A project called ‘Empowering North-East India’ will provide electricity connection to 470 villagers and solar power to a primary healthcare centre catering to over 23,000 residents in Meghalaya.
This was announced by an e-commerce based Asian direct selling company, QNET in partnership with Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) through its social impact arm, the RYTHM Foundation, to bring solar energy to remote tribal communities in the state of Meghalaya and upgrade the healthcare infrastructure in the region.
In the first phase, RYTHM Foundation has pledged its support to the project for a period of one year.
In order to address the lack of energy access and healthcare facilities in the tribal villages in Meghalaya, GHE and RYTHM Foundation embarked on this new partnership that takes a two-pronged approach that will bring solar electricity to these remote tribal communities and help upgrade the healthcare infrastructure in the area.
The Empowering North-East India project is a holistic development plan for the tribal communities in the region with the aim of creating a community-owned model that can run independently in the long run.
The technology involved in this project is a simple plug and play solar micro-grid solution that is installed in each home. Every house gets a solar panel with a battery pack which is wired with high-performance LED lights, low energy consumption motor fans, and mobile charging facilities. The grids are also capable of taking on any additional load.
In a statement today QNET said the Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) trained engineers will install the grid and provide maintenance support. However, to ensure sustainability, the organisation will also train villagers and equip them with the basics of solar grid maintenance and troubleshooting.
The villagers are also required to open a community bank account with every household contributing Rs. 100 monthly. These funds will be used for any maintenance, servicing or troubleshooting of the grid and will be managed by a Village Electricity Management Committee established by the villagers.
So far, GHE has successfully brought solar electricity to more than 150 villages in 5 regions across India, directly impacting over 100,000 lives.
