SOCIOLOGY-II

USE OF ENERGY IN CHAULI VILLAGE A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY IN GUMLA

DISTRICT OF JHARKHAND

SUBMITTED
SNEH

BY:

SUBMITTED TO:

LATA

Dr.

JISU

KETAN

PATNAIK
SEMESTER V A

FACULTY

ROLL NO. 191

SOCIOLOGY-II

NUSRL, RANCHI

NUSRL, RANCHI

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY AND RESEARCH IN LAW, RANCHI

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NUMBER:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................4
REVIEW OF LITERATURE.........................................................................................6
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.................................................................................7
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM.............................................................................7
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................7
OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................7
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 HYPOTHESES..................................................................................................8
UNIVERSE/ POPULATION OF THE STUDY................................................8
RESEARCH DESIGN.......................................................................................8
SAMPLING AND ITS SIZE.............................................................................8
METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION..............................................................8
6. DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE.............................................................................9
7. FIELD OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO RESEARCH PROBLEM......................12
8. LIMITATIONS OF STUDY........................................................................................13
9. INTRODUCTION TO RURAL ENERGY SCENARIO.............................................14
10. METHODS ADOPTED BY THE VILLAGE PEOPLE TO SECURE THEIR
SOURCE OF ENERGY...............................................................................................14
11. ELECTRIFICATION AND ITS IMPACT: A SPECIAL FOCUS.............................18
12. ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES...............................22
POLICY CONTEXT........................................................................................22
POLICY OBJECTIVES...................................................................................22
ENERGY ACCESS..........................................................................................23
ENERGY SECURITY.....................................................................................23
SELF SUFFICIENCY......................................................................................23
STATE VS. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT......................................................23
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT...................................................24
13. RAJIV GANDHI GRAMEEN VIDYUTIKARAN YOJANA (RGGVY), 2005........24
14. INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY 2008: AN OVERVIEW.....................................25
15. KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY.............................................................................25
16. RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................................................26
17. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................27
18. REFERENCES.............................................................................................................28
19. TABLES
TABLE 1: Chauli Village profile (According to 2011 Census).......................11
TABLE 2: Work profile of the village inhabitants...........................................11
TABLE 3: Type of family system in the village..............................................13
TABLE 4: Occupation distribution in the village............................................13

TABLE 5: Type of irrigational facilities used by the Chauli people..............13

TABLE 6: Percentage proportion of fuel used by the villagers for cooking

Purposes...........................................................................................................16
TABLE 7: Status of rural electrification in some states in India.....................20
TABLE 8: Usage of electricity in Chauli village.............................................21
20. FIGURES
FIGURE 1: Map of Jharkhand showing Gumla District..................................12
FIGURE 2: Sources of cooking fuel in Chauli village.....................................17
FIGURE 3: Opportunities with light as identified by the villagers..................18
FIGURE 4: Indian States with more than 10% of un-electrified villages........20

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1. INTRODUCTION
India has a population close to 1003 million of which 48.1% constitute women. About 70%
of these women live in the rural hinterland and toil very hard to support their families. They
spend a major part of their time collecting and carrying firewood (by walking about 4 to 5
kilometres) almost daily as they are the end users of biomass energy and its derivatives.
Around 67% of the population in India live in rural background (According to 2011 Census)
and hence it becomes very vital to study the rural society. Unlike urban households, these
rural people do not have an adequate supply of energy (including electricity) to fuel their
stoves which are expensive and out of reach of the rural women. It is 2014 and still most of
the rural household have no electricity connection. Governments promise people in their
every term that their primary focus shall be the upliftment of people but governments just
come and go.
Energy systems must advance rural economic growth, which is economically efficient, need
oriented and equitable, self reliant and empowering, and environmentally sound. The stress
on equity means that the rural energy systems must first and foremost promote alleviation and
improved living conditions for the poor, as measured by the Human Development Index
(HDI). The HDI measures a countrys achievements in three aspects of human development:
longevity, knowledge and a decent standard of living. Improving these aspects of human
development, and therefore the HDI, has three crucial dimensions: equity based on a marked
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increase in access of poor to energy services, empowerment based on strengthened

endogenous self reliance, and environmental soundness.
Although there has been significant progress in human development through economic
growth, India still has a long way to go. It ranked 134 out of 187 countries in the 2011 United
Nations Human Development Index (HDI) because of poor performance in the education and
health indicators. Recent rapid economic growth reduced the absolute number of people
living in poverty, but failed to achieve a balanced economic growth between rural and urban
areas. For instance, 37.2% of the national population and 42% of the rural population live
below the poverty line (BPL) of USD 1.25 PPP, whereas 26% of the urban population is
considered BPL. The average urban monthly expenditure is nearly twice that of the rural
level.
Thus for an energy system to be in the interests of the rural poor, it must:

Increase their access to affordable, reliable, safe and high quality energy.
Strengthen their self reliance and empower them.
Improve their quality of environment.

