Rural Women solar engineers demonstrates their skills to PM Modi in Dar-es-Salaam

PM Narendra Modi interacted with ‘Solar Mamas’, a group of 30 rural rural women solar engineers from Tanzania and a few other African countries who have been trained under programmes supported by India for harnessing solar energy.   Solar Mamas demonstrated their skills in fabrication, repair and maintenance of solar lanterns and household lighting systems to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Barefoot College, Tilonia (Rajasthan) has been promoting and training rural women solar engineers (solar mamas) from Africa in fabrication, installation, use, repair and maintenance of solar lanterns and household solar lighting under Government of India supported programmes. The college has set up a Barefoot women vocational training college in Zanzibar Islands of Tanzania and other countries in Africa for imparting solar electrification skills (training) and distributing solar kits to trainees.

These colleges also support various entrepreneurial skills such as bee-keeping, tailoring, etc. The solar mamas have fabricated and installed solar kits, and now maintain these solar electrification systems in their communities.