PROJECT REPORT: “En-light a Girl Child” Project in Begusarai & Saharsa districts, Bihar

Prepared for:

Eveready Industries Limited

SoulAce Consulting Pvt. Ltd.NCR Office: 422 A, Tower B, Spaze I-Tech Park, Sohna Road, Gurgaon –122018

Kolkata Office [Registered Office]: P-166, Block G, 4th Floor, New Alipore, Kolkata – 700053Website: www.SoulAce.in, Email: enquiry@SoulAce.in, Phone No.- 0124-6465722

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Project Details

1.1 Project Description

1.2 Project Activity: LED light distribution in schools

1.3 Project Outcomes

1.4 Project Monitoring

1.5 Project sustainability

2. En-light a Girl Child: Project Overview

3. Power Crisis in Rural India

4. Implementing agency

5. Support Agency & Product Partner

6. References

1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A. Background

1. Power Crisis: An analysis of the electrification status of urban and rural areas in India reveals a

very dismal picture indeed.

Around 43% of Rural Households in India depend on kerosene as the main source of lighting

which translates to 72 million households.

6 states have more than 50% of the rural households using kerosene for lighting.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh top the list with 88% and 75% of kerosene dependent rural

communities respectively.

Begusarai and Saharsa districts of Bihar are among one of the worst faring districts of Bihar in

terms of availability of a safe and clean source of lighting.

2. State of Girl Child in India:

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, India recently named India as

the most dangerous place in the world for a girl child. India is the most dangerous place in the

world to be a baby girl. Newly released data shows that an Indian girl child aged 1-5 years is 75% more

likely to die than an Indian boy, making this the worst gender differential in child mortality for any

country in the world.

Child Sex Ratio (no. of females per 1000 males in the age group of 0 – 6 yrs) is alarmingly low at

914 in 2011

More than 50% of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of

12.

Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 58% for girls.

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53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are illiterate.

Amongst married women in India today, 75% were under age at the time of their marriages

Average enrolment rate of girls aged 14-18 is only 36.77%.

61.5% of girls drop out of school before completing class XII.

1 out of every 6 girls does not live to see her 15th birthday.

India accounts for the termination of some 10 million female fetuses over the past 20 years.

Of the 12 million girls born in India, 3 million do not see their 15th birthday and 1 million do not

see their 1st birthday.

Every sixth girl child's death is due to gender discrimination.

1 out of 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 4.

Female mortality exceeds male mortality in 224 out of 402 districts in India.

More than 100 million girl children between the ages of 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour

Death rate among girls below the age of 4 years is higher than that of boys. Even if she escapes

infanticide or foeticide, a girl child is less likely to receive immunization, nutrition or medical

treatment compared to a male child.

There are approximately 2 million child commercial sex workers between the age of 5 and 15

years and about 3.3 million between 15 and 18 years; forming 40% of the total population of

commercial sex workers in India; 71% of them are illiterate; 500,000 children are forced into

this trade every year.

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B. Project Description

SoulAce has implemented En-light a Girl Child project in power impoverished Begusaria and Saharsa

districts of Bihar. Eveready is the support agency and product partner in the initiative. “En-Light a Girl

Child" is a unique initiative towards addressing the issues, one of perennial darkness in the rural villages

and the other of Girl child education through sponsoring LED Light to rural households with Girl children.

The project also aims at informing and educating the larger rural community about the different

government schemes available for the girl children and women and motivating them to avail the

facilities for larger benefit.

C. Project Achievements

3003 girls from 13 schools in 2 districts of Bihar have the LED lights for studying at home after

sundown.

Awareness generation on empowering the girl child and knowledge regarding existing

government schemes undertaken in 13 schools through pamphlets, group discussions and street

plays.

The provision of LED Lights only to the girl child has sent out a strong message to the rural

families, schools and community, establishing the importance of girl child education.

Tabassum Parveen is the daughter of Md. Akram and lives in Sahebpur Kamal village in Begusarai district. She is studying in 9th standard in Jauhari Lal High School, Sahebpur Kamal. She stays with her parents, 6 sisters, 5 brothers and grandparents. Her father is a rickshaw puller.

During a visit to her residence in the evening, the team found that Tabassum along with majority of her school going siblings were studying using the LED light. Her father said that he is not educated; they are very poor and wishes that his children study and live a better life. They have one kerosene Light and 2 kerosene lit candles in their house. Her mother said that the government provides support to the students in terms of books, dress, cycle, grants etc. but availability of electricity is a major problem.

