have to speedily finish their daily chores. Like most other women in her village, Hinsi Hazda heads to her kitchen to prepare the family meal much before dinner time as when darkness falls there is very feeble light from her kerosene lantern. Hinsi's husband is the sole bread earner for her family, earning about Rs. 2,500 per month, enough to support her family of six with two meals a day.

This is the story of every household in Tentala village and most of the other villages in the district. But ever since solar lamps have been provided under the Lighting a Billion Lives initiative, the villagers lives have changed. The extra hours that the women can work at night, has given them more time to spend with family, spend less on the kerosene, and make 'Kholi', a plate made out of Sal leaves which brings them an income.

Hinsi now happily earns approximately Rs. 2,000 per month, which is competing with her husband's monthly earnings. "We could not even imagine liberties like new clothes on Sakranti, our rice production was barely enough to support us, now I feel more empowered because I contribute to household by not only making food for us, but by being an earner. I make 100-150 Kholi each day, which we sell at Rs. 1/per piece and thanks to the minimum prices implemented by the NGO, we get enough money for our hard work." says Hinsi Hazda with a smile of satisfaction.

Arati Mahanta who is entrepreneur of the charging station in Tentala, says that she has been encouraging the village women to start new income generating activities and make use of the additional productive hours. "We have started new income generating activities such as the poultry breeding farm in the village". Light is important for feeding, as the birds identify food and water by sight. Also, availability of bright and intense light that does not raise temperature significantly effects production of eggs. " The women of the village are really happy," says Arati.

Dumini Murmu, who makes around Rs. 3.500 per month along with the help of her daughter by selling 'Kholi' to the town vendors, says "Now I have more say in the household matters. Arati ji not only inspires us to earn a living, but also motivates us to get step out of our homes, which makes us see the world beyond our villages."

Another story of success is from the little village of Butlla Doulat in the district of Badaun , in Uttar Pradesh. Here LaBL partners with Humana People to People India (HPPI), an NGO in New Delhi. Yet another story of poverty and very basic lighting facilities. Then a solar charging station was setup in the village under LaBL.

“Ab main apaatkaleen vyavastha mein main apni dukan raat ko bhi khol sakta hoon aur davaiyan nikal thik se de sakta hoon aur aisi sthiti mein main madad kar bhi chuka hun," says Dinesh Saxena, the 40-year old owner of a medical shop in the village. (Now, I can operate my shop and dispense medicines for emergencies at night too and I've already helped manage urgent medical requirements).

Earlier Dinesh had to close his shop at 7pm every evening. With the solar lights he can keep his business open for another 4-5 hours.

"Main lalten ko bina khatre ke davai ki almariyon tak le ja sakta hun, kyunki aag lagne ka dar nahi hai," he says. (I can carry the lanterns to the medicine cupboards safely without any fear of fire and other hazards.) Dinesh's family, like that of others in the village cannot imagine getting through the day without the lanterns now.

"Sirf rozgaari hi nahi, mere parivaar ka svasthya, padhna-likhna aur ghar ka kaam bhi bahut behtar hua hai lalten se," he sums up. (It's not just livelihoods, but also health, education and domestic chores that have seen a vast improvement with these lanterns.)

These are down to earth inspirational stories of an incredible journey of these villages, towards independence from poverty and all because of the fore sight of scientists and renewable solar power.

(All images copyright The Energy And Resources Institute)

(The author is a freelance Science and Environment Journalist , adjunct faculty St. Joseph's College of Media Studies, Bangalore and registered PhD scholar with the Madurai Kamaraj University)