Switching to a different life

Change has come to Rampura through its community solar power plant. In fact,it’s the first village in the country to get electricity through its community solar power plant. And from the time Rampura switched on its first bulb on January 26,2009 to now,electricity has slowly changed the lifestyle of the villagers.

In the past year,the 326-household village that’s primarily dominated by backward castes,has got 14 TV sets,three refrigerators,six coolers and seven Tata Sky connections.

It’s not only about watching television. For Ramkunwar,65,electricity has assured a safe passage at night. “I fell once and got hurt when I was going to the fields at night. But with the bright white streetlights leading the way,I feel safe,” she says.

As for the children,they can now study at night. Suraj,who attends primary school,says,“I can play till whatever time I want to because there is light in my house and I can study till late.”

The power plant,which has a capacity of 8.7 kilowatt,provides electricity to 44 households at a fee. The plant also supplies power to the Panchayat Bhawan in the evenings so that they can host their meeting,to the primary school,and to the 14 streetlights in the village. The plant is managed by the Rampura Urja Vikas Samiti,a committee constituted of villagers.

An initiative of the Delhi-based organisation Development Alternatives,with financial support from Scatec Solar from Norway and technical support from Bergen Group India,the Rampura Community Solar Power Plant has shown how electricity can change lives in rural India. Since the village has a population of less than 500 households,it had been left out from all state government electrification schemes. It was only in 2008 that Development Alternatives,which worked with the community in the village,decided to set up a solar power plant at a cost of about Rs 40 lakh.

Says Ghanshyam,president of the Rampur Urja Vikas Samiti,“It’s as if the village has been cured of its cataract. We have lived in darkness for years; now the sun,which gives light to the world during the day,gives us light at night too.”

Santosh Kumar Gupta,assistant executive (energy) at Development Alternatives,says,“We have given this plant to the community—they have to decide how they want to manage it. The revenue collected as per usage will be utilised in honorariums,apart from purchasing new batteries which will be needed after 10 years.”

So,while neighbouring villages have power cuts of almost eight-10 hours every day,Rampura has been without power for only three hours in the past year—and that due to a technical snag. Says a proud Ghanshyam,“We are the only village in the district which gets 24-hour power supply.”