Now, with the provision of LED light, the children study together in the evening hours. Tabassum said that the LED light provides far bright light than kerosene lamps and that all the siblings now sit together and study. The encouragement and motivation to study has increased with the availability of LED light.

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Creating a positive discrimination for the girl child has highlighted her right in the family, school

and the community at large as an individual whose needs are equally important.

Periodic monitoring visits to the village households have revealed that owning their personal

LED Light has given girls the flexibility to study in their free time after sundown with greater

regularity.

Further, the LED light is a personal asset of the girl child and she can control its use. This has

boosted the morale and achievement motivation of these girls.

A few media personnel were formally invited to cover the events. In all places a lot of media

personnel representing different publications and channels, who got to know about the

intervention through their network, turned up as the relevance of the activity appealed to them.

They are well aware of the gravity of the power crisis and the issues concerning the girl child and

thus made it a point to write comprehensive reports highlighting the pivoting role that the

project plays in addressing the issues concerning the girl child to send the message to a large

readership.

The social networking sites are being used for sharing the mission and activities of En-Light a

Girl Child and sensitizing a large number of people towards these issues in a short time. The

Facebook page, which opened in August, 2013 and in 3 months time, has been able to generate

nearly 7,000 likes which ensure regular engagement. Similarly the twitter page is abuzz with

tweets on current issues related to girl children and news of events in remote districts of UP and

Bihar. Celebrities like Konkona Sen Sharma acknowledged the significance of the projected and

showed their support to the mission by tweeting back their views on the social networking site

twitter. Events, activities, case studies, issues related to girl child education and media coverage

are regularly updated and shared on these sites.

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1. PROJECT DETAILS

1.1 Project Description

SoulAce has implemented the project in power impoverished Begusaria and Saharsa districts of Bihar.

3003 girl children studying in classes 6 - 10 and coming from 13 different schools were the recipients of

battery operated LED Lights. Eveready is the support agency and product partner in the initiative.

The reason for targeting girls studying in 6 - 10 grades was the fact that this is the age in which they can

communicate and influence the use of the lamps provided to them and also utilize the facility by

replacing the batteries on a monthly basis.

This is also the stage in girl children’s lives when they are more burdened with their domestic duties and

need the lighting resource to choose to study in their free time. The fact that their need to study at any

time in the evening or night is given importance acts as a great enabler. They can take decisions on

when they want to use it and how.

1.2 Project Activity: LED light distribution in Schools

In each of the schools, the distribution process commenced with an inauguration ceremony in the

school grounds where Eveready officials, SoulAce representatives, Ground Partner, which is a local

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NGO, the concerned schools Headmaster and senior teachers shared their views on girl child

empowerment and the importance of education girls in general.

The forum was used to highlight the objectives of En-light A Girl Child project, which are promoting girl

child education, providing a cheap and safe source of lighting, and providing information about existing

government schemes for girls.

Pamphlets on government schemes for girl children were distributed as well as street plays used as a

medium to communicate the same.

7

Demonstration of LED light operation & maintenance

by represetative of Ground Partner

Mr. Aditya Diddee, Eveready, Kolkata giving out

LED light

This was followed by actual distribution of the LED Lights to a few grades. Rest of the distribution was

done in individual classes. A short demonstration on how to operate the lamp, change the batteries and

its upkeep and maintenance was given towards the end.

Special care was taken to inform the girls that the lamp is meant for their individual use and mainly for

the purpose of studying besides using it while moving out in the dark.

8

Girls with LED lights in the classroom after distribution

Street Play in school

DISTRICT & SCHOOL WISE DISTRIBUTION

District Date of Event

Name of the School No. of Girls covered

Begusarai 19.09.13 Kanya Madhya Vidhyalaya, Kali Asthan 40820.09.13 Rajkiyakrit Sarvodaya High School, Sahpur 21230.10.13 Rajkiyakrit Madhya Vidhyalaya, Lakho 3431.10.13 Rajkiyakrit Madhya Vidhyalaya, Bishanpur 2531.10.13 JauhariLal High School, Sahebpur Kamal 303

