R K Singh, Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, launched a number of initiatives for the welfare of the underprivileged, on Saturday.
At this occasion, Singh expressed the Government’s commitment to provide 24x7 power supply to all. He said that every household in country will get electricity connection by December, 2018 under ‘Saubhagya’.
Of the several initiatives launched, one was assembly & distribution centre for Solar Study Lamps at Mahuli village in Arrah. In this centre, local women Self Help Group (SHG) will assemble Solar Study Lamps and distribute them to underprivileged students who do not have access to electricity. The centre will not only provide kerosene-free affordable illumination to students, but also empower rural women with the skills to assemble, distribute and repair solar lamps.
This initiative is part of the scheme of providing 70 lakh solar study lamps in five states where rural household electrification levels are low. In Bihar, the target is to provide more than 18.84 lakh underprivileged students with solar study lamps. Around 4.57 lakh such lamps have already been distributed to students of the state.
The minister also laid the foundation (remotely) for a solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturing plant in Sherghati block of Gaya district, which will be entirely owned and operated by local women Self Help Group Federations. For this purpose, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (BRLPS) - Jeevika, IIT-Bombay, and the Cluster Level Federation of women self-help group members.
Initiating the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Singh flagged off the UJALA van from Arrah. The van will travel across Bihar distributing the LED bulbs and spreading awareness about energy efficiency and energy conservation. As part of this initiative, 16000 Indian villages with a significantly large number of low income households will be able to buy LED bulbs for a special price of Rs. 50 under the Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) programme. In Bihar, 635 villages will benefit under this programme. The LED bulbs will equip homes with energy-efficient, cost-effective lighting, and higher lumen output than conventional incandescent bulbs.
Background:
After the success of 10 lakh solar study lamp scheme, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, Government of India launched a scheme for providing 70 lakh solar study lamps to students of underserved areas of five States where the rural household electrification level was less than 50 per cent as per Census 2011. These states are Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Under the Scheme solar study lamps are provided to students for which they have to contribute a small amount of Rs. 100/- only.
The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), along with IIT Bombay. So far over 11 lakh solar study lamps have been distributed under the scheme.
