Why lighting inclusion?
- 1,00,000 villages in India (one in every six) have never seen an electric lamp
- 25,000 villages are in remote and inaccessible areas. Only 53% of rural households are grid-connected
A quarter of the world's lighting-excluded are in India alone, a staggering 400 million people. For them, life comes to a standstill at dusk.
With the meager light from kerosene lamps (that produce a mere 0.03 watts of light), dung cakes, firewood, or other alternatives after sunset, not only do they strain their eyes, inhale carbon monoxide fumes, and run the risk of fire accidents, but also live under the threat of wild animals and snakes that may intrude in the darkness.
Not only will lighting inclusion safeguard them after dark, it will open up many more hours for students to read, micro-enterprises to ply their trade, home-makers to nourish their families better, and so on, opening up endless possibilities.
| Source: Villages without Light, India (as on 30-06-2008), Ministry of Power, Govt. Of India |
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