Other Publications
Vidyut Sakhi Handbook
How to become a Successful Vidyut Sakhi
Rashi Singh, Nitesh Kumar, Vikrant Kumar Singh, Shalu Agarwal
May 2025 | Power Markets
Suggested citation: Rashi Singh, Nitesh Kumar, Vikrant Kumar Singh, and Shalu Agarwal. Vidyut Sakhi Handbook- How to become a successful Vidyut Sakhi (Council on Energy, Environment and Water, May 2025).
Overview
The Vidyut Sakhi Handbook is a practical guide designed to enable women electricity bill collection agents, known as Vidyut Sakhis, under the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM). Created in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL), ICICI Bank and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), this handbook is both a training and reference tool that enables Sakhis to carry out their duties with clarity, confidence, and consistency.
With over 20,000 women deployed across Uttar Pradesh, the Vidyut Sakhi initiative has emerged as a powerful model of livelihood generation, financial inclusion, and last-mile service delivery. However, the scale and diversity of rural Uttar Pradesh demand clear operational guidance, especially for new recruits and trainers. This handbook fills that gap by detailing the roles, responsibilities, technical processes, consumer engagement techniques, and problem-solving strategies that define a successful Vidyut Sakhi.
Structured to be user-friendly and field-ready, the handbook includes visuals, case studies, step-by-step instructions, and dos and don’ts tailored to real-world rural billing scenarios. It ensures that every Sakhi, regardless of literacy level or prior experience, can contribute meaningfully to revenue recovery, improve household electricity connections, and build trust within her community.
By standardising training and field practices, this handbook supports the institutionalisation of the Vidyut Sakhi model as a sustainable, scalable solution at the intersection of energy access and women’s empowerment.
Key Highlights
- Under the MoU with UPSRLM, CEEW led the design and development of a comprehensive training handbook for Vidyut Sakhis, grounded in field surveys, interviews, and insights from rural billing operations.
- The handbook was developed with a ground-up approach to ensure the content reflects real-world challenges and opportunities faced by Vidyut Sakhis. To refine the content, pilot training workshops were organised in Varanasi and Unnao, engaging over 250 Vidyut Sakhis to test the modules and incorporate real-time feedback. Additionally, capacity-building sessions were conducted for all District and Block Mission Managers (DMMs/BMMs) to seek their feedback on the handbook and to ensure they could effectively use the Vidyut Sakhi dashboard and app features for local support and monitoring.
- The draft was then peer-reviewed by a diverse group of stakeholders, including District and Block Mission Managers, Vidyut Sakhis themselves, UPSRLM officials, and experts from the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD). This collaborative approach ensured that the final handbook is both accurate and practical, tailored to the daily realities of Sakhis
- It covers a wide range of topics essential for Sakhis, including the programme’s objectives, roles, responsibilities, and best practices for engaging with rural consumers. It also provides practical guidance on using the Vidyut Sakhi mobile application, interpreting electricity bills, and operating thermal printers. By providing this comprehensive knowledge, this handbook equips rural women to be impactful frontline agents for discoms within their communities.
- The handbook was further used to create a multimedia training package including an interactive module and explainer videos tailored to the on-ground realities faced by Sakhis, used to train over 14,500 Vidyut Sakhis across all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with the SIRD, using the finalised training toolkit.
“Strengthening last-mile service delivery in the power sector requires more than infrastructure and regulation, it demands an understanding of the social fabric in which policies are implemented. The Vidyut Sakhi Programme and its training module are grounded in the lived realities of rural communities, recognising that real change is driven by informed, empowered women navigating everyday challenges alongside discom staff, local leaders, and consumers.”
