Projects

Community Background:

Rampur is a city and municipality located in Rampur District, Uttar Pradesh, in Northeast India near the Nepal border. Rampur district spans an area of 2,367 km². As of the 2001 India census, Rampur had a population of 281,549, mostly below poverty line. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Rampur has an average literacy rate of only 68%: male literacy is 73%, and female literacy is 55%. Fourteen percent of the population is under six years of age. Though Rampur is a small city with a poor population, it is not remote, so project implementation will not be a problem.

Community Needs:

Most of the Rampur schools provide education to children of the underprivileged section of society, and are under-funded. The government-provided electric power is intermittent and inadequate to meet the basic demend for lights, fans, and computers. Students and teachers routinely cope with dark classrooms and/or room temperatures of over 100° F. To meet their power needs, the schools use inefficient diesel generators (Photo 2), which create noise and air pollution, and negatively impact the productivity in the classroom.

Our Goal:

The goal of the program is to introduce a sustainable energy source to the community’s schools. The first project will be to bring alternative energy to the Symbiosis Public School, and will serve as a model for alternative energy projects in other schools throughout the City. The implementation of alternative energy in the Symbiosis Public School will allow for reliable use of lights, fans, and computers without the economic and environmental costs associated with the current diesel generators. Consequently, the students attending the Symbiosis Public School will receive a better education in a healthier environment, and will be motivated to stay in school. Furthermore, the funds previously used to maintain the diesel generators will be available for use by the schools to expand and provide better facilities to the students. Our project will require training of local electricians to enable the community to maintain their electrification system. Therefore, in addition to providing direct benefits to the schools, the program would also generate opportunities for local employment.