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| The
call |
|  The
'Lighting a million lives' campaign, a TERI initiative,
invites like-minded corporations and bilateral and
multilateral funding organizations to bring light
into the lives of a million rural people. TERI, with
its commitment towards global sustainable development
and creation of innovative solutions for a better
tomorrow, plans to take solar lighting devices to
rural households that have, until now, depended on
traditional resources, like biomass, kerosene, or
paraffin.
The biggest sense of achievement
for a socially responsible organization is the knowledge
of having economically empowered rural households,
which have no means of getting light after sunset.
In addition, patrons of 'Lighting a million lives'
will receive acknowledgement for championing the campaign
at key TERI fora. |
| The cause |
| While
speaking at the CII National Conference and Annual
Session 2007, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said,
“Corporate social responsibility must not be
defined by tax planning strategies alone. Rather,
it should be defined within the framework of a corporate
philosophy, which factors the needs of the community
and the regions in which a corporate entity functions.”
Business endeavour, hence, must
couple with government effort if a nation's goals
towards equitable growth and sustained development
are to be achieved. In India, there are more than
138 million rural households. Of these, over 56 per
cent have no access to electricity. It is widely acknowledged
that even small amounts of electricity can improve
the standard of living and the rate of socio-economic
development. 'Lighting a million lives' seeks to brighten
lives in rural India in two ways:
It will provide solar lanterns to unelectrified and
poorly electrified rural households.
It will facilitate local livelihood by creating local
entrepreneur-driven delivery channels to ensure repair,
maintenance, and other after-sales services.
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| The course |
| The
'Lighting a million lives' campaign works through
the sale of solar torches, a green product, to sponsors
who could use them as corporate gifts. The funds generated
from the sale of 50 solar torches can light 50 rural
households with solar lanterns.
In order to sustain the campaign and assure the interest
of the user of the solar lantern, each household that
benefits will contribute up to Rs 1000 to a fund that
will be utilized for increasing livelihoods and income-generating
activities. This fund will be managed by TERI.
In the first phase, TERI has identified villages
in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and West Bengal
where there is a dire need for lighting and where
TERI has a strong network of local partners. With
the valuable support of its patrons, TERI hopes to
attain the objectives of this campaign in the next
two years.
TERI will also put an effective monitoring process
in place. To guarantee transparency, a committee comprising
experts and representatives from corporations/sponsors
will supervise the progress of the campaign. |
| Sponsorship
packages |
The 'Lighting a million
lives' campaign allows corporations to contribute towards
sustainable development through the following sponsorship
opportunities. The packages include:
capital cost for equipment,
cost of capacity building, and
cost of campaign outreach.
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| Silver |
 INR
300 000
Number of solar torches : 50
Number of solar lanterns : 50 |
| Gold |
 INR
600 000
Number of solar torches : 100
Number of solar lanterns : 100 |
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Contact:
Ms Akanksha Chaurey
The Energy and Resources Institute
Darbari Seth Block, India Habitant Centre
Lodhi Road
New Delhi 110003
Tel: +91 11 24682100 / 41504900
Fax +91 11 24682144 / 24682145
E-mail: akanksha@teri.res.in
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