BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to provide solar power based electricity to schools and hostels run by the ST and SC Development Department.
Official sources said steps have been initiated by the Department to set up solar power plants for uninterrupted power supply to residential schools located in remote areas.
The department has asked the district welfare officers (DWOs) and project administrators (PAs) of all Integrated Tribal Development Agencies (ITDAs) to identify high schools, ashram schools and sevashrams located in most interior pockets of their districts to set up facilities for solar-panel based power supply. However, schools located in the district and block headquarters will not be included under the scheme.
In a letter to the DWOs and PAs of ITDAs, Additional Secretary in the ST and SC Development Department R Raghu Prasad stated that several residential schools run by the department in remote areas are facing acute problem of power supply. “In order to overcome such difficulties, Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) has been requested to set up solar power plants of required capacity for lighting campus, class rooms and hostels,” he said.
As many as 4,700 hostels are functioning under the ST and SC Development Department. Of 4.5 lakh students studying in these schools, 60 per cent are girls.