There are three process strategies for rural energy:

Government facilitation and enabling support.

Individual initiative as far as possible through market.
Village community monitoring and control.

Through this project, the researcher tries to highlight the use of energy in rural parts of India,
as to what are the sources of energy utilised by the rural India, in what ways are they utilised
and how much is the energy utilised by the people in the villages. It is very important because
by this, we might be able to focus on the growth rate of the rural society as energy
consumption forms an important aspect to study human development.
The standard approach to the establishment of new infrastructure for the supply of energy has
been for governments to take the initiative. This approach often ends up with the emergence
of new government agencies and bureaucracies that may be plagued by red tape, delays, or
even corruption.
There is a steady relationship between HDI and energy. The impact of energy on HDI
depends upon the end uses of energy and the task that the energy performs.
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The government of India recently changed the definition of village electrification recently to
state that a village is considered as electrified if it provides electricity to all the habitants in
the village. They consider a village to be electrified if at least 10 to 20% of the inhabitants in
the village are provided with electricity for lighting. Consequently, the emphasis is not on
energy and its use for rural development, but availability of electricity for certain segments of
households. This approach of the Government is erroneous. This is so because the level and
standards of usage of energy are not measured by this method.
Consequently to the State Electricity Boards making available free power to the
agriculturists, to electrify pump sets, number of pump sets went up substantially. However,
electrification of households remained poor, because of the enormous losses incurred by the
electrical boards on account of free supply of power to the agriculturists. The Boards are
increasingly reluctant to provide electricity to rural population because of the high cost of
taking transmission lines to remote villages, the high cost of transformers for providing
individual home lighting in conventional electricity mode has become a major problem which
has left the rural area in darkness.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Chandra, Ramesh (2008) talks about the lack of access to electricity in rural India. There are
at least 9,000 villages in India where the grid may never be available due to their remoteness
and geographical constraints. India has to pay huge developmental costs due to its energy
poverty education, health, and economic development are at a standstill in rural India.
Rajvanshi, Anil K. (2007), while addressing the same issue, saw the brighter side to the
problem saying that India has the opportunity to leapfrog to design a new energy future.
According to him, the governments scheme (Remote Village Electrification Programme),
where the government was providing remote villages with basic home lighting systems
powered by solar two compact fluorescent bulbs for each household, was riddled with
problems on the ground from issues concerning proper maintenance of these systems to
sustaining the operations after the grid reaches these villages.
Ahn, Sun Joo & Graczyk, Dagmar (2012) conducted a research and are of the opinion that
few states like Chattisgarh, with the combination of funds from the centre, has proactively
been setting up mini grids in its remote areas. It has electrified more than 1,400 villages and
is in the process of implementing it in many other villages too. According to them, increased
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energy conservation, improved energy efficiency and enhanced energy production from
renewable sources can definitely lead India in general and rural areas in particular to become
self sustainable communities.
They have highlighted the major obstacles that the rural energy sector is facing:

Centralised production and control inherently leads to corruption. Decentralization

