PM lauds TERI’s Energy Entrepreneur Noor Jahan during his ‘Mann ki Baat’ address

As the Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi meets global leaders in Paris on the heels of a historic agreement in the making; he provided a simple solution to a complex global challenge of climate change.

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat’ last week, he focussed on global warming and climate change and praised the efforts of Noor Jahan. Speaking at length about her work as an energy entrepreneur in the bylanes of rural Kanpur, Noor Jahan, a 70 year old grandmother was set forth as an epitome by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in meeting the challenges of climate change that plague the world presently.

Noor Jahan was identified and trained by TERI under the aegis of its ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ campaign (LaBL) to become a village level entrepreneur (VLE) in 2012.  She was imparted technical training to develop essential skills to appropriately manage and operate a solar charging station of 50 lanterns. As part of the business model, these lanterns were to be rented out on a monthly basis (per use rent model) at INR 100, ensuring a steady stream of income of up to INR 2000 for Noor Jahan and a clean source of lighting to her fellowmen.

Highlighting about the Initiative, Dr Ibrahim  Hafeez Rehman, the head of the Campaign at TERI said "We are delighted to learn that the Hon’ble Prime Minister has acknowledged our efforts. It encourages us to further expand this Campaign so that we can light many other lives like that of Noor Jahan. We are committed to continue providing clean and affordable energy for all. This is a local solution that needs to be embraced globally. TERI offers its unstinted support to the Prime Minister for the UNFCCC COP21, as an independent think- tank working to provide solutions to climate change problems”.

The 'Lighting a Billion Lives Campaign' has covered more than 3000 villages across 24 states in India since it began operations in 2008.

This particular project is sponsored by Indus Towers Ltd as part of a five year partnership with ‘Lighting a Billion Lives’ that is being funded under their CSR initiative towards energy access. Since 2012, 247 villages have been covered across Uttar Pradesh under this project, where solar charging stations and solar micro grids have been installed and commissioned to benefit more than 60,000 lives.