Surya

Prakash
2013

Surya Prakash
Clean & Green Energy Solutions for
Neighborhood Communities of
Kundli Shirota, Thokarwadi, Pune

An Initiative of
Robert Bosch Engineering & Business
Solutions, Bengaluru &
Tata Power Community Development
Trust, Mumbai
15/09/2014

Surya Prakash 2014

INDEX
Page #

Title

Acknowledgements

Objective

Introduction

Initiative

Outcomes & Benefits

16

Stakeholder Feedback

18

Sustainability of the project

19

The Road Ahead

20

Annexures

Surya Prakash 2014

Acknowledgements

Tata Power Community Development Trust acknowledges

Robert Bosch Engineering & Business Solutions, Bengaluru; for the support &
solidarity offered to the families in Kundli, Shirota of Thokarwadi, in Pune.

This partnership has resulted in breaking centuries old phenomenon of darkness

experienced by the communities and has opened up new aspirations among the
communities especially youth and children.

Surya Prakash 2014

Project Surya Prakash
A joint initiative of Robert Bosch Engineering & Business Solutions
&
Tata Power Community Development Trust

Objective
Project Surya Prakash was launched to provide clean & green energy solutions
to de-notified tribal communities1 (DNTs) of Thokarwadi, Pune in June 2013,
through a partnership between Robert Bosch Engineering & Business Solutions,
Bengaluru and Tata Power Community Development Trust, Mumbai.
In symbolic terms, it took 2000 years for modern technology to reach these
tribal families. The objective of this partnership was to provide the basic energy
requirements of over 100 households in the rural hamlets of Thokarwadi
Catchment Area and the Kundli Shirota Catchment Area, Pune by providing
solar lighting facilities in each home and installing street lights in the village
habitat.

In 1871, the British Government of India "notified certain tribes as "criminals" and passed the notorious "Criminal Tribes Act
of 1871." Such people were notified, who, according to the British, were nomadic cattle grazers, wandering singers, acrobats,
etc. and those who resisted the British aggression from time to time. This Act was repealed in 1947 by the Government of India
but the stigma and social exclusion continues to hamper the inclusive growth and development of the DNTs in India.

Surya Prakash 2014

Introduction
Between the bright and vibrant cities of Mumbai and Pune lies the desolate and
silent village of Thokarwadi, a beautiful and serene habitat surrounded by
mountains. The people of the village belong to the De-Notified Tribes engage
themselves mainly in agriculture as it is the only source of income.
Located in one of the most remote hill ranges of Pune, the households and the
whole village is cutoff from mainstream society for up to four months in a year
during the monsoon (June-September). These areas had little to no grid
connectivity and thus needed a solution that would provide low cost lighting
solution, without being dependant on the grid supply thereby improving the
quality of life of the residents. The energy solution offered by the partners had
to be a sustainable one, such that it created no environmental impact and
would continue to show high impact after the completion of the project. To
meet the challenge, solar lighting equipments were chosen as the most relevant
option.

The intervention was undertaken in two locations in Thokarwadi Catchment

namely Padhaar and Kadakrai and one area in the Kundli Shirota Catchment
area namely Siradhe. Pathaar has a population of roughly 450 people living in
49 houses distributed across 3 village panchayats. The closest highway from
Padhaar is roughly 25 Kms away. Kadakrai is a predominantly tribal hamlet
with roughly 350 residents in 38 houses with the closest highway being 55Kms
away. Siradhe has groups of houses (13 in all) which lie outside the main
village and are 17kms away from the closest highway. The challenge these
houses in Siradhe faced was that getting an electric connection from the
closest distribution point needed installation of many electric poles the costs of
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Surya Prakash 2014

which were prohibitorily high for the residents to be able to afford and the
supply in itself is very unreliable.

Our Initiative
The initiative involved setting up of solar panels on the roofs of the houses and
corresponding solar lamps installed inside. The solar panel charges batteries
during the day to power the CFL based lamps at night. It was decided that each
house would be provided with one such unit. Besides the indoor solar lamps,
solar street lamps were set up near every cluster of houses. In all 100 houses
have solar lamps and 20 street lamps have been installed in the village. The
lamps provide light for roughly 8 hours during night time, through bright
sunshine, however during monsoon season the lamps manage to produce light
up to 3-4 hours.
Also included in the household solar lamp setup is a mechanism with an
attached charging cable for cell phones to enable mobile communication in the
rural hamlets. The intervention has thereby ended an era of darkness and has
bright light and better quality of life to these rural hamlets.