Sub - Total Begusarai 1519Saharsa

29.10.13 Rupmati Girls Middle School 35629.10.13 Rupmati Girls High School 26430.10.13 Adarsh Awasiya Middle School Education

Sangh164

30.10.13 Anugrah Narayan Singh Smarak High Madhyamik School

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21.11.13 Middle School Chandaur, Chandaur 12521.11.13 Middle School, Belha, Baijnathpur 8022.11.13 Manohar High School, Baijnathpur 19822.11.13 Middle School, Baijnathpur 220

Sub – Total Saharsa 1484

Total 3003

Battery operated LED Lights were distributed to girls studying in Grade 6-10 in 13 schools in Begusari

and Saharsa districts of Bihar. 1519 girls from 5 schools in Begusarai received the lights while 1484 girls

from 8 schools in Saharsa district were recipients of the lights. The distribution in Saharsa was done in

two phases. In all, 3003 girls from 13 schools across Begusarai and Saharsa benefitted from the

distribution.

The local press and other media personnel were invited to cover the event to spread the message to a

larger audience and sensitize people to issues related to girl child empowerment. The coverage was

done by Hindi newspapers and electronic media.

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1.3 Project Outcomes

1. 3003 girls from 13 schools in 2 districts of Bihar have the LED lights for studying at home after

sundown.

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2. Awareness generation on empowering the girl child and knowledge regarding existing government

schemes undertaken in 13 schools for the girl child through pamphlets and street plays.

3. The provision of LED Lights has sent out a strong message to the rural families, schools and

community, establishing the importance of girl child education. This shall go a long way in changing

the prevalent mindsets regarding educating the girls and challenging gender biases.

4. Benefitting girls see the lamp as a personal asset and realize that they have the choice to use it for

themselves. This has played a key role in sealing their right in the family, school and the community

at large as individuals whose needs are equally important and the fact that they can exercise this

right to fulfill their needs.

5. Burdened down with household chores and not finding an adequate source of lighting during their

free time, has resulted in the girls not being able to cope with their studies, especially as they move

to the higher grades. Girls are using the LED Lights to study on a regular basis now. Having their

personal LED Light has given them the flexibility to study in their free time after sundown which

would result in gradual improvement in academic performance.

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Varsha Kumari is the daughter of Banshi Chowdhury and lives in Lakho village. She is studying is 7th standard in Rajkiyakrit Madhya Vidhyalaya, Lakho, Begusarai. Varsha stays with her parents, 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Her father is an auto rickshaw driver.

When the monitoring team visited her residence in the evening, she was studying using the LED light. Varsha thanked our team for providing with the LED light. She said that earlier she used to study using the kerosene lamp.

She said the kerosene lamps had low illumination; they had to be handled with lot of care as there were chances of fire and breaking down of the glass. All these problems are now solved after she has started using the LED light. She said that earlier the motivation to study using kerosene lamp was low but now not only she but her brothers and sisters all sit together after sundown to study.

6. In spite of the fact that girls’ education in the region is riddled with multiple limiting factors, the

provision of personal LED Lights has proved to be a huge source of encouragement and has

intensified the achievement motivation of the benefitting girl children.

7. Since there was no lighting arrangement made exclusively for the girl child to study at home, the

LED lights have offered a more economic and sustainable alternative.

8. Toxic fumes and unburnt carbon from the kerosene lamps cause several respiratory illnesses and

the low illumination strains the eyes. Such lamps also cause countless fire catastrophes every year.

Now LED Lights are providing a safer and brighter source of lighting for the girls to study.

9. The girls are using the Light in the evening or night, when they need to go out. This has worked

towards increasing their safety.

10. The distribution of these LED lights to girl children is not only an activity as it has bigger implications.

The provision of this very basic amenity has a direct and measurable impact in terms of having

access to a clean and safe source of lighting in specific and uplifting the situation of the girl child at

large.

1.4 Project Monitoring

The Ground Partner is undertaking the household level monitoring in the villages. Monitoring visits were

made in the evening hours to see if the lights are being used by the recipient girls both in Begusarai &

Saharsa districts. These visits were undertaken around a month after the distribution. Currently these

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monitoring visits are being conducted for schools were distributions were done a month ago and shall

be continued periodically. The SoulAce team was present during the distribution of the battery LED

lights in the schools. Database of each beneficiary along with family details was generated.