leads to accountability.
Governance is the first casualty of corruption.
Energy production via agriculture is one of the best technological solutions.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
First, we look into the Functional aspect of energy. Where is energy used? Energy is
almost used in every aspect of life, be it lighting, cooking, transport .etc. Rural India sees a
vast variety of energy modes including water, wind, bio - fuel, coal .etc. The rural society
sees a variety of energy usages where we see firewood as the most common to cook food and
kerosene oil to light homes .etc.
The present project is also based on Conflict Theory which in the present context suggests
that in the society, certain class or section will always dominate another section to maintain
power and privilege. According to conflict theory, society is defined by a struggle for
dominance among social groups that compete for scarce resources including that of
renewable and non renewable sources of energy. This is a general observation in the village
that one class of people have always been oppressed by the other for all resources.
The Modernization Model and the Developmental Theories can also be applied here
wherein we can see the impact that the electrification of the rural landscape of India has
brought upon the development of the people.
4. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The energy usage in the rural India has achieved a crucial importance among all spheres be it
development or modernization. Provisions of energy can be considered as a basic necessity of
human life in this 21st century. The rural India is still using primitive sources of energy and
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fuels to run their households like wood, bio mass fuel .etc. Seeing the increasing concern of
the world population regarding global population, it is very necessary on our part to save the
environment and shift to cleaner sources of energy. Also, an important point to be considered
is the modernization and development of the rural population which will happen only through
the continuous process of growth involving progress on the grass root level.
5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
OBJECTIVES
1. To study the usage of energy resources in rural India.
2. Methods adopted by the villagers to collect the source of energy.
3. To study electricity provision in the villages of Jharkhand.
4. To study the Government Energy policy in Rural India.
5. To link the social and economic development of the rural India with the energy
utilization.
HYPOTHESES
1. Indian villages do not have adequate energy supply.
2. Rural women still have to toil hard in securing energy sources for their daily
household chores.
3. Electricity connections are slowly reaching the villages; they have connections but
no proper supply.
4. Government energy policies are not implemented adequately.
UNIVERSE/ POPULATION OF THE STUDY
Universe of the study is the Chauli village in the Gumla District situated in the state of
Jharkhand.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The research design selected for this particular topic is exploratory research design
whereby the research identifies the phenomenon which is the development and
modernisation of the rural India by measuring the Energy usages.
SAMPLING AND ITS SIZE
The researcher has opted for stratified random sampling and the size of the sample
shall be approximately 10% of the universe of population.
METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
The paper shall have both empirical and theoretical aspects:
1. Theoretical aspect: The researcher has used data and theories available from
secondary sources to understand the sociological implications of the energy usages
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in rural India. Through various readings, the researcher has tried to understand that
how the consumption of energy can be connected to various existing models of
sociology.
2. Empirical aspect: Field work has been done in village Chauli of Gumla District
of Jharkhand as planned by the faculty in charge. The sample of the study
comprises of the villagers selected through stratified sampling method.
To collect the data, the following methods have been applied:

Observation: The researcher has critically observed the surrounding of the village,
especially those important for the study like the source of supply of electricity, its

usage .etc. and then made a qualitative analysis of that data.

Interview schedule: Through a carefully prepared interview schedule, the researcher
has gathered data required to quantify various aspects of the research project and
hence test the research hypothesis.

The data finally collected has been merged with the understanding garnered from the
theoretical framework and has been used to test the hypothesis.
6. DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE
In order to study the energy usage in rural India, Chauli village was selected by our Faculty
in charge for the conduction of the field work so that we could understand the implications
of living in a village setup and to see how village people carry on with their day to day
activities. This village was selected due to several factors like the village being a primarily
tribal locale, the ease of access from Ranchi city, proper road access till the village .etc.
Chauli is small village located in Gumla Block of Gumla district, Jharkhand with total 140
families residing. The Chauli village has population of 490 of which 240 are males while 250
are females as per Population Census 2011. Its distance from the capital city of Ranchi is
around 90 kilometres by road and 15 kilometres from Gumla main district.
In Chauli village population of children with age 0-6 is 56 which make up 11.43 % of total
population of village. Average Sex Ratio of Chauli village is 1042 which is higher than
Jharkhand state average of 948. Child Sex Ratio for the Chauli as per census is 867, lower
than Jharkhand average of 948.

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As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act, Chauli village is administrated by
Sarpanch (Head of Village) who is elected representative of village. The local governance
system is very weak in the village.
The village comprised of mud houses and had kachcha road. There were no proper sanitation
facilities in the village and also people faced potable water problems. People had to walk
many kilometres to collect water for their daily purposes. The village had tube well facility
for drinking water purposes which was not adequate. Most of the people were involved in
agriculture. It is the major source of employment in the village. The village lacked irrigation
facilities.
AGRICULTURE IS MAIN SOURCE OF LIVELIHOOD

The school in the village comprised of a single teacher where more number of girls students
participated than boys.
The village sees an active participation of the Anganwadi centre and also Health sub centre.
Women were better participants in the socio economic development of the village.
The village also saw the use of mobiles and television sets which signifies the modernity in
the village.