Surya Prakash 2014

Outcomes and Benefits

To evaluate the outcomes and benefits from the project, a study was conducted
using a structured questionnaire (Annexure 1) and responses were collected
from members of beneficiary households. Their responses and feelings towards
the projects benefits were also taken. To evaluate the benefit accrued to the
children, a survey was conducted amongst the school going children of the
villages too (Annexure 2). To evaluate the impact on the academic performance
of the students and validation regarding increased involvement of parents, a
survey was also conducted among the teachers at the schools in the villages
(Annexure 3). A total of 95 respondents among 100 households were engaged
in this study.

Surya Prakash 2014

50
40
30
20
10

Number of
benificiary
households

Students

Number of
respondents

Teachers

Adults

0
Pathaar

Kadakrai Siradhe

Relevance Project Surya Prakash

was initiated with the aim of

improving the quality of life of the villagers living in remote hamlets. One
year into the project, it has been successful in lighting up lives and
increased aspirations of the people of rural Thokarwadi-Pathaar,
Kadakrai and Siradhe.
Relevance can be assessed by the statement of an 80 year old resident
couple, the Thilke family who said that they have seen three generations
of their family grow up in darkness but, in the rarest of their dreams could
not have imagined an electric light in their home. Not in this life at least.

Effectiveness The initiative has managed to reach even the most rural
households which are over 50kms from the closest motor able highway.
The project has covered almost every single house in the area stipulated
by the project planners. This is evident from the responses received to
the survey from all the houses in the area.

Efficiency The area of the project lies in extremely difficult terrain and
remains inaccessible by any means of transport for almost 5 months of
the year, yet the project managed to reach and cover the entire area
within the stipulated time frame.

Surya Prakash 2014

The setting up of street lamps had to be done in a manner that it could
provide maximum benefit to the villagers. Meetings were called to explain
that placement of the street lamp had to be in a manner that benefits
everyone in the neighborhood, the proximity of the lamp to one persons
home should not be an issue to another and the lamp would be set up
only if everyone agreed to its location. This ensured that maximum
benefit was drawn out of every single street lamp that was erected. Thus
20 street lamps have been successful in providing outdoor lighting to 100
houses.

Impact There has been a multifold impact of the project on the lives of
people as mentioned belowa. More productive time in the field Before the solar lamps were
set up, it was difficult to do any household work after dark so the
women had much lesser time to attend to activities in the field as
they had finish the household work before sundown. But after the
installation of solar lamps, it has become much easier for them to
do household work even after it gets dark so now they can spend
more time in the fields.

Surya Prakash 2014

Chart Title
Trend in extended daytime hours/ productive hours before and after
installation of solar home lights

X axis = # of respondents
Y axis = # of hours

Average 2 hour increase in day time as reported by women of the

Thokarwadi area.
b. Lesser time taken in activities like cooking Cooking dinner
used to be a very difficult task for the women due to the poor
visibility

in

the

dark

and

use

of

kerosene

lamps

meant

contamination of hands with which food was being prepared which

lead to the food becoming foul smelling and also unhealthy. With
the advent of solar lamp it has reduced the time and effort involved
in the same activities and the problem of kerosene entering food
chain is eliminated.

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Surya Prakash 2014

X axis = # of respondents
Y axis = # of minutes

Average saving of time per woman per day for cooking is 5o minutes.
The amount of energy produced by the solar equipment give an
assured lighting of minimum 3 electric bulbs in each house of the
village for a duration of 6-8 hours per night.

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Surya Prakash 2014

c. Students Education The lamps have
made it possible for school going children
to study at night. Earlier studying under
the dim light of a kerosene lamp was an
arduous task and would be a deterrent
towards studying but the solar lamp
provides ample bright light that can allow children to study. Also
with more free time available with elders in the house, they are
sitting down with the children to monitor and encourage them to
study.
The impacts in terms of childrens education can be seen in the
form of improvement in the grades, increased dedication, improved
reading and writing
as

60

in

40

their

20

homework. Feedback

skills

as

well

regularity
completion
regarding

of
this

marks in %

Mid 2013

Mid 2014

was

collected from the students as well as their teachers.

