Solar power in the Sundarbans

For the children of villagers who call the Sundarbans home, electricity is but a dream. Hence, schooling was a luxury for children of day labourers because these people are so poor that they can ill afford even the basics like healthcare. In such a setting, the Binapani Government Primary School located in Mongla's West Khejuria village set the stage whereby the children of poor families could carry light back to their homes for studies. This has been made possible by installing solar panels on the school's roofs and the power generated by these panels charge solar lamps that children carry back with them when they go home. Suddenly, there is light in these homesteads and these schoolchildren now have the opportunity to get an education that was merely a dream for their parents, and a chance to break out of the endless cycle of poverty that had dogged their parents' generation.

A number of environmental groups have come up with this innovative idea and this can successfully be replicated to reach tens of thousands of children who live in remote areas of the country, where grid based electricity is not available. Solar lamps have been around for a long time and now they are being put to essential use. Parents will be encouraged to enroll their children to schools as education opens doors to new opportunities, a basic fact that is not lost upon anyone. We welcome this innovative effort and hope that authorities will take notice of it and perhaps do trial runs in other parts of the country to bring a little light to brighten up the lives of children who live off the beaten path.