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TABLE 1: Chauli Village profile (According to 2011 Census)

Particulars
Total Number

Total
of 140

Houses
Population
Children
Scheduled Caste
Scheduled Tribe
Literacy Rate

490
56
0
159
59.45%

Male
-

Female
-

240
30
0
72
72.38%

250
26
0
87
47.32%

TABLE 2: Work profile of the village inhabitants

Serial

Particulars:

Number.
1.
Worker
2.
Main Worker
3.
Marginal Worker

Total Number:

Male:

Female:

212
121 (57.8%)
91 (42.92%)

127

85
-

In Chauli village, out of total population, 212 were engaged in work activities. 57.08 % of
workers describe their work as Main Work (Employment or Earning more than 6 Months)
while 42.92 % were involved in Marginal activity providing livelihood for less than 6
months. Of 212 workers engaged in Main Work, 107 were cultivators (owner or co-owner)
while 2 were Agricultural labourers. Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood while
daily labour formed the secondary source of livelihood for the people.

FIGURE 1: Map of Jharkhand showing Gumla District

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Source: Mapsofindia.com

7. FIELD OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO RESEARCH PROBLEM

Over head electricity line was present in the village with street lights working all
day.
The schools had electricity connection but it was not being used adequately in the
classrooms.
The houses had traditional stoves where firewood was the most abundant source of
fuel used for cooking food.
The women walked 4 to 5 Kms daily to collect firewood.
Solar panels were present in few of the households where its main function was for
educational purposes.
No irrigational facilities in the village. Manual labour was used to irrigate the fields.

TABLE 3: Type of family system in the village

Serial

Type of family:

Number:

%:
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No.
1.
2.

Joint family
Nuclear family

2
10

16.67%
83.33%

TABLE 4: Occupation distribution in the village

Serial

Occupation:

Number:

%:

Agriculture
Labour
Housewife
Service

8
3
6
2

66.67%
25%
50%
16.66%

No.
1.
2.
3.
4.

TABLE 5: Type of irrigational facilities used by the Chauli people

Serial

Type:

Number:

%:

Electricity (motor)
Manual Labour
Rain dependant

1
10
4

8.33%
83.33%
33.33%

No.
1.
2.
3.

8. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The research was limited by a lot of circumstances. Few of them were:

The duration of interaction with the villagers was very limited comprising only 2
hours. A minimum of 8 hours interaction was necessary to conduct a proper research.
If the team could have done a night stay with the village people then a clear picture

would have been possible regarding all aspects of the research.

Also, the time of visit by the group was not timed perfectly. At 12 noon, most of the
village people were out for work. This proved to be a major hindrance in the

conduction of survey. The ideal time would have been in the evening.
Another major obstacle that was faced was the problem of language. The researchers

could not interact with the village people because of language differences.
The voltage of electricity could not be ascertained during the day time and hence the
availability and usage of electricity could not be established.

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9. INTRODUCTION TO RURAL ENERGY SCENARIO

India faces energy challenges on three fronts: the presence of majority energy poor lacking
access to modern energy carriers; the need for expanding the energy system to bridge this
access gap as well as to meet the requirements of a fast-growing economy; and the desire to
partner with global economies in the effort to mitigate the threat of climate change. The best
possible outcome would be to achieve all the three objectives without compromising on any
one. In this context the most critical question India needs to answer is just how to expand
access to basic energy services for the large number of energy poor while at the same time
being able to make contributions to climate change mitigation. The next most critical
question India needs to answer is just how climate change mitigation might become a
stimulus for expanding rural energy access in India. In this paper, as a response to these
questions, an integrated implementation framework to guide and the analysis of the current
scenario is done.
The findings of the National Sample Survey Organisation suggests that though 74% of the
Indian villages were electrified as of 2005; only 55% of the rural households had access to
electricity and the remaining 45% of the households were depending on kerosene lamps for
lighting (NSSO, 2007). Also in 2005, only 9% of the rural households had access to liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) and about 84% of the rural households were still depending on biomass
for their cooking energy needs with only 1.3% having access to kerosene. This is the
equivalent of about 364 million people relying on kerosene for lighting and about 726 million
relying on biomass for cooking out of a total rural population of about 809 million in 2005.
Thus, a major challenge for India is to bridge this access gap in modern energy services both
for cooking and for lighting. The above data indicates the failure of prevailing policies,
governance, and institutions.
10. METHODS ADOPTED BY THE VILLAGE PEOPLE TO SECURE THEIR
SOURCE OF ENERGY
Kerosene plays an important role in the village of Chauli. It is the primary fuel source for
lighting and the secondary source for cooking. Kerosene is the most affordable fuel source
available because it is offered at a subsidised rate by the Government. The households in the
village used kerosene in lanterns and diwas. On an average, a household spends Rs. 50 on
fuelling their lanterns and diwas. This represents 4% of the monthly income of the household.
A government ration of four litres will supply the average familys energy needs for twentyPage | 13

