Renewable energy for women empowerment: Experiences from rural West Bengal

Unreliable supply and frequent failures of grid electricity are common in rural and disaster-prone areas in India. Furthermore, the households living below the poverty line have limited ability to pay the electricity charges regularly. Under these circumstances, access to clean and renewable energy is expected to provide significant socio-economic and environmental benefits vis-à-vis conventional energy sources, contributing to socially inclusive and sustainable development immensely. In particular, access to renewable energies in rural areas can potentially facilitate income-generating activities by the women and, hence, their socio-economic empowerment. Given this backdrop, the study examines if the socialization of solar energy through the installation of micro solar domes can lead to women empowerment in rural West Bengal. Two blocks, namely Hirbandh and Ranibandh, in the Bankura district are selected for carrying out detailed analysis. It is found that the MSDs seem to have improved users' standard of living and enhanced women's participation in the decision-making process along with their mobility, financial autonomy and social activities. Nevertheless, emphasis should be given to designing appropriate structures towards creating markets for such technologies for promoting socially inclusive cleaner energy transition.