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International Journal of Environment and Sustainability, 2016, 5(2): 99-104 101
2. Methodology each village, eight households were selected and
one respondent from each household was inter-
The study was conducted in the state of Chhattis- viewed based on their willingness to take part in
garh in India, which is situated in Central India. the study. The respondents included both men
Urban Chhattisgarh is one of the few Indian and women. Government officials in CREDA
states where the power sector is effectively de- were also interviewed to take their perspective
veloped. The Chhattisgarh State Electricity on the catalysts and barriers associated with so-
Board (CSEB) is in a strong position to meet the lar energy policies in the state. The methodology
electricity requirements of the new state and is has been summarized in Figure 1.
in good financial health. Talking about the rural
areas of the state, deciduous forests of the East- 3. Government Programs and Policies
ern Highlands Forests cover roughly 44% of the
state, and for this reason, these areas are yet to The Government of India has come out with a
receive grid-connected power. Thus, non-con- number of policies and programs to promote re-
ventional energy sources have been accorded newable energy, and specifically solar energy, in
very high priority. To cater to this issue, a special India. The National Solar Mission is a major initi-
agency called Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy ative of the Government of India and State Gov-
Development Agency (CREDA) has been set up, ernments to promote ecologically sustainable
and over 1200 villages in dense forests are being growth while addressing India’s energy security
electrified using off-grid energy. CREDA is the challenge. It will also constitute a major contri-
nodal agency of the Ministry of New and Renew- bution by India to the global effort to meet the
able Energy. This organization comes under the challenges of climate change. Solar is currently
State Government, but eventually implements high on absolute costs compared to other
the policies brought out by the Central Govern- sources of power such as coal. The Mission rec-
ment. ognizes that there are a number of off-grid solar
applications, particularly for meeting rural en-
Four villages, namely Kobahara, Rawan, Mahoda ergy needs, which are already cost-effective and
and Latadadar were selected in this study. All of provides for their rapid expansion.
them were electrified by solar energy under the
Remote Village Electrification Programme. From
Figure 1: Methodology
Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com
