To ensure continuous power supply to sevashrams - residential school for SC and ST students - in interior pockets of Odisha's Koraput district, the administration has decided to set up rooftop solar power units at 56 hostels during the current financial year.
"Owing to remoteness, these schools are either not electrified or the power supply is erratic. The students face difficulties while studying at night," said Koraput district Collector, Jaya Kumar V.
Eight sevashrams with 250 to 600 students from each of the 14 blocks in the district have been shortlisted for the project. The final 56 will be picked from these. The units will be set up in at least four sevashrams in each block.
"Bulbs and fans could be run using solar energy. These schools will be supplied LED bulbs, which consume less power," said District Welfare Officer (Koraput) Trinath Rao.
Around Rs 5 lakh will be spent on installing each unit and funds from Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana will be used for the purpose, he said.
"Depending on students' strength, we get monthly electricity bill ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. The solar power units will bring down the expense," Rao added.
There are 154 sevashrams in the district and these are being run by ST and SC development department. Earlier, the administration had installed solar energy-powered hand pumps in 151 sevashrams to help the students draw water from tubewells.
