The Hindu : National : An attempt at lighting up the lives of tribals

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Wednesday, May 02, 2007
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An attempt at lighting up the lives of tribals

Indrani Dutta

Brinda Karat

Kolkata: Even as their counterparts in certain pockets of East Midnapore in West Bengal are locked in a bitter and at times violent war over land, inhabitants of a few tribal villages in West Midnapore are now set to participate in an endeavour that will enhance their lives by bringing solar-powered electricity to their homes.

The writ of the Maoists runs through many of these extremely remote areas that are bereft of electricity. People are resigned to a life of only daytime activity with sunset bringing with it long nights spent in drinking, gambling and idling.

CPI(M) MP Brinda Karat is extending money from the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) to co-fund this project, which has brought together two government departments and a slew of corporates. Talking to The Hindu , Ms. Karat said she would be visiting the area on May 12 to review the progress. ``These funds will also be used for electrifying hostels of adivasi girls. I am very committed to the cause of renewable energy and I am giving Rs.1 crore towards this," she said.

The Rs. 5-crore project will bring light to 5,000 tribal homes and 50 adivasi hostels for six hours. The programme, being implemented by the Backward Class Welfare (BCW) Department of the West Bengal Government and the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA), will also provide employment to tribal folks, said WBREDA Director S. P. Gon Chowdhury.

BCW secretary Jaya Dasgupta said ``while the WBREDA and my department will foot the Rs.4-crore bill for lighting the adivasi homes, the beneficiaries will contribute a monthly Rs.20 per family to help maintain the systems." They now spend about Rs. 80 a month on kerosene lamps which emit more toxic fumes than light.

The villages, located in Birpur II block will get solar-powered systems with a six-year lifespan. These sets, each priced at Rs. 10,000 are being funded by the WBREDA and the BCW Department and provided by Exide Industries Ltd. and Bharat Electronics Ltd., an Exide official said. Exide will train and pay the local youth to service these systems, while collecting salaries from the villagers (who will pay Rs. 20 a month).

Simultaneous with the West Midnapore venture, another one following the same model is now nearing completion. This one involves the Santhal tribe and is located close to Tagore's Santiniketan.

According to Anupam Baral, Managing Director of Geetanjali Solar, which is supplying the systems here as many as ``117 families will substitute kerosene and diesel with the environment-friendly solar-energy to light up their homes.''

This project, funded by the WBREDA and the Lok Sabha Speaker (through the Santiniketan Sriniketan Development Authority) will also provide jobs to local youth.

Filmmaker Mrinal Sen spearheaded Left parliamentarians' effort to electrify tribal villages. He contributed Rs. 33 lakh from the MPLAD scheme in 1995-96 to electrify a village in Bankura. Since then, Chittabrata Mazumdar, Basudeb Acharya, Dipankar Mukherjee, Somnath Chatterjee and now Brinda Karat have come forward to partner such projects serving the twin causes of tribal upliftment and promotion of environment energy sources.

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