For many living in the cities, electric light is such an essential
part of our lives that we cannot imagine life without it even for a day.
But there are people in many villages across the country who are deprived of these basic facilities.
The Batti Project is an initiative that aims at providing basic lighting to people living in far-flung areas in north-east India.
It is an effort by three selfless and extremely civic conscious people to provide light to the most remote areas of the north-east.
They provide light to these homes by harnessing renewable energy sources and connecting those in need with those willing to help. In the words of one of the members of the initiative, Merwyn Coutinho, "We strive for change that is sustainable."
The core team consists primarily of three members, and whenever the team takes up the task of lighting a home a set of volunteers chip in during the installation process. The core members take care of field work, fundraising, research and procurement.
Until now the Batti Project has lighted 254 homes in 23 villages across 2 districts in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and impacted over 1200 people.
Why north-east particularly?
North-east is the most neglected region of the country. Much of it has never seen roads or electricity and has little to no connection with the outside world. It is a mass of highly dynamic landscapes and cultures, posing many hurdles to the outsider. These challenges almost guarantee that electricity through the conventional grid system will never reach here. And that’s where Batti comes in.
Who funds the project?
So far, we have been receiving funds primarily from social media and direct donations.
We try and keep the fundraising process interesting and immersive, for e.g we organise a charity cycle ride, where we take the participants to ride into the eastern Himalayas to experience the culture, tribes and landscape of the region they help light.
We have also started to collect electronic waste from the cities (currently only in Bengaluru) and through the process of recycling/upcycling generate funds.
Recently we have also earned for ourselves 80G certification. Hence we also will invite CSR programs to take part in this journey
But there are people in many villages across the country who are deprived of these basic facilities.
The Batti Project is an initiative that aims at providing basic lighting to people living in far-flung areas in north-east India.
It is an effort by three selfless and extremely civic conscious people to provide light to the most remote areas of the north-east.
They provide light to these homes by harnessing renewable energy sources and connecting those in need with those willing to help. In the words of one of the members of the initiative, Merwyn Coutinho, "We strive for change that is sustainable."
The core team consists primarily of three members, and whenever the team takes up the task of lighting a home a set of volunteers chip in during the installation process. The core members take care of field work, fundraising, research and procurement.
Until now the Batti Project has lighted 254 homes in 23 villages across 2 districts in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and impacted over 1200 people.
Why north-east particularly?
North-east is the most neglected region of the country. Much of it has never seen roads or electricity and has little to no connection with the outside world. It is a mass of highly dynamic landscapes and cultures, posing many hurdles to the outsider. These challenges almost guarantee that electricity through the conventional grid system will never reach here. And that’s where Batti comes in.
Who funds the project?
So far, we have been receiving funds primarily from social media and direct donations.
We try and keep the fundraising process interesting and immersive, for e.g we organise a charity cycle ride, where we take the participants to ride into the eastern Himalayas to experience the culture, tribes and landscape of the region they help light.
We have also started to collect electronic waste from the cities (currently only in Bengaluru) and through the process of recycling/upcycling generate funds.
Recently we have also earned for ourselves 80G certification. Hence we also will invite CSR programs to take part in this journey
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