Without proper lighting facilities, households run on candlelight or kerosene-based lamps, affecting health and the environment. Addressing this, Women on Wings, Signify Foundation (formerly known as Philips Lighting Foundation) and Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, ran a programme for distribution of solar lighting systems in about 800 off-grid or under electrified rural households in the Pilibhit district in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
In 2017, Women on Wings distributed indoor solar lights to these households, after conducting a baseline survey amongst the participants. The objective of the programme was to measure and document the impact of access to solar light on the daily activities of the women and children.
In 2018, the team visited the villages again to assess the impact of the lights that were distributed and found the response to be very encouraging. The women and children had stopped using kerosene lamps and were pleased that there was no strain to their eyes anymore. There was also a great reduction in the indoor smoke. Additionally, there were significant savings.
Yue Cui, CSR Program Manager at Signify Foundation said, “At Signify, we are very impressed by the thoroughness and structure of the survey performed by the Women on Wings team in villages where our solar lights were distributed. Lighting can be a key enabler for enhancing the quality of life in rural areas and this project has emphasized these advantages even more.”
“We worked together with the Ministry of Women and Child Development for distribution of solar light systems in about 800 rural households. We are very proud that the program was a huge success and many more people want these solar lights. We are grateful for the support given to us by the Hon’ble Minister Maneka Gandhi,” Shilpa Mittal Singh, Joint Managing Director at Women on Wings added.
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