Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 | Last Update : 06:37 PM IST
IIT-Delhi drive helps ease life of villagers
This task helped in reducing the selling price of the stove by 41 per cent and increased the margin of profit by 50 per cent per stove.
New Delhi: Addressing the problem of indoor air pollution, particularly in the rural areas, youngsters from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) have undertaken the initiative of introducing the concept of smokeless cooking stoves.
Started by IIT-D in the year 2013, project “Aanch” is helping to ease the lives of women community of Bhatti Mines area near Chattarpur, who have been inhaling toxic indoor air due to the only traditional “chulhas” available for cooking.
The team has introduced a low cost stove, originally designed by Philips, which optimises solid fuel consumption; increasing efficiency by 66 per cent and achieving very low smoke output. Women from the community itself manufacture this stove while marketing and installing them in the other households.
“About three billion people worldwide have traditional stoves as the only medium to cook food, which is a sad reality as the house is full of toxic fumes. Statistics suggest indoor air pollution from solid fuels accounts for 2 million premature deaths per year. So after thorough research, we thought of providing the rural area a more efficient cook stove,” the IIT-D team said.
Through the project, each new women entrepreneur invests to purchase the mould, which is recovered from the profits of the first few stoves sold. These entrepreneurs are provided with an alternative income source as they earn Rs 300 for every stove sold.
To make the raw material affordable for these women, the team came up with new cheaper cement composition for manufacturing, improved the stove designs to remove all redundant parts and started placing bulk orders for raw materials from local suppliers.
This task helped in reducing the selling price of the stove by 41 per cent and increased the margin of profit by 50 per cent per stove.
“Apart from this, to transform women from inexperienced labourers to business owners, we teach them basics in accounting, managerial and other skills. They are empowered greatly in the sense that their confidence levels sore high and they become willing to take on risks in their life. These women entrepreneurs are provided with an alternative income source as they earn Rs 300 for every stove sold,” the team added.