1.5 Project Sustainability

The lights consume very little energy and the average recurring cost incurred in replacing the batteries is

not more than 1 rupee per day. Batteries are easily available even in the remotest villages. The product

is branded, hard-wearing and long-lasting. The project is effective and sustainable in terms of cost

effectiveness, ease of access and longevity.

2. En-light a Girl Child: Project Overview

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En-Light a Girl Child" is a unique initiative towards addressing the issues, one of perennial darkness in

the rural villages and the other of Girl child education through sponsoring LED Light to rural households

with Girl children.

"En-Light a Girl Child" aspires to reach out to regions

in the country with no or irregular electricity and

empower rural households with girl children with a

battery powered LED Light. The Light would be a

multipurpose tool for the girl and the family. The girl

could use it to study during the evening hours, which

would be a joyful experience to study under better

illumination and no harmful fumes. Women could

use it while cooking, and men in the family could avail the light to continue their business late.

"En-Light a Girl Child" would inform and educate the larger rural community about the different

government schemes available for the girl children and women and motivate them to avail the facilities

for larger benefit.

"En-Light a Girl Child" envisages working towards bringing light and happiness to the families, which

have been erstwhile in perennial darkness and better the state of Education and Healthcare for girls and

women in the communities

"En-Light a Girl Child" has been designed in such a way that the intervention in remote, rural areas is

low cost intensive and sustainable as the cost incurred per child is Rs. 400 which would include complete

cost of branded LED Light, transportation, awareness creation, distribution event and monitoring.

Batteries are available in the remotest of areas and a large rural population could avail the facility of

battery operated LED Lights. Thus, the potential is huge in terms of scalability too. From the

implementation point of view, execution is not time consuming and human resource requirements are

low.

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2.1 Mission

Empower 10,00,000 Girl Children in backward regions by providing LED Lights and creating awareness

about schemes for girl child

2.2 Objectives

1. To empower Girl children at school, family and societal level and establish the importance of girl

child education

2. To reach out to rural households having Girl Children and encourage them to study further by

gifting a battery powered LED Light

3. To try and mitigate the power crisis situation in villages and other poorly electrified regions by

illuminating houses, which were into perennial darkness due to lack of electricity

4. To generate awareness amongst the people with regards to girl child education, healthcare and

employment and spread awareness amongst the villagers about the different government

schemes available for the benefit of Girls and Women.

2.3 Implementation Process

1. Identification of relevant villages and households where there is no or irregular electricity

especially in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa et cetera. Also slums in

major metro cities are included.

2. Distribution of free LED Lights with batteries to school going girl children through events

organized in schools

3. Awareness Generation in the villages on the following issues:

- Light provided: Its advantages, replacement of battery

- Creating Awareness of existing government schemes for girls

4. Monitoring on monthly basis on usage of lights by the children

5. Documentation of the project through creation of database of the beneficiaries, report writing,

photographs and success stories.

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2.4 Social Benefits

Social Impact Current Scenario After LED Lights supplied

Education Not sufficient light in the house to study during evening

Ideal time in the evening for children to study under bright LED Light

Health Kerosene lamps being used whose fumes are a health hazard

No issue of fumes

Women safety Security risk for girls going out in the dark

Girls can carry the light while going outside the house and increases safety

Girl Child Promotion Girl Child Discrimination one of the major social issues prevalent in the backward areas in India

As light will be given to only girl child, it will promote the importance of girl child in the regions

Advantages of Eveready Battery LED Light

They are 50% cost – effective than kerosene lamps and easy to use

Illumination is far better as compared to kerosene lamps

Initial cost 80% cheaper than solar lights

They are more reliable in use. No technology issue or weather dependency

Easy availability of batteries in every village in India

Safe to use, no health hazards

Branded product ensures quality and beneficiaries keenness towards the product

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3. Power Crisis in Rural India

The condition of rural India paints a dark picture considering the fact that a sizeable chunk of the rural

households in India have no access to electricity at all. Most of these people are dependent on the

(Source: Census 2011)

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traditional fuels of kerosene, wood, dung and crop residue and often use primitive and inefficient

technologies for lighting. Use of Kerosene and other conventional methods has an ill effect on health,

education and livelihood of the communities.