Mr. Mormare, Teacher of Primary school, Uksan Pathaar said,
Homework that is given is now completed as the parents are
motivating children to study with the help of solar lamps and are
taking interest in their studies and progress is very visible.

d. Safety Safety is another aspect

that

has

improved

with

the
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Surya Prakash 2014

introduction of solar lamps. There used to be a constant fear of
snakes and insects like scorpions lurking in the dark especially
while preparing feed for cattle early in the morning but thanks to
the improved visibility with the solar lamps, that fear has been
greatly averted
Rama Thikle whose family heavily depends on animal husbandry
said that the light had greatly improved the efficiency of her work as
now she can attend to animals and milk them even at night without
fearing snakes or other dangerous creatures and feels very safe.

e. Health and Hygiene Health is an important aspect where the

solar lamps have had an impact. Earlier in the absence of these
lamps, kerosene lamps had to be used. The lamps provided a dim
light which used to be insufficient for the children to study under
thereby having an adverse impact on their eyesight and causing
headaches. The solar lamps offer ample light and ensure that the
eyesight of the students studying under it does not get affected.
The kerosene lamps also used to emit noxious fumes and soot
which would cause breathing problems and burning sensation in
the eyes. Also the soot would collect on various items such as
utensils thereby making consumption of food from those utensils
unsafe. Solar lamps have eliminated the problem of soot and
fumes.
Also the improved illumination has resulted in more visibility of
any dirt that has been lying in the house prompting its cleaning
and promoting better hygine.
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Surya Prakash 2014

Witnessing this moment is some kind of lifetime experience for

me, remarks Rama Thikle.

f. Increased Savings The solar lamps have eliminated the need to

purchase kerosene almost completely. This has led to saving to the
tune of not just the amount spent on the purchase of kerosene but
also the money and effort spent in going to the nearby town to
purchase it. It has resulted in savings of roughly Rs 500 every
month which is now a part of their disposable income.

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Surya Prakash 2014

Namdeo Kondiba Akhade, a resident of Thokarwadi Pathaar
said, Earlier we had to spend an entire day and a lot of money to
go get kerosene and there was no surety it would be available the
day we go but the solar light is very reliable. All the effort that is
needed now is to switch on a button and it does not even cost like
kerosene.
g. Augmenting
lamp

has

Income The solar

opened

up

new

opportunities to work even at night

which was not possible earlier. This
has

encouraged

the

residents

to

undertake tasks which can offer a

supplementary

income

thereby

improving their financial condition.

Rupali Akhade who runs a tailoring
shop in her village said, The solar lamp has been a boon for her.
She can now do her tailoring and embroidery work even at night
thereby helping her complete more jobs and increasing her income.
h. Improving Family Ties and Relations The installation of solar
lamps have reduced time otherwise wasteful activities, and helped
improve the family relations amongst the residents as it allows
them much more time to sit together, bond and celebrate family
functions together.

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Surya Prakash 2014

Stakeholder feedback
Dahu Dattu Shedge of Thokarwadi recently used the solar lights
on the occasion of the wedding of his daughter. He said, The solar
lamps proved valuable during my daughters marriage functions.
Our relatives had seen electric lamps for the first time in our rural
hamlet and were delighted. The street lamps and lamp near the
temple were very beneficial during the ceremony.
Kharat, Akhade family expressed their gratitude saying that their
daughter-in-law came from a place where there was electric supply
and was used to light at night. Thanks to the project by Tata and
Bosch, she can enjoy the same convenience in her marital home too.
i. Improving Social Bonds The solar street lamps that have been
set up have become a centre for the people of the surrounding
household to meet and interact. This has facilitated better relations
amongst the members of the community and has increased a
sense of oneness and ownership of the neighborhood. The
members of the community now sit together to discuss issues and
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Surya Prakash 2014

find
them.

solutions
It

is

to
this

process of meeting,
discussion

and

sense of ownership
that

led

to

the

residents
voluntarily working
together to clean
up and refurbish the neighborhood well. This has also facilitated
knowledge sharing about other aspects of life and work amongst
the residents. It has been seen that the outdoor street lamps have
come in handy especially in the time of need at night by
illuminating the pathway to the nearby wells etc. The residents
report that they are no longer afraid of going out after dark to each
others home to help out in time of need and emergency.
j. Increased cultural celebrations and engagement The solar
lamps have facilitated the celebration of festivals and traditional
cultural occassions. This has helped preserve the old tribal culture
and practices in the hamlets. The lamps also brightened up the
festival of lights Deepawali last year.
Arjun Kawele, former Sarpanch of Kadakrai

said, The solar

lamps have brought extra happiness to the festivals which now can
go on late into the night. Festivals like Jatra, Holi and Diwali have
been much brighter this year thanks to the solar lamps.