four days per month. Using four litres of kerosene monthly, the diwas allow for
approximately twenty-five hours of light per month. Not only is this an insufficient duration
of light (villagers indicated that they would like four hours of light each evening, or one
hundred and twenty hours of light per month), but also the quality of the light is inadequate
for conducting most activities.

WOMAN COLLECTING CROP RESIDUE FOR COOKING PURPOSE

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Firewood and Cow dung formed the primary source of fuel for cooking purposes. Moreover,
the houses did not have separate LPG connections for cooking purposes. People walk 4 to 5
kilometres daily to collect their source of energy.

COW DUNG CAKE USED IN COOKING

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TABLE 6: Percentage proportion of fuel used by the villagers for cooking purposes
Serial No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Type of Fuel:
Firewood
Cow Dung
Crop Residue
Coal/ Charcoal
Kerosene
Any other

%age proportion used:

59.4%
10.9%
12.3%
7.4%
0.9%
1.5%

FIGURE 2: Sources of cooking fuel in Chauli village

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Sources of cooking fuel in Chauli village

Firewood
Cow Dung
Crop Residue
Coal/ Charcoal
Kerosene
Any other

The village had connections of solar energy at many of the households where it was primarily
used by the children for educational purposes. There was no any bio gas plant in or around
the village.
The village school did not have a separate LPG connection for the Mid Day Meal Scheme
food preparation. Mostly, the food was cooked by using firewood and cow dung. He
government did not make any provisions for LPG provisions and the people involved in the
preparation of food had no knowledge either regarding the same.

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FIGURE

3:

Opportunities

with

light

as

identified

by

the

villagers

Oppurtunities with Light

35%
30%
25%
Oppurtunities with Light

20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Mobility

Safety

Education Economic Comfort

Seventeen percent of the villagers indicated mobility as an opportunity. It is difficult to move

around the house, both inside and outside, in the dark. Even the light of a kerosene
diwa/lantern is not enough to provide a satisfactory view of their nearby environment.
Villagers also indicated interest the need for light at night in moving between homes to visit
friends and family. In addition to mobility, comfort was identified as a need or opportunity by
14% of the villagers. Some women discussed need of light to comfort a sick child and several
villagers said that light made them feel safe and comfortable.

11. ELECTRIFICATION AND ITS IMPACT: A SPECIAL FOCUS

There are different parameters used to measure the level of rural electrification. For the
current practice, the emphasis is on the number of villages connected to the grid. Initially, a
village was classified as electrified if electricity was being used within its revenue area for
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any purpose whatsoever. Subsequently, this definition of village electrification was reviewed
in consultation with the State Governments and State Electricity Boards and modified as : A
village will be deemed to be electrified if electricity is used in the inhabited locality within
the revenue boundary of the village for any purpose whatsoever.
By these definitions, as of June, 2005 almost 85% of the Indian villages are connected to the
grid. Eight States (Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu
and Nagaland) have achieved 100% village electrification. Only 8 out of the 27 Indian states
still have more than 10% of the villages un-electrified. Importantly, most of these states are in
the East and North-Eastern part of the country.
In order to make the metric for measuring level of rural electrification somewhat meaningful,
it has been decided to revise the definition of village electrification and a new proposed
definition of village electrification is as under:

Basic infrastructure such as Distribution Transformer and Distribution lines are

provided in the inhabited locality as well as the Dalit Basti/ hamlet where it exists.
(For electrification through Non Conventional Energy Sources a Distribution
transformer may not be necessary).

