Rediff : Get AheadSIFE HRC, established in 2008, was initially concentrating more on urban projects. But soon the volunteers felt the need to glance at exploring sustainable business models for rural development as "a majority of Indians still live in its villages".
"So when we got a list of dark villages from TERI we randomly picked up one village that was populated and without any kind of guidance took a car and wandered into the forests to find Ujjaini," says Abhinav, Jyotirmoy's classmate.
After coming back from Ujjaini they decided to work on a five-point transformation model that was scalable and could be applied to any dark village in rural India.
This five-point plan would look at a holistic solution to transform rural lives and provide for:
- Solar electrification
- Health and sanitation
- Education
- Economic upliftment and
- Social development
"Phase I of Project Chirag is to electrify dark villages using solar lighting because achieving the remainder of the four points in the transformation model depend on lighting up villages first," says Prachi, a third-year commerce student.
During their trip to Ujjaini the students found that the tribals spent a lot of the day, their productive period, going into the forests to collect firewood to light up their homes or cook food.
"So we thought introducing solar lighting would help them use their time productively," explains Prachi.
Why government is important
While their motive was noble, it wasn't going to be an easy task. They knew that the key to Project Chirag's success lay in winning the tribals' trust. After all, they were the biggest stakeholders in the entire exercise and making them understand the benefits of Project Chirag was very crucial for its implementation and further spread.
Hence they needed somebody who would introduce the SIFE HRC volunteers to the tribals and act as a facilitator. With the help of their college principal they managed to get an appointment with Jayant Patil, Maharashtra's rural development minister who, after listening to their five-point transformation model, was mighty impressed and helped them touch base with deputy COO of Thane zilla parishad, Deepak Waigankar.
"When we went to Ujjaini with him we understood how important he was, for the villagers gave us a grand welcome," says Pawan, a second-year commerce student, talking about how they managed to break the ice with Ujjaini's inhabitants. That meeting, which also included Ujjaini's gram sevak and block development officer, helped these students establish trust among the tribals.
"Obviously, they would feel more comfortable with the involvement of a body like the zilla parishad (a local self-government organisation) rather than dealing directly with a bunch of enthusiastic students who were total strangers to them," adds Prachi.
No matter how good their ideas were, they could not execute them without the help of the existing government machinery. Only after that were the people receptive of their ideas and plans.
"Today they know us by our faces and call us the 'light people'," says Prachi, a third-year commerce student, with a big smile.
Image: Clockwise from top left: SIFE HRC volunteers training village women in using soil to make artefacts; Training to make garlands; Installing solar panels; SIFE, HRC volunteers at Ujjaini; Villagers register for light by paying Rs 500.
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