Solar Power Project in Jalka

Kalavati Bandukar’s husband, a poor farmer, committed suicide in 2005 after being unable to pay his debts. Following this, she was visited by Rahul Gandhi, heir to the powerful political Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty. He used her personal tragedy as an example to support the nuclear deal during the crucial vote in the Lower house of the Indian Parliament, saying that India's poor people needed electricity to light up their huts. After his visit, she became a household name in India. On 30th March 2009, Greenpeace launched a project in her village, Jalka, in Maharashtra located in central India, showing that the solution is not nuclear energy but instead clean, safe renewable energy. Kalavati is now a strong supporter and ambassador of decentralized renewable energy systems which she believes will be the answer to the energy crisis in her country. Kalavati and her fellow villagers are now looking forward to a solar-powered future. "Now," said the mother of nine, "my village has a future."