Electricity is provided to public places like Schools, Panchayat Office, Health

Centres, Dispensaries, Community centres etc. and

The number of households electrified should be at least 10% of the total number of
households in the village.

The above definition came into effect from the year 2004 05.
In an urban context, electricity goes beyond meeting lighting needs. Electricity is used for
heating and cooling purposes, for pumping water, for meeting cooking requirements, if not
direct cooking, but in preparing dishes. Therefore from an urban household perspective,
electricity and energy are more or less used as synonyms.
However, from a rural India context, electricity and energy are two very distinct issues,
primarily because of the manner in which electrified villages has been defined in India
Electricity Policies, but also because of the electricity supply to rural areas.

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It is therefore pertinent to look at the sources of cooking and heating in households in India.
Only 11.9% of Indias households have access to modern cooking and heating fuels, which
include LPG/LNG, Electricity and Bio-gas sources. A good 87.7 percentage of households in
rural areas do not have access to any modern sources of energy.

TABLE 8: Status of rural electrification in some states in India

Serial

Name of the State:

Number.

Total number of Number of Villages % of Villages

villages in the electrified (as on 31 electrified (as
state:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Arunachal Pradesh
Jharkhand
Bihar
Odisha
West Bengal

5,258
29,492
39,073
47,677
37,463

08 2014)

on 31 08

3,614
27,167
37,316
38,921
37,461

2014)
68.4%
92.1%
95.5%
81.6%
99.99%

FIGURE 4: Indian States with more than 10% of un-electrified villages

Un - electrified villages (%)

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Un - electrified villages (%)

Source: Ministry of Power Data on village electrification (2007)

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This data provided by the Government of India provides a very hazy picture of the true
scenario. On a deeper analysis, this data reveals very little. It does not truly represent the
extent of electrification in the rural areas. Interestingly, only 44 % of the rural households
have access to electricity. 6 of the 27 Indian states have more than 80% of the rural
households without access to electricity.
VILLAGE STREET LIGHTS WORK 24 X 7

What needs to be looked here is that Government has not differentiated between provision
of electricity and access to electricity. Mere connection of electricity from the
government does not empower the villages in the above mentioned states to have a modern
life. Access to energy is of prime importance here. Not more than 44% of the villages all over
India have access to electricity. These villages are still under darkness.
TABLE 7: Usage of electricity in Chauli village
Serial No:

Purpose:

No. of people using %age of people using

it: (out of 12 people it:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Education
Recreation (watching television)
Mobile Charging
Lighting of the House

surveyed)
3
2
7
1

25%
16.66%
58.33%
8.33%
Page | 21

The village boasts of electricity connection where we saw that the street lights work during
the day time also and at the same time there is no electricity power inside the houses. The
power cuts are very frequent. The only use that people are able to make out of the electricity
provision is the occasional viewing of television and sometimes charging cell phones. We
enquired about the peoples perspective of the opportunities that they might have if provided
with adequate and proper electricity.
We also paid a visit to the village school where we saw that even though the school had a
connection of electricity, the children were sitting and studying in darkness. There was a
computer system in the school too which was not in a working condition and moreover the
children did not have access to it.
12. ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The Indian government as a whole plays an indispensable role in the energy sector through
state owned enterprises, public policy and market regulation, indirect guidance and personal
networks. To grasp the intertwined dynamics in Indias energy policy framework,
comprehending not only the individual role of each ministry and government agency but also
their interaction and coordination with other energy players is essential. Furthermore, some of
the main ideas and themes that drive energy policy discourse in India should be taken into
consideration.
POLICY CONTEXT
Understanding Indias energy policy framework should begin by looking at policy
contexts in which policy objectives and concepts are laid out. This will help to answer
some of the questions about various decisions made by Indian policy makers. For
instance, why has the government adopted extensive subsidy programmes for energy
products despite the fiscal burden? How do Indian policy makers perceive rising
dependence on energy and modernization and how do they plan to tackle it? The
policy objectives and concepts shed light on the rationales and motivations and
eventually, energy policy making.
POLICY OBJECTIVES
There are three major policy objectives that Indian government pursues:
1. Energy access,
2. Energy security and
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3. Mitigation of climate change.

