Photo-©-Abbie-Trayler-Smith-Panos-Pictures-Department-for-International-Development-e1447707515998-1128×634

The Solar Powered Village of Tinginapu, in the Eastern Ghats of Orissa: Barefoot solar engineer Minakshi Diwan 20, tends to maintenance works in the solar village.

The Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme (OTELP) is an organisation funded by DFID and run with the state government of Orissa. The project took 4 women from a remote tribal village and trained them in Solar Powered Engineering, and installed Solar lighting in their village which had not seen electricity for over 15 years. The Orissa Tribal WomenÕs Barefoot Solar Engineers Association has now got a contract to build 3000 solar-powered lanterns for schools and other institutions and is training other people in the community.