Charkha to light up rural lives

Charkha has been upgraded. Of course it still spins a yarn, but now it can also light up your house and play Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram.

Launched by President Pratibha Patil at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan recently, Jharkhand is the first state to touch and feel the new age charkha, 500 of which are to be distributed among villagers with two objectives – livelihood and rural electrification. The first 200 charkhas are here from Ahmedabad and have been fitted witj electronic devices from Bangalore to enable it play the timeless Gandhiji anthem and also generate electricity two hours of spinning will light up a 40 watt bulb for five hours.

Jharkhand Khadi gram Udyog has been entrusted with sourcing the charkhas and electronic at tachments and then distributing them among villagers. They have decided to impart special training to villagers. In Jharkhand, charkhas would be distributed in selected villages of Hazaribagh, Simaria, Jhumri-Tilaiya and Garwah as a pilot project.

Interestingly, at anything between Rs. 7500 to Rs. 9000/- a piece, the charkha costs more than the electronic attachments which come for Rs. 500 each.