Assam’s rural solar scheme falters due to poor equipment and lack of accountability

Two summers have gone by since Taslima* and her classmates last saw the fans in their classroom stir the air. “Most of my friends fall sick in peak summer.” A scheme ideal in theory, imperfect in practice In October 2022, The Third Pole filed Right to Information requests with APDCL to find out the coverage of decentralised renewable energy solar energy schemes in rural areas of Assam. In early 2022 Azhar Ali, a homestead farmer from the char of Magua Bilar Pathar in Kamrup Rural district, received a solar panel, controller and battery unit from the government under the DDUGJY scheme. A sub-contractor from Assam’s Karbi Anglong district, who did not want to be named, said: “We get a lot of complaints if something is not working in the solar panels, but if we don’t get money from the main vendor we can’t put a hole in our pocket in the name of repairs.” Moreover, some char residents had no access to the solar kits at all. Akram Hussain, a grassroots political leader affiliated with the Bharatiya Janta Party – which is in power in both Assam and the Union government – told The Third Pole: “There are a lot of faulty solar panels seen in villages which are of no use after three months.