The Santhals of West Bengal are part of growing rural communities adopting solar energy with the support of non-profits and crowdfunding.
This is the story of the Santhal tribe, which lives isolated in the Ayodhya Hills and Sundarbans of West Bengal. Amongst the most deprived people and forgotten by governments, their families have lived without electricity, roads, medical facilities or any kind of development.
Watch the video to learn more about their story and their triumph against darkness:
In July 2014, MLINDA and Milaap partnered together to bring development to the Santhals. MLINDA, a non-profit, worked with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to install affordable solar grids to supply electricity to their isolated settlements. Milaap’s community of lenders provided finance in the form of microloans, so the tribespeople could own their solar grids.
To make this initiative sustainable, MLINDA’s field workers spend time among the tribal communities, gain their trust and explain the solution. They offer to install the solar grids on the condition that the community will pay for them using the money they would have spent on kerosene. They train community members on maintenance and repairs. That is how they ensure adoption and ownership, giving the tribal people a strong role to play in their own upliftment. The capital MLINDA needs to invest in these installations, of course, is crowdfunded as and when a hamlet needs it.
In the few short months since MLINDA first partnered with Milaap, they have installed solar micro-grids in 23 off-grid tribal markets and 20 hamlets, benefiting over 280+ families.
The Santhals of West Bengal are part of growing rural communities adopting solar energy with the support of non-profits and crowdfunding. Hamlets in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are seeking the installation of solar micro-grids through organisations like MeraGao Power and MLINDA. In other rural areas, particularly in states like West Bengal, Odisha, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu, households have already adopted the use of solar lanterns and solar home lighting systems as a consequence of awareness-generating efforts of social organisations like the Mahashakti Foundation, WSDS and Gramalaya.
Inspired rural communities are now asking the question, “When will we be able to power everything using solar energy?” This, is the ultimate victory.
The author works with Milaap.org
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