The Uttar Pradesh government, led by Yogi Adityanath, has launched a project to produce solar lamps and distribute them at a low cost to children in rural areas of the state.
Women from self-help groups are making these solar lamps with the help of the government and the CSR Fund, and the government is making them available to schoolchildren for Rs 100 per piece, compared to a market price of Rs 500 per piece.
Previously, the Yogi Adityanath government distributed 28 lakh solar lamps to schoolchildren in 75 blocks across 30 districts in Uttar Pradesh, made by 4,000 women.
The initiative is part of the Prerna Ojas Program of the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission (Rural Development Department), which assists self-help community women in becoming self-reliant and socially and economically empowered.
Jitendra Pratap Singh, the District Magistrate of Kanpur Dehat, said that this initiative would greatly assist children in pursuing their education, and that it is a source of pride for the district that women have discovered a way to become self-sufficient by making solar lamps.
According to the district's Chief Development Officer (CDO), Soumya Pandey, a total of 978 self-help groups have been established in the district, with 10,758 rural women linked to them.
Pandey went on to say that the solar lamps manufactured by these women are much less expensive than those on the market.
In the first phase of the Prerna Ojas programme, 35 women from 18 groups were chosen to receive training in manufacturing and selling cheaper solar lamps, while a unit was established in President Ram Nath Kovind's Paraunkh village.
According to Shailendra Dwiwedi, CEO of the Prerna Ojas Program, the women in the group are paid Rs 12 for manufacturing and Rs 17 for selling each piece, with a daily income of Rs 250-Rs 300.
If necessary, the women also perform repairs. The lamp's warranty lasts until February 2022. So far, 1000 solar lamps have been made and sold for Rs 100 each to students from the Council's schools in the block, and the selling of solar lamps has brought in Rs 1 lakh for women's groups.
According to Dwiwedi, once the solar lamp distribution target is met, these women will have a golden opportunity to become entrepreneurs in the future. They will be given funding to open Prerna Solar Smart Shops in different towns and markets across the block.
At the solar store, women will repair and sell a variety of solar items such as lanterns, flashlights, lamps, solar fans, panels, and LED bulbs. Other solar items, such as solar lamps, will be manufactured, sold, and repaired by women.
