NOMAD AMBASSADOR OF GREEN ENERGY

JAIPUR-

How much do five hundred rupees mean to most of us? It may be half of one time pizza bill, cost of a movie ticket for one or couple of day’s petrol expense for your car to go office. But for Nagji, who barely earns Rs150-200 daily, it is the amount that made him to adopt solar energy and to become an unknown nomad ambassador of clean energy mission.

On the outskirts of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, around 15 kilometers, right on the Ajmer Road, Nagji Lohar lives with his family. He belongs to Gadiya Lohar community that is traditionally indulged in iron work, prepare and mend household and apparatus made by iron. For the ages they are moulding and shaping iron into useful things, using own muscles but not machines. That is only source for their bread and butter. They are homeless, nomad; cursed to live in self made shelter like tents those are far away to call a house. In between the bunch of their pole based, hung, tents and mud shelters just after at Tagore Nagar crossing, one can see that couple of blue panels are peeping out. You can get astonished, what a solar panel to do with these nomads?

“I brought this panel to charge the battery used to power a fan that blow air in forge/furnace” Giving shape of an axe to a red heated iron piece by a heavy hammer on iron cube, Nagji, around 50 year old says. “Earlier a leather made DHONKNI was used for that, but a person has to sit there to continue blow it. So, to save the manpower, an electric fan attached blower was installed firstly. Here the problem occurred when electricity became a dependency.” He explains

“Electric blowers are run on battery. A full charged battery lasts for 3 days only. So it requires almost 10 recharging in a month, costing Rs 500 monthly as it takes Rs. 50 to get battery charged for one time. Things become more severe if rechargers shop is closed during the work in hands” We get amused when Nagji’s wife, Parsi Devi, an illiterate explains the reckoning. “We are migrants; don’t have money to pay as rent, traditionally doing this job that hardly meets the basic need of two time meal for the family. How can we afford such amount monthly?” saying that she handed over to his husband a BIDI after ignite it. Apart of toil near furnace and ‘none existing’ kitchen, she shoulders her husband in this way also.

Nagji, originally from Beawer of Ajmer district, has his tantage in the vicinity of a three star hotel for almost 15 years, where he used to see a layer of blue plates on the roof top of it. “I used to think, what’s that?” He got acquainted with solar energy system when once he happened to visit Jodhpur. Wiping sweat from his wrinkled forehead, he tells, “There I saw wiper machine’s fan running on solar, and tube well motors also. Then I learnt about solar system and made this JUGAD for us. One time installation of solar panel system was of around Rs.7 thousand. Thus in almost a year, I got my money realised”.

Seven thousand rupees! Why did he not apply for the subsidised basic solar system? That must cost him lesser, with few hundred left in his pocket. Nagji answered that “he is not aware of any such government scheme”, thus exposing reality of government run schemes and revealing basic cause of their failure. Failure, gives government reason to abolish the subsidy on any public welfare scheme. New government has ruled out any sort of subsidy on domestic solar support system, earlier a 37 watt support system that includes a solar panel, battery, battery box, wiring and fixtures used to cost Rs. 6,846 after 30%, Rs 2,934 in figure, subsidy from central government. The previous state Government, announced additional 20% state carted subsidy, which present state government backed out of. Central government too abolished hitherto subsidy on domestic solar system as it has a greater perspective to illuminate remote villages those are not electrified so far. After learning the process, you can find it good that Nagji was not aware of that scheme, otherwise he had to face one more irony of the system when his residence proof would be the first necessary thing asked by the officials to oblige him as beneficiary.

Apart from daily bread and butter, solar system has brought colours and light too in these family’s tents. Now fans, LED lights and colour televisions with DTH dish also found a permanent place in tents. Mukesh, third child of Nagji and a 14 year old boy tells us with enthusiasm and sparkling eyes that now he can watch popular TV serials. He is studying in class 8th at nearby government school. “My classmates used to talk about the characters of popular TV serials and I had no words to participate.” He tells, “Now, along with my two younger kin, I watch TV and I never miss any episode of CID on Sony TV. Though, we are not allowed to watch TV for more than 2 hours a day.” He adds.

“Rationing is important.” Nagji explains, “We cannot afford wastage of the power as for us it is a necessity rather than luxury. To watch TV in access, will definitely hamper my children’s study. He has to become a reputed one unlike us who are of nowhere in the priority of society.”

For his innovative idea to use solar in smithy, Nagji emerged as ideal for others within the community. Now 4 more families in his neighborhood are intended to install solar panels as source of power. They get charged their batteries from Nagji’s system, that also able to bring some earnings to him. Apparently, he is not aware of the efforts; government is doing to inspire people to use green and clean energy. But in his pertinacity to get rid of the dependency over market to recharge the battery, he has become an ambassador of solar energy within his community, but, unknown nomad like his ancestors, for others and governments too.