It’s real: Solar power to light up off-grid areas in India
Taking forward his promise of rural electrification on May 26, Union Minister of Power Piyush Goyal said that the government of India is gearing up to distribute free solar-powered LED kits to people.
The kits will be provided to people in those remote areas that are not connected to the power-grids. The distribution is primarily planned in Arunachal Pradesh and extremely left affected regions.
What’s in the kit?
The people of off-grid areas in Arunachal Pradesh will be provided Solar Kits of five LED bulbs, one solar battery and one fan. In left extremism affected areas where grid-installation is challenging, the government will circulate kits containing one LED bulb, one battery and one fan.
GARV: Learn government electrification plan
The power ministry has also launched GARV dashboard at the National Media Centre on May 26. The dashboard is a collective form of both versions of GARV mobile apps.
Launched in 2015, GARV-I mobile application is on rural electrification.
Launched in 2016, GARV-II mobile application aims at the house hold electrification. It shows the state-wise data of electrified and un-electrified villages weekly and monthly.
The Aadhaar number of consumers is also registered on the dashboard.
Statistics of Light
The government has registered 13,469 electrified villages among the total target of 18,452 as on May 1, 2017.Till April 30, 2017 256.81 lakh BPL families have been provided with the free electricity.