An analysis of the electrification status of urban and rural areas reveals a very dismal picture indeed. A

majority of the rural population in India depends on kerosene for domestic lighting as only 55 percent

have access to electricity. According to the census 2011, around 43 percent of rural households depend

on kerosene as a primary fuel lighting which is roughly equal to 80 million households. Additionally,

electrified households in rural areas also use kerosene as a standby fuel because of unreliable electricity

supply.

Among the top 10 states with the highest percentage of kerosene dependent rural households, the

condition of Bihar is the poorest with 88 percent of the rural community relying on kerosene as the

STATE WISE SUMMARY OF KEROSENE LIT RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN INDIA

18

Electricity Kerosene Other Sources

No Light 05

101520253035404550556065707580859095

55.3

43.2

1 0.5

92.7

6.50.6000000000000020.3

Percentage of Households with Dif-ferent Sources of Lighting in India

RuralUrban

Households with Different Sources of Lighting

Perc

enta

ge o

f Hou

seho

lds

43%

57%

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households in India

Percentage of Kerosene lit Rural HH

% of HH using electricity & other sources

Sr. No

States &UTs Total no. of Households

Total no. of Rural

Households

Percentage of Rural

Households

No. of Kerosene Lit Rural

Households

Percentage of Kerosene Lit

Rural Households

India1 Bihar 18940629 16926958 89.4 14963756 88.42 Uttar Pradesh 32924266 25475071 77.4 19111021 75.03 Assam 6367295 5374553 84.4 3782653 70.44 Jharkhand 6181607 4685965 75.8 3113279 66.45 Orissa 9661085 8144012 84.3 5113827 62.86 West Bengal 20067299 13717186 68.4 7927731 57.87 Meghalaya 538299 422197 78.43 193949 45.948 Madhya Pradesh 14967597 11122365 74.3 4546696 40.99 Rajasthan 12581303 9490363 75.4 3729431 39.3

10 Tripura 842781 607779 72.12 228953 37.6711 Manipur 507152 335752 66.20 108164 32.2212 Chhattisgarh 5622850 4384112 77.97 1235592 28.1813 Mizoram 221077 104874 47.44 28159 26.8514 Maharashtra 23830580 13016652 54.62 3446376 26.4815 Arunachal Pradesh 261614 195723 74.81 46175 23.5916 Nagaland 399965 284911 71.23 60106 21.1017 Andaman & Nicobar 93376 59030 63.22 11393 19.3018 Uttarakhand 1997068 1404845 70.35 204149 14.5319 Gujarat 12181718 6765403 55.54 869255 12.8520 Jammu & Kashmir 2015088 1497920 74.34 189124 12.6321 Karnataka 13179911 7864196 59.67 965641 12.2822 Haryana 4717954 2966053 62.87 335860 11.3223 Andhra Pradesh 21024534 14246309 67.76 1450876 10.1824 Sikkim 128131 92370 72.09 8075 8.7425 Tamil Nadu 18493003 9563899 51.72 791493 8.2826 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 73063 35408 48.46 2697 7.6227 Kerela 7716370 4095674 53.08 304225 7.4328 Pondicherry 301276 95133 31.58 3387 3.5629 Goa 322813 124674 38.62 4287 3.4430 Himachal Pradesh 1476581 1310538 88.75 38895 2.9731 Punjab 5409699 3315632 61.29 96196 2.9032 Chandigarh 235061 6785 2.89 162 2.3933 Daman & Diu 60381 12750 21.12 185 1.4534 NCT of Delhi 3340538 79115 2.37 1136 1.44

(Source: Census 2011)

source of lighting. Uttar Pradesh is a close second with 75 percent of kerosene dependent rural

households. 6 states have more than 50 percent of the rural households using kerosene for lighting.

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Approximately 54 percent of the country’s kerosene reserve is consumed in four states alone, Uttar

Pradesh, with 21 percent consumption, followed by Bihar with 15 percent consumption. West Bengal

and Orissa together consume 18 percent of the country’s kerosene reserves.

Kerosene is the sole source of lighting for about 89 percent of the rural households in Bihar.

There are millions of school-going children living in semi-rural and rural areas, who don’t have access to

a clean and safe light which can help them study after sundown. These children depend on kerosene

lamps which form soot and emit toxic fumes which cause health problems like irritation in the eyes,

severe respiratory illness, and are potentially dangerous as they can cause fire accidents and burn

injuries. Moreover the light from such lamps is not enough hence it puts a strain on the children’s eyes

too. Girl children suffer more as their male siblings get preference over them when it comes to sharing

the light. Kerosene being an expensive source of lighting is used frugally. As most girls are busy doing

their domestic duties during the day time there is no light to study once they get free in the evening or

late in the night.

