Solar power for anganwadis in Pune

Pune district plans to implement Harit anganwadi, a lighting solution to reduce electricity costs, focusing on preschool education and nutrition. Solar energy projects will be funded by the District Planning Committee (DPC) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Pune district plans to implement Harit anganwadi, a lighting solution to reduce electricity costs focusing on preschool education and nutrition. These centres will be lit up by solar energy projects through funding from the District Planning Committee (DPC) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

According to media reports currently, 1,100 anganwadis have operational solar energy projects. A proposal of ₹10 crore will be submitted to the committee for funding solar energy projects in 985 out of the remaining 3,284 anganwadis in the district. For the rest of the 2,300 anganwadis companies have offered assistance through CSR funds.

Anganwadis often rely on electricity from gram panchayats or other sources and many face outages. The district council has initiated steps to implement solar energy projects.  The cost for one project is ₹1 lakh. DPC reserves 3 percent of its funds for the women and child welfare department, with an estimated cost of ₹10 for a single project.