Two women from Jharkhand are on a mission to electrify their villages

With a zeal to change their lives and electrify their villages, two women from Giridih districts in Jharkhand are on a mission to electrify their villages that are otherwise in darkness. These women have now completed their five months of solar engineer training on the campus of Harmada-based Ngo and graduated as ‘Solar Engineer’ on March 22, 2023.

Their training is being supported by GAIL (India) Limited. During this training, they learned how to make solar torches, solar bulbs, e-home lighting systems and also learned how to repair and maintain them. Post completion of the training these women are now returning to their villages and electrifying 50 households individually.

Two of the women Anjali and Manjali hail from Gandey block in Giridih district of Jharkhand. 35-year-old Manjali is a single mother who is the breadwinner of her family. When this opportunity of learning solar equipment came, she grabbed it with open arms and this is how her journey started.

“I am not educated, but I always wanted to learn something new that could change my life and give me direction so that people would look up to me. When this opportunity of learning how to make solar equipment came, I decided to learn this skill and here I am ready to electrify
 my village.”

Talking about what she has learned, she said, “I can make diva lanterns, bindi torchlight, diva torchlight. After completing this training, I am now going to electrify at least 50 households in my village and then after that I will continue with my work.” Sharing the same thoughts, 20-year-old Anjali Murmu who is pursuing her graduation said that coming out of the confines of her home and learning this skill has been a lifetime experience for her, “I will be taking this up as my profession and would contribute to my joint family. My husband is studying and preparing for competitive exams, I will support him to pursue his education as well.”

Talking about the training she said that this training has made her self-sufficient and now she feels empowered and ready to face the world with the newly learned skill. She noted that during Enriche training she learned to use mobile, became aware of her rights, had a class on waste management, financial literacy, among others.