Bihar, Uttar Pradesh & Assam have 88%, 75% & 70% of their rural households respectively

DISTRICT WISE SUMMARY OF KEROSENE LIT RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN BIHARSr. No

District Total Rural Households No. of Kerosene lighted Rural Households

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households

1 Madhepura 383792 365829 95.322 PashchimChamparan 635151 603151 94.96

20

BiharUttar Pradesh

AssamJharkand

OrissaWest Bengal

MeghalayaMadhya Pradesh

RajasthanTripura

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

88.475

70.466.4

62.857.8

45.9440.9

39.337.67

Top 10 States with Highest Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households

3 Araria 529611 501133 94.624 Arwal 109546 103639 94.615 Katihar 563679 532056 94.396 PurbaChamparan 913167 857416 93.897 Nawada 313669 294090 93.768 Sheohar 143121 133282 93.139 Saharsa 339776 314109 92.45

10 Sitamarhi 696184 640822 92.0511 Siwan 516701 473833 91.7012 Jamui 283684 259579 91.5013 Gaya 603194 551428 91.4214 Purnia 576602 525815 91.1915 Samastipur 822111 744281 90.5316 Aurangabad 351828 318291 90.4717 Vaishali 595165 538001 90.4018 Bhojpur 357782 323095 90.3019 Jehanabad 159632 143688 90.0120 Supaul 420420 376667 89.5921 Khagaria 312199 277783 88.9822 Saran 585844 516239 88.1223 Darbhanga 732270 642931 87.8024 Madhubani 871575 764245 87.6925 Sheikhpura 86465 74916 86.6426 Begusarai 488062 422153 86.5027 Muzaffarpur 859579 738509 85.9228 Nalanda 411602 353477 85.8829 Buxar 236453 202895 85.8130 Kishanganj 304695 260263 85.4231 Gopalganj 396391 334493 84.3832 Banka 366656 305807 83.4033 Rohtas 387316 311170 80.3434 Kaimur (Bhabua) 235155 186478 79.3035 Lakhisarai 140728 109313 77.6836 Munger 193801 149504 77.1437 Bhagalpur 458960 349845 76.2338 Patna 544392 363530 66.78

Bihar 16926958 14963756 88.40(Source: Census 2011)

It is notable that each district in Bihar has a sizeable rural population. 33 out of these 38 districts have,

on an average, more than 80 percent of their rural households dependent on kerosene as the primary

source of lighting.

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Madhepura

Araria

Katihar

Nawad

a

Sahars

aSiw

anGay

a

Samasti

pur

Vaishali

Jehanab

ad

Khagari

a

Darbhan

ga

Sheikh

pura

Muzaffarp

urBuxa

r

Gopalgan

j

Rohtas

Lakhisa

rai

Bhagalp

ur65.00

70.00

75.00

80.00

85.00

90.00

95.00

100.00

District Wise Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households in Bihar

Madhepura district has the highest percentage of kerosene dependent rural households at around 95

percent. The smallest percentage of kerosene dependent rural households is in Patna.

Begusarai & Saharsa Districts

Begusarai and Saharsa district of Bihar are among one of the worst faring districts of Bihar in terms of

availability of a safe and clean source of lighting. Out of the 488062 rural households in Begusarai, 86.5

percent use kerosene as a lighting source. This accounts for about 4.2 lakh rural households facing such

a crisis.

SUMMARY OF KEROSENE LIT RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN BEGUSAIRAI & SAHARSA

Sr. No

District Total Rural Households

No. of Kerosene lighted Rural Households

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households

1. Begusarai 488062 422153 86.502. Saharsa 339776 314109 92.45

(Source: Census 2011)

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The situation in Saharsa is even more desolate. Around 92 percent of rural households rely

almost entirely on kerosene for lighting. Girl children who are responsible for managing the

daily housework from cleaning to cooking find it extremely challenging to cope with their

studies as they move in to higher grades.