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Surya Prakash 2014

k. Other Benefits The solar lamp setup also provides a charging
port for mobile phones. The residents were earlier unwilling to
purchase mobile even though they understood its benefits towards
their daily lives due to the lack of any facility to charge their
phones. Now with the charging facility made available, the
residents are considering purchasing mobile phones which would
aid communication and improve their quality of life.

Sustainabilitya) Environmental Sustainability The solar lamps use the Suns

energy to produce electricity through photovoltaic cells which is a
clean and non polluting source of power. Also it is an inexhaustible
source of energy and doesnt need to be replenished ever unlike the
kerosene lamps that have been replaced.
b) Financial Sustainability The solar lamps though powered by a
free source of energy, do require a nominal spend on maintanence
and upkeep to keep them running perfectly. To ensure that this is
done timely, Self Help Groups have been created amongst the
benificiaries with their SHG bank accounts. Each month a small part
of the saving on account of non purchase of kerosene is put into the
bank account which is utilized for the maintanence and upkeep of the
setups. Thus the SHG Mechanism ensures long term sustainability
and benefits from the project.

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Surya Prakash 2014

The Road Ahead
The project has brought about a sea change in the quality of life of the
residents of the remote hamlets of Thokarwadi-Pathaar, Kadakrai and Shirade.
Thanks to the benefits from this project the residents have also started
considering undertaking other/increased amount of financially benificial
activities. This would bring about an increase in their disposable income, living
standards as well as savings rate.
To Government of India has initiated the Jan Dhan Yojna which envisions a
bank account for each and every household in the country to ensure that the
benefits of its schemes can be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the
target population.
To reap the maximum benefits from the increased disposable income and
savings rate in the project area along with the benefits from the government
schemes,

bank

account

opening

drive

can

be

conducted

for

the

residents/households thereby ensuring not just better quality of life today but
also a sustained growth and availability of funds in their time of need.
-----x----

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Surya Prakash 2014

ANNEXURE 1
Surya Prakash Project Questionnaire
(For Beneficiary Families/Households)
1) What were the problems faced before the solar lamps were installed in terms of a. Fuel for lamps
b. Safety concerns
c. House hold work
d. Childrens education
e. Health linked
f. Social life

2) Changes encountered after setting up of solar lamps in terms of

a. Convenience of daily household activities
b. Financial benefits
c. Health linked benefits
d. Childrens Education
e. Safety

3) Health linked benefits in terms ofa. Eyesight

b. Air quality
c. Hygiene
d. Effort / Labour

4) Saving in time taken for preparation of dinner (Y/N)

If yes then how many hours saved

5) Savings from non-purchase of fuel oil for lighting- (Rs)

6) Activity undertaken in time saved by use of solar lampsa. More work in the fields
b. Involved in other productive activity
c. Spent helping children study
d. Other social activity
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Surya Prakash 2014

7) Change in life of children in terms ofa. Time spent by parents in helping child to study
b. Willingness of children to study
c. Improvement in grades at school
d. Improvement in health of children
e. Overall improvement in behavior

8) Change in livelihood patterns

a. Work in fields.
b. Animal Husbandry.
c. Other economically productive activity.
d. Improvement in economic condition.

9) Has there been an improvement in social life aspect (Y/N)

If yes what is the improvement.

10) Has there been an impact on cultural aspect of life(Y/N)

If yes what is the impact.

NameSHG NameSign/Thumb Impression

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Surya Prakash 2014

ANNEXURE 2
Surya Prakash Project Questionnaire
(School going children)
1. Are you studying at night after installation of solar lamps (Y/N)
If yes then for how long (hrs)

2. Does any elder person from your family sit down with you when you study at night (Y/N)

3. Improvement in academics after setting up of solar lamps in terms of(Y/N)a. Improvement in Reading
b. Improvement in Writing
c. Doing homework regularly
d. Improvement in grades

NameName of SchoolSign-

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Surya Prakash 2014

ANNEXURE 3
Surya Prakash Project Questionnaire
(Teachers at schools where children from beneficiary household study)
1. Observation regarding students when there were no solar lamps.

2. Observed change in students after solar lamps were set up.

3. Observation regarding(Y/N)
i. Do students now complete their homework
ii. Improvements in Reading Skills
iii. Improvement in Writing Skills
iv. Increased interest in Science and Mathematics
v. Improvement in health of students
vi. Improvement in overall grades of students

Name-

Name of School-

Sign and Schools Stamp-

23