Dehradun: The Chief Minister solar self-employment scheme designed to provide job opportunities to locals in Uttarakhand and prevent migration has taken off with hundreds of people setting up small solar plants. The scheme is providing self employment opportunities to locals besides boosting the rural economy, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said.
Uttarakhand is ideal for solar power generation as there is sunshine even during winter, he said.
Eligible persons can install solar plants of 20-200 kilowatts capacity under the scheme and the entire electricity will be purchased by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL).
Permanent residents, who are eligible for setting up solar plants, are being provided loans by cooperative and other banks.
Besides, beneficiaries get all the exemptions available under the Chief Minister Self-Employment Scheme and the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) policy of the state.
The scheme was conceived by the Dhami government in the state to prevent migration of workers and create self-employment opportunities.
Amod Panwar, a resident of Tipri village near Chinyalisaur in Uttarkashi district, has set up a self-employment model of solar power project.
“Earlier due to exclusive dependence on grid power supply, electricity supply in the village was irregular. Though my village is located right in front of the Tehri lake. The Tehri Dam had only symbolic importance for the villagers. But, now due to the solar project, power supply has improved,” Panwar said.
“More young entrepreneurs should come forward to avail of the scheme,” he said.
Pratap Singh Rawat, who has made reverse migration from Dehradun to his village in Devprayag block in Tehri district, has made the most of the scheme by running three solar power projects.
Rawat installed a 400 kW plant in 2020, after which he added two more 200 kW plants under the scheme this year.
The “life of this project is about 25 years. In this way, the government has given me 25 years of employment from home,” he said.
