Lucknow, 6 July 2022: Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya, deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said, “All the work we have done through SHGs has increased people's incomes and brought happiness and prosperity into their lives. We even launched the Vidyut Sakhi portal today and signed the Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW)-Villgro. This is a significant step forward for the state towards women’s empowerment, ensuring energy efficiency, and increasing incomes of people in the state.”

Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya spoke at the event where Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Powering Livelihoods, a Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)- Villgro initiative. As part of this agreement, the Powering Livelihoods programme will help UPSRLM and Prerna Ojas, an entity promoted by UPSRLM, to mainstream distributed renewable energy (DRE) solutions for livelihoods to enhance rural incomes in Uttar Pradesh.

Further, CEEW signed another MoU with UPSRLM to support the implementation of the “Vidyut Sakhi” initiative of the UP Government. CEEW will provide project monitoring support to UPSRLM with the aim to effectively engage the Vidyut Sakhis (women self-help groups) in order to enhance their income as well as the collection efficiency of the power distribution companies in rural areas.

Shri Bhanu Goswami, Managing Director, Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM) said, “We are thrilled to be joining hands with CEEW- Villgro and Prerna Ojas in promoting DRE-powered livelihoods for people living in UP's rural areas. We are also keen to receive support from CEEW for our Vidyut Sakhi initiative. We hope with technical support of organizations like CEEW and Villgro, Prerna Ojas will work towards transforming millions of lives in the state.”

Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, said, “We are delighted to partner with the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Misson (UPSRLM) to help enhance the incomes of rural households and improve efficiency of power distribution companies in rural areas. Scaling up the deployment of clean energy innovations such as solar dryers, solar refrigerators, solar food processing machines would not only transform rural enterprises but also drive jobs, growth and sustainability. Further, we look forward to supporting the Vidyut Sakhi programme and helping discoms in revenue recovery.”

Shri Srinivas Ramanujam, CEO, Villgro, said, “We are excited to work with Prerna Ojas, a unique start-up supported by UPSRLM, to increase the footprint of DRE for Livelihoods in Uttar Pradesh.”

Contact: Riddhima Sethi (CEEW), [email protected]; Mihir Shah (CEEW), [email protected]