Munni Kumari lives in Batraha locality of Saharsa town in Bihar. She studies in Grade 8 of Roopwati Kanya Mahavidyalaya, the only girl’s high school located in the heart of Saharsa town. Her father is old and unemployed while her mother passed away a few years back. She has three brothers who stay under the same roof. The eldest brother, who runs a small cloth store, has separated from the family owing to the fact that the cloth shop brings in barely enough money to support him and his wife. Youngest of the 4 siblings, Munni has to undertake the arduous responsibility of cooking, cleaning as well as other domestic chores.

In Munni’s own words: “Main padhna chahati hoon par ghar ka itna kaam karne ke baad samay nahi milta. Aur main thak bh ijaat ihoon. Raat mein padhne baithti hoon to aksar bijli nahi rahti. Bhaiya 9th me padhta hai. Ek hi lalten hai. Usko milta hai mujhe kam. Kerosene bahut mehnga hai.Kabhi kabhi mujhe lagta hai ki main agar ghar mein nahi padhungi to phir itna sab kuch kaise samajh paaongi . Aksar school nahi jaa paati hoon. Kisi ka dhyan meri padhai par nahi hai. Main bahut aage tak padhna chahti hoon”

Waking up early in the morning, Munni cleans the utensils, sweeps the house, and cooks food. The school is a 20 minutes’ walk from her home. At the tender age of 15, she can fathom the general indifference that prevails in her family towards her education.

The only time that they find to study is after sun set and kerosene lamps being expensive are

used sparingly. With the prevalent indifference towards the girl children in general and their

education in particular any effort to make a kerosene lamp available for studying in their free

time, takes a backseat.

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86%

14%

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households in Be-

gusarai District

% of Kerosene lit HH

% of HH using other sources of lighting

92%

8%

Percentage of Kerosene Lit Rural Households in Saharsa

District% of Kerosene lit HH% of HH using other sources of lighting

4. Implementing Agency

SoulAce is the implementing organization for "En-Light a Girl Child". It is amongst the first professional

organization specializing in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in India. It

assists companies in developing, implementing, and evaluating CSR and Sustainability programmes.

In the last 5 Years it has covered more than 16 states in India working in more than 60 districts for

several corporate, Private, Public and Multinationals on CSR Baseline cum Need Assessment Studies, 3rd

Party Evaluation & Impact Assessment of CSR projects, Monitoring, Documentation, Joint

Implementation, Reporting and Training on CSR. Few of SoulAce's clients include Tata Power, Aditya

Birla Group, Cadbury, Sodexo, Indian Oil, GAIL, FICCI, Self Employed Women’s Association, Smile

Foundation, RITES, Hands Carpets, MMTC, State Trading Corporation, Engineering Projects India Ltd. and

PEC Ltd. among others.

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5. Support Agency and Product Partner

Eveready Industries India Limited is the product partner for "En-Light a Girl Child". It is one of the

most trusted brands for batteries and LED Lights. This ensures quality product and easy availability of

LED Light through the presence of large network of Eveready in the villages across the country. Eveready

has agreed to supply the LED Light at subsidized cost for this social initiative.

The brand Eveready has been present in India since 1905. Eveready has a portfolio comprising dry cell

batteries (carbon zinc batteries, rechargeable batteries and alkaline batteries), flashlights (torches), CFLs

(Compact Fluorescent Lamps) and packet tea. Eveready's strength is the result of a continuous and well-

orchestrated brand development strategy that maximizes the value from each consumer touch-point.

The unmatched consumer confidence is also reflected through the various accolades that the company

has got over the years.

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6. References:

1. Houselisting and Housing Census Data Tables - District Level, http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/hlo/District_Tables/HLO_District_Tables.html

2. India: Source of lighting: http://www.devinfolive.info/censusinfodashboard/website/index.php/pages/source_lighting/total/kerosene/IND

3. Statistics of Underprivileged Children in Indiahttp://america.cry.org/site/know_us/cry_america_and_child_rights/statistics_underprivileged_chi.html

4. Situation of Girl Child in India http://www.betifoundation.org/situation-of-girl-child-in-india

5. India deadliest place in world for girl childhttp://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-01/india/31012468_1_child-mortality-infant-mortality-infant-deaths

6. CHILD Protection & Child Rights » Vulnerable Children » Children's Issues » Girl Child http://www.childlineindia.org.in/girl-child-rights-protection.htm

7. Status of children in India http://infochangeindia.org/agenda/child-rights-in-india/status-of-children-in-india.html

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