All three objectives are closely related, but sometimes conflict with one another and
are derived from the reality in India. Thus, it is challenging for India to maintain a
balanced approach in pursuit of all three objectives.
ENERGY ACCESS
Nearly one-quarter of the population of India lacks access to electricity which
comprises of the rural population. It is important to understand this peculiarity of
energy situation where the majority of potential energy demand still remains unmet,
unlike most developed countries where energy demand has reached or is close to
saturation stage. The Indian government recognised that economic development is
being hindered as a consequence of energy poverty. Thus, providing energy access to
its entire population has been a top priority of Indian policy makers for a long time,
making it equally or even more important than energy security. Rural electrification
scheme is an example of the governments determination to expand access to
electricity in Indias rural villages.
ENERGY SECURITY
Energy security takes a central position in government policy making. The emphasis
of energy policy until the 1990s was on electricity shortage and unsatisfied energy
needs. However, increasing dependence on imported energy sources, mainly oil, but
also natural gas and coal, resulted in greater government attention to the subject.
SELF SUFFICIENCY
Self-sufficiency or energy independence is a frequently occurring theme in the energy
policy dialogue in India (Madan, 2006). In 2007, former Indian President APJ Abdul
Kalam announced an ambitious plan to realise energy independence based on hydro,
nuclear and renewable energy, stating we need to graduate from [talking about]
energy security to [attaining] energy independence.
STATE VS. CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
The influence of the central government on energy policy at the state level is limited.
The Indian parliament cannot legislate over certain aspects of this sector in the states.
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In general, as in most federal systems, the states are responsible for implementing
national laws, but can also issue state laws and regulations of application in their own
territory. State governments have their own energy departments to manage the
particular energy issues and market conditions in their states. Thus, state governments
have considerable responsibilities in the energy sector, especially in the power sector
where the responsibility is shared between the Centre and the states under the Indian
Constitution. As a result, the evolution of power sector reforms and the level of
penetration of renewable energy sources differ widely among states.
MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The Ministry of Rural Development (MORD) has three main tasks:
1. Improving social conditions in rural areas,
2. Management of land resources and
3. Management of drinking water and sanitation at the national level.
The MORDs Department of Land Resources is the nodal agency for National Policy
on Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R), which requires adequate compensation for
all involuntary displacement of people, which often occurs due to energy and
infrastructure projects. Obtaining clearance on a compensation package is required for
projects, but states often have different R&R policies from that of the Centre.
Compensation disputes are hard to settle with land owners and dwellers whose
livelihood depends on the land, hence land acquisition and rehabilitation has become
an increasingly complex process. As a result, a number of projects for coal mining,
power plants, and other large scale industry experienced considerable delays in their
project schedule. To facilitate the process, the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Bill (LARR) was proposed by the MORD but failed to pass in
parliament in 2011.
13. RAJIV GANDHI GRAMEEN VIDYUTIKARAN YOJANA (RGGVY), 2005
Ministry of Power launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) as one of
its flagship programme in March 2005 with the objective of electrifying over one lakh unelectrified villages and to provide free electricity connections to 2.34 Crore rural BPL
households. This programme has been brought under the ambit of Bharat Nirman.
Under RGGVY, electricity distribution infrastructure is envisaged to establish Rural
Electricity Distribution Backbone (REDB) with at least one 33/11KV sub-station in a block,
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Village Electrification Infrastructure (VEI) with at least a Distribution Transformer in a

village or hamlet, and standalone grids with generation where grid supply is not feasible.
The Bharat Nirman target for RGGVY was to electrify 1 lakh villages and to provide free
electricity connections to 175 lakh BPL households by March 2012 which was achieved by
31st December, 2011.
14. INTEGRATED ENERGY POLICY 2008: AN OVERVIEW
The Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) is the first comprehensive energy policy by the Indian
government and oversees all energy sectors. The prime minister directed the Planning
Commission to form an expert committee to prepare an integrated energy policy linked with
sustainable development that covers all sources of energy and addresses all aspects of energy
use and supply including energy security, access and availability, affordability and pricing,
as well as efficiency and environmental concerns. The committee was set up in 2004; the
draft report was released in August 2006; and, the cabinet finally approved the report in
December 2008.
One of the major salient features of the IEP is the focus on ensuring the transition to market
economy where private companies compete on a fair footing with public companies, stating
both the tax structure and regulatory philosophy applied in each energy sector should be
consistent with the overall energy policy [and] should provide a level playing field to all
players whether public or private. It also stresses transparent and targeted subsidies and
proper energy pricing to send the right signal to producers and consumers. The targets set by
the IEP run to Fiscal Year 2031/32 and serve as a benchmark for various government policies.
15. KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The village has electricity connection but no electricity access. Power cuts are very
frequent and the electricity stays for not more than 3 4 hours on a daily basis.
Firewood and cow dung cakes are the primary source of fuel for cooking.
Kerosene is the primary source for lighting of homes and a secondary source for
cooking purpose.
No bio gas plant in the villag.
Extremely weak local governance system. This is a major cause of non
implementation of governmental schemes in the village.
Village people walk an average of 4 to 5 kilometres a day for securing their source of
energy.

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 Education and charging of cell phones are the main purposes where people utilise
electricity connection.

16. RECOMMENDATIONS
The implementations of Governmental schemes need to be backed up the village
infrastructure development. The entire rural electrification plan should reflect in the
developmental scheme of the village.
New technologies based on local conditions should be adopted in the village system
like availability of sunshine in case of solar energy; biomass availability .etc.
Local community participation Community participation is one of the most vital
success factors for the long term sustainability of the models. Local bodies such as the
Village Panchayats should be involved in bringing together the local populace. In the
case of Chauli village, first of all, strengthening of the local governance is of prime
importance.
There should be a State Nodal Agency responsible for overall implementation of the
rural electrification programs.Their primary function would be to help in the
development of the Master Plan, monitor the construction and operations of the
village electrification projects, implementation of village infrastructure backbone
through a competitive basis (PPP etc), receive regular feedback and recommendation
from stakeholder groups like the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samities.
Regarding the fuel for cooking and heating purposes, a separate LPG connection
should be provided by the government to the village people on a subsidised rate
especially to those who are below the poverty line. This should also be done keeping
in mind the health of the women as they face excessive pollution hazards from
firewood, cow dung cakes .etc.
A community based bio gas plant should be established in the outskirt of the village.
Special focus should be on the energy provisions and consumption in the schools,
primary health centres, Anganwadi centres and the Panchayat offices as these
institutions focus on large scale development of students, pregnant women, and
infant .etc.
As there are no irrigation facilities in the village, electricity has to be utilised to pump
water to the fields for irrigational purposes.
17. CONCLUSION

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Chauli village is in the heart of the state of Jharkhand. It is naxalite affected and it primarily
inhabited by tribal population. The state of Jharkhand has an unstable government at the state
level as well as the grass root levels. The state sees very petite implementation of the policies
and projects. The clear conflict could be seen in the village of Chauli for the sources of
energy between the haves and the have nots. The village has seen no development and
modernization when it comes to energy consumption and utilization. In todays world where
electricity has become a basic necessity in the lives of the people, the people still see it as a
luxury. Community based efforts are necessary for any change that has to occur.

18. REFERENCES
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1. Madan, Tanvi (2006), The Brookings Foreign Policy Studies Energy Security Series:
India, Washington, DC.
2. Financial Express (2007), Its about time India gained energy independence:
President Kalam, 24 June.
3. International Energy Agency (IEA), World Energy Outlook 2007, OECD/IEA, Paris.
4. MORD (Ministry of Rural Development) (2011), Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Bill, New Delhi.
5. Planning Commission (2006), Integrated Energy Policy: Report of the Expert
Committee, New Delhi.
6. Press Information Bureau (2008), Integrated Energy Policy, dated on 26 December.
7. United Nations Human Development Index (2012),
http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/IND.html
8. United Nations Development Program (2011), 2011 Global Human Development
Report, New York.
Status of Rural electrification in India:
http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/dpd_div_rep/village_electrification.pdf
10. Modes of Rural Electrification Forum of Indian Regulators Final Report (2007).
9.

Ernst and Young Publication.

11. Chandra, Ramesh (Prof.) (2008). Social Development in India (8 Volumes). Rural
Development (Volume 1), 2008 Edition, Isha Books, New Delhi.
12. Rajvanshi, Anil K. (2007). Sustainable Energy for Indias Rural Development (A
Keynote given at International Energy Conference in Beijing, November 2007),
Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute, Maharashtra, India.
13. Power and Energy, Planning Commission, Government of India (2009)
14. Ahn, Sun Joo
And
(2012). Understanding energy challenges in India policies,
Graczyk, Dagmar

players and issues, International Energy Agency, France.

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