Energy consumption of rural communities its impacts, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India
Student name: Mr Saksham Nijhawan
Guide: Dr Priyanka Kaushal
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: DHAN Foundation, Tamil Nadu
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr R. Adhinarayanan
Abstract: India is a paradoxical land. It has experienced exceptional growth in the last decade. In
2012, India became world‟s third largest economy behind USA and China. Yet, 67% of
India‟s population lives in rural areas. The energy demand of rural India continues to
rise, as development and modern technologies reach the remotest parts of the country.
With the focus on energy access greater than ever from international and national
agencies, it is important to understand the energy scenario at the most basic level i.e. at
the village level. Eight rural communities from Madurai District in the south Indian state
of Tamil Nadu were chosen to carry out a detailed survey to assess the current energy
scenario at village and household level. The surveys were conducted in the months of
February and March 2014. To understand the community dynamics, Participatory Rural
Appraisal (PRA) techniques such as Social Mapping and Wealth Ranking were held in
each village, where the men and women participated actively. Successful discussions
aided by semi-close-ended questionnaire, were held with each of the four
gram panchayats (local governing body) about the current energy consumption,
awareness about clean energy and possible clean energy interventions. 270 households,
that selected by simple random sampling were surveyed with the help of detailed closeended
questionnaire written in two languages, English and Tamil. Results from the
survey revealed high dependency on traditional biomass for cooking and on candles and
kerosene wick for lighting due to frequency electricity cuts. Women faced the major
brunt of using traditional fuels, walking up to 10 km each day to collect around 10 kg of
fuelwood. The health of women and children was greatly affected due to burning of
traditional fuels including fuelwood, crop residue and kerosene. Gram panchayat
members showed positive awareness about clean energy technologies and were willing to
accept and help implement energy efficient measures and clean energy interventions.
Results from the survey were presented to the gram panchayat; an energy policy was
designed to be implemented at village and household level, containing measures to
improve energy efficiency using existing infrastructure and cost effective clean energy
interventions like solar powered streetlights. The energy policy was discussed with the
community and accepted by the gram panchayat.
