Empowered villages

ABB brings electricity to lost villages of Rajasthan

 

Anshita Singhania

 

   THERE’S NO power today. Imagine reading this in the newspaper in the morning. You would immediately jostle up the morning’s tasks, try to use all your machines so that your work for the day isn’t delayed. Well, if this is the urban paranoia about power-cuts, imagine a situation where you had to live without electricity. There are houses in Rajasthan which have never seen electricity.
   Just as Shahrukh Khan in the movie ‘Swades’ brought electricity to a village, ABB has provided electricity to villages in Rajasthan. As part of its ‘Access to Electricity’ programme, a corporate social responsibility of the company, they have provided power to parts of Western Rajasthan through solar photovoltaic (SPV) home lighting system. Mr Biplab Majumder, country manager & MD, ABB India, says: “Around one-fourth of the world’s population don’t have access to electricity and rely on other, often primitive energy sources”. He said that the average income of a family in west Rajasthan is around Rs 45,000 annually and many families are below poverty line.
   “In the first phase (2006-07), ABB India’s ‘Access to Electricity’ programme brought power supply to around 800 households in five villages in the interior desert areas of Rajasthan, where no grid existed and was considered unviable due to the scattered nature of the villages,” he explains. The only advantage was that Rajasthan had an average of 325 days of sun. “Scattered dwellings across four hamlets were equipped with solar panel units that helped bring light to their homes. The project was continued in 2007 with another 400 homes being illuminated,” he says.
   The project, based on a publicprivate partnership model, involved the ABB, the Rajasthan government and an NGO. It was started in a hamlet with power generated by solar panels. Solar photovoltaic cells convert solar energy into electricity which is stored in a battery bank. It is through these batteries that electricity is generated. Solar voltaic pannels are also used to run household appliances like lights, fan, small TVs, radios, CD players and to charge mobile phones. As a result, the people of Hanumangarh, Balau, Lakhania Ki Dhani and Khoksar saw drastic improvement in their social, economic and environmental conditions.
   People here are mainly involved in carpet weaving, animal husbandary, carpentry, basket weaving, shoe making and tailoring. Due to lack of light, they had to complete their work before dusk. This resulted in less production and low income levels. The situation has changed now. Mr Majumdar says: “It has helped small enterprises grow. This helped increase the income and create opportunities for education and employment. There has been an increase of productive hours by 3-5 hours per day and now they can work longer in the evenings.” This has helped people take more orders and also reduced migration of people to other cities. People have also started sharing the cost of SPV. The area is visited by ABB employees regularly who check the systems and assess the overall impact of this project.
   “Another remarkable result has been the emergence of a service industry for maintenance and repairs of SPV systems. There has been a rise in the employment opportunities for the local youth,” he said.
   According to a survey conducted, the average income of people had increased from Rs 24,000 to Rs 30,000. Almost all households have a mobile phone charged with SPV systems. A few people who owned mobile phones previously had to travel around 10 km and pay Rs 10 to charge their phones. “The women can now cook at leisure as they had to finish all their work before sunset earlier,” Mr Majumder added. Health conditions of the people here have also improved as they no longer have to inhale the fumes of crudely-made kerosene lamps or strain their eyes.
   Electricity has also enabled students attend coaching classes after school hours in the evening. Earlier, the schools in the village had no proper infrastructure and most of the boys studied up to standards 10 or 12 and the girls studied up to standards 8 or 10. But now, according to data from ABB, there has been an increase in school enrolment. The academic performance of students too had improved significantly. Daily attendance has increased by 15%, says Majumder. The number of girl students has increased from around 28 in 2005-06 to 37 in 2006-07 after electricity entered their lives.
   Mr Majumder said that security at night had increased. Earlier, people never had time to socialise as they were busy working the whole day and at night they never went out. But now, they have time to attend social gatherings after the sunset. “We at ABB believe in making a difference to the communities we operate in. As a power company, we are indeed proud of this project where we bring light to many households who would otherwise have remained deprived. It is also making a big difference to their lives from a social and economic perspective,” says Biplab Majumder, country manager & managing director, ABB India.