Bhubaneswar
Baneswar Naik of remote and inaccessible village Godinarada atop Chuamba Hill amidst the dense forest of Sunanali is now on cloud nine. So are 77 households of the primitive Juang tribal community in the village of Keonjhar district in Odisha. For, the tribals who eke out their existence amidst daunting challenges, have finally emerged out of ‘darkness’ to bask in the light lit up by solar power.
Juangs, who belong to the Austroasiatic ethnic group, are one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in Odisha, the home of 62 tribal communities. As per the 2011 Census, the population of Juangs in the State was 47,095 and of them, 26 707 were residing in Keonjhar district alone.
Set up inside the tribals’ community hall, two solar power grids have dispelled their ‘age-old’ darkness’. Implemented in three months by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Keonjhar, under the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme Plus (OTELP Plus), the programme has now seen installation of 16 solar panels, 16 batteries and two inverters in the community hall to supply power to the village. A major percentage of the population of this indigenous community is in Banspal, Telkoi and Harichandanput block.
“For decades since independence, we have been battling with darkness with the dim light of lamps and lanterns till now. When evening set in, it brought nocturnal darkness along with it. So we had to wrap up all our household chores before the sundown and go to bed with our children till the dawn of next morning. But now our life and lifestyle are in for the better because of the solar power grids,” Baneswar, one of the 400 tribal residents in the village, said.
Echoing a similar view to narrate the past sob story, another tribal resident Phaguna Naik said, “Our village is under Talapada panchayat of Tekoi block. But the eight-kilometer-long narrow path that leads to our village from the nearest Panga is loaded with pebbles, stones and gravels, making it tough even for a two-wheeler’s ride. The officials of ITDA and workers had to carry the solar equipment to set up the requisite infrastructure in our community hall.”
“We used to light up bonfire at different places to illuminate our village throughout night before the supply of solar power. When rains set in, the mini bonfires were lit on the verandahs of our hamlets,” he added.
ITDA, under the State ST & SC Development Minorities & Backward Classes Department, invested about Rs. 8 lakh to install the infrastructure under OTELP Plus. It also set up four power poles–that are fed with solar energy—to illuminate the village and its narrow lanes. Most of the 12 solar power poles that had been installed earlier have now stopped functioning one after the other after their warranty period of three years, according to Basanta Kumar Lenka, the block level team leader of OTEP Plus and coordinator of non-government agency Women Organisation for Socio Cultural Association (WOSCA), Keonjhar. ITDA roped in WOSCA to implement this OTELP Plus project in Godinarada on its behalf.
“We had 12 villagers under our Village Development Committee to look after the maintenance of the equipment inside the community hall. They were trained for a day to know the nitty-gritty of maintenance,” Debendra Kumar Rout, the programme officer (Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation) in charge of OTELP Plus, told The Indian Tribal.
With the solar power supply, the residents are now not only hoping that their children could study even after sunset but also that they could study beyond Class 5 through online mechanisms. The village school imparts education till Class 5 but there is no high school in the vicinity forcing the students to drop out.
“Nearly 40 children study in our school. But they never study after school, as darkness descends with sunset. However, this problem will be over soon because of the solar power. What they need now is consistent motivation, as most of their parents are illiterate and work as daily wagers. Some of them cultivate paddy, millets and maize to earn their livelihood,” said Jugeswar Juang, one of the two teachers of the primary school.
The solar power supply to the village, according to ITDA Project Administrator Soumya Sarthak Mishra, would augur well for the village. “Solar power supply particularly encouraged the tribal children of the village to study seriously. If Internet connectivity to it is set right, their online education will get a fillip,” said Mishra.
