During the Covid-19 pandemic, the village of Dantoo, in Jharkhand’s Kasara block, faced a problem common to thousands of villages across the country. Students of the village’s government high school were restricted to their homes and had to use digital devices for hours at a stretch to attend online classes – but because the village receives erratic power supply, the devices would frequently run out of charge.
The poor electricity supply was not unusual – though the district houses four thermal power plants, households in Kasara block, which is in Bokaro district, have long seen several power cuts in a day. “It is normal to have five to six hours of power cuts in a day,” said Pramila Devi, a resident of Dantoo. “The number of hours was even higher a few years ago.”
But the students of Dantoo arrived at a solution to the problem – they made solar power banks that they could charge and use to power their devices. They were helped in this endeavour by a teacher named Animesh Chandra, who trains them in working with hardware and electronics as part of a government programme that imparts vocational skills in schools to help make students employable. The Indian government has…
Source: How young women in a Jharkhand village became experts in solar technology
