Freemasonry, one of the world's largest and oldest organisations, often described as a secret society, has decided to do a 'Swades' in India. In the movie, Shahrukh Khan, with the help of local residents, electrifies a village to rid it of its power woes. This is exactly the work Freemasonry has embarked upon.
As part of their Golden Jubilee celebrations, the organization has decided to electrify 50 villages, which do not have access to electricity. Villages in the state, which are yet to get electricity supply, are also covered under the project.
"We have embarked on project Jyotirgamaya (Let there be light), under which we plan to light up 50 villages in the country using solar energy. Work for the project is in different stages of implementation in 26 villages. We plan to cover 50 villages by October 31," Dr Balaram Biswakumar, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of India, told reporters.
Biswakumar informed that the organization would spend around Rs2 crore for lighting up the 50 villages.
Sunday will be a special day for the 250-odd residents of Banaskantha's Nalwas village, one of the few villages in Gujarat yet to be electrified. Freemasonry has included Nalwas under Jyotirgamaya, and the project will be inaugurated tomorrow. Nalwas will be the sixth village in the country to be electrified under the project.
Ironically, mobile phone connectivity is available in the remote and tribal dominated village, but villagers have to travel 20-25 km to charge their phones. However, they will be spared the trouble with the launch of the electrification project, which has been completed at a cost of Rs3.5 lakh.
"The system consists of PV solar module, charger, storage batteries, LED lamps and electric wiring from solar panels to hutments. The modules produce direct current from sunlight which charges batteries through a charge controller. After sunset, the stored energy from batteries will light the village," said Rajiv Sethi, assistant regional Grand Master.
Biswakumar said that they are in the process of identifying more un-electrified villages in the state which could be covered in the project.
