- Senior Project Manager at IIT, Bombay, Abhilasha hopes to defeat gender inequality by streamlining training and skill development processes of rural women
- Empowered several women through SoULS projects which seek to disseminate solar energy for a brighter India
- Vouches for the potential of working women to inspire the young population of rural India
Abhilasha Chauhan, Senior Project Manager at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is at the forefront of operations at SoULS where she works to include more women into the leading operations team. Abhilasha had started her career at SoULS in 2013 as a Project Manager, and since then she has unflinchingly liberated rural women, making them an inspiration in village communities. SoULS is a massive solar lamp program that seeks to “localize solar energy” in conjunction with Narendra Modi’s vision of “Make in India.” It has spearheaded projects for the fast diffusion of solar technology in various states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Bihar.
India which ranks 108 out of 149 countries in Global Gender Gap needs to look up to SoULS as a light-bearer of equality and women empowerment. Abhilasha feels that “Through these projects, SoULS has not only made solar power technology available to the local community but has also brought a massive overhaul in the mindset of women in the rural areas.”
The dual miracle of solar energy and women empowerment
There are various cases which can showcase that if the Government of India and organizations like SoULS join forces to bring solar technology in the remotest areas, it will also free women from the clutches of oppression and poverty.” Abhilasha is sanguine about The Million Solar Urja Lamp project in Bihar, which was a pilot program to test the ‘LAS model’– Localization, Adaptability, and Saturation, which had initially led to the speedy diffusion of solar technology in India’s inaccessible nooks and corners. The project which began with twenty-one thousand beneficiaries has now taken on a mammoth form, turning the thousands into lakhs of people to whom SoULS has extended employment opportunities.
Shattering stereotypes and moving forward
Abhilasha states that “SoULS’s motive is to impart skills and industry knowledge to help women earn their own fruits of labor”. Employment opportunity is a way out for rural women stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty, hunger, and abuse. DURGA – Dungarpur Renewable Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a manufacturing plant that makes standard as well as custom-designed solar panels raging for 1Wp to 330Wp modules is established in Dungarpur District of Rajasthan and is completely owned and operated by local tribal women. The company has provided employment to 200 local people, with 56 women getting direct employment.
When asked about the persistent gender gap in India, Abhilasha says, “The path towards neutrality is a long, winding road which can only be treaded till the end by the virtue of eminent skills and opportunities available to people, irrespective of their gender”. Socially constructed stereotypes which govern the behavior, goals, and dreams of society as a whole besides exerting control on individual lives can only be destructed by setting up role models.” Recalling an event from her own on- field experience, she says that areas where SoULS projects involved women, witnessed how they later, turned out to be shining role models for girls in their community. The much-required change in villagers’ outlook towards the working women of their own coteries was awe-inspiring to Abhilasha.
Revamping gender and energy into cleaner alternatives
Abhilasha ends on a positive note, “The term ‘Madam’ has already implanted itself in the consciousness of rural women, and we hope it alters their life for the better.”She, along with all the other members of SoULS, is not only revamping the energy sector into a cleaner alternative but is also breaking into pieces the clichés